------------------------------------------------------------------- DAWN WIRE SERVICE ------------------------------------------------------------------- Week Ending : 20 May 2000 Issue : 06/19 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Contents | National News | Business & Economy | Editorials & Features | Sports
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CONTENTS =================================================================== NATIONAL NEWS + Cabinet pledges true democracy in three years + Maulana Yousuf Ludhianvi shot dead + Business closed in major cities: Peaceful strike observed + Election Commission ready to start delimitation work + Blasphemy law: Old FIR procedure restored + Rs25 billion wheat stocks in peril + Gen Musharraf has visited 19 countries + Tariff dispute: Shaukat to meet Hubco officials + 'NAB forgot ex-HBFC chief after dumping him somewhere' + PML to challenge Supreme Court verdict + Pakistani Nazir Sabir conquers Everest + Lower-level cases also to be tried: 23 more Ehtesab courts soon + 65 million NICs to be issued --------------------------------- BUSINESS & ECONOMY + Ordinance to allow private Radio, TV stations this year + CBR begins tax survey from 27th + Duty-free tea exports proposed + Proposal in offing: Collection of taxes by single agency + No ADB project loan after March '99 + Retailers drive wedge between IMF and Pakistan + Income tax for salaried class may be reduced + IMF team arrives for pre-budget consultations + Dawood meets Ishrat today: Talks to focus on project financing + Inching up of inflation seen + Pakistan Telecommunication Co pre-tax profit up 46.5% + Government urged to rationalize import tariff + Stocks shake off early losses --------------------------------------- EDITORIALS & FEATURES + Grundnorm Ardeshir Cowasjee + Fit for what? Ayaz Amir ----------- SPORTS + 2nd Day: Hinds scores 165 to put West Indies on top + Pakistan remain fifth in Malaysian golf + Saleh on top of snooker ranking + PCB chief, judge reading different scripts?
=================================================================== DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS =================================================================== NATIONAL NEWS 20000518 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Cabinet pledges true democracy in three years ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ihtasham ul Haque ISLAMABAD, May 17: The federal cabinet on Wednesday resolved to complete the government's agenda, including the establishment of a true democracy, within three years as stipulated in the May 12 verdict of the Supreme Court. Presided over by the chief executive, Gen Pervez Musharraf, the cabinet said that all institutions of the state will work for a fast implementation of the agenda, particularly the accountability. It was the first reaction by the government at the SC verdict that had validated the army intervention of Oct 12. The cabinet felt that the unanimous decision of the apex court was truly reflective of the independence of the judiciary. It approved the Islamabad Capital Territory Shops, Business and Industrial Establishments (Security) Ordinance, making it obligatory for all financial and business establishments like banks, money-changers, financial institutions, industrial units, companies, etc., to maker their own security arrangements. It also approved the establishment of 'National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences' in the private sector in Islamabad. The original sponsoring body of the university known as Foundation for Advancement Science and Technology has campuses at Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad. The cabinet held a lengthy discussion on the parameters of economic policy. The CE briefed the cabinet on his visit to Turkmenistan. He said both countries had agreed to accelerate cooperation in telecommunications, oil and gas resource development, and building of highways. Turkmenistan, he said, will send a team of experts to negotiate with the Pakistan Telecom to seek its cooperation for promotion/establishment of telecom facilities in Turkmenistan. Both the countries had also agreed to develop road link for promotion of trade, he said. Describing the death of a Faisalabad trader in the sales tax staff custody on Monday as unfortunate, the CE said that those responsible shall be dealt with in accordance with law. An inquiry into the circumstances that led to the death had already been ordered. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000519 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Maulana Yousuf Ludhianvi shot dead ------------------------------------------------------------------- Reporter KARACHI, May 18: Noted religious scholar Maulana Mohammad Yousuf Ludhianvi and his driver were shot dead by four unidentified assailants on Thursday in Naseerabad in the Central district. A son of Maulana Ludhianvi and a fruit vendor received injuries. Maulana Ludhianvi leaves behind his wife, four sons, four daughters and thousands of disciples. According to the police and residents of the locality, the 76-year-old maulana came out of his house about 10am in a white Toyota Corolla of 1998 model to leave for his office at Aalmi Majlis-i-Tahafuz-i-Khatm-i-Nabuwwat at Old Exhibition on M.A. Jinnah Road. As soon as his car stopped near a fruit stall, four men, riding two motorcycles, opened fire from the right side of the car, smashing the windscreen and the side screens. The maulana and his 55-year- old driver Abdur Rehman died. His son, Hafiz Mohammad Yahya, 30, and fruit vendor Mohammad Naeem were injured. Other accounts suggest the number of killers was two, who rode a motorcycle. Hundreds of Maulana Ludhianvi's followers arrived at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital soon after his body was brought there for autopsy. According to doctors, Maulana Ludhianvi had received two bullets: one pierced through right shoulder and travelled out of the left side of neck, while the other pierced through right side of neck and travelled out of skull. The post-mortem examination report of Abdur Rehman showed that he was hit by a bullet which pierced through his right shoulder from the backside and travelled out of chest. Hafiz Mohammad Yahya received a bullet on the left side of his chest. His condition was stated to be serious. The fruit vendor was hit in his right shoulder, and his condition was stated to be stable. Born on August 31, 1931 at Esapur in Ludhiana, India, Maulana Yousuf came to Pakistan in 1947 and obtained early education at Multan's Khairul Madaris. Before joining Jamiat Uloom-i-Islami Binori Town, where he had been teaching Hadith, the maulana had studied at Faisalabad and Sahiwal. Thursday was his weekly off-day, according to a teacher, Abdullah. Maulana Ludhianvi authored over 100 books and many had been translated into various languages. His major works included Aap kay masail aur unka hal spread over nine volumes. He was editor of weekly Khatm-i-Nabuwwat, monthly Buyyanat, and another monthly Lau Lak. Through his weekly column for an Urdu daily, he had been associated with journalism for the last 40 years. For the last seven years, his column had been appearing in an English daily as well. Maulana Ludhianvi was also chief patron of Iqra School's chain. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000520 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Business closed in major cities: Peaceful strike observed ------------------------------------------------------------------- Reporter KARACHI, May 19: A peaceful strike was observed throughout the country on Friday on the calls of religious groups and traders. The strike was called by Milli Yekjehti Council to protest against the proposed amendment in the Blasphemy Law. The chief executive has withdrawn the proposal but the religious parties decided to go ahead with their strike plan. The Aalami Majilese Khatm-i-Nabuwwat had on Thursday given a strike call for Friday to protest the killing of Maulana Yousuf Ludhianvi. All Pakistan Organization of Small Traders and Cottage Industries had also given a three-day strike call against the planned imposition of general sales tax on retailers and conduct of surveys for assessment of businessmen's income tax and property value. All business centres and shops in major cities of the country remained shut. Traffic was thin in towns. The number of public transport on city and inter-city routes was also thin. Since it was a closed holiday on account of Shah Latif Day, the Sindh government offices and schools remained closed. All the main city markets, including Saddar, Tariq Road, Hyderi, Water Pump Federal B. Area, Clifton, Gole Market, Nazimabad, Karimabad, Jodia Bazaar, chemical market, paper market, cloth market, Bohrapir market, Bahadurabad and, Liaquatabad remained shut throughout the day. Industrialists claimed that the production at the factories ranged between 40-50 per cent owing to partial turnout of the workers. Attendance in private and federal government offices and banks, particularly in disturbed areas, remained thin. ISLAMABAD: The strike in the twin cities of Rawalpindi-Islamabad was also successful where even small locality shops also remained closed for the whole day. All the main markets in Blue Area, Super, Jinnah Super, Industrial & Trade Centre, Sitara, Peshawar More, Abpara, and Melody in the federal capital remained shut. The markets on Murree Road, Commercial Market, Moti Bazaar, Sarafa Bazaar, Sadar, Tench Bhatta, City Sadar Road, Raja Bazaar, Ganj Mandi, Namak Mandi and other areas of Rawalpindi also remained closed. Mr Sailya said elimination of smuggling was one of their main demand. He claimed that there were 19 big smugglers in the country but the government was reluctant to arrest them. To a query about the visit of IMF team, he said the team members would be greeted with rotten tomatoes and eggs on May 24. LAHORE: Most city markets wore a deserted look in Lahore on Friday. No untoward incident was reported till the evening as the APOSTCI had asked shopkeepers to stay home and register, a "silent protest" against the government's taxation policies. "We do not want confrontation. Our endeavour is to get all issues resolved amicably through talks between the government and representatives of the small traders", the organization's Punjab leader, Ansar Zahoor Butt, told Dawn. PESHAWAR: A complete shutter down strike was also observed in Peshawar today. All the city markets, shopping centres, restaurants remained closed throughout the day. Most of medicine shops, tandoors were also closed. Afghan refugees also participated in the strike in large numbers, in the city, Saddar, cantonment, University Town, Hayatabad and Karkhano Bara markets down. QUETTA: A complete strike was also observed in Quetta and other towns of Balochistan by the small traders and business community on Friday. All shopping centres, business establishments, shopping plazas, markets, and bazaars remained closed throughout the day. Most of the hotels, medical stores and bakeries also remained closed. Ulema opposed the government's policies regarding blasphemy law at Juma prayers. They demanded of the government to restore Friday's holiday. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000517 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Election Commission ready to start delimitation work ------------------------------------------------------------------- ISLAMABAD, May 16: The Election Commission (EC) would soon start the process of delimitation of constituencies for general elections, official sources told APP here on Tuesday. The process would begin when the EC had received data of the recently held national census, they added. "We are waiting for district-wise data of the national census, held in 1998, for starting the process of delimitation," the sources said. The sources referred to the Article 51(3) of the Constitution, which says: "The seats in the National Assembly shall be allocated to each province, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and the federal capital on the basis of population in accordance with the last proceeding census officially published." The task of delimitation of constituencies for the local bodies election, the sources said, would be carried out by the provincial governments respectively. The Election Commission would carry out the process of delimitation in accordance with the Delimitation of Constituencies Act, 1974, they added. The law says: "All constituencies for Muslim seats shall as far as practicable be delimited having regard to the distribution of population, including non-Muslims in geographically compact areas, existing boundaries of administrative units, facilities of communication and public convenience and other cognate factors to ensure homogeneity in the creation of constituencies." For the purpose of delimiting constituencies, the Election Commission might receive and consider representations, hold inquiries, summon witnesses and record evidence, and prepare and publish in the official gazette a preliminary report and list of constituencies specifying the areas proposed to be included in each constituency. Under the law, within 15 days of the publication of the report any person who is entitled to cast vote in any National Assembly or Provincial Assembly election may make a representation to the Election Commission in respect of the delimitation of constituencies. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000517 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Blasphemy law: Old FIR procedure restored ------------------------------------------------------------------- ISLAMABAD, May 16: Chief Executive Gen Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday announced to restore the old procedure for lodging of FIR with the station house officer (SHO) under the blasphemy law. "As it was the unanimous demand of the Ulema, Mashaikh and the people, therefore, I have decided to do away with the procedural change in registration of FIR under the blasphemy law," said Gen Musharraf while talking to reporters at the PAF Base here on his return from Turkmenistan. The government had decided last month that an FIR under the blasphemy law should be registered with a deputy commissioner instead of an SHO. Gen Musharraf said blasphemy law, which is part of PPC 295 C, was the main issue. "No one can even think of changing it. No change was ever brought into this law," he added. Answering a question, he said his government wanted to take along all the people, Ulema and clean politicians. "I was thinking since long to find a way out to have a dialogue with them so that we all move along together. I intend to contact them directly in future," he added. Reacting to an incident in which a Faisalabad trader was killed in custody of the agencies, Gen Musharraf said he was grieved to learn about it. An FIR had been registered against those who were responsible for it, he said, and added there would be a judicial probe into the killing. When asked if he intended to visit the drought-hit parts of Dera Ghazi Khan, he said the situation there was not as serious as compared to Balochistan and Sindh. However, he wanted to visit all the areas at a proper time, he added.-APP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000520 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Rs25 billion wheat stocks in peril ------------------------------------------------------------------- Correspondent ISLAMABAD, May 19: The wheat godowns in Punjab have run acutely short of aluminium phosphate tablets (APT) used for keeping grains safe from infestation and diseases. Official sources said the Punjab government had told the centre that due to non-availability of APTs, wheat stocks worth over Rs25 billion, stored at different cities of the provinces, were in danger. Sources quoted Punjab food secretary Junaid Iqbal as saying to the Centre that the non-availability of the tablets was looming large as an impending disaster for the whole country. Official sources told Dawn on Friday that in a letter sent to the federal government, Mr Iqbal had requested registration of firms on emergency basis so that the required tablets could be imported, immediately and save the wheat. "It will enable the government to get a better deal both in terms of lesser price and quick delivery through competition", sources quoted the Punjab government as saying. Sources said, the provincial government, in January, had informed the Centre about the problem of wheat infestation. The scientists were rushed to Lahore and the matter was discussed. The meeting, among other causes, identified substandard fumigants and the possibility of pest resistance of wheat infestation. It was confirmed through laboratory tests of the tablets, supplied by a contractor, A.G. Services and Supplies, Karachi, to the Punjab government that the fumigant did not contain the prescribed percentage of active ingredients. Sources said, at that time, the Punjab government had in stock 9,367kg of A.P. tablets. The firm was given a show-cause notice to be blacklisted. Recently the firm was directed to provide standard fumigant equal to the quantity lying in stocks with the Punjab government. The firm complied but took more than two months. In the meantime, the federal government was told to follow the case being heard in a Karachi court in which the supplier had obtained the stay order against registration of other firms for supply of the compound. But, the concerned government agency, the Plant Protection Department, Karachi, did not pursue the case. Now, Punjab said there was only one importing firm (A.G.Service and Supplies) and it also needed about 90 days to supply the products. Higher cost is another inhibiting factor, it added. A purchase officer of Punjab, who had visited Karachi has reported that the firm was in serious financial straits and may not be able to provide the required fumigant, a provincial government source said. Punjab thus told the Centre to register more firms to import the required tablets to save the crop from devastation. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000519 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Gen Musharraf has visited 19 countries ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ansar Abbasi ISLAMABAD, May 18: Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf has visited 19 foreign countries since Oct 12 military takeover in what seems to be an effort to obtain world recognition for his government. Sources told Dawn that most of these visits were organised by the foreign office in the backdrop of hard-line position taken by some major world powers including US, European countries, Japan etc for Pakistan's early return to democracy. Soon after the takeover, Musharraf chose first to tour Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates from October 25 to 27. During the first half of November 1999 -Nov 7 to 9- he visited three more Muslim countries including Qatar, Turkey and Kuwait. Bahrain and Iran were the two other Muslim countries whom the chief executive visited from December 8 to 9 last year. In January, from 17 to 19, Gen Musharraf visited China. April was the most hectic month for the chief executive as far as foreign visits were concerned. From March 27 to April 3, Gen Musharraf toured Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei and Thailand. On his way to Havana to attend a meeting of G-77 summit, Gen Musharraf visited Paris on April 9 and 10. He stayed in Havana from April 10 to 13. From there he went to Rome on a two day visit - April 14-15. He then visited Cairo (April 15-18) and Tripoli (April 18 to 19). On May 15-16, the chief executive visited Turkmenistan. Gen Musharraf is also expected to tour Kabul, however, dates for this visit have not yet been finalised. Like Havana there were some visits that were necessitated by the country's presence in the international forums/bodies. There were certain visits like Cairo and Tripoli which were made on the invitation of the respective heads of the governments. Foreign office sources confirmed that the prime purpose of most of these visits was to further cement Pakistan's relations with the host countries and to build up a personal rapport with the leaders of these countries. The chief executive besides discussing important foreign policy issues including Kashmir with the leaders of these countries, the sources said, also discussed the options of improving Pakistan's trade relations with them. They added that during these visits Gen Musharraf had been apprising the foreign leaders of the regional security situation and the need for an early settlement of the Kashmir issue. Foreign ministry sources admit that though not much has been achieved with regard to Musharraf's efforts to get his government recognised, yet they feel that the Supreme Court's latest verdict validating the October 12 takeover would serve a useful purpose in his future visits abroad. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000519 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Tariff dispute: Shaukat to meet Hubco officials ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report ISLAMABAD, May 18: Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz will be leaving for Dubai on Saturday (May 20) to meet the senior representatives of Hubco to hammer out differences on tariff and other administrative matters. Official sources told Dawn that the finance minister, accompanied by Wapda Chairman Lt-Gen Zulfikar Ali Khan, would meet Hubco chairman Sheikh Mohammad Alireza and vice-chairman of the National Power Company Peter Windsor to sort out differences between them. The meeting has been arranged by the World Bank. The WB in charge of the South Asian desk, Elister Mactny, and legal advisor Strom, will also participate in the meeting. Sources said talks would figure on Hubco's proposal of reducing power tariff by three billion dollars over the life of the project. Secondly, Hubco wanted that allegations of corruption against it should be dropped, as they had not been proved so far, they added. Earlier, the WB had arranged a video conference in Washington to narrow down differences between the government and Hubco. The finance minister and the Wapda chairman were the participants from Islamabad for that conference. The Supreme Court bench, hearing the Wapda-Hubco case on Monday last, had reserved its judgment. Hubco pleaded that it should be allowed to present its case before the arbitration tribunal of the International Chamber of Commerce for the resolution of tariff dispute with Wapda. Wapda argued that the tariff increase was due to signing of two amendments and one supplemental deed in the power purchase agreement (PPA), which were obtained through corruption and fraud with the connivance of Suleman Farooqi, former secretary for the ministry of water and power, and Shahid Hasan Khan, former advisor to the then prime minister on energy. Sources said the government and Hubco would have to bring some flexibility in their respective positions to achieve a mutually beneficial agreement on tariff. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000519 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 'NAB forgot ex-HBFC chief after dumping him somewhere' ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report ISLAMABAD, May 18: The prosecutor-general of National Accountability Bureau, Farooq Adam, on Thursday told the Supreme Court that they had forgotten Siddiqul Farooq, former chairman of the House Building Finance Corporation, after having dumped him somewhere. Siddiqul Farooq, who was also press secretary to the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, was produced for the first time in any court since his arrest on Oct 18. "I apologize that Mr Siddiqul Farooq was forgotten after being dumped somewhere as we were occupied by other important matters," Mr Adam stated. Chaudhry Ikram, the counsel for the detainee, lamented that this was the way how the government was treating citizens. The court was shown two files by the prosecutor-general on the basis of which the Nab chairman had issued warrants for Siddiqul Farooq on May 11. He stated that no case had been registered so far but prima facie there was a case of corruption against him. Mr Ikram stated that Siddiqul Farooq had been under illegal detention since Oct 18 without registration of any case against him by any investigation agency. He said a habeas corpus petition was filed in the Lahore High Court where all the law enforcement agencies were summoned. The agencies simply refused to admit that he was in their custody. The prosecutor-general himself had stated before the LHC that Siddiqul Farooq was not in the custody of Nab. "Now after seven months, they are saying they forgot after dumping him somewhere," the counsel said. According to information gathered by the family of Siddiqul Farooq, he was kept in Mujahid Battalion 886, Malir Cantonment, since his arrest, said the lawyer. The SC bench consisted of Justice Mohammad Bashir Jehangiri and Justice Sheikh Riaz Ahmed. To a court query why Siddiqul Farooq was kept in custody without registration of an FIR for the last seven months, Deputy Attorney- General Mansoor Ahmad said activities of the former chairman of the HBFC before and after Oct 12 were "threat to the security of the state and he had connections with foreign agencies". Details could not be disclosed in open court, he added. The prosecutor-general told the court that Siddiqul Farooq had met Gen Tariq Pervaiz, former corps commander of Quetta. Gen Pervaiz was prematurely retired by the COAS, Gen Pervez Musharraf, for his alleged connections with the deposed prime minister. The prosecutor-general assured the court that investigations against Siddiqul Farooq would be completed within 10 days and he would be sent to a judicial lock-up soon as it was necessary for his mental health. The counsel asked the court to allow Siddiqul Farooq to make a statement, but the court disallowed the request. The judges asked him to write his statement and provide it in a sealed envelope for their perusal only. The statement should not be released to the Press, the court directed. The court rejected the request for bail and observed that they were pleased that the former HBFC chairman was alive. Justice Sheikh Riaz observed that court was worried about the safety of Siddiqul Farooq. "Alhamdo Lillah, he is alive," the judge remarked. The court adjourned the case till June 1. Family members of Siddiqul Farooq were present and touching scenes were witnessed when he appeared in the courtroom. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000518 ------------------------------------------------------------------- PML to challenge Supreme Court verdict ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report ISLAMABAD, May 17: The Pakistan Muslim League on Wednesday expressed "disappointment" over the Supreme Court decision of validating the military takeover and decided to file a review petition. The decision was taken at the Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting, which was jointly chaired by Raja Zafarul Haq and Kulsoom Nawaz. The CWC also set up a committee, headed by Wasim Sajjad, to draft a petition to be filed by the party in the Supreme Court. Hardliners prodding the party leadership for launching a movement against the government, were averse to the idea of filing a review petition, a party insider told Dawn. They were of the view that the party should focus its energies on gearing up its cadres for launching a movement against the government, he said. Later at a press briefing, Raja Zafarul Haq claimed that a resolution calling for filing the petition was unanimously adopted at the meeting. Begum Kulsoom, in her brief speech, gave an implicit call to the party leaders to join her in mobilizing public opinion against the government to prepare grounds for launching a movement at some appropriate time, the source added. Raja Afzal said the issue of electing a new party leader had been closed once and for all. Raja Zafar replied in the negative when asked whether or not the party would join the three-day strike call given by the traders from May 19. He said the economic condition of the country was not good and it would not be in the national interest to launch any protest campaign. Regarding the suggestions of setting up of a national government, he said after the government's rejection the idea was not worth discussing. "The Central Working Committee of Pakistan Muslim League expressed its disappointment that for the third time in Pakistan's history, the Supreme Court has validated a military takeover without defining the limits of the controversial 'doctrine of necessity', thus opening the door to similar interventions in the future," the resolution said. The CWC also expressed its concern that the power to amend the constitution had been entrusted to an individual and the chief executive of a transition regime. "The 1973 constitution embodies a very sensitive and difficult consensus reached and preserved among the federating units. It is very risky to make constitutional changes in an atmosphere of political vacuum. The process of judicial review allowed in the judgment provides some safeguards but, at the same time, by assuming the power to determine whether the constitutional amendments made by the chief executive under this dispensation qualify on the 'touchstone of state necessity.' The Supreme Court will also be effectively discharging its functions, which the 1973 constitution assigns to parliament," it said. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000518 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistani Nazir Sabir conquers Everest ------------------------------------------------------------------- Correspondent ISLAMABAD, May 17: Nazir Sabir, 45, became the first Pakistani to reach the summit of Mount Everest on South Col Nepalese side on Wednesday at 7:31am Nepal time (02:00 GMT). He unfolded the Pakistan flag on the world's highest peak. Mr Sabir and his teammate, Benjamin Webster, 38, a photo- journalist from North York in Canada, reached the summit of the 8,848-metre (29,000-feet) mountain, accompanied by four Nepalese high altitude mountain guides who have already climbed the 8,848- meter peak. The two climbers were from an eight-member "Mountain Madness Sagarmatha" (the name in Nepali for Everest) expedition, led by elite American mountaineer Ms Christine Feld Boskoff, 33. Mr Sabir started hard-night-long ascent on Tuesday at 10pm and reached the top at 7.31am Nepal time on Wednesday. He was followed by Ben Webster and four Sherpas. This was Mr Sabir's second attempt on mount Everest. In 1997, he had made his first attempt from the Chinese side as leader ofPakistan's golden jubilee expedition, but was driven back by blizzards a few hundred meters short of the summit. With this outstanding feat, Sabir, born in 1955 at Raminj, a remote village of upper Gojal-Hunza, in Gilgit district, has scaled five of the world's 14 high peaks of 8,000m. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000515 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Lower-level cases also to be tried: 23 more Ehtesab courts soon ------------------------------------------------------------------- ISLAMABAD, May 14: Twenty-three additional Accountability Courts will be established shortly across the country to expand and accelerate the process of accountability, officials said on Sunday. Rawalpindi and Islamabad will have three additional courts while two courts each will be established in Lahore, Peshawar and Multan. One additional court each will be set up in Dera Ismail Khan, Attock Fort, Kharian, Sargohda, Gujranwala, Bhawalpur, Sialkot, Quetta, Khuzdar, Sibi, D. G. Khan, Karachi, Hyderabad and Pano Aqil Cantonment. A spokesman of Ministry of Law and Justice Mohammad Jamil told APP that the new courts would help expand the scope of accountability to lower level, and to seek disqualification of 'the corrupt parliamentarians and bureaucrats'. Thirteen such courts are already functioning. The spokesman said the government was ensure that the process of accountability was carried out in a coherent and transparent manner. He said the government had already requested the Chief Justice of Pakistan for the appointment of judges for these additional courts. He said a proposal was already under consideration of the government to give a legal cover to the tenure of the judges, to ensure their independence status. The government, he said, was also providing reasonable salaries and allowances as well as supporting staff to the judges to enable them to carry out their work smoothly. He said each judge of the accountability courts enjoyed the status of a judge of the high court. He said it was also essential that a judge nominated for these courts, should be of the level of a district sessions judge. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000520 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 65 million NICs to be issued ------------------------------------------------------------------- Correspondent ISLAMABAD, May 19: Arrangements have been made for issuance of 65 million national identity cards to those people who had applied for NIC during 1998 census. The new card would be fire-proof, damp-proof and irreplaceable and would be delivered to the applicants on their addresses given on the census form. The cards would be distributed over a period of three months, starting from September. Each recipient of the card would have to pay Rs50-80, depending on the mailing and production charges presently being worked out by National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA). Sources told Dawn on Friday that NADRA had taken over the job in April, which should actually have been completed about a year ago. The change in governments incapacitated the relevant authorities from taking a decision about finalizing the arrangements in this connection. It has now been decided that NADRA would get the cards designed and printed by some experienced international or local firms. The Pakistan Revenue Automation (PRAL) has now been engaged for processing the entire data given by the applicants, while Z.A. Khan Associates have been engaged for the delivery of the cards. The delivery men would receive the card fee against a receipt duly signed by each recipient. The PRAL has started working on the forms which have been filled by the applicants in Urdu, English, Sindhi and Pushto. The staff is being employed to translate and correctly spell all the entries in a single (English or Urdu) language. The new NICs would automatically scrap the old cards as these would not be acceptable from any person who was 18-year-old or more at the time of 1998 census. Those who have not been able to fill the application form, will have to apply for the card immediately after the issuance of the new card.
=================================================================== BUSINESS & ECONOMY 20000519 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ordinance to allow private Radio, TV stations this year ------------------------------------------------------------------- M. Ziauddin ISLAMABAD, May 18: The military government proposes to promulgate access to information ordinance by the end of June this year and yet another ordinance by December 2000 to allow setting up of private sector television and radio channels, according to a tentative programme which recognizes information as the key element in the efforts to curb corruption. According to a brief outline of this programme obtained by Dawn a tax ombudsman will also be set up to address complaints and irregularities on tax collection. Another step which is contemplated to be taken under this programme pertains to using professional opinion poll firms in August this year and in February next year to check the incidence and public perception of corruption. Subsequently workshops will be held to discuss the outcome of the surveys and follow-up action plans. At a later stage it is proposed to turn the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) into an independent and autonomous agency and strengthen the provincial anti-corruption bodies by providing them adequate funding and separating them from the executive branch of the government. Under the proposed access to information law the NAB and the provincial branches would be obliged to publish their annual reports, detailing cases processed and convictions secured during the year. Meanwhile, it has been decided to promulgate a new procurement law in line with international best practices and also encourage the recently formed Fiscal Monitoring Committee to publish detailed report on progress in strengthening fiscal reporting by the FMC. In addition, an action plan will be devised in response to recommendations in the fiscal module of Report on Observance of Standard and Code (ROSC) and an implementation plan will be prepared for the adoption of the new accounting model and the separation of audit and accounting function. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000517 ------------------------------------------------------------------- CBR begins tax survey from 27th ------------------------------------------------------------------- Reporter KARACHI, May 16: The government has finally given a go-ahead signal to the Central Board of Revenue (CBR) to initiate with a task of tax survey and on-spot assessment from 27th of this month, official sources disclosed here on Monday. As planned, initially thirteen cities, including federal and four provincial capitals will be covered by survey teams comprising official from revenue collecting agencies and army personnel. The teams will visit commercial, industrial as well as residential areas to distribute questionnaire for the purpose of survey and on- spot assessment of assets, stocks, income and wealth tax, general sales tax and central excise duty. The survey which originally was to begin from May 2, was suddenly put off by CBR without assigning any reason. Taxpayers disclosing information about their income and assets to survey teams could declare the same by availing TAS 2000, to whiten their black money on payment of 10 per cent tax, a tax official said. Most of the concerned departments have also prepared stationary for updating their internal survey which includes taxpayers' data and tax profile on commercial centres, information from civic bodies, utility companies, motor vehicle department, Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation (PTCL), mobile phones, credit cards etc. "Over 25 different sources have been used to compile taxpayers' data and tax profile which will be used for verification with ground survey and TAS 2000." a high official of CBR confided. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000517 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Duty-free tea exports proposed ------------------------------------------------------------------- DHAKA, May 16: Pakistan, once Bangladesh's major tea importer, is considering duty-free tea imports by the end of this year to jump start exports, officials and reports said on Tuesday. Increased domestic demand against stagnant production in Bangladesh has caused a decline in tea exports to Pakistan, Mohammad Hanif Janoo, a member of the visiting Pakistani trade and investment delegation, was quoted as saying by the private UNB news agency. Currently we are importing seven million kilos of tea from Bangladesh if the price of your tea goes up, Bangladesh would lose its market to Vietnam, which offers lower prices, he said. Bangladesh, he said, also remained very strong due to the increased domestic demand compelling Pakistani importers to look for other markets. Pakistan currently imports its bulk requirement from Kenya, trading sources said, adding that Bangladeshi entrepreneurs have proposed a bilateral agreement for duty-free exports of tea to Pakistan. Pakistan's imports were cut by almost half between July, 1999 and February this year from 5.5 million kilos during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, officials said. Qamrul Islam Chowdhury, chairman of the Bangladesh Tea Growers Association, earlier told AFP that efforts were being made to lift exports to Pakistan. We believe we will succeed and be able to export at least 10 million kilograms of tea to Pakistan this year, Chowdhury said. Drought and pest played havoc last year causing production losses. Bangladeshi tea growers in southeastern Chittagong port city have been upbeat about increased exports with good production this year.-AFP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000520 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Proposal in offing: Collection of taxes by single agency ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ikram Hoti ISLAMABAD, May 19: A system of collecting federal and provincial taxes through a single agency is likely to be introduced for the financial year 2000-2001. The formula for doing away with the system of collecting fed/provincial taxes at 33 points/stages, was an important aspect of the package of tax reforms presented for review to the Chief Executive on Thursday last. The package is meant for incorporation of changes in the coming tax laws. The single-agency formula is applicable to all taxing deductible at source, under the withholding method. This would coincide with reduction of withholding sources of tax deduction to be incorporated in the next budget. The businessmen have been complaining of multiple tax collecting agencies and points while the CBR and the provincial agencies have been pointing out that the system prevents coordination for effective check on the tax evasion. The package also contains the facility of quick refunds repayment to the export manufacturers. The step is meant to improve exporters' liquidity which is fractured substantially due to the Customs Duty and Sales Tax refunds/rebate withholding by the two departments. The conditions applicable to refunds applicants qualifying for release of the demanded amount within 24 hours under the "golden" category, are likely be relaxed through this package, to some extent. Presently, only about 400 exporters can avail this facility, as per the sales tax records. A Sales Tax survey conducted in March 2000 points out that the conditions set for figuring up on the list of "Golden" refund category, have been deemed too harsh by majority of exporters. The revised conditions are likely to include on-the-spot issuance of refunds release order for the "Golden" category exporters once, under a simplified export clearance system, the goods are certified as cleared for export. The policy also makes it binding on the ST and Customs departments to release refunds/rebates which are due for the current financial year, before July 1, 2000. The package contains a single-audit system for units operating for more than 3 years with clean record. Presently, a half-yearly audit of manufacturing units is mandatory. Additional to that is the audit on suspicion of tax evasion. The single-audit system is meant to fulfil the long standing demand of manufacture sector with good records that they be rewarded for setting a good example. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000520 ------------------------------------------------------------------- No ADB project loan after March '99 ------------------------------------------------------------------- M. Ziauddin ISLAMABAD, May 19: The Asian Development Bank has not approved any new project loan for Pakistan after March 1999 and since has also closed down three loans amounting to 280 million dollars for two projects-Pat feeder Canal and Third Pirkoh. The ADB has also taken a dim view of Pakistan's failure to comply with 70 per cent of governance- related covenants contained in its loan agreements while project implementation according to the bank was 'generally slow'. It has found delays dogging the project implementation at virtually all stages, starting with loan effectiveness and followed by contract awards, contract payments, and many other events that require decisions for timely execution. Out of the 87 good-governance covenants contained in the ADB loan agreements and which were due as of March 31, 2000, only 28 or 32 per cent were fully complied in time. The ADB defines governance as the manner in which power is exercised in the management of a country's social and economic resources for development. To enable this the government and the ADB often agree on specific actions aimed at strengthening governance, as incorporated in loan agreements of various projects. The ADB identifies lack of ownership on the part of executing agencies, undefined institutional responsibility for action, lack of capacity to implement specific actions and the lack of monitoring as some of the major factors that have contributed to the massive lapses in meeting the governance related criteria contained in the loan agreements. And most delays in project implementation are attributed to Pakistan's existing system of decision making, "When problems are encountered, executing agencies are generally not able to resolve them in a flexible manner as deviations from the government's internal project documents (called PC-1) must be approved through a time-consuming process often involving the government's highest decision making body, "asserts the Bank. It further points out that time consuming review/approval process and generally slow pace of actions most critically affect procurement where timely decisions and actions are crucial to maximize economic and financial gains. Some of the delays in project implementation, according to the Bank, could be clearly attributed to a lack of implementing/coordinating capacity required for specific activities in project implementation. Next, conflicts between the government's rules and ADB's guidelines and general principles on project implementation are said to affect project implementation. Example: Under procurement guidelines ADB requires open competition, while Pakistan Engineering Council requires prequalification to be limited to its members only. Under its procedure, the ADB advances part of the loan proceeds to implementing agencies to provide an adequate flow of funds to the executing agencies for financing eligible project expenditures and to expedite project implementation, but this money is invariably misused which cause major delays. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000519 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Retailers drive wedge between IMF and Pakistan ------------------------------------------------------------------- KARACHI, May 18: Pakistani military ruler General Pervez Musharraf's plans to begin reforming a corruption-ridden economy face a serious challenge from a planned strike by retailers upset with his efforts to tax them, analysts said. The three-day strike is due to start on Friday. Analysts said the strike, called by business groups opposed to broadening the tax net, has been complicated by the death of a businessman who died this week while being questioned by tax officials. Similar protests by the business groups have forced previous governments to back away from plans to widen the tax net, driving a wedge between Pakistan and donors such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which has tied tax reform to renewed aid. "The government's back is up against the wall," one Western diplomat said from Islamabad on Thursday. "Fail to start doing something promised to the IMF, and the goodwill is lost. They already lost some international goodwill by backing down on the blasphemy thing," he said. Musharraf backed down on Wednesday in the face of pressure from religious leaders upset at a proposed change that would have made it harder to file complaints under a controversial blasphemy law. The Islamic groups had also called for a general strike in protest on Friday, but said on Thursday they would tone down the protest after Musharraf's step back and would not hold any public meetings or rallies. Punjab: Protests have already broken out in several cities in populous Punjab province after police found the body of exporter Nadeem Akhtar in a bathroom of tax department offices in Faisalabad, 120 km (75 miles) west of Lahore, on Monday. He had been taken for questioning in a tax fraud case, and newspapers said he died while in chains. Musharraf condemned the killing and ordered a judicial probe, saying that those found guilty would be severely punished. Others said because previous governments have given in to the pressure from the business groups, Musharraf had to take a stand. "I just feel the government has to make a stand. I think it is important for their own credibility," said Mansoor Ali, research head at brokers Jehangir Siddiqui. "There is a perception among the traders that sooner or later this will be implemented and they are jockeying for terms," Ali said. The son of Umer Sailya, chairman of the All Pakistan Organization of Small Traders and Cottage Industries and one of the chief backers of the strike, said that his father was picked up on Wednesday night but he did not know by whom. The police said they did not know who detained Sailya, who was behind a countrywide protest last year which forced then prime minister Nawaz Sharif to abandon his tax plans. Donors to Pakistan, including the IMF, the World Bank and other multilateral agencies, have repeatedly called on Pakistani governments to broaden the tax base and impose a GST. An IMF team arrived in Pakistan on Thursday to discuss how to replace a $1.56 billion loan programme suspended last year after the Sharif government failed to meet agreed targets. The military government's first budget, for the year beginning July 1, was expected to include tax reforms plus ways to begin documenting a black economy estimated by the World Bank to be 70 per cent of a gross domestic product of $60 billion. -Reuters DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000519 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Income tax for salaried class may be reduced ------------------------------------------------------------------- Correspondent ISLAMABAD, May 18: The Government plans to reduce the tax rate for the salaried class in the 2000-2001 budget. A proposal to this effect was submitted to the Chief Executive Gen Musaharraf Thursday. A briefing was conducted by Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz and chairman Central Board of Revenue, for incorporating a package of tax relief to the low-income group and about the final plan of the GST/Income Tax survey to Chief Executive Gen Pervaiz Musharraf. The CE was informed that the total tax achieved from the salaried class is less than 2% of the total revenue collection, which brought no big dividends to the government but caused financial problems to the salaried persons with small incomes. Their incomes did not even suffice to meet both ends meet while the tax deduction at source was most regularly being applied to this class, the CE was informed. The CE is reported to have directed the CBR to incorporate a reduction in this rate of this tax for the salaried class. The CE was also briefed about the prospects of the declarations of assets and deposits of tax amounts under the Tax Amnesty Scheme. Last date of filing declarations of undeclared and untaxed assets/incomes etc is June 15, 2000. The briefing, however, mainly focused on the GST/Income Tax survey to be launched at the end of May 2000. The CE reportedly asked the CBR officials to further simplify the proforma of details which would be filled up by the recipients who would be visited by the survey teams from June 1, 2000. CBR officials told Dawn that though no date has so far been fixed for the conduct of survey in the major 13 cities, they said it has been decided during the briefing to the CE that the plan be reviewed to some extent. This review is being conducted for simplifying the income/assets/sales etc detail-seeking proforma, and for adjustment of the rest of the information-gathering data network, accordingly. The proforma asks mainly 6 questions on the GST side and 7 questions on the Income Tax side. However, there are about five sub-questions attached to each question, and a number of documentary proofs have to be supplemented for substantiating the answers. Wrong answers are not acceptable and, in case of "serious misstatement", the recipient of the proforma is also exposed to legal action. The CE is reported to have advised the CBR senior officials to tone down the requirements of responding to the questions regarding taxable incomes/assets/sales. Since the recipients have to submit intricate details of expenditure and source of income through the proforma, there is an element of harassment attached to the exercise which the CE is believed to have taken notice of. The CE was told that training of about 600 persons, both army and civilians, is complete, the stationary required for the survey work has been dispatched to each station, software has been created for computerized transmission of data to central information depository at Islamabad, has been set up. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000519 ------------------------------------------------------------------- IMF team arrives for pre-budget consultations ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report ISLAMABAD, May 18: A four-member advance team of the IMF arrived here on Thursday from Washington for pre- budget consultations with the Pakistani authorities. Official sources said that the leader of the team Ms Sena Ekin will arrive here on Saturday to lead the negotiations. The team is expected to stay in the capital for one week. Formal talks between the two sides will start on Saturday immediately after Ms Ekin's arrival. The advance team on Thursday held its internal meeting in the local IMF office and finalized major topics of discussion which included the size of the budget and taxation proposals with special reference to the levy of General Sales Tax (GST) on small traders, stretching of GST to services sector and the imposition of tax on agriculture income. Pakistan is seeking $2.5 billion from the IMF for its new Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) programme by replacing the $1.6 billion ESAF/EFF, which according to Pakistani officials, had been scrapped for all practical purposes. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000518 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Dawood meets Ishrat today: Talks to focus on project financing ------------------------------------------------------------------- Reporter KARACHI, May 17: Minister for Commerce, Industry and Production Abdul Razzak Dawood has said that he would be holding a crucial meeting today (Thursday) with the Governor State Bank Ishrat Hussain to make project financing arrangements for textile ancillary industry. Speaking as a chief guest at a certificate and award giving ceremony of Pakistan Readymade Garments Technical Training Institute (PRGTTI) here on Wednesday, the minister said that as envisaged in the draft proposal of 'Textile Vision 2005' the priority areas for project financing would be for garment manufacturing units, followed by finishing and weaving of cloth and upgradation of Faislabad powerlooms. Similarly, he said that the euro parity vis-a-vis Pakistani rupee would also be discussed with the governor SBP, who had already assured of sorting out the issue at the earliest. "If we have to meet the challenges of phasing out of MFA by year 2004, when quotas will be no more, the textile industry which had been playing an important role in country's economy will have to go for value-addition," he asserted. He categorically told the assembled business community members that there would be no more export refinancing on yarn and grey cloth in future and these matters along with others would be taken up by him with the governor SPB in Thursday's meeting. The minister said, for meeting the challenges arising out from the phasing out of quotas, when an era of open competition, locally and internationally will have to be faced, the textile industry need to prepare itself by going into value addition and higher quality products. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000518 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Inching up of inflation seen ------------------------------------------------------------------- Haris Anwar KARACHI, May 17: A constant rise in the prices of energy products may disturb the price stability in the economy, financial analysts said. Given th fact that overall inflation is at 3.4 per cent as of March this year, non-food inflation has steadily risen from a level of 3.1 per cent in August 1999, to 4.9 per cent in March, 2000. The increase in the domestic price of petroleum products in March this year, ranging from 1.3-11.8 per cent on different categories and later 10 per cent increase in the furnace oil prices may threaten the price stability in the economy. Economists said the imposition of general sales tax on the gas bills, as well as on certain other products combined with the increase in the gas tariff last year has already led to a pronounced uptick in non-food CPI inflation. CPI is the most commonly used measure of general price level. It is the weighted average of the basket of goods purchased by a typical urban consumer. In Pakistan, the basket of goods used for CPI includes consumer items with non-food presenting 50.65 per cent of the total weightage. "A simultaneous fall in the food component of CPI, particularly since October 1999, has mitigated the impact on overall inflation", an economist said. During the first three quarters of this fiscal, inflation on year- on-year bases remained 3.4 per cent. State Bank's quarterly review on the state of the economy, however, says that a further reduction in inflation rates is unlikely, since the existing rates are amongst the lowest Pakistan has ever faced. It also points to the fact that some factors which contributed to the lower rate of inflation may change the direction as the economy picks up. Economists on the other hand fear that the imposition of a retail GST and other price adjustments as a part of the structural adjustment programme will hike up inflation beyond the near-term. They further said the gradual inching up of inflation will leave little room for downward adjustments in the interest rates. Government in the past kept pressing the banks to cut their rates because of lower rate of inflation in the economy. But despite this ideal price situation, the demand is still not picking up in the economy, which is holding back the real recovery in the growth rate. "The subdued inflation is not the solution unless matched by the increased output, but this not happening in Pakistan," a leading economist said. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000516 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistan Telecommunication Co pre-tax profit up 46.5% ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report ISLAMABAD, May 15: Pakistan Telecommunication Co (PTCL), has shown an increase of 46.5% in the pre-tax profit for the nine months accounts ended March 31, as compared with corresponding period of the last year, an official announcement said. Total revenues during the period stood at Rs42.91bn as compared with Rs37.96bn of nine months period ended March 31, '99 showing an improvement of 13.0%. The increase of Rs4.95bn in revenues is due to rationalization of tariff, introduction of new facilities, clearance of traffic congestion in network plus optimization of long distance transmission media and better management. This is encouraging, as there was a further 15% decrease in long distance (NWD), charges and reduction in total accounting rate (TAR), on international revenues. The growth in total revenues has partly offset by the increase in operating cost of 4.8% due to normal inflationary factors. The profits before tax for the period was Rs 17.93bn which is 46.5% higher as compared with the corresponding period of last year. However as the tax holiday ended in June '99, the net profit after tax was Rs12.01bn as compared with Rs12.32bn in the previous year. Total assets stood at Rs134.45bn as of March 31, 2000 as compared with Rs124.27bn on March 31, '99. An amount of Rs8.89bn has been invested for the expansion of PTCL network while the working connections increased by 136313. Each year PTCL has been investing substantial amount for the expansion of its network to offer technical support for sustained development and improvement of its system. Net trade debtors on March 31, 2000 were Rs19.07bn compared with Rs18.57bn of the last year. PTCL has made concerted efforts to collect arrears of dues from its customers. A special task force was constituted for this purpose and the names of defaulters were published in newspapers to help in recoveries. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000516 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Government urged to rationalize import tariff ------------------------------------------------------------------- Kamal Siddiqi KARACHI, May 15: The Chairman of Lever Brothers Pakistan, one of the country's largest multinationals and biggest corporate taxpayers, has pleaded with the government to rationalize its import tariff structure so that local producers are not at a disadvantage in comparison to importers of finished and semi-finished products. Jean Marc Delpon de Vaux, the chairman of Lever Brothers Pakistan, told reporters in Karachi on Monday that the company's main concern in the forthcoming budget was the rationalization of the tariff structure which had been distorted in favour of importers. "Finished goods are being charged a duty of 35% while semi-finished good attract a duty of 25%. However, the raw materials that we import attract 40% to 50% additional costs," said Delpon de Vaux. Lever Brothers chairman told reporters that in 1999 the company's sales value grew by a modest 5% because of a depressed economic environment and due to reduction in the world price of teas and edible oils which led the company to reduce selling prices which in turn impacted sales value. Delpon de Vaux said that the operating profit grew by 47% in the year from Rs492 million in 1998 to Rs724 million in 1999 leading to an increase of earnings per share by 55%. He said that this strong performance was due to the combined efforts at cost effectiveness, the restructuring of the tea operations under which a tea factory in Karachi was closed down and the drive to reduce stock levels, which can be seen in the decline in stock-in-trade of the company. He said that sales were affected by three factors which were the economic environment of the country, price factor and the competition. Giving an example, he said that in the case of edible oils, cheap imports by smaller companies resulted in competition for Lever Brothers' brands. But Delpon de Vaux warned that profitability would be affected by the import tariff distortions and this may show up in the profits of the company in the coming year. He said that the company's plans of investment and acquisitions were being held up by this anomaly. Delpon de Vaux did not comment on stock market rumours that Lever Brothers were interested in acquiring various local companies in expanding their line of business but at the same time said "we do not rule out any acquisitions." He appreciated the drive by the government to check the smuggling of various items and said that Lever Brothers was affected as soaps and personal care items like skin care products and creams were widely affected. "We have made substantial investments in Pakistan and we are here to make profits. We just cannot sit idle while such products enter the country illegally," said Delpon de Vaux. Lever Brothers chairman said that the right answer to curbing smuggling was to give a competitive tariff structure to imports. "Look at what has been achieved in the case of the tea imports. We can duplicate this experience elsewhere," he said. But he added that instead of starting with giving concessions to finished products, the government's priority should be to give concessions to import of raw materials so that local producers are given an advantage. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000520 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Stocks shake off early losses ------------------------------------------------------------------- KARACHI, May 19: Stocks shook off early losses on Friday to close up 1.5% in a buying spree led by Hub Power Co Ltd amid hopes that its tariff row would be solved soon, dealers said. The Karachi Stock Exchange 100-share index ended 25.33 points, or 1.53%, higher at 1,681.08 points. Dealers said the hopes were generated by news of a start of fresh talks between Hubco and government officials in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday to solve a lingering dispute over power tariffs. It also helped overcome worries over the violence that hit Karachi on Thursday after the murder of an Islamic scholar, although the city witnessed relative calm on Friday. Hubco, locked a legal battle with state-utility Wapda for the last two years over a dispute on power tariffs, rose two rupees to 21.35 rupees but market-giant Pakistan Telecommunications Co Ltd fell 25 paisas to 26.55 rupees. The total volume of the day remained at 245.56m against Thursday's trading of 372.01m shares. Market capitalization, however, increased to Rs 437.39bn against Thursday's capitalizaion of Rs 431.4bn. Fateh Textile remained on top of the gainers with an appreciation of 200 per share to close at Rs 1200. Knoll Pharma was the second highest gainer with increase of Rs 8 in its value to close at Rs 230 per share. Pakistan Insurance Corporation and Shell (Pak) were the major losers of the day with a loss of Rs 105 and Rs 7 per share respectively. Out of total 231 active scrips, 102 were in positive column and 88 in negative column.-Reuters/APPBack to the top
=================================================================== EDITORIALS & FEATURES 20000514 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Grundnorm ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ardeshir Cowasjee IT was April. The sky was heavily overcast. Above the carpet of clouds the aircraft circled the airport at Hamburg. I awaited an announcement from the captain informing us that the plane was unable to land. Then I remembered that I was not in Pakistan, hovering over Lahore or Islamabad. The aircraft landed, the passengers filed out. The easy part was over. At the immigration counter a young Teuton sat examining passports presented to him, an older official stood by to guide him. He removed the leather cover in which my passport is kept, and looked at what is normally the front, which in the case of our passports is blank. He gave me a strange look as he turned the book over and found on what he took to be its backside the golden endorsement and crest of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. He mumbled, "Pakistan!" He looked towards his senior, who looked me up and down. The younger man opened the passport and saw the words printed on the inside of the cover which request and require him "in the name of the President of Pakistan to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance and to afford him/her all assistance and protection of which he/she may stand in need." Had he seen a photograph of our president, I wondered? I hoped not, recalling how Queen Silvia of Sweden, soon after Tarar had been sworn in on New Year's Day 1998, had persuaded her husband, King Gustav, to cancel their official visit to Pakistan due to take place in March. His eyes moved to the left, then down, scanning my personal details. They stopped at 'Religion'. He looked up. "Parsi?" Then seeing the Karakul collar of my cloak, "Afghan?" "No," I said. "Muslim?" "No. I am a follower of Zarathustra, a Zarathustrian." Our passport officials are dim, for each time I put down as my 'religion' 'Zarathustrian', it is inevitably changed to 'Parsi. This is wrong. No such religion exists. (The 'religion' requirement was innovated by Zia-ul-Haq, despite the Master's dictum : "You may belong to any religion or caste or creed - that has nothing to do with the business of the state." - MAJ, August 11, 1947) The two Germans looked dubiously at each other. I hoped they would not go back five thousand years and ask where Zarathustra was born, in Balkh or Azerbaijan. They spoke, eying my beard; the one decipherable word was 'terrorist'. They found my visa, scanned it on their scanner, waited, and all being clear, stamped me in. Thanks to the varied antics of our leaders, from Zia downwards, and thanks to the Americans and their interpretation of the word 'terrorism', a man from Pakistan is now a bomber, a missile- launcher, an armed and dangerous man fighting his own holy war. Our leaders rebut the terrorism allegation by insisting that they neither encourage terrorism nor terrorists, but simply and only provide "moral, diplomatic and political support" to the freedom fighters on jihad. They do not specify where such support begins and ends. They cannot recognize that a terrorist is only transformed into a freedom fighter and applauded when the freedom fought for is won. It is time to face the grundnorm, the ground reality. What is needed, if the country is to be saved, is to reconstruct by reviving the economy. Broke as we are, this can only be done with foreign aid, investment and help. The world well knows that our last couple of supposed democratic leaders, Benazir and Nawaz, and their respective cohorts, were but common or garden thieves. Most investors from the West who contemplate coming to this country prefer to be guided by The Economist (London). A comment from its issue of March 18 still holds good: "Pakistan, by contrast (to India) is falling apart. Venal politicians have sucked the country hollow, leaving the void to be filled by Islamic extremists or military coup-makers, with troubling signs of alliances between the two. The economy is primitive, corrupt and weakening by the day. Pakistan badly needs foreign aid if it is not to implode. Yet its military-dominated government and its violent meddling in Kashmir make it a frustratingly hard place to help." Kashmir cannot be won by what we are doing. William Jefferson Clinton was right: "Pakistan is paralyzed by its past." We insist on continuing to presume that the people who live in the Valley want us to interfere. Many Kashmiris of the Vale wish to follow the example of Bangladesh and be independent. They know, as everyone knows, that the Bangladeshis are far far better off in every way than they ever were when they were East Pakistanis. However, should the Kashmiri dream of independence come true, will they not wish to claim the territory of 'Azad' Kashmir which we hold in trust for them? Reconstruct we cannot by remaining isolated. By repeatedly proclaiming that we are not isolated will not make us any less isolated than we actually are. We will not get the help needed from countries which can help us unless we get them on our side, in particular and most importantly, the United States. China may be an ally but it is as fearful of Muslim extremism and fundamentalism as are the US and Russia, and this is now a problem afflicting its south-western front with which it deals in its own silent and subtle way. However, whether we, or anyone else for that matter, like it or not, the fact is that the US remains the sole ascending superpower. Their work ethics have boosted their economy. Working America rises at five in the morning. Nothing new. In Class One, in my day, we were taught : "He who would thrive, must rise at five...". Working Pakistan rouses itself at noon. The US is like our legendary lion (or 'loin'): "Jungle ka badshah hai, kabhi baccha deta hai, kabhi unda deta hai." It supports sham democracies when it needs to, dictators when it needs to, generals when it needs to, even murderers of the Pol Pot mould if they serve its purpose. US- sponsored Asian dictators and generals include, but are not restricted to: Cambodia - General Lon Nol. Indonesia - General Suharto. The CIA brought him in and the Pentagon Defence Intelligence Agency saw him out. Iran - the Shahanshah Aryamehr, the King of Kings of Iran, together with his SAVAK. At the end, they denied him a six-foot by two-foot plot of land for his dead body. Laos - General Phoumi Nosavan. Pakistan - Generals Ayub Khan and Yahya Khan; and then Generals Zia-ul-Haq and Akhtar Abdur Rahman Khan who, when they grew too big for their boots, were eliminated. The Philippines - Ferdinand Marcos. Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush even hailed him as a democrat. Taiwan - Chiang Kai-shek and his son Chiang Ching-kuo. But for American help and support and its hardworking population (today it can boast of reserves totalling US$120 billion) Taiwan would long ago have been gobbled up by China. Thailand - Marshals Pibul Songgram, Sanit Thanarat, Praphas Charusathien, and Thanom Kittikachorn. Vietnam - Ngo Dinh Diem (later assassinated on American orders), General Nguyen Khanh, General Nguyen Cao Ky, and General Nguyen Van Thieu. With the exception of Nawaz Sharif and his cabinet of intelligent lawyers and thinkers, from 1997 onwards the rest of us acknowledged that "force begets force". Nawaz was supported by not only his followers but by the entire mixed bag in the National Assembly in his constitutional amendments which made him seemingly impregnable. To nobody's surprise, the army eventually took over. To nobody's surprise, Chief Justice of Pakistan Irshad Hasan Khan made the right noises from the bench that heard the constitutional petitions filed against the dismissal of the government and suspension of the assemblies. To nobody's surprise, the honourable Supreme Court has judged and on May 12, 2000, delivered yet another historic judgment upholding the army's action. To nobody's surprise, flip-flop acquiescing suspended Senate Chairman Petitioner Wasim Sajjad and my dear old suspended friend, National Assembly speaker Petitioner Ilahi Bakhsh Soomro, are happy with the verdict (Wasim, Soomro accept verdict, says a headline, May 13). Rhodes scholar Wasim has recorded: "Being an advocate I have to bow before the judgment of the Superior Court." The West is prepared to accept Musharraf and his actions. But it is naturally very wary of the army of extremists and the self-enlisted soldiers of God who surround the general. Rebuild, or reconstruct, we can. The territory and population are large enough. The leaders, the generals, should take themselves back to 1947, to what Mohammad Ali Jinnah said on August 11 in his speech to the Constituent Assembly, and concentrate on one sentence: "The first observation I would like to make is this: You will no doubt agree with me that the first duty of a government is to maintain law and order, so that the life, property and religious beliefs of its subjects are fully protected by the state." This is the point from which they must make a start, take off, and act. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000519 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Fit for what? ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ayaz Amir WE are not fit for democracy. Of this I am becoming increasingly certain. It is not that we lack the requisite tolerance. We just do not seem to have the competence and temperament for it. Forget about parliamentarians and their pathetic performance of the past 15 years. When was the last time anyone read of a meeting of the Lahore High Court Bar Association at which the honourable members were not about to come to blows? Is there a single university in the country where reading and writing are taken seriously or where various student factions do not try to exercise control through violence or the ever-present threat of it? Of no institution is this more true than the army-led Punjab University - yes, we have managed to pull off a world first by installing retired generals there as vice-chancellors - where, for more years than I can count, political activism of a narrow kind has made nonsense of anything that has to do with education. If this be the state of the champions of the rule of law, which is what lawyers in their less rowdy moments imagine themselves to be, and of centres of higher learning (some joke, this) what foundations of democracy are we talking about? Military theoreticians, a deadly species, are guilty of sophistry when they cite low literacy levels as an impediment to democracy. Such self-serving arguments need not be taken seriously. Pakistan has been brought to its present pass by its educated elite, not its untutored masses. I must also confess to a prejudice. I have seen Muslim Leaguers in full bloom and PPP stalwarts in all their glory and I do not know which comes off greater: their all too plain ineptitude (forget greed, a quality common to all aspiring Pakistanis) or their preening arrogance. Talk of Roman senators or a Nazi gauleiter: they would not walk with half the self-importance of a Pakistani politico flush with any kind of authority. Seen up close, this phenomenon never ceases to amaze. But it is not more amazing than the street-walker morality of the Pakistani bureaucrat who will readily offer his services to any master. Every Pakistani government, civil or military, has had its bureaucratic facilitators adept at the misuse and perversion of authority. The comparison with street-walkers might indeed be inappropriate. Street-walkers on occasion are capable of loyalty. Try catching a mandarin in this mode. No wonder the two most famous approvers in Pakistani history have been bureaucrats. But, and here's the Pakistani conundrum, if we are unfit for democracy we are no better suited for strong government. While it is no longer fashionable to look approvingly on authoritarianism, strong and ruthless government is not without its uses or indeed its appeal to countries such as Pakistan where the authoritarian tradition, despite appearances to the contrary, runs deep. Authoritarianism, however, is not simply a matter of looking tough and behaving senselessly. To be effective and successful it needs (paradoxical though this may sound) a greater refinement of culture than democracy. In particular it requires the fulfilment of two conditions: (1) inspired if not messianic leadership; and (2) the mobilization of the masses so that national energies, instead of being dissipated, are concentrated on a single point. In Pakistan we might as well ask for the moon as these conditions are beyond us to meet. For leaders we have had tinpot figures, each more empty than the other. As for the mobilization of the masses, only two leaders achieved this: Bhutto in these parts and Shaikh Mujib across the seas. Both came to sticky ends. Shaikh Mujib's fate is no longer relevant to our history but Bhutto's is. He had great qualities but also enormous failings and ultimately it were his failings which brought him low. But there is something else which must also be kept in mind. The state of Pakistan does not seem to be programmed to accept leaders with brains above the national average. If through a quirk of fate another intelligent figure tries to make a splash in the murky waters of Pakistani politics, there is little reason to think his fate will be any different from Bhutto's. As for Jinnah, he was really the exception which proves the rule. The community he came from - with its habits of prudence, thrift and hard work honed over generations - can scarcely be called representative of present-day, mainstream Pakistani society. Jinnah was an extremely successful professional who, when fame came his way, was most at home with the Bombay aristocracy. He had nothing in common with the Punjabi and Sindhi landowners who formed the Muslim leadership class in these parts. The relationship between Jinnah and this class was one of mutual necessity and not the product of any natural affinity. Those who came after him - the Ghulam Muhammads, the Iskander Mirzas, the Ayub Khans - were truer sons of the soil with none of Jinnah's finicky concern for such abstractions as constitutionalism and the rule of law. When we moan the fact that we have failed to live up to Jinnah's ideals we forget that the soil of what came to be Pakistan was not particularly well-suited for receiving the seeds of such exotic plants as democracy. West Punjab, Sindh, the Frontier and Balochistan were the western marches of the British Indian Empire and between these regions and central and eastern India where the British presence had been longer there lay a world of difference. After Jinnah's death the Muslim League leadership did not stray from the high road of democratic principle. This charge is false. Never having been on that highway, there was no question of straying from it. So knowing where we come from should teach us to be less harsh on ourselves. If we have crucified democracy it is because culture and history predisposed us towards this sacrifice. The greater failure is the failure of dictatorship. With the feudal tradition of Punjab and Sindh, the military recruiting tradition of Punjab, and the tribal traditions of the Frontier province and Balochistan, the circumstances were right for raising an enduring temple to authoritarianism. It is Pakistan's abiding tragedy that its despots have proved more egregious failures, and more empty vessels, than its putative democrats. In the history of Pakistan that remains to be written, it is not the failure of democracy that will engage the closest attention of the historian but the failure of militarism and dictatorship. It might have been supposed that General Musharraf had a chance of bucking this historical trend. No such luck as every passing day brings fresh proof of the strange inadequacy dogging the heels of this government. What are the hallmarks of its performance? A total inability to see the wood for the trees, the total absence of any sense of direction, the needless involving of the army in every sphere of national life, and, strangest of all, an irresistible penchant for opening unprepared fronts - now against smugglers and gun-runners, the next day against traders and religious schools - and then, even before battle is joined, galloping off into the sunset in headlong retreat. Don Quixote charged at the windmills. This government is making a virtue of challenging the windmills from a distance and then running off in the opposite direction. The anti-blasphemy issue furnishes the latest example of this new method of warfare. Whatever urban begums or NGOs might say, there was no pressing need to touch this issue at this time. The government has more serious issues on its plate. But egged on by God knows whom, General Musharraf in full public view announced a procedural change in the anti-blasphemy law. He need not have done it but having made the announcement should have stuck to it, especially since what was envisaged was a minor change in the procedure and not the substance of the law. But faced with the battle-cries of the religious parties, the General lost no time in announcing a precipitate retreat.
=================================================================== SPORTS 20000520 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 2nd Day: Hinds scores 165 to put West Indies on top ------------------------------------------------------------------- BRIDGETOWN, May 19: Wavell Hinds scored 165, his first test century, as West Indies threatened to build a big first innings lead against Pakistan in the second test on Friday. West Indies were 283 for five in reply to Pakistan's 253 when bad light stopped play three overs before the scheduled close on the second day. Jamaican Hinds, playing in his fourth test, completed his 100 before tea with his 16th four in 218 minutes off 150 balls. The 23-year-old left-handed batsman continued to spray the ball around the ground after reaching his century and his next 50, scored off only 55 balls, included a further seven fours. He was out shortly before the close when he hooked a Waqar Younis delivery into the hands of Inzamam-ul-Haq at mid-on. Ramnaresh Sarwan, making his test debut, was 28 not out and night-watchman Curtly Ambrose nought not out at stumps. (Reuters) DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000520 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistan remain fifth in Malaysian golf ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Our Sports Reporter ISLAMABAD, May 19: A two-member Pakistan team, comprising leading amateurs scratch handicapper Zeeshan Ali and Ali Raza Nazim Haji (handicap 2), returned on Friday after participating in twin events, the Malaysian Golf Championship and Saujana Panasonic Amateur Golf Championship held at Kaula Lumpur from May 11-18. Pakistan remained fifth in team championship with a score 301 (Zeeshan 74-73=147, Ali Raza 77-77=154). The title was clinched by the Indian pair of Shiv Kapur and Ashok Kumar with 284 over two days, followed by Chinese Taipei (291), hosts Malaysia (293) and New Zealand (300). The individual category was also won by Indian Shiv Kapur. Zeeshan Ali finished eighth with a score of 296 (74-73-77- 72) over four days while Ali Raza remained 21st, his tally was 77-77-79-74. Both, youngsters were making their first appearance in the tournament. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000518 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Saleh on top of snooker ranking ------------------------------------------------------------------- KARACHI, May 17: Former National Champion Saleh Muhammad took the top slot in the National Snooker Ranking after his triumph in the recently concluded Championship here by relegating reigning national champions, Muhammad Yousuf to second position. According to new latest ranking of the Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association (PBSA) on Wednesday, another former National Champion Farhan Mirza slipped to fourth for the first time in three years. Current Asian number three Farhan Mirza had never gone below three in the ranking. Muhammad Shafiq slipped eight places from 13 to 21. Naveen Perwani of PIA made significant improvement by jumping to third place. Teenage Atif Latif Bakhsh also improved two places from Eight to Sixth. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000515 ------------------------------------------------------------------- PCB chief, judge reading different scripts? ------------------------------------------------------------------- Reporter KARACHI, May 14: The chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the judge, who investigated the charges of match-fixing, are studying different scripts, as, the deadline set by the International Cricket Council (ICC) approaches. The development comes after Lt-Gen Tauqir Zia told the newsmen last week that none of the players, currently in the West Indies, would be affected by the report and Justice Malik Mohammad Qayyum revealed the names of the players against whom he has recommended the penalty. But before the PCB submits the judicial commission's report to the governing body before its annual summit on June 21 and 22 at Lord's, it has promised to make the document public authored by Justice Qayyum last November after more than two years of investigations. According to a report published in The Telegraph on Sunday, Justice Qayyum has directly named Salim Malik as one of the players against whom he has recommended a life-long ban. "That is correct," the judge was quoted as saying by the newspaper when he was questioned if he has suggested the ban against Salim Malik. "I can't say, but the answer isn't no," Justice Qayyum said of the wrist spinner Mushtaq Ahmad, who is currently touring the West Indies with the Pakistan cricket team. When questioned about former captain Wasim Akram, the judge replied: "I can't say, but he has not got scot-free." Commenting on the statement of Gen Tauqir Zia, Justice Qayyum said: "It depends on how you look at it. He is looking from a certain angle and there can be another way of looking at it. But I don't know from what angle he is looking. "The one thing he is right in saying is that there was no planned match-fixing by the team as a whole," the Judge told the British newspaper. The judge revealed to the newspaper that the PCB chairman met him on Wednesday last and promised to publicize the entire report. He, however, remains mystified that why the general should be commenting on the contents of the report before it was released. "I am surprised because they should release the report and then say these things," the judge said. Desperate efforts were made to contact the PCB chairman on Sunday, but he was not available for comments. However, Salim Malik, when contacted by Dawn in Lahore, expressed his surprise. "Really?" was his initial reaction. "Where did you get the report? To whom the judge has told this?" he questioned. Nevertheless, he later said that he would make his official comment once he goes through the report. "How can I comment now. I haven't seen the report. You are the first one to tell me. Let me go through it (report) and after that I would say anything," the former captain said. CANICC SUSPEND PAKISTAN?: The newspaper said if the report was changed, and Qayyum remains true to his work and exposes it as a sham, then the ramifications would be huge. "The ICC would have no alternative but to suspend Pakistan from international cricket," The Telegraph said. The ICC, on May 3, decided that all the countries would cooperate but in case any country did not cooperate it could face suspension from cricket. But the PCB chairman last week emphatically said that the ICC decision could not be implemented for whatever had happened in the past. He said it was not a new case and the inquiry had been going on for the last two years. The ICC decision has to be implemented from the day the decision was taken. Pakistan's judicial inquiry is an old case. "Pakistan's judicial investigations doesn't come in the ICC's jurisdiction. It's entirely up to the PCB how it wants to handle the judge's report," he had said. ------------------------------------------------------------------- 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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