------------------------------------------------------------------- DAWN WIRE SERVICE ------------------------------------------------------------------- Week Ending : 17 June 2000 Issue : 06/23 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Contents | National News | Business & Economy | Editorials & Features | Sports
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CONTENTS =================================================================== NATIONAL NEWS + GST at all costs, reaffirms cabinet + Shops closed as survey team arrives + 35 names removed from ECL + Sindh High Court restrains shifting of Nawaz till 18th + Nawaz vows to expose Kargil "debacle" + Information Technology policy to allow voice, video transmission + Pakistan, Oman sign maritime border pact + Body on IT law reforms soon + '3 years not enough for Ehtesab' + SC bars Hubco from approaching International Chamber of Commerce + 100 children's murder: HRCP blames society for tragedy + Pakistan Okays gas pipeline for India + Sailya suspends strike for 15 days --------------------------------- BUSINESS & ECONOMY + Tax Amnesty scheme extended to 30th June + Rs770 billion budget likely: Govt pins hope on increased revenue + '3,100 Pakistan Steel workers accept VRF' + Liquidity crunch: 18 housing projects held up + Budget on 17th June + State Bank buys $ from inter-bank market + GST compliance: CBR devising new formula + CBR reforms to update wage structure + Economic Survey shows 4.5% growth + GST dues: CBR asks Wapda to pay Rs2 billion + Systems being changed: Ishrat + Govt borrowed $500m from ARY gold + Privatization law in next budget + Smart rally in textiles on expected fiscal incentives + Banks to Open Internet Merchant Accounts --------------------------------------- EDITORIALS & FEATURES + Misguided zeal Ardeshir Cowasjee + How one man can make a difference Ayaz Amir ----------- SPORTS + Pakistan retain boxing title + Pakistan aim to upset Sri Lankan party + Tauqir terms charge as 'rubbish' + Lt Gen Aziz to take over as PHF chief + Inzamam 5th, Saeed 6th, Wasim 8th in Test rankings
=================================================================== DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS =================================================================== NATIONAL NEWS 20000615 ------------------------------------------------------------------- GST at all costs, reaffirms cabinet ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ihtashamul Haque ISLAMABAD, June 14: The cabinet on Wednesday approved a number of proposals to effectively impose GST from July 1, for substantially increasing revenue, especially by plugging leakages. Presided over by the chief executive, Gen Pervez Musharraf, the meeting discussed budgetary proposals to be incorporated in the coming budget, informed sources said. The cabinet was told that GST - also called as Value Added Tax - would be the "future tax" which would be recovered at all costs with the tax on agriculture income. Since both taxes were part of an agreement with the IMF, the meeting was told that "no opposition by any segment of society would be tolerated in this behalf". Although new taxes were inevitable to lower the budget deficit, the meeting was told that special efforts would be made not to burden the common man. The cabinet was apprised about the agreement reached with the traders to end their two-week-long strike. The CE told the meeting that he was not against extending genuine concessions to businessmen and traders. But he made it clear that no section of the society would be exempted from paying taxes, and that gone were the days when people used to evade taxes. He then sounded a strict warning to the tax collection machinery to enhance taxes without indulging in corrupt practices. The cabinet reviewed the pace of tax survey and observed that it was progressing satisfactorily and that people were forthcoming in making it a success. The apprehensions of the traders had been removed following their meetings with the provincial governors and the finance minister. The CE briefed the cabinet about his visits to Iran for attending the ECO summit and Oman. He termed his meetings with the ECO heads of governments useful and productive. He particularly mentioned his meeting with Iranian President Khatami, which, he said, was very successful. He directed the Export Promotion Bureau to intensify efforts for enhancing economic cooperation with Iran and Oman. The cabinet was informed that Sultan Qaboos had accepted the invitation to visit Pakistan. The cabinet was informed that the government was pursuing a transparent policy of deregulation with a view to moving away from a controlled economy towards a free market economy in order to attract foreign investment in the oil and gas sector. It directed the ministry to prepare a strategy and an action plan for the development of gas pipeline so that the dependence on furnace oil for power generation and other industries could be reduced. To develop commercial capabilities of Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, Kamra, and provide it with autonomy and to make it operational to facilitate its re-built and production programmes, the cabinet approved the establishment of "Pakistan Aeronautical Complex Board". It also approved, in principle, a proposal for the construction of Haji Camps in Quetta and Peshawar to facilitate intending pilgrims at those stations. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000614 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Shops closed as survey team arrives ------------------------------------------------------------------- Reporter KARACHI, June 13: A large number of shopkeepers in Saddar area pulled their shutters down on Tuesday when a survey team arrived to distribute the tax survey forms. Shopkeepers at Zaibunnisa Street closed their shops and staged a sit-in as a protest against arrivals of the tax survey teams. Chairman All Pakistan Orgnaization of Small Traders and Cottage Industries (APOSTCI), Umer Sailya said he was not allowed to reach Saddar in the evening to participate in the sit-in by traders. In a statement he claimed there has been exchange of strong words between traders and the survey team officials and as a result traders decided to stage a sit-in at the main road of Saddar. He asked traders not to receive the tax survey forms. Sailya said that in case the government fails to solve the traders' problems, the Association will decide its future course of action after the budget by arranging all Pakistan Tajir Convention. He said, we are only against officials who are conducting tax survey. The survey should be conducted by students of universities and colleges instead of corrupt CBR officials. Meanwhile, Karachi Tajir Action Committee (KTAC), in a statement, said that the government is yet to issue a notification regarding scrapping of clauses in the survey form which were agreed in traders-government meeting in Islamabad few days back. On Tuesday, the city's main markets remained open. However, some associations have asked their members to receive forms but do not return them until all traders reach an understanding among themselves. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000614 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 35 names removed from ECL ------------------------------------------------------------------- Correspondent ISLAMABAD, June 13: Only 35 names have been removed from the ECL out of 187 listed tax evaders over the past two months, who paid up 30 per cent of the taxes and duties which they had previously refused to pay. Other 152, who reportedly hold Rs10 million and above, did not approach the authorities for getting their names off the ECL. The listing of tax-evaders who had not cleared their dues after the military government had set a deadline for them to do so, number more than 1000. Others hold less than Rs10 million each. There are about 50 such evaders who owe more than Rs25 million and 10 are those who have been listed for not paying duties and taxes after first notices of compliance and, later, not availing the benefit of the scheme for clearance. Under this scheme names of only those tax evaders would be removed from the ECL, who pay at least 30 per cent of the taxes and duties payable by them. They said about 200 listed tax evaders still remained on the ECL by December 1999. They had been asked to clear their dues up to 30 per cent of the claimed duties and taxes if they wished to travel abroad. The offer has been operative from Dec 17, 1999, and all sales tax, customs, central excise collectorates and Income Tax commissionerates had been instructed to issue receipts of clearance of dues up to 30 per cent to those listed evaders who approached them with the bank receipts of such deposits. The CBR had warned that the listed evaders should not be awaiting any more liberal offers in this connection and should take it for final that their names would not be struck out of the ECL until and unless they paid up 30 per cent of the tax/duty dues the CBR had calculated as dues from them but remained unpaid as per demand. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000614 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sindh High Court restrains shifting of Nawaz till 18th ------------------------------------------------------------------- Shujaat Ali Khan KARACHI, June 13: Nawaz Sharif has challenged the constitution of a three-member Sindh High Court bench to hear his appeal in the hijacking case to prepare grounds for boycotting the proceedings, Sindh Advocate-General Raja Qureshi said in a rejoinder on Tuesday. The bench adjourned the hearing till June 20. Besides the former premier's counsel, Azizullah K. Shaikh, the bench comprising Chief Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad and Justices Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Wahid Bux Brohi heard former Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif. The order of the day directed the prosecution to extend all facilities permissible under the Prison Rules to all the accused in Landhi Jail. Notwithstanding any accountability court proceedings at Attock, they will not be shifted till June 18 afternoon so as to enable them to engage counsel for 'post-admission hearing' of the state appeals against them. Overruling the AG's objection that according to a letter sent by him from Attock, the ex-PM has already appointed his counsel and that he did not want to travel to Karachi, the bench ordered that the prospective counsel and family members be allowed two- hour meetings with all accused every day from Tuesday to Saturday. It accepted Shahbaz Sharif's plea for medical examination by an orthopaedic surgeon at PNS Shifa. The ex-CM complained of relapse into disc prolapse, his chronic ailment. The bench took a serious view of handcuffing, chaining and alleged maltreatment of the accused during their transportation from Attock to Karachi. Warning against recurrence, it asked the AG to identify the agency responsible for alleged misconduct. The AG also undertook to convey the court's concern to the authorities. The court declined to pass any order on the ex-CM's plea that he be allowed to travel aboard an ordinary plane at his own expense as the army propeller aircraft takes six hours to fly from Rawalpindi to Karachi. The AG said the government could not take any security risk. The CJ observed that his health condition be kept in mind while moving him from one place to another. The bench also declined a formal ban on press statements by the accused but said it would take a serious notice of any breach of decorum. The AG complained that the accused were exploiting and misusing the judicial process and fora for political ends. They be barred from talking to the media in the courtroom. The accused were, however, allowed to have snacks in the courtroom in the presence of their advocates and relatives. The hearing started at 11-40 am due to the late arrival of the accused lodged in Attock Fort and jail. The AG submitted his rejoinder to Nawaz Sharif's application instead of filing it in office and the proceedings were further delayed as the members of the bench went through it. Advocate Shaikh commenced his arguments by relating what he called the ordeal of the accused due their urgent shifting. The CJ pointed out that defence counsel, who said that the accused might engage new lawyers for post-admission stage and also protested against their non-production on Monday despite issuance of non-bailable warrants, were partly to blame. Timely arrangements should have been made for execution of th warrants issued on June 2, he said. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000614 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Nawaz vows to expose Kargil "debacle" ------------------------------------------------------------------- KARACHI, June 13: Deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday vowed to expose the Kargil "debacle" and launched another broadside on the military from the sidelines of his appeal against a terrorism conviction. Mr Sharif said he would name those responsible for the bloody border conflict with India last year if he was allowed to testify before a military commission. He described the Kargil conflict in Kashmir as one of the biggest debacles in the country's history and again called for an official investigation. "Kargil was the biggest debacle after the 1971 war with India" which led to the dismemberment of Pakistan, Mr Sharif said as he arrived at the start of an ongoing appeal against his life sentence for terrorism and hijacking. He repeated his calls for a high- powered military commission or a panel of independent judges to investigate the Kargil conflict. "I know the people who were behind this conflict but I will reveal their names at the commission," he said. He said he had a "lot more to say" once the commission was set up. Military officials dismissed the allegations as shameful attempts to distract attention from his alleged crimes, according to local press reports on Tuesday. The military government has repeatedly denied organizing the operation. Mr Sharif said the Kargil operation was planned secretly by the military and he was not aware of it until after the fighting erupted in May. "As prime minister I was not taken into confidence over the conflict," he said. "I salute the soldiers who were killed during the conflict. I went to their homes because it was not their fault," he added. The 10-week May to August battle left more than a thousand dead on both sides and brought the two nuclear states to the verge of an all out war. The conflict ended when Mr Sharif ordered the withdrawal of the Islamic fighters amid US-led international pressure, a move which dismayed the military and triggered widespread protests by religious parties. Military officials and key Islamic groups have rejected Mr Sharif's claims as absurd.-AFP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000613 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Information Technology policy to allow voice, video transmission ------------------------------------------------------------------- Omar R. Quraishi LAHORE, June 12: The federal government plans to deregulate the Internet market and allow voice and video transmissions over the Internet as part of its proposed (and yet-to-be-released) information technology (IT) policy. Currently, the latter (also referred to as telephony) is banned but many net users nonetheless use popular websites to talk to their relatives in foreign countries. The policy also seeks to exempt experienced local and overseas IT professionals (at least 5 years' experience in the related field) from paying income tax. Drawn up by the Information Technology Commission (part of the Tax Revenue Wing of the Ministry of Finance), the IT policy (currently with the Ministry of Law and Justice for final vetting) says that "from time to time" rates and tariffs for "all telecommunications services" should be revised down so that the "cost is reasonable and consistent with the economic realities of the country". The tariff structure should be such that the rates are on a par with charges prevalent in the regional and international markets. The policy seeks to end cross-subsidies by organizations that provide Internet and other services and this is likely to affect the way PTCL subsidizes it's Paknet service. It wants IT to be included in the country's definition of infrastructure so that priority can then be given to its development. The policy seeks the establishment of an Electronic Commerce Council, headed by the minister of commerce, to govern all the e- commerce affairs. It envisages the creation of a human resource development fund to improve the quality of personnel involved in the IT industry. The policy also seeks to include a required computer literacy course or 'module' in the matric syllabus and to make training in the use of IT applications compulsory for all degree courses within the next three years. Civil and military officials of the government will also be required to have some level of proficiency in computers and IT literacy will be a "prerequisite" for induction into gazetted positions. The policy also says that the ACR (annual confidential report) of government servants should have a new column inserted assessing the officer's IT proficiency. A copy of the proposed information technology, which contains these measures, is available on the Internet at www.itcomm.gov.pk and a formal announcement of the policy, according to the secretary of the ministry of science and technology, is due to be made by the chief executive before the end of this month. The government proposal on deregulation says that "three general" principles should be adopted if the Internet is to grow in Pakistan. These are: the existing regulatory structures should not be forced on the net industry; competition in Internet growth should be encouraged; and unnecessary regulations should be avoided. The policy seeks to create a "regulatory environment that allows for as much competition as possible". It says that telecommunications operators that also function as ISPs should do so through a subsidiary company. In addition, the Internet services provided by such subsidiary companies should be cost based. Income derived from other services of the carriers should not be used to cross-subsidise their Internet services (something that PTCL does with Paknet) and tax deduction at source for bandwidth purchase by ISPs, PTCL and other telecommunications service providers should be eliminated. To facilitate growth in and the speed of Internet connectivity the policy seeks to investigate the possibility of using an electricity grid (because electricity also reaches the remote and rural areas) and satellites. Cable TV operators that come up through the government's licensing policy should also be allowed to offer Internet services. To improve the quality of skills in the IT field, the policy seeks to set up a human resource development fund to train would-be IT professionals, and to provide incentives to financial institutions to support IT education. To streamline and regulate IT institutions in the country the policy asks for an accreditation council, whose job will be to collect data on educational institutions, rate them, and disseminate information regarding various courses and institutes. The council will also devise a standard curriculum and set standards for all IT schools to follow. The IT departments of government-owned universities will be given administrative autonomy so that they can have greater control in the recruitment of teaching staff. INVESTMENT, EXPORTS: To get more investment, the policy sets the setting up of technology parks to provide one-window services to domestic and foreign investors interested in putting their money into Pakistan's IT market. In addition, the establishment of venture capital funds has been suggested so that investors can be attracted to the industry with the knowledge that however much they invest will be matched by the joint venture partner. To increase software exports the policy says that large government projects that require services from IT firms like data entry work, or the digitization and computerization of ministries should be contracted out to local companies. It says private software firms should also be given work on non-classified defence projects. To increase the potential of software exports, like India has done, the policy seeks the creation of a software development fund. Countries to where Pakistan can have such exports should have IT specialists at the Pakistani missions. If such people are not available, the policy says, commercial counsellors should be trained to do the job. For markets like the US and the European Union, the government should hire consultants to manage the effort. Software exports can also be given a boost by encouraging firms to participate in the provision of IT-related services (advantage being that this can be done with current levels of skills) like work for banks and airlines offices, medical and legal encryption, data entry, data conversion, data warehousing, and call centres. The policy also says that the huge potential of women should be tapped into because they remain largely unrepresented in the current IT demographics. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000613 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistan, Oman sign maritime border pact ------------------------------------------------------------------- MUSCAT, June 12: Oman and Pakistan signed a maritime border accord on Monday during a visit by the chief executive, Gen Pervez Musharraf, in a bid to avoid disputes over fishing rights or resources. Oman's minister in charge of foreign affairs Yussef bin Alawi signed the agreement with Foreign Minister Abdus Sattar. "This accord will resolve many problems concerning fishing zones and marine resources and allow us to exploit its riches," Mr bin Alawi said after the signing ceremony attended by Gen Musharraf. "We have had no problem drawing the maritime line on the basis of the international law of the sea," he said of the 270-km line across the Arabian Sea. The Omani minister said his country had now concluded border accords with all its neighbours: Iran in 1974, Saudi Arabia in 1990, Yemen in 1992, and the United Arab Emirates last year. On his arrival on Sunday, the CE said Pakistan aimed to step up economic cooperation with Oman.-AFP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000615 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Body on IT law reforms soon ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ihtashamul Haque ISLAMABAD, June 14: The government has decided to set up a high- powered committee to propose changes in the income tax laws to restore the confidence of the taxpayers. Chief Executive Gen Pervez Musharraf assured a delegation of All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) here on Wednesday that the committee will be constituted soon after the national budget. "This committee which is expected to give its findings within 90 days will include businessmen, traders, tax collectors, eminent lawyers and other concerned professionals", said APTMA chairman Mohsin Aziz. He told Dawn that the meeting with the chief executive lasted for about 90 minutes during which a number of important issues were discussed threadbare. Minister for Finance Shaukat Aziz and Minister for Commerce Razak Dawood were also present on the occasion. He termed the meeting with the chief executive as fruitful and said that APTMA would support the government to document the economy. Mohsin Aziz said that the chief executive appreciated the problems the people were facing due to defective tax system. "The chief executive says that all possible changes will be introduced not only to increase revenues but also to restore the confidence of the investors", he added. He said issues concerning Tax Amnesty Scheme also came under discussion and, "hopefully its date will be extended from June 15 to June 28". He said since there were strikes during the last two weeks, many people could not avail of the scheme for which the government looked favourable to extend its date. The APTMA chairman said that Gen Musharraf also agreed to provide all possible support for Balancing, Modernization and Replacement (BMR) for textile industry. The chief executive directed the State Bank and the president of commercial banks to look into the problems of the textile industry specially funding of BMR. "The chief executive said that he cannot force banks to lend money for BMR but has said that he would ask the State Bank governor to facilitate the matter specially to have value addition", Mohsin Aziz said. The issue of 15 per cent sales tax, he said, also came under discussion during the meeting. Another participant of the meeting - Chairman Islamabad chapter of APTMA, Mian Habibullah told this correspondent that issues relating to Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) were also discussed during the meeting, with the chief executive asking the commerce minister to remove the cotton crisis. Mian Habibullah, who has once been the chairman of the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) with a status of state minister said that there was a shortage of cotton for which about two million bales will have to be imported. "The CE was told that at present TCP and ginners were having two million cotton bales separately (total 4 million) while there is a demand of 6/7 million bales", he said adding that the commerce minister will make sure that there was no shortage of cotton to avoid importing it by paying 15 per cent duty. According to a press release issued by the Chief Executive Secretariat, Gen Musharraf said that textile industry and cotton growers should work hand in hand for the development of the country and that the interest of the small farmers should not be compromised in any way. APTMA delegation also presented a cheque for Rs35 million to the CE for the drought victims of Balochistan and Sindh. Mian Habibullah said that APTMA would give another cheque for Rs15 million soon. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000615 ------------------------------------------------------------------- '3 years not enough for Ehtesab' ------------------------------------------------------------------- Shujaat Ali Khan KARACHI, June 14: Going by the fate of the first-ever reference filed under the current series of accountability laws, NAB Chairman Lt General Syed Amjad's concern that three years is too short a period to cleanse the body-politic of corruption is not entirely misplaced. In its anxiety to pursue high-profile cases, particularly those involving the ousted premier and his relations as accused, the prosecution has all but forgotten the Ehtesab Reference No 1, filed in November 1996 under the first Ehtesab Ordinance promulgated by the caretaker regime of president Farooq Khan Leghari. The reference was assigned to a three-member ehtesab bench of the Lahore High Court comprising Justices Ihsanul Haq Chaudhry, Mohammad Aqil Mirza and Abdul Hafeez Cheema (since removed or retired). So great was the public pressure for accountability after the dismissal of elected governments and dissolution of assemblies on Nov 5, 1996, that the caretaker regime issued a stringent law soon after assuming office. The judiciary also took up the first reference filed under it in right earnest. The accused or respondents engaged senior lawyers like Ijaz Hussain Batalvi, Raja Mohammad Anwar, Khwaja Sultan Ahmad, Malik Saeed Hassan, Ziaullah Sheikh, Mian Najamuzzaman (since elevated) and, above all, the Peshawar-based Farooq Adam Khan assisted by Miss Najma Khatoon. Mian Nusratullah, a former judge of a speedy trials court, was the sole prosecutor. The crux of the charge was that the Oil and Gas Development Corporation split a contract in 1995 for procurement of tubing heads or 'Xmas Trees' to accommodate the highest bidder alongside the lowest. M/s ABB Vetco Grey of Singapore should have been awarded the entire contract on merit. But the tender was bifurcated to oblige M/s ADOS of Islamabad. A loss of $195,433.89 was thereby alleged to have been caused to OGDC. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000615 ------------------------------------------------------------------- SC bars Hubco from approaching International Chamber of Commerce ------------------------------------------------------------------- Rafaqat Ali ISLAMABAD, June 14: The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that Hubco had no right to take its dispute with Wapda for arbitration before the International Chamber of Commerce as amendments to the Power Purchase Agreement required examination by a court of law. By a majority decision of 3-2, the court upheld the view of Wapda that amendments to the PPA had been obtained through misuse of power by public functionaries for extraneous consideration. The court restrained Hubco from taking the matter to the ICC's arbitration tribunal in London. It held: "These circumstances, prima facie, do establish the case of misuse of power by public functionaries for extraneous considerations requiring detailed examination and decision by a court of law after full-fledged trial." Authored by Justice Sheikh Riaz Ahmad, and endorsed by Justice Sheikh Ijaz Nisar and Justice Munir A. Sheikh, the majority judgment held that the supplemental deed, the first amendment and the second amendment to the PPA were not arbitrable and should be decided by a court of law. Justice Bashir Jehangiri and Justice Abdur Rehman in their minority judgment held that proper law of arbitration agreement between the parties was applicable and Hubco had a right to take the matter before the arbitration tribunal. They, however, said that the award by the ICC tribunal be brought to Pakistan for execution and it would then be challengeable in a court here. The Hub Power Company was represented by a team of 10 lawyers headed by Barrister Hafiz Pirzada. Fakhruddin G. Ibrahim and Umar Ata Bandial defended Wapda. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000615 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 100 children's murder: HRCP blames society for tragedy ------------------------------------------------------------------- Correspondent ISLAMABAD, June 14: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), holding the society's indifference also responsible for the tragedy of 100 children who were killed in Lahore by a self- confessed criminal, has called for legislation to check the exploitation of missing/runaway children. The Commission's conclusion is based on a survey it conducted of the victims' families who flocked to Lahore after Javed Iqbal Mughal revealed to a newspaper how he killed the children and dissolved their bodies in acid. The objective of the survey, which covered 48 victims, was to ascertain the socio-economic factors that could have contributed to this ghastly episode. It showed that one person alone could not be blamed for the liquidation of scores of young lives. It was also a fact that the "parents and families of the victims too did not make or were unable to make adequate efforts to trace the runaway children, the educational institutions failed to win the confidence of the pupils who disappeared during enrolment at schools/madaris or after giving up their studies, and the police took little interest in tracing the missing children." While Javed Iqbal was making the headlines in the press, the Commission recalled, the fate of over 6,000 missing children in Punjab alone was not known. This list may have grown longer over the past few months covering the entire country. Expecting that these revelations would shake the administration and the public of their negligence in dealing with such children, the HRCP stressed the urgent need to create a system under which missing/runaway children can be traced with the determination that the matter merits. Noting that there is no specific law to cover the exploitation of missing/runaway children, the HRCP urged the government to explore seriously the possibility of devising adequate legislation on the subject and tightening the existing laws on child abuse, trafficking and exploitation. It further proposed that: DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000611 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistan okays gas pipeline for India ------------------------------------------------------------------- TEHRAN, June 10: Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf gave his blessing on Saturday to a major gas line connecting Iran and India that would cross Pakistan, according to Iran's official news agency. "We are hoping for perfect understanding among the countries" of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), Musharraf was quoted as saying by IRNA. "That's why we recently signed a document giving our agreement to the gas-line project linking Iran, Pakistan and India." Iran and India have already met to start technical studies on the project, which would transport Iranian natural gas to India. Pakistan previously said it was supportive of the project but had not given its formal agreement.-AFP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000612 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sailya suspends strike for 15 days ------------------------------------------------------------------- KARACHI, June 11: The chairman, All Pakistan Organization of Small Traders and Cottage Industries (APOSTCI), Umer Sailya announced on Sunday to suspend for 15 days the ongoing country-wide strike observed by traders for the last 18 days. "In view of holy month of Rabiul Awwal and in the larger interest of the country, particularly the problems being faced by the people the strike is being suspended for 15 days", he said. However, he added, if the government failed in taking cognizance of their problems then after the presentation of the federal budget, a countrywide traders' convention would be called to chalk out future line of action. Speaking at a press conference here Mr Sailya said by observing strike for 18 days the business community and the people had clearly shown their resentment against the inapt and anti-traders policies pursued by CBR and the finance ministry. Distribution of tax survey forms, envisioned by the finance minister at the behest of the IMF, has failed to take off and in this regard all success stories projected by CBR officials carry no substance, he observed. Mr Sailya said that the move of the bureaucracy and the finance minister to create rift between the armed forces and the traders had failed. He dispelled the impression that the traders were against paying taxes, saying since the inception of the country they always fulfilled their obligations by paying regular taxes. Currently they were paying 22 kinds of taxes, Sailya added. He made it categorically clear that the business community was under no obligation to pay huge amounts to the government for maintaining opulent life style of corrupt bureaucracy, which was responsible for propelling the country towards present morass. He also offered that the business community was ready to pay 50 per cent of the total foreign debts, but before taking this step it would have to be ensured that the funds would be used for the specific purpose. He also urged the business community not to offer any resistance to the army team if they came to their shops for distribution of tax forms. Sailya asked the traders to accept the forms and after filing the same hand them over to him, so that he could present them to the chief executive. Mr Sailya criticized the Punjab government for its alleged buying loyalties of 14 businessmen on Thursday and for holding emergency press conference at the governor house at 2.30a.m and said such moves could not "browbeat our spirits as parting of few persons from the ongoing movement can not dent the spirit of the traders." To a question he said that the civil bureaucracy, judiciary and army officials should also fill the tax form.-PPI
=================================================================== BUSINESS & EONOMY DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000616 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Tax Amnesty scheme extended to 30th June ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report ISLAMABAD, June 15: The government has extended the tax amnesty scheme to June 30, with a view to allowing more people to whiten their assets. "Since there has been a strike for about two weeks, many people could not opt for the tax amnesty scheme for which its date has now been extended from June 15 to 30," Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz told reporters at the launching of the Riba-free Al- Meezan Investment Bank on Thursday. He, however, made it clear that there would be no further extension and the new deadline should be considered final. The minister said the scheme was progressing well as assets worth over Rs5 billion had already been declared. "I do not have the latest figures which might be higher". He further said that a decision had been taken under which people could declare their 50 per cent assets by paying upfront cash, while the remaining assets could be declared in three equal instalments for which they would have to pay 1.5 per cent extra on each instalment. The government had announced the scheme on March 1, to allow the holders of black money to whiten their assets by paying 10pc income tax. Earlier in the Nawaz Sharif government, this scheme was offered on 7pc tax, but the response was not encouraging. "We hope that on June 30 a large number of people would have opted for the scheme which would help them undertake their normal business activities without any fear," he added. In reply to a question, he said that an agreement with the traders had reached according to which the government would not re-open their cases relating to the tax returns of 1999-98. He, however, added that the government was still holding negotiations with the traders community to sort out some other issues. He clarified that all non-National Taxation Number holders would have to fill in tax survey forms and give their stock positions. In this regard, he revealed, certain amendments to the Income Tax Ordinance would be made and announced shortly. He said that over 200,000 forms had so far been distributed and the process of collecting the forms had started. Responding to another question, the minister said the traders had accepted his proposal that in future a group of 26 businessmen/traders would meet him to settle any dispute. If there was any procedural problem or any confusion about any thing this group would be invited for settlement, he added. He told a questioner that he would present the budget on radio on TV at 6pm on Saturday. He claimed that he had with him a "very able" team of professionals that would be producing a well-thought- out budget. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000612 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Rs770 billion budget likely: Govt pins hope on increased revenue ------------------------------------------------------------------- M. Ziauddin ISLAMABAD, June 11: With a proposed outlay of Rs770 billion against current year's expenditure of nearly Rs700 billion, the next year's budget is being prepared on the basis of highly ambitious revenue and development targets and a desire to give the overall economy a new direction and thrust. From indications it appears that the government will make all out efforts to collect as much as Rs450 billion of tax revenue next year against the current year's revised target of Rs357 billion. The jump of almost Rs93 billion in the CBR collection in the next 12 months against an achievement of an additional income of only Rs50 billion this year against the total collection of Rs308 billion last year appears rather highly optimistic and seems to be based on the hope that the ongoing income tax survey and other reforms would broaden the tax base significantly. The imposition of 02 per cent turnover tax in place of GST on the retail trade is expected to bring in an additional revenue of about Rs10 billion. The imposition of GST on agricultural inputs on the other hand is likely to yield an additional income of Rs5 billion. However, in most countries where VAT-mode-GST is in operation, the GST is not imposed on agricultural inputs for economic reasons and the buyers of agricultural products are allowed to presume a portion of the price they paid as GST, and get the deduction when they sold the commodity upstream after value addition. The extension of GST to services and professions is expected to yield another Rs20 billion. The tax on agricultural income which from the indications appears a certainty next year, is expected to bring in as much as Rs10 billion in the first year. This is, however, a provincial tax and its yield would therefore depend on the ability of the provincial tax collectors to enforce the law successfully. The ongoing survey is expected also to enhance income from property tax as currently it is being grossly under declared. One estimate puts the income from this source at around Rs8 billion. On the expenditure side, the government plans to bring down the interest rates further, including on the national saving schemes, thus bringing down the allocations for debt servicing. The downsizing of the government as a whole is also expected to yield significant savings but at the cost of increased unemployment. The government is also planning withdrawal of all the food subsidies from next year but to protect the really poor and indigent, well-focused poverty alleviation programmes are being developed. Perhaps emboldened by this hopeful scenario, the government proposes next year to spend as much as Rs150 billion on public sector development projects - a hefty 45 per cent increase over what is expected (Rs90 billion) to be spent under this head this year. However, despite the expectation of a nearly 25 per cent increase in the tax collection and the proposed plans to keep the expenditure on defence and other such non-development heads under control, the overall deficit next year because of the proposed massive increase in the development expenditure, is being seen to expand to Rs180 billion - almost the same level as in the current year at Rs183 billion, or 5.50 per cent of GDP. This would mean the overall budgetary deficit next year would be nearly 05pc of the GDP. It is not certain whether this would be acceptable to the IMF with whom Pakistan is negotiating a concessional assistance package amounting to nearly $2 billion over the next three years from the Fund's Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility. However, the choice before the government is very limited: if it cuts the next year's development budget to the current year's level in order to reduce the budgetary deficit to the IMF's prescribed level (04pc) then it would only reinforce the elements of recession causing further stagnation of the economy and more unemployment. And if it does not do this then, it will have to make a successful pitch at the next round of meetings with the IMF and win its approval for its budget, otherwise the country will face the threat of certain default. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000614 ------------------------------------------------------------------- '3,100 Pakistan Steel workers accept VRF' ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ihtashamul Haque ISLAMABAD, June 13: Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf has approved the plan of financial and manpower restructuring of the Pakistan Steel Mills in order to make the organisation fully viable. Official sources said here on Tuesday that a decision had been taken to offload 5533 employees of the Mills under Voluntary Retirement Facility (VRF) by offering them one plus two formula. The response to the VRF has been good as so far 3100 employees have opted for the scheme. The chief executive had approved the restructuring plan on May 20 after having a detailed meeting with the members of the Restructuring Committee, which was set up last year. It has been decided that the manpower strength of the Mills be brought down from the existing 20533 regular employees to 15000, as proposed by the Russian consultants. Some of the directors and officers of the Mills, sources said, had opposed the launching of VRF scheme but the management decided to go ahead with the programme as has been approved by the chief executive. Those who were opposing VRF scheme were told "not" to do sowith a view to making the organisation financially viable by cutting its huge losses in a record period of time. The loans of Pakistan Steel Mills had reached to the level of Rs 19.11 billion as on June 30, 1999. It has now been decided that these loans would be converted into two programmes for their repayment to five commercial banks of the country. The sources said that Rs 11.35 billion had been previously converted into mid-term loan and participatory redeemable term certificates at a mark up of 11 per cent. "And the amount of mark up was reached to Rs 2 billion annually and despite making 13/14 per cent profit, the Mills was unable to pay that mark up with the result that the liability continued to increase", a source said. But now a formula has been developed with the approval of the State Bank of Pakistan, under which an amount of Rs 11.35 billion which was the principal amount, would be paid off in 12 equal instalments from July 2000 at 11 per cent mark up rate or at the rate of 7 per cent treasury bills. As regard the remaining Rs 7.767 billion, the decision has been taken that it will be called a subordinated loan which too will be paid back in 12 equal instalments. The ministry of finance will pay off both these loans on behalf of the Pakistan Steel Mills. And after 13 years the Mills will start picking up the job of repayment of next seven installments. Nevertheless, the sources said that the ministry of finance has asked the management of the Mills to share 50 per cent of the expenses for the first year of the programme. The mills has accepted to do so. The financial cost of offloading 5533 employees was estimated to be Rs 3.7 billion and its additional cost was Rs 1.4 billion because of offering retirement under one plus two formula which was meant to give two additional gratuities for each completed year of service plus normal retirement benefits. The sources said that the chief executive had agreed with Chairman Pakistan Steel Mills. Col.(retd) Afzal that competent and honest officers should be retained so that the Mills could stop incurring losses. When the chairman of the Mills was contacted on phone,he confirmed that the chief executive has approved the new financial and manpower restructuring of the mills. He said that the Mills has achieve 100 % production capacity and that things were improving to have more profits. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000614 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Liquidity crunch: 18 housing projects held up ------------------------------------------------------------------- Parvaiz Ishfaq Rana KARACHI, June 13: The fate of 18 housing projects approved by the government out of a total of 42 awarded by the previous government under 'Mera Ghar,' scheme hangs in balance with no funds disbursed for their execution. These projects were approved by the Cabinet in March this year. After the lapse of three months the stalled work at the project sites since Oct 12, '99, could not re-start because the promised seed money has not been given to the contractors. Under a new setup, the scheme was renamed as 'Pakistan Housing Scheme' to be looked after by the Ministry of Housing and Works and a sum of rupee one billion as a seed money was to be provided from the Ministry of Finance. It was decided by the government that those contractors who were allowed to continue with their projects will be given funds at the earliest for reviving projects, economic activity as well as generating employment. Others were asked to submit claims against their jobs done for the settlement of their cases. However, uptil now none of them have received any funds, All Pakistan Contractors Association (APCA) sources said. The APCA members who were allowed to continue with their job work at 18 sites located in urban areas of the four provinces had been for the last three months approaching different authorities, including the Ministry of Housing and PHA, but to no avail. "Our members have already invested billions of rupees in mobilization as well as on plinth level work in most of projects awarded to us by previous government during Sept-Oct '99," APCA secretary Mohammad Younus Khan told Dawn on telephone from Lahore. The affected persons, he said, feel that the government should expedite the implementation of its decision as the delay has caused loss of million of rupees, both to the government as well as to contractors. He said that with the delay in implementation of the scheme the prices of building material and overheads of contractors are continuously on the rise and ultimately it will be a burden the national exchequer as under a provision, an eight per cent interest will have to be paid by Pakistan Housing Authority (PHA). Meanwhile, a nine-member APCA delegation on Tuesday met Chief Executive's principal secretary, Tariq Aziz and apprised him about the apathy of different government departments towards the scheme, particularly the long delay in providing funds by the Ministry of Finance, Tariq Aziz immediately has arranged a meeting of APCA delegation with secretary, Ministry of Housing. But as usual, the secretary shifted the burden on Ministry of Finance for not providing funds to be given as a seed money to contractors. Other issues raised by APCA delegation before the Principal Secretary to CE were in connection with awarding of contracts to NLC and FWO without issuing tenders. The APCA members claimed that all big contracts like coastal highway are being awarded through negotiations and not by inviting tenders and this was against the accepted norms of contracting. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000614 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Budget on 17th June ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ihtasham ul Haque ISLAMABAD, June 13: Minister for Finance Mr Shaukat Aziz will announce the budget for 2000-2001 on radio and television on June 17 at 6.30pm. Informed sources said that the budget speech of the finance minister has been planned to be telecast live at 6.30pm. However, there was also a possibility that it may be recorded at 3pm, after the approval of the budget by a joint meeting of the federal cabinet and the National Security Council (NSC) earlier in the day, they added. The budget, which was largely said to be a welfare oriented one, may also contain proposals to increase the salaries of the government employees, sources said. They said there was a 10 per cent increase likely in the salaries. This was yet to be approved by the Chief Executive. Also substantial funding for social sectors was proposed by the ministry of finance. The sources said that budget deficit of Rs 180 billion was a cause of real concern for the budget planners. In this regard the sources said that levy of additional taxes to the tune of Rs 25 billion could not been ruled out. Also there was no hope for reducing petroleum prices in the next quarter of the year. However, planners were thinking not to increase electricity and gas charges for domestic consumers. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000613 ------------------------------------------------------------------- State Bank buys $ from inter-bank market ------------------------------------------------------------------- Mohiuddin Aazim KARACHI, June 12: The State Bank on Monday sucked in some $60- $65 million in one-month swap from banks to prop up the foreign exchange reserves and inject local currency funds into liquidity - starved money market. Net liquid foreign exchange reserves have fallen to about $900 million. The inter-bank money market is so short of liquidity that call rates have remained almost pegged at 10.90 per cent in past two weeks with banks borrowing up to 10 billion of rupees from the State Bank as a routine to cover their daily positions. Bankers said the SBP entered into one-month rupee/dollar with half a dozen foreign and local private banks. They said the SBP struck the deals with the banks at a premium of five paisa over the spot price of the US dollar-or 1.14 per cent. Bankers said three European banks and some private local banks provided dollars to the State Bank against rupees out of their fresh foreign currency (F.E. 25) deposits mobilized before June 3, 1999. Banks have already placed with the SBP more than $300 million worth of such deposits raised afterwards. Bankers say total fresh foreign currency deposits of the banks - including $65-$65 million swapped on Monday-stand over $500 million. The SBP made no official statement. Sources close to the SBP would not say whether the swap would be a permanent feature. But bankers reached by Dawn said the SBP was likely to continue this practice off and on. They said so because they felt that intermittent swaps would best help the central bank in meeting all external liabilities in the weeks to come without any funds flowing in from IMF or World Bank. Bankers said the $60-$65 million swap on Monday helped the SBP pay the first coupon of $31 million on rescheduled Pakistan sovereign bonds immediately. Had there been no swap a $31 million outflow would have been difficult. Bankers said a total outflow of around $200-$250 million was due in the current month on account of debt payment-of public and private sector-and outward remittance of the stock market funds. This is a very sizable outflow in present circumstances marked by the absence of any foreign funds from multilateral agencies and a widening trade deficit: the deficit stood at $1.6 billion by the end of last month. The situation becomes more precarious as panic-driven buying of dollars continues from the open market as the annual budget draws nearer and the tax survey continues. Bankers said since the dollar had already been under pressure in the kerb market the SBP acted wisely by not entering into that market to buy greenbacks for meeting external foreign exchange obligations. This explains the need of the swap also. The swap not only kept the inter-bank exchange rate between Rs52.01- Rs52.03 to a dollar it also brought down the kerb market rates to Rs54.35-Rs54.45. On top of all the $60-$65 million swap resulted in inflow of Rs312-Rs338 million in the inter-bank money market. This partly offset the two-week long liquidity crunch in the market where banks have been borrowing heavily from the SBP everyday. Bankers said though the injection of fund into money market was smaller in size it did some morale boosting and led the market to believe that the liquidity crisis might not persist for too long. But the tiny injection could not stop banks from resorting to heavy discounting from the State Bank to cover their positions. Bankers said if the SBP continued the dollar/rupee swap it would also lead to faster realisation of export proceeds: The swap has already depressed forward buying of dollars by importers. Bankers said the premiums on forward buying fell to about a rupee over the spot price on Monday from Rs 1.25-Rs 1.40 on Friday; 56-58 paisa on three months from 70-80 paisa and 14-17 paisa on one month from 36- 38 paisa. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000613 ------------------------------------------------------------------- GST compliance: CBR devising new formula ------------------------------------------------------------------- Correspondent ISLAMABAD, June 12: The CBR is devising a formula to ensure maximum GST coverage of all those manufacturing sectors which have reputation of poor compliance despite being registered. Dawn was informed here on Monday by relevant officials that "right from the launch of budgetary exercise in mid-April, 2000, we took up hundreds of cases of non-compliant sub-sectors of electronics, textile and electrical goods manufacturers. We are under instructions that strict compliance be ensured by devising a formula to discourage evasion." The formula worked out to ensure compliance requires fresh item- wise study of each of non-compliant manufacture sector's capacity to produce, utilities consumption and input utilization/waste in the production process. Having determined afresh these aspects, the CBR would be indexing each unit as a GST-compliant under normal sales tax regime. CBR officials revealed that out of currently registered 72,000 GST- paying regular non-filers and under-assessees, about 90% belong to the manufacturing sub-sectors of electric/electronic goods, textile and about 30 other items where the compliance has remained "extremely poor over the past four years. The new formula for ensuring maximum compliance on GST-assessment basically aims at scrapping all capacity-based and fixed-amount based assessment modes which remained operative in the past for various manufacturing sectors. The recent revenue performance appraisal conducted by an IMF team also pointed out that the non-performing manufacturing sub-sectors have "caused distortions and prevented other sectors from maintaining VAT-mode documentation". Under this mode of documentation, the tax-assessment is allowed only on value of inputs acquired for production, and the sales secured. This mode does not allow determination of production volume on the basis of capacity of the GST-registered units determined on consumption of electricity etc, or payment of a fixed amount of sales tax on the basis of an assumed turnover determined on the basis of sales/production in that particular sub-sector. Under the new formula, which is likely to be operative under the Finance Ordinance 2000, all the manufacturing sectors and sub- sectors would be submitting for audit all details with regard to input-output and waste of raw materials, and would be required to assess their tax accordingly. A proposal has reportedly been approved by the CBR and its GST Wing has been processing a formula for ensuring maximum compliance by various sectors ever since the introduction of sales tax regime. Once implemented, "it will pave theway for bringing more than 32 manufacturing sectors into the ambit of input/output mode of assessing GST", said a senior CBR official. He explained that from the very inception, the GST mode was to be implemented in phases, keeping in view the capacity of each sector to maintain documentation and submitting input/output details for auditing. The sub-sectors which were found most reluctant during 1994-99 to come into this ambit, were offered different kinds of methods to assess their production and sales, and, tax amount, accordingly. This was part of a strategy to first create a culture of documentation in the manufacturing sectors, and then demand 100% compliance, he said. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000613 ------------------------------------------------------------------- CBR reforms to update wage structure ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sabihuddin Ghausi KARACHI, June 12: The government plans to push up its spending in the Central Board of Revenue (CBR) from hardly one per cent of the total collection of taxes at present to about 1.5% to two per cent in next three years. This increase in the CBR spending would be both by way of improving the wage structure of employees as well as investment in technological upgrading of the income tax, sales tax and customs. A broad hint in this regard was dropped by the finance minister Shaukat Aziz on Saturday during his meeting with local businessmen at Karachi at a pre-budget seminar in which he said the next budget would incorporate administrative measures to improve the efficiency of the CBR and other government agencies. Tax experts say that in Pakistan, the total expenditure in the CBR is less than one per cent of the total revenue collection as against a rough average of 2% in South and East Asian countries and 4% in the developed countries. Yet the tax collection agencies of the South Asian, East Asian and the developed countries have much lesser number of employees as compared to that of Pakistan. In these countries the tax officials are paid higher salaries, attractive perks and given rewards on their performance. Tax officials of these countries have immense powers and authorities including to raid the office and residential premises. But there is hardly any case of abuse of power and authority in these South and East Asian countries where tax officials are reported to have raided the residences and offices of high and mighty political figures, big business houses and the corrupt bureaucrats and have got them convicted in the courts of law. With an estimated workforce of 33,000, experts say the average per employee expenditure in the CBR comes to hardly over one lakh rupees a year or about Rs 9,000 a month. Considering the wide disparity in the wage scales of the bottom and the top grade of the government employees, the average take home of the majority of these employees is even less than Rs 4,000 a month. A retired vice president of the World Bank had already prepared a report on improving the efficiency of the CBR. He has now been asked to update his report and tax experts expect that the recommendations proposed by the World Bank official would be included in the coming budget. Independent economists including Dr Hafiz A Pasha who had been associated with three governments in Pakistan have been pleading for a new wage structure for the government employees. His proposal is to offer a consolidated package to the government employee which should be more than five times what he gets now as salary. But then the government should stop providing all the facilities of unlimited telephone calls, a fleet of cars, personal servants and drivers and a big house to live. With a pay scale of Rs 20,000 a month or Rs 240 thousand a year, the total expenses of the government on the upkeep of a federal secretary amounts to well over five million rupees annually. Obviously, the bureaucrats are resisting all such moves which propose to change their salary structures. The existing arrangement suits them as it offers them vast and unlimited benefits and that too all concealed. Shaukat Aziz in his speech before the local businessmen last Saturday hinted at further purges in the CBR and other government departments. He said more than one thousand employees have already been suspended. This list of over one thousand suspended employees in the CBR has already become a controversial issue and there are many stories circulating in the government circles of how the list was prepared and who targeted whom. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000613 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Economic Survey shows 4.5% growth ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ihtasham ul Haque ISLAMABAD, June 12: The Economic Survey for 1999-2000 is being released on June 15, showing a GDP growth rate of 4.5% against the target of 5%. Though the survey to concede a half percentage point less than the target, it will be higher than the previous year by 1.4 percentage point, informed sources said. The achievement of 4.5pc GDP growth rate has been mainly attributed to better performance of the agricultural sector, specially by producing 21 million ton wheat out of which 01 million ton would be exported. The survey has termed the 4.5pc growth rate for the current fiscal an achievement. This combines an impressive growth rate in major crops, construction, electricity/gas distribution, and banking and insurance on the one hand and stagnation in large-scale manufacturing on the other. The economy was projected to grow by 5pc in 1999-2000, comprising 4.3pc growth in agriculture, 5.5pc in industry (4.3pc in large- scale manufacturing) and 5.1pc in other sectors. Inflation rate was estimated to be 6pc in the current financial year. A slight slippage in the area of overall growth rate was mentioned in the survey. The agriculture output grew by 4.3pc in 1999-2000; it comprises growth rate of 5.4pc in major crops, 3pc in livestock and 4pc in fisheries. The growth rate in major crops was assumed on the production of cotton which would be shown in survey as 11.2 million bales. "The survey is still being finalized and the final figure could go little higher," said a source. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000615 ------------------------------------------------------------------- GST dues: CBR asks Wapda to pay Rs2 billion ------------------------------------------------------------------- Correspondent ISLAMABAD, June 14: The CBR has informed the finance ministry that failure in getting Rs2 billion deposits of GST dues from Wapda would render its collection in crunch, and that measures be taken to ensure that at least a quarter of this amount is deposited before June 20, 2000. A meeting between Wapda, the CBR and MoF senior officials took up the issue here on Tuesday at a meeting held at the ministry of water and power. The meeting decided that the amount due from Wapda in GST be split into major instalments and a major portion of the amount be paid within the current financial year. The CBR had asked the ministry of finance in March 2000 to intervene and mediate for ensuring payment of these dues. Senior Wapda officials told the MoF and CBR senior officials here that the federal government should first ensure payment of dues payable by the federal and provincial government departments and organization. Wapda had agreed to pay GST under the formula which provides that it would pay tax from the amount deducted from the consumers of more than 500 units per month, and that it would not be charging the sales tax from this 40% domestic and commercial clientele not using . Later, finding that its revenues from the GST-deduction from the targeted clientele were not proving substantial enough to pay the CBR, it placed its case of non-payment of GST with MoF. The authorities argued that it would not be paying the tax without being compensated, especially in view of the rising rates of furnace oil (used in power generation) and due to high rates of power acquired for distribution from the PPIs. Wapda was to pay Rs2.53 billion in GST by March 15, and also file a GST return with the CBR on this count as a registered assessee. It did pay Rs1 billion but did not file its GST return for March 2000 (due on April 2000) and is asking the MoF to first settle the issue of over-priced electricity generation inputs. The CBR, again in the last week of May 2000, asked MoF to come to the help of the former for ensuring expeditious release of tax money from Wapda. Its plea was based on the CBR-Wapda agreement for payment of GST by not passing on the burden to 40% domestic and small-use commercial consumers. The Tuesday meeting reportedly ended with a decision that the Wapda authorities would be informing the CBR by the end of the current week as to how much amount in the first instalment of the GST due they would be able to pay before the end of the current financial year. The Wapda authorities had previously not responded positively to the repeated reminders of CBR for deposit of Rs 1.35 billion due in GST on March 15 (last date) 2000. This amount was due for the month of February 2000, deductible as per the GST procedure on electricity. Wapda having agreed to the formula for depositing this amount through a single return form, had delayed payment despite the mediation of MoF in April 2000 in this connection. Wapda has already been placed on top of the Sales Tax defaulters' list. Wapda had demanded a Rs2.5 billion compensation from the ministry of finance for paying Rs1.253 billion sales tax. This compensation was demanded by Wapda authorities for the losses incurred due to its liability under the GST formula, not to charge the tax from the 40% of the domestic and commercial consumers who are not using electricity above 500 units a month. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000615 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Systems being changed: Ishrat ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report PESHAWAR, June 14: Income tax and Sales tax laws are being changed to improve the tax collection and to weed out corruption rooted in the systems, governor State Bank Dr Ishrat Hussain said on Wednesday. "The menace of corruption would not end unless the system is completely changed," said Dr Ishrat, adding "the income tax and sales tax ordinances are being replaced to end discretion and contact with tax payers which provides opportunities for corruption". He made these remarks while talking to a group of local traders and industrialists on Wednesday. Admitting that by suspending 1000 CBR officials improvement could not ensured, he said that corruption would not be eliminated even if the entire CBR staff was to be removed. "There is a need for inducting young blood, increasing salaries of the CBR's staff and vital changes in the income tax and sales tax laws their and penalty clauses and procedures to put the things straight," said the SBP governor. The number of federal taxes would be brought down to three, namely customs duty, income tax and sales tax whereas the provincial taxes would be brought down to five or six from the existing over 25. Reduction in the number of taxes, said the SBP governor, was a part of the government's anticipated move to bring about improvements in the taxation laws. "This is a ridiculous law which we inherited. It would be changed to facilitate tax payers and to restore private sector's confidence in the government," said Dr Ishrat. Aa for the investment climate he said: "We did every thing possible during the last six to seven months to ensure conducive climate by ensuring consistency in policies, doing away with restrictions on the stock exchange, but except for the textile no other sector showed confidence". DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000615 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Govt borrowed $500m from ARY gold ------------------------------------------------------------------- M. Ziauddin ISLAMABAD, June 14: Pakistan has borrowed nearly as much as 500 million dollars from Dubai based gold trading company ARY under swap arrangement in the last ten years. Islamabad still owes nearly 200 million dollars to this company as the swap under which this amount was borrowed will extend up to 2003. The ARY Trading Company, according to newspaper reports, has recently been made a member of London Bullion Market Association. In a series of letters sent to the Chief Executive, General Pervez Musharraf, since late last year, the chief executive and managing director of ARY, Haji Abdul Razzak has claimed that he has also invested more than 50 million dollars in various industrial projects in Pakistan. In one of these letters, copies of which have been obtained by Dawn, Haji Razzak has claimed that despite its best efforts the previous government could not prove that his company was granted monopolistic license for the import of gold and silver into the country, or that the import at the 'lower' rates of duties and taxes by the ARY resulted in a loss of nearly Rs 2billion to the government or that Asif Ali Zardari was paid $10 million dollars for granting the favour. The fact that the license of the ARY traders had not been cancelled till today has been quoted by Haji Razzak as evidence of his innocence. He also claimed that while at the time of granting of license, the customs duty was fixed at the rate of 1.40 dollar per tola, the same was reduced to 1 dollar in 1998-99 by the very government which had accused him of making windfall gains by getting undue duty concessions. In another letter dated April 2000 which Haji Razzak had addressed to Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz, he had offered to sponsor a scheme to promote home remittances. His proposed scheme has two elements: 1. Rationalize the exchange rate (to Rs. 54 to a dollar buying and Rs. 54.40 to a dollar selling from the present Rs. 51.40 to a dollar buying and Rs. 51.90 selling). 2. One company in collaboration with some security management firm be authroized to collect all home remittances and then send the amount to Pakistan for onward delivery at the door steps of beneficiaries all over the country. There are according to Haji Razzak 1.5 million Pakistani workers in Gulf countries and if each one of them sent home 150 dollars a month on an average through legal channels Pakistan would earn over $2 billion a year. And this can be doubled if efforts were made to send more trained people to Gulf and organize their home remittances on scientific lines, he added. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000611 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Privatization law in next budget ------------------------------------------------------------------- Reporter KARACHI, June 10: Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz has said that a privatization law will be announced in the budget to ensure that the sell-off of public sector enterprizes is transparent and free of influence. He invited private sector entrepreneurs to form groups to participate in the privatization of banks and public sector corporations like Pakistan Insurance Corporation, National Insurance Corporation and State Life Insurance Corporation so that they are taken over by the local parties instead of their going into foreign hands. At a largely attended meeting at the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) on macro policies which will be pursued in the budget, he said studies are being carried out for corporatization of National Bank, KPT and PQA to free them from the bureaucratic control. To restore investors' confidence, he said it has been decided that the banks will not institute any case of bank default against businessmen without the approval of the State Bank. He said that committee has been constituted under his chairmanship to scrutinise cases involving businessmen before referring to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). According to a FPCCI's press release, he said the establishment of corporate industrial restructuring corporation which will take over the sick units from the banks will be announced in the budget. According to sources in the meeting, the finance minister said the government will consider to cut mark up rate by two per cent in the budget 2000-2001. He assured the businessmen that the taxes would be reduced in the budget while as per plan the rate of wealth tax would be cut in phases. Later talking to newsmen, he showed his ignorance about the closure of 50 per cent markets in Karachi on Saturday after a successful negotiations with traders on Friday. He was satisfied over the talks with traders on Friday which led to removal of misunderstandings of the small traders. The response to the outcome of the meeting was good and business activity is being restored. He added that businessmen in the meeting have welcomed the economic policies as well as changes in tax survey forms. He said he had seen the budget proposals of the FPCCI, saying that these are very useful and have been given due consideration. He added that most of the FPCCI's budget proposals would be incorporated in the up-coming budget. The government has planned to give its monthly or quarterly expense details on website in order to inform the tax payers how their taxes are being spent by the government, he said. He assured that the problems being faced by the insurance sector relating to management expenses, presumptive tax, capital gain tax and the central excise duty on insurance policies, created by the finance act 1999-2000 would be removed. He said if any issue arises from the forthcoming Insurance Ordinance 2000 would be redressed after the federal budget. Earlier, FPCCI president, Fazal ur Rahman Dittu welcomed the promise of the finance minister to reform the tax system and reiterated the long standing demand of the business community for withdrawal of wealth tax, the merger of labour-related levies and the separation of judicial and executive arms of the tax administration system. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000616 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Smart rally in textiles on expected fiscal incentives ------------------------------------------------------------------- Reporter KARACHI, June 15: Shares on Thursday maintained their upward drive followed by strong selective support aided partly by reports of positive pre-budget economic indicators. The KSE 100-share index recovered another 33.43 points at 1,492.35. The day's limelight was, however, stolen by the textile sector as most of the leading shares came in for active pre-budget short- covering, finishing with smart rallies ranging from Rs4.00 to 7.00 without matching selling. "Market talk that the textile industry could be the chief beneficiary of the fiscal incentives due to be announced in the budget was said to be the main force behind the current run-up", said a stock analyst. Being the largest export earner, the army led government seems to have decided to give it the needed push to allow it to play its due role in the revival of national economy, he added. But it was pretty difficult to find evidence of speculative buying on any of the counters as leading bulls stayed on the sidelines awaiting the fiscal steps in the next budget due to be announced on June 17. "Unlike previous years, there are no pre-budget rumours as the national budget remained a sacred document until it was officially presented to the nation as well as the trade and industry", said a leading broker. The KSE 100-share index rose by 33.43 points at 1,49.35 points as compared to 1,458.92 a day earlier, indicating it may breach the barrier of 1,500 point in the post-budget sessions during the next week if investor perceptions about the new national budget prove correct. "I don't call it a big pre-budget event as the market essentially responded to its technical demands rather than any budgetary leaks", analysts at the KASB & Co said. But unlike the previous pre-budget sessions, the situation is a bit different this year as early June default of some of the members and consequent massive losses suffered by the general investors, has taken steam out of the market, they added. "Low daily traded volumes reflect that investors are not inclined to make pre-budget short-covering even on the safe havens as the direction of the market is still unclear", most floor brokers believe. They said the direction of the market will be clear during the post-budget sessions based largely on the fiscal steps to boost stock trading. However, smart rallies in most of the textile and synthetic shares indicate that some of the leading brokers have found cue about some of the fiscal steps being announced in the budget for the export- oriented industries. Wednesday's meeting of the APTMA delegation led by its chief Mohsin Aziz with the chief executive and his assurance to give needed incentives to the textile sector seems to have triggered buystops on most of the low-priced as well as some blue chips for capital gains. Energy sector also attracted good support followed by reports that there will be no change in the retail prices till the next quarter ending Sept 1, 2000. Blue chips on other counters, notably in the chemical and cement sectors where rumours of some incentives are due also attracted good support. Barring textile shares, which showed general run-up, leading shares on other counters also showed good gains under the lead of 8th ICP, English Leasing, Adamjee Insurance, Jamal Din Wali Sugar, Al-Ghazi Tractors, Millat Tractors, Lever Brothers and PIC, rising by Rs2.00 to 45.00. Losses on the other hand were mostly fractional barring Ellcot Textiles, Fazal textiles, Bolan Casting, Century Paper and Artistic Denim, which fell by Rs2.00 to 7.00. But largest decline of Rs7.00 and 25.00 were noted in Attock Refinery, Shell Gas and Knoll Pharma, which fell by Rs7.00.10.0 and 25.00 respectively. Trading volume did not show any significant change owing to lack of speculative buying and fell to 139m shares from the overnight's 143m shares. Advancing issues held a strong lead over the losers at 120 to 73, with 35 shares holding on to the last levels. PTCL again topped the list of most actives modestly higher by 80 paisa at Rs26.65 on 49m shares followed by Hub-power firm 20 paisa at Rs15.40 on 20m shares, PSO higher, up Rs3.80 at Rs 158.00 on 18m shares, ICI Pakistan, firm 30 paisa at Rs13.15 on 9m shares and Sui Northern, higher 65 paisa at Rs13.40 on 9m shares. Other actives were led by FFC-Jordan Fertiliser, easy five paisa on 7m shares, Dewan Salman, up Rs1.55 on 6m shares, Dhan Fibre, steady 15 paisa on 4m shares, Ibrahim Fibre, firm 10 paisa on 3m shares and Lucky Cement, up 25 paisa on 2m shares. DEFAULTING COMPANIES: Allied Motors came in for active selling and was marked down by 10 paisa at Rs1.50 on 13,000 shares followed by Gammon Pakistan, easy 15 paisa at Rs9.35 on 5,000 shares, and Hakim Textiles, unchanged at 0.50 on 2,500 shares. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000616 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Banks to Open Internet Merchant Accounts ------------------------------------------------------------------- Reporter KARACHI, June 15: The State Bank on Thursday allowed banks to open Internet Merchant Accounts to regularise the activities of business houses already engaged in e-commerce and to bring others into this fold. A SBP circular (F.E. 6) says Internet Merchant Accounts can be opened either in local currency or in US dollar. It says that those desiring to open these accounts will have to submit a copy of their national tax number (NTN) certificates to their bank. The circular says that the accounts can be opened only by the people who have a registered place of business in Pakistan. It says that those intending to export goods or services must also provide a copy of export registration certificate from Export Promotion Bureau. The SBP circular says that such holders of internet merchant accounts who want to transact business outside Pakistan would submit E-forms worth less than US$ 500 each to their respective bank. The bank would submit the same in a consolidated form to SBP every month. Senior bankers say this particular clause of the circular is aimed at facilitating software exporters. The circular says banks shall recover charges on the Internet Merchant Accounts in accordance with Prudential Regulations. It says any clarification in this regard could be obtained from Banking Policy and Regulation Department. The circular says banks shall be responsible for reporting business through these accounts to Foreign Exchange Department of State Bank. Banks will be responsible also for reporting any suspected transactions against the laws of the country. Earlier this month the State Bank had asked all banks to set up separate units in their offices to ensure proper credit flow towards software exporters. It had also asked banks to provide export finance to these exporters against the collateral of LCs or confirmed orders.Back to the top
=================================================================== EDITORIALS & FEATURES 20000611 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Misguided zeal ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ardeshir Cowasjee "ALL bigotry is blind and stupid and savage. Sectarian bigotry is as bad as inter-religious bigotry. Bigotry stifles reason and the bigot in his frenzy is out to force all to believe what he believes." This is what we were taught at school in Karachi not very long ago. But then our teacher was not a preacher. He was a Dasturan Dastur, a Shams-ul-Ulema, a Ph.D. from Colombia (1908), and in 1929 was given an honorary D.Litt. from the same university when it celebrated its 175th anniversary and honoured its alumni. His name was Maneckji Nusserwanjee Dhalla. He died in May 1956. To move on to what is being taught to the children of today in our government schools and colleges and to quote from a recent report entitled 'The Menace of Education' written by Pervez Hoodbhoy, a member of the Education Advisory Board of the Federal Ministry of Education, an MIT man, who has managed to remain 'educated' in Pakistan. He teaches at the Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad and each year is invited to lecture at MIT and the University of Maryland. "So what are the values currently being transmitted and communicated in Pakistan's schools? Obviously there is some variation across rich and poor schools, between villages and cities, and across provinces. But the basic road-map is provided by the school curriculum. Lest there be any confusion the reader should know that, by an act of Parliament passed in 1976, there is one and only one allowed road-map, prepared by the curriculim wing of the federal ministry of education, Government of Pakistan. "The usefulness of having a national curriculum was soon recognized by Gen Zia-ul-Haq. In 1981 he decreed that henceforth Pakistani education was to be totally redefined and history rewritten according to his vision of Pakistan. From now on the struggle for Pakistan was no longer to be shown as a victorious struggle for a Muslim homeland. Instead, it was to be depicted as the movement for an Islamic state run according to Islamic law. Even if it conflicted with reality, the heroes of the Pakistan movement - Jinnah, Iqbal, Syed Ahmed Khan - were to be projected as Islamic heroes. Furthermore all subjects, including the sciences, were to be speedily Islamized." Consider the impact of the national curriculum objectives on the mind of a 12-year old child in his last year at primary school. He is not taught to hope for a joyous future, a good life in a peace loving country in which goodwill towards man and the well being of its citizens prevails. The child is told that life is all about battling invisible enemies and that fear is to be feared. The kindergarten to class v curriculum adopted by the ministry of education in 1995 is, to say the least, a bizarre piece of work. At the completion of Class V the child has to be able to - 1) explain the importance of the work of past heroes of Pakistan. 2) identify the great personalities who contributed to the making of Pakistan. 3) demonstrate an appreciation for the work of Muslim heroes. 4) demonstrate respect and reverence for the founder of Pakistan. 5) demonstrate respect for the leaders of Pakistan. How is a child meant to do all this? In fact, how can any sensible adult be expected to respect, lumped together, a group consisting of, inter alia, Ghulam Mohammed, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Zia-ul-Haq, Nawaz Sharif, Benazir Bhutto? Amongst the objectives to be achieved is the ability to - 1) understand the Hindu and Muslim differences and the resultant need for Pakistan; 2) know all about India's evil designs against Pakistan; 3) acknowledge and identify forces that may be working against Pakistan; 4) demonstrate by actions a belief in the fear of Allah; 5) demonstrate the desire to preserve the ideology, integrity and security of Pakistan; 6) make speeches on jihad and shahadat; 7) guard against rumor mongers who spread false news and to stage dramas signifying the evils of rumors; 8) understand the Kashmir problem; 9) collect pictures of policemen, soldiers and National Guards. How can a child be expected to preserve ideology of Pakistan? And how on earth is a 12-year old expected to understand and know all about the 'Kashmir problem'? As for the speechifying, one is rendered speechless. He must also know - 1) the place of Pakistan in world affairs; 2) the importance of the location of Pakistan in the world and specifically to other Islamic countries; 3) the role of the Defence Forces of Pakistan; 4) the functions of the Supreme Court of Pakistan; 5) the problems of Pakistan. He is expected to - 1) discuss electric load-shedding; 2) visit garbage dumps and police stations [presumably to define the basic differences between the two]. Now to quote from a textbook entitled 'Pakistan Studies' published by the government to be taught in Classes IX and X : "After the death of Aurangzeb Alamgir in 1707 AD his successors could not control the vast Moghul Empire and as a result South Asia gradually fell prey to the forces of anarchy."One reason given is "the spirit of holy struggle and war (Jihad) which was the fountainhead of power of Muslim kingdoms faded gradually. Thus the military power became weak. Ease and laziness blunted the military prowess." For some unknown reason, when the story of Pakistan catches up with the 20th century and the 1980s, there is a lacuna as to the departure of Zia-ul-Haq from the national scene : "Unfortunately the Junejo government was dismissed on May 29 1988 after it remained in power for three years and two months. The National Assembly and the provincial assemblies were dissolved by the president. In November 1988, general elections were held on a party basis." Discussing factors that lead to the high birth rate in Pakistan, the book teaches that the primary factor is the "hot climate of the country."And on the secession of East Pakistan, all that the book has to say is : "Bangladesh was separated from Pakistan and became an independent country in 1971." Compulsory reading for BA, B.Com, MBBS, and B.Sc Engineering is another book entitled 'Pakistan Studies' which attempts to explain the ideology of Pakistan : "What does Pakistan mean? It means there is no God but Allah."Dr Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi defines it further : "Thus the Pakistan ideology is the guiding principle of the Muslim majority regions of the South Asian subcontinent for obtaining an ideal Muslim state, Pakistan which has been chosen as a keynote for passing life, both individually and collectively, according to the Islamic conception of life and for resurgence of Muslim society." In the year 2000, we finally have a government which acknowledges that education is a most vital sphere of national development : "A comprehensive review of the education sector is in progress with the aim of identifying specific strategies and actions to ensure fundamental and purposeful improvements in every sector of this most vital sphere." The Chief Executive, General Pervez Musharraf, has chosen well as far as his education ministers are concerned. Dr Zubeida Jalal, the federal minister of education, is a liberal well-qualified woman, approved of by all our known and able educationists who in the past have had to cope with men such as Ghous Ali Shah. Professor Anita Ghulam Ali, the provincial minister in Sindh, has mobilized a team of twenty English-speaking university teachers and engaged them in rewriting the English text for the Sindh Textbook Board of books taught from Class I to Class XII. The minister in Punjab, Akhtar Saeed, is also reputed to be liberally educated as is the able and indefatigable literacy minister Shaheen Attiqur Rahman. In Balochistan, Dr Razia Babar is a Ph.D. in Geography; and in NWFP, we also have a liberal man in Imtiaz Gilani. The six in charge of the country's education, with four women in the majority, get on well and form a competent team. They are keen to revise the curriculum and with the generals, the mullahs, and the politicians busy elsewhere, they should be able to get on with the job undisturbed. Cleaning up the curriculum is a must if there is to be any worthwhile education imparted to our citizens of the future. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000616 ------------------------------------------------------------------- How one man can make a difference ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ayaz Amir Hafez al-Assad never allowed the least hint of unseemly compromise to stain either his dignity or his country's. On matters of principle he stood like a rock defying both Israel and the United States. No chauvinist or mindless gunslinger like his troublesome neighbor, Saddam Hussein, he yet went to war when he had to but after weighing the odds and calculating the risks at stake. He was a thinking man, cerebral and astute. Combined with steadfastness and devotion these qualities turned him into a formidable ruler. Syria before Assad seized total power in 1970 was known for its coups, its internecine conflicts and unions and breakups with Nasser's Egypt. Assad was no lily-livered democrat and indeed had he been one he would not have survived in the Byzantine maze of Syrian politics. Dissent therefore had no place in his lexicon. When what can loosely be termed as the Muslim brotherhood raised the banner of revolt in the city of Hama in 1983, artillery, no less, was used to crush them, leaving about 10,000 dead. At home no one dared challenge him again. With Assad 'iron hand' was no empty metaphor as it has been with successive Pakistani strongmen. When it came down on anyone no illusions were left about its weight. Either through war or peace Assad was not able to wrest the Golan back from Israel. This remained a disappointment with him till the end. But he gave his country and his people something which, if measured in any true scales of justice, was taller than the Golan Heights: self-respect. Where other Arab countries were treated (as they still are) patronisingly or with derision by Israel and its patrons, Syria was not. Assad stood up to Israel and did not barter his country's honor for any burlesque peace as the other Arab frontline entities did one by one: Egypt, Jordan and finally a discredited PLO. In many of Assad's obituaries it has been said that he gave Syria, with its 17 million people, an importance far outweighing its military strength. All too true and not without a hard lesson for a country such as ours. Assad never 'proclaimed' his country's importance or stressed its strategic location. He conducted himself with firmness and dignity, stood up to his enemies and stuck by his principles. Automatically, as the years rolled by, Syria's importance and the reputation of its ruler grew. Contrast this with Pakistan. A nation of 140 million souls with a huge military, a nation possessed now of nuclear weapons, its leaders forever mounting the parapets and proclaiming their country's strategic importance, indeed almost beseeching the world to be taken seriously, and yet, for all this chest-thumping, treated with scant respect. Assad turned the few chips his country had into great and enduring advantages. Pursued by God knows what winds of ill fortune we have reduced comparatively greater advantages into things of no value. Assad was more of a warrior than all the tinpot figures we have had put together. But he never went into a war foolishly or without a clear recognition of the strategic objectives he wanted to attain. Along with Sadat he plotted the 1973 war against Israel with the aim of breaking the stalemate gripping the Middle East since the great debacle of Arab arms in 1967. When Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982 Assad felt Syria's interests to be threatened and therefore fought back by mounting an indirect assault (with the help of Lebanese auxiliaries) on the Israeli army. Ultimately Israel had to give up the occupation of Beirut and retreat to south Lebanon. In the Gulf War Assad sided with the Allied coalition not out of any love for the US but because Saddam's occupation of Kuwait posed a threat to Syria and the regional balance of power. Consider the mess we have made of our wars. The 1965 we triggered without a clear conception of what we were trying to gain. The 1971 war was imposed on us as a consequence of our own follies. In Afghanistan we got involved for a few pieces of silver. The silver has long since gone, the wreckage and detritus of that thoughtless involvement remain. And in Kargil.... But let Kargil be for this was a piece of folly which only a Homer writing of another Trojan War can do full justice to. Would an Assad ever have contemplated such an ill-conceived adventure? Each of Assad's conflicts reinforced his country's claim to be taken seriously. Each of our wars has dealt a blow to our self- confidence and diminished our importance in the world's eyes. No one had the gumption to tell Assad that Syria should forget about the Golan Heights. Everyone is telling us to forget Kashmir and get on with life. This has less to do with the merits of the dispute, or indeed with anything India might have done, than with our diminished standing in the world. It is true Kashmir is disputed territory while the Golan is a slice of the Syrian fatherland. But then if Syria had been weak Israel and the US would have treated even this fact with contempt. No fiction is more misleading than the one which claims that Kargil highlighted the importance of the Kashmir dispute. A few more such high-lightings and we can say goodbye to Kashmir, even its memory wiped clean from the international slate. But as if enough is not enough, consider the fresh pantomime being performed, with a former prime minister putting blame for the Kargil fiasco on the army high command and the high command, through its professional surrogates, calling the former prime minister's action shameful and an act of treason. To begin with, Kargil was not our finest hour. If ever there was a shambles we walked into with our eyes open it was that. Of course our men fought valiantly. There is no question about it. But that is the whole point. What were their heroic and great sacrifices for? In the pursuit of what clear-sighted aim did they lay down their lives? Our soldiers and young officers fought no less gallantly in the great encounters of 1965 and 1971. But to what end? There has never been a shortage of bravery in the Pakistan army. But what about shortsightedness and lack of strategic brilliance at the highest levels? There has been no shortage of that either. Nawaz Sharif disclaims responsibility for the Kargil fiasco. That's a lie. He and the then army command were equally responsible for it or else what was he doing as prime minister? The full story of Kargil from our side will never be written because revealing the truth about our past has never been our forte. If heavy curtains of silence are drawn around other shabby episodes in our history why should Kargil be any different? Still, if the truth is too painful why fall back on fantasies? By exonerating himself of all blame Nawaz Sharif is weaving a fantasy. By giving full vent to a misplaced indignation, the government is trying to weave a counter- fantasy. Both are doing no service to the country. Actually, the prosecutor general on the accountability front, Farooq Adam, is greatly to blame for all this fuss. Why did he allow Nawaz Sharif to make statements to the press? By allowing Nawaz Sharif to meet newsmen freely, Farooq Adam must have thought he was being a gentleman. Nawaz Sharif, being who he is, took full advantage of the fact. Why should anyone be surprised? If Nawaz Sharif made a career out of taking advantage of other people, especially his benefactors, can he change his spots now? Still, since the issue is once more fresh, a few more words about Kargil may be in order. If it was a blunder, the humiliation of the Washington Declaration flowed inexorably from it. Why blame Nawaz Sharif alone for this blow to what remained of Pakistani pride? After all he was only being himself and not Hafez al-Assad for he was no Hafez al-Assad. The best thing we can do therefore is to forget that Kargil and the Washington climbdown ever happened. We have never been at a loss for inventing myths. In the highest national interest let us invent another one. Let the Chief Executive also abide by this myth and not keep exhuming the corpse of the Kargil operation as he has done again in a newspaper interview by saying that India had suffered huge casualties in the Kargil fighting. If what we ultimately suffered was a defeat in every sense of the word, of what consolation to us can be the extent of Indian casualties? It is like Germany saying that it lost the war but inflicted huge casualties on the Russians. Another thing. In all the heat of official indignation in response to Nawaz Sharif's Kargil revelations not a word has been uttered about one telling revelation: that we lost more officers and men in Kargil than in the whole of the 1965 war. Shattering if true. Despicable on Nawaz Sharif's part if false. In any case, the nation deserves to know. But I have digressed. In countries like ours where institutions are weak individuals matter enormously. Someone like Assad can bring honour even to a small country. Marionettes and dummies can bring disgrace to even bigger ones. Syria was lucky to have someone like Assad for 30 years. It has been our misfortune to have a string of windbags and empty vessels for much longer than that.
=================================================================== SPORTS 20000614 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistan retain boxing title ------------------------------------------------------------------- Shazad Ali KARACHI, June 13: Pakistan retained the Green Hill Cup international boxing title after capturing six gold, five silver and seven bronze on the last day here at the UBL Sports Complex on Tuesday. Thailand, previous championship's runners-up, finished second with three gold medals and 18 points. However, Thais earned an additional reward when their lightweight Somchai Nakbaree was adjudged as the best boxer of the Tournament. The federal minister for sports, Derek Cyprian gave the winning trophy to the Pakistan Greens manager Major Zubair and coach Juan Heredia Dussace. Pakistan Greens' featherweight Haider Ali bagged the gold in style when he outpunched Japan's Yasunati Yashimura 13-4. Haider displayed fine boxing tactics while the Japanese remained unimpressive in the second round. Haider continued his magical form in the third round without facing any significant resistance from the Japanese to win the bout without being made to sweat. Welterweight Usmanullah Khan reigned supreme against his Pakistan Whites' compatriot Kashif Mumtaz who lost with a slim margin of 12- 10. Though Kashif was energetic, he failed to land his punches on target while seasoned Usman kept on scoring points. Kashif retaliated in the final round and fought well but to no avail. Manon Boon Jumnong of Thailand, in the welterweight category, defeated Pakistan Greens Ghulam Shabbir 14-8 for gold. After an evenly contested first two rounds, Ghulam inflicted a few upper cuts on Jumnong in the third round but failed to match his rivals aggressiveness in the fourth to settle for silver medal. Olympic qualifier Riaz Durganed of Mauritius, in the bantamweight final, made a cautious start against Pakistan Whites' Sohail Baloch before displaying his true skills to punish the local boy which forced the jury stopped the contest in the final round. Sohail had a tough time and could not face the hard-hitting Durganed who used his upper cuts and swings to subdue the Pakistani. In the lightweight final fracas, Thailand's Somchai Nakbaree did not have any difficulty in thrashing Hirama Naoto of Japan 17-5. Somchai judged his rival in the first round and unleased some ferocious power punches in the second and third rounds. The Japanese, however, fought courageously in the final round but it was all over as Somchai utilized every ounce of his energy to defeat the Japanese. Another light middleweight Thai clasped the gold as he beat Iranian Olympic qualifier Babak Moghimi 12-8 with ease. The Iranian, though, was not disgraced as he put up a good show. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000614 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistan aim to upset Sri Lankan party ------------------------------------------------------------------- COLOMBO, June 13: Pakistan aim to dampen Sri Lanka's centenary celebrations when they meet in the home side's 100th Test match starting on Wednesday here at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) Ground. Pakistan's only objective is to beat the Sri Lankans to make up for the defeats they suffered at home earlier this year. Pakistan lost a Test series 2-1 and one-dayers 3-0 to Sri Lanka but since then have shown a marked improvement under the leadership of Moin Khan. "We have a defeat by the Sri Lankans at home in our minds. The boys are focussed on it now. If the weather permits, I can assure that it will have great significance. We are keen to put the record straight,"Moin told reporters on Tuesday. Although Pakistan's two-day tour opener against a Board XI was washed out without a ball bowled due to rain, Moin said that his boys were in good touch and they didn't need much practice. "We are ready for the Test matches,"said Moin. Former Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga will be leading the celebrations, his inclusion in Wednesday's game making him the first cricketer to appear in his country's inaugural and 100th Tests. Left-hander Ranatunga was an 18-year-old schoolboy when he played in Sri Lanka's first Test against England in Colombo in February 1982. He has represented his country in 87 Tests and is currently the world's longest serving Test cricketer. It will be a memorable occasion for him if he can celebrate his country's 100th Test with a good knock on his home ground. "It is a big occasion for Sri Lanka cricket playing the 100th Test match. I am very happy to be the captain of such an occasion. Everybody is keen to play in this Test especially Arjuna,"said Sri Lankan skipper Sanath Jayasuriya. "Everyone is happy for him and the entire team is supporting him and wish him good luck,"Jayasuriya said. He said the loss in the Asia Cup final to Pakistan in Dhaka was only a temporary setback and it was excusable because his team had been playing so well for the past ten months. "We want to continue playing the way we have been doing by supporting each other. Pakistan are anyway a tough side whether they play at home or away. But if we stick to our basics instead of trying to do too much, we can do well against them,"said Jayasuriya. Another player who will be looking for a personal milestone is former Pakistani captain Wasim Akram. Wasim Akram, who arrived here on Tuesday for the tour, requires only two wickets to become only the fourth bowler in Test history to take 400 wickets. Akram, who is the only bowler to take over 400 wickets in One-day Internationals, goes into the Test against Sri Lanka with 398 wickets from 95 Tests. He has a very good chance of joining the elite company of West Indian Courtney Walsh (449), India's Kapil Dev (434) and New Zealand's Sir Richard Hadlee (431) as the only four bowlers to cross the mark at the highest level of the game. Sri Lanka, meanwhile, will have to decide whether to play newcomer paceman Dilhara Fernando or left-arm spinner Rangana Herath. Pakistan will name their side on the morning of the Test after seeing the condition of the pitch following the heavy rain of the last few weeks.-Reuters/AFP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000613 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Tauqir terms charge as 'rubbish' ------------------------------------------------------------------- Reporter KARACHI, June 12: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) described Ali Bacher's allegations as "rubbish"and "far from truth". Lt Gen Tauqir Zia, chairman of the PCB, said from Mangla that it was Bacher's attempt to on fuse the issue. He questioned that if Bacher knew that match-fixing had been taking place for a long time, why he chose to reveal the details now. "Has Bacher ever told any PCB official? Bob Woolmer is on record to have said that he informed Bacher about his suspicion of match- fixing in South African team but he turned a blind eye to the issue. Now how can he be believed,"the general said. The PCB chief said That Bacher did not make any revelations about the fixed matches at at the ICC meeting at Lord's last month which was specifically called to consider the crisis having emerged after Cronje's confession. Zia said the board will not initiate any inquiry to investigate the claims of Bacher. "The onus is now on Bacher. If he comes up with evidence, I will be the first one to support him and reopen the investigations. "But until he substantiates the allegations, against whom would I conduct an inquiry. "We will consult our legal advisors and seek advice how to go about this issue,"the PCB boss said. He, however, revealed that Ali Bacher formally informed Ehsan Mani, PCB's representative in International Cricket Council (ICC), on Sunday that he would be informing Justice Edwin King about information that Pakistan played two fixed matches in the World Cup. "Our reaction was very straight and clear: `go ahead but provide the evidence also'. I know that He said Yawar Saeed called Majid and inquired whether he had tipped Bacher off. Zia said Majid claimed that since he was a former cricketer, he could figure it out what was wrong, and was it being done deliberately or unintentionally. "This is insufficient evidence. "Besides, why Majid didn't inform the present PCB. He didn't talk to us. Had he passed on some information to us, we might have considered our options because he is such a great statured cricketer whose credibility can not be doubted." Zia said there seems to be no end to the issue because any cricket board official can stand up and accuse two teams of being involved in fixing a match. "If accusations are to be levelled without any evidence, I can stand up and say South Africa fixed a match with Zimbabwe in the World Cup or South Africa allowed England to win the Test by two wickets after both the sides had forfeited their innings." DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000615 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Lt Gen Aziz to take over as PHF chief ------------------------------------------------------------------- Farhana Ayaz ISLAMABAD, June 14: The crisis in Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) ten weeks before the Sydney Olympics is set to come to an end with Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Aziz Khan replacing Arif Abbasi as president, highly placed sources disclosed here on Wednesday. Hectic meetings took place at Rawalpindi and Islamabad before the decision was finalised, it was learnt. Abbasi has been asked to resign in view of the prevailing scenario which has adversely affected Pakistan's Olympic campaign apart from causing embarrassment to the country at international level. The authorities, however, were also not keen on retaining Brig (Retd) M. Atif as secretary and he too is expected to be replaced, it was learnt. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000615 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Inzamam 5th, Saeed 6th, Wasim 8th in Test rankings ------------------------------------------------------------------- LONDON, June 14: Brian Lara has lost his top spot in the Price water house Coopers Test rankings to India's Sachin Tendulkar. The former West Indies captain, holder of both the world record first- class score and test score, makes a return to the international arena in the first test against England on Thursday after taking a three-month break from the game. Pakistan vice-captain improved his ranking to fifth while replacing compatriot Saeed Anwar who slipped to sixth after missing the Test- series in the West Indies. South African Shaun Pollock retains the top bowling spot in the rankings. However, former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram improved three places when he finished at eighth after being 11th in the previous ratings. He is the only Pakistani in the top 10. Batsmen (previous position in brackets) (tabulated under player, team, points, career average) 1. (2) Sachin Tendulkar India 863 55.37; 2. (1) Brian Lara West Indies 856 51.60; 3. (3) Steve Waugh Australia 841 50.43; 4. (4) Ricky Ponting Australia 804 47.51; 5. (6) Inzamam-ul-Haq Pakistan 788 45.48; 6. (5) Saeed Anwar Pakistan 778 46.53; 7. (7) Aravinda de Silva Sri Lanka 775 43.89; 8. (8) Justin Langer Australia 767 41.75; 9. (12) Alec Stewart England 760 41.19; 10.(11) Jacques Kallis South Africa 747 43.16 Bowlers (tabulated under player, team, points, career average): 1. (1) Shaun Pollock South Africa 905 20.33; 2. (2) Glenn McGrath Australia 896 22.42; 3. (3) Allan Donald South Africa 877 21.59; 4. (4) Curtly Ambrose West Indies 824 21.09; 5. (5) Muttiah Muralitharan Sri Lanka 763 26.30; 6. (6) Brett Lee Australia 735 16.06; 7. (8) Courtney Walsh West Indies 733 25.12; 8. (11) Wasim Akram Pakistan 726 22.91; 9. (7) Anil Kumble India 722 28.01; 10. (10) Heath Streak Zimbabwe 701 23.06-Reuters ------------------------------------------------------------------- You can subscribe to DWS 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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