------------------------------------------------------------------- DAWN WIRE SERVICE ------------------------------------------------------------------- Week Ending : 3 February 2001 Issue : 07/05 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Contents | National News | Business & Economy | Editorials & Features | Sports
The DAWN Wire Service (DWS) is a free weekly news-service from
Pakistan's largest English language newspaper, the daily DAWN. DWS
offers news, analysis and features of particular interest to the
Pakistani Community on the Internet.
Extracts, not exceeding 50 lines, can be used provided that this
entire header is included at the beginning of each extract.
We encourage comments & suggestions. We can be reached at:
e-mail dws-owner@dawn.com
WWW http://dawn.com/
fax +92(21) 568-3188 & 568-3801
mail DAWN Group of Newspapers
Haroon House, Karachi 74200, Pakistan
Please send all Editorials and Letters to the Editor at
letters@dawn.com
(c) Pakistan Herald Publications (Pvt.) Ltd., Pakistan - 2001
DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS
CONTENTS =================================================================== NATIONAL NEWS + Pakistan quake aid reaches Ahmedabad + Musharraf and Vajpayee agree to keep in touch + India to pull out additional troops from LoC + Drowning of fishermen confirmed + Minimum deterrence vital: CE + Ulema suspend protest for one month: Inquiry tribunal constituted + Mangla Dam height to be raised by 40 feet: Musharraf okays plan + Azhar fails to win over rivals + Pakistan, Saudi Arabia agree to boost trade: JMC meeting ends + Perception about Pakistan improving: CE discusses vital issues + Peshawar newspaper press set ablaze + Kashmir Day to be observed officially + Constitutional amendment not needed + Six killed; vehicles, property torched in Karachi + Benazir considers high-risk return --------------------------------- BUSINESS & ECONOMY + US rejects request for revising F-16 payment accord + FCY deposits at 50pc of reserves: Dollarization spell again? + Banks seek 100% cash margin from Kabul importers + Rs 8 billion paid in sales tax refund: July-Jan figures + Guideline for DFIs, banks merger soon + Pulses, atta, egg strain consumer pocket + World Bank seeks speedy privatization + SBP raises paid-up capital: Investment banks, housing finance cos + Ceremonial, video taxes abolished --------------------------------------- EDITORIALS & FEATURES + N.E.D. University Ardeshir Cowasjee + Servitude and the daily grind Ayaz Amir + Stagnation vs creative chaos Irfan Husain ----------- SPORTS + Moin retained captain as PCB ends suspense
=================================================================== DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS =================================================================== NATIONAL NEWS 20010131 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistan quake aid reaches Ahmedabad ------------------------------------------------------------------- Jawed Naqvi NEW DELHI, Jan 30: Kashmiri freedom fighters donated blood, a Pakistani army plane rushed tents and blankets to homeless and shivering earthquake victims, while Hindu and Muslim groups in otherwise communally-polarised Gujarat state, suspended their hostilities to tend to the dead, and living dead, on Tuesday, officials and media reports said. A C-130 Hercules transport plane landed in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, ferrying 13 tones of relief material, including 200 tents and thousands of blankets, a Pakistani diplomat told Dawn. It's a human tragedy, said the diplomat, who did not wish to be identified. Countries forget their differences in this kind of agony. Its a humanitarian gesture of the government and people of Pakistan, he said. Ironically, Gujarat's Kutch region, the worst affected part of the earthquake's footprint, was the site of a major incident between Indian and Pakistan in the post-Kargil weeks when a Pakistani naval plane was shot down near the border. The diplomat said two more planeloads of supplies were expected in the next two days. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Shiv Sena are usually associated with religious bigotry and Hindu revivalism. Both were reported to be actively helping to mitigate the tragedy across this devastated border state, with scant concern for which community the victims belonged to. Muslim volunteer groups who have a major presence in Gujarat were reported to be working feverishly to save lives no matter of which religion. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010203 ------------------------------- Musharraf and Vajpayee agree to keep in touch ------------------------------------------------------------------- ISLAMABAD, Feb 2: Indian Prime Minister Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee telephoned Chief Executive Gen Pervez Musharraf on Friday to thank Pakistan for helping India in the hour of need and said that Islamabad's goodwill gesture would help in improving relations between the two countries. The Indian prime minister reportedly told the chief executive that Pakistan government's decision to dispatch relief goods for earthquake victims in Gujarat province would help both the countries to get closer to each other. Till Thursday Pakistan had sent three planeloads of relief goods for the earthquake victims in India. The relief goods included tents and blankets. A source said that during the eight-minute telephonic conversation, the two leaders also agreed that the two countries should remain in touch with each other. A source told Dawn that the two leaders agreed that both the countries should help each other in the hour of need of any country. Gen Musharraf told Mr Vajpayee that Pakistan was ready to offer whatever assistance was required by India, the source said, and added that the chief executive told the Indian prime minister that Pakistan government and the people of Pakistan were grieved over the loss of human lives and property caused by earthquake in India. An official handout issued by the government said that Mr Vajpayee "expressed appreciation" for the relief goods provided by the government of Pakistan. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010202 ------------------------------------------------------------------- India to pull out additional troops from LoC ------------------------------------------------------------------- Jawed Naqvi NEW DELHI, Feb 1: The Indian government has ordered a phased scaling down of its troops along parts of the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir even as it dispatched two top ranking officials to rally support with foreign interlocutors for Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's conditions for resuming talks with Pakistan, informed sources and media reports said on Thursday. The Hindustan Times and The Hindu, citing highly placed security officials, said that a sizeable number of its troops and heavy equipment moved along the Line of Control following the Kargil conflict, would be withdrawn, according to an AFP report. The process will take three months. Kashmiri groups welcomed news of a gradual troop withdrawal from the LOC as a positive step but warned that Vajpayee's tenuous ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir was getting increasingly subverted by trigger-happy paramilitary troopers in the valley. In Paris, India's National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra held a meeting with academics and intellectuals who debriefed him on Vajpayee's ceasefire initiative he announced on November 19 and which he has twice extended despite opposition from Hindu nationalist hardliners. "India's latest decision to extend by yet another month the suspension of actions against militant groups (in Kashmir) demonstrates our sincere effort to go the extra mile in search of a peaceful solution," Mishra was quoted by an Indian news agency as saying on Wednesday. "But terrorism and violence continue unabated and there is no indication that Pakistan is inclined to give up its hostility towards India," Mishra said. Indian External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh for his part was in Damascus on Wednesday sharing a similar perspective with President Bashar al Assad. The fact that the two officials, both topmost foreign policy aides to Vajpayee, were visiting foreign capitals in the middle of a major calamity in Gujarat, explaining and seeking support for India's Kashmir policy may be rooted in a small but significant diplomatic advantage Islamabad appears to have wrested over New Delhi. The fact is that Pakistan has already initiated a partial troop withdrawal from the LOC, several weeks ahead of the Indian announcement. Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf has pointedly distanced himself from some of the recent attacks by Kashmiri Mujahideen in Delhi and Srinagar. And, as recently as on Wednesday, senior Pakistani diplomat in Washington Zamir Akram was describing Islamabad's material help in the Gujarat earthquake relief operation as an olive branch by his country to India. Whatever the impulse behind New Delhi's diplomatic missions, as far as the news of Indian troop withdrawal went, it evoked an instantly favourable response from some of the people to whom it should matter most, including from groups such as the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF). "If Indian troops are being phased out from Kashmir, it will strengthen Vajpayee's pragmatic approach of which we had a glimpse in the initial phases of the ceasefire," said JKLF chief Yasin Malik. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010202 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Drowning of fishermen confirmed ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Our Staff Reporter KARACHI, Feb 1: As many as 35 fishermen died when a Karachi-based boat capsized in Arabian sea some three days back, an official of the Fishermen Cooperative Society (FCS) confirmed here. The accident took place between Ormara and Basol, coastal towns in Balochistan province. The boat with 37 fishermen left from Karachi Fish Harbour on Jan 24 on a routine hunting trip. The FCS official told Dawn that the incident was confirmed on Thursday when Mahar Wali Khan, brother of the boat owner, informed the FCS office. He said the boat was owned by Zarwali Khan, a resident of Daryabad, Lyari. The FCS official, Haji Ghazanfar Ali Boota further said the accident was reported by two surviving fishermen Abdul Shakoor and Mohammad Farooq, who reached a coastal town of Daam on board a small fishing boat after the accident. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010131 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Minimum deterrence vital: CE ------------------------------------------------------------------- ISLAMABAD, Jan 30: There is no substitute to a strong air force in the modern day warfare and the government is determined to provide all available resources for the modernization of Pakistan Air Force. This was stated by Chief Executive Gen Pervez Musharraf at the 195th Air Staff Presentation held at Air Headquarters Chaklala on Tuesday. Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Executive said: "Pakistan is for peace but its sovereignty, honour and dignity cannot be compromised. Keeping in view the situation on our borders a strategy of minimum deterrence has to be followed. "PAF has the central place in our strategy of deterrence. I am confident that PAF can perform far beyond the mission assigned to it." The ceremony was attended by Vice Chief of the Air Staff, Deputy Chiefs of the Air Staff, Air Officers Commanding, Base Commanders and Field Commanders. - NNI DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010202 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ulema suspend protest for one month: Inquiry tribunal constituted ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ahmed Hasan PESHAWAR, Feb 1: All the major religio-political parties and trade bodies decided on Thursday to suspend for a month the protest campaignagainst the publication of a blasphemous letter in a local newspaper. The decision was taken in the light of a meeting held between Ulema and the local administration late Wednesday evening and another meeting held at the historic Qasim Ali Khan mosque on Thursday morning. Speaking at a press conference, Maulana Amir Hussain Qadri, provincial chief of the JUP, said that a meeting attended by the leaders of JUI(F), Sipah-i-Sahaba, JI, Jamiat Ahle Hadith, Tanzim Islami, Majlis Tahaffuz Khatme Nabuwat, PML, Jamiat Ittehad Ulema and JUI(S) decided to suspend the protest campaign for one month to give the administration time to complete investigation into the incident and to bring the culprits to book. The city commissioner also briefed Ulema and traders about the steps being taken in this regard. Maulana Qadri said that the Ulema and traders accepted government's point of view and decided to give it time to fulfil its promise. Meanwhile, the journalists community has welcomed the Ulema's decision to withdraw strike call and termed it a great gesture of goodwill for the pressmen. tribunal set up: The NWFP government on Thursday appointed a Tribunal of Inquiry consisting of a judge of the Peshawar High Court to probe into the publication of a blasphemous letter against the holy Prophet (PBUH) in a local English daily on Monday. The tribunal will submit its report within a week. The Tribunal will investigate the circumstances under which the blasphemous letter was published in order to find out motive behind the offence. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010202 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Mangla Dam height to be raised by 40 feet: Musharraf okays plan ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ansar Abbasi ISLAMABAD, Feb 1: The government has decided to raise height of Mangla Dam by 40 feet to enhance its storage capacity, it is learnt. Chief Executive Gen Pervez Musharraf has approved the proposal put forward by the Water and Power Development Authority on the basis of a feasibility study undertaken by the authority, which maintained that raising height of Mangla Dam by 40 feet was technically and economically feasible. Detailed designing of the project has also been ordered and it has been decided that Wapda will bear the cost of detailed designing up to the tendering stage. The raising of Mangla Dam height will cater, though partially, the growing demand of water by all the provinces. It is feared that if the country's water storage capacity is not increased up to a satisfactory level, water will become a major irritant among the provinces in the coming years. The government has also decided to launch small water storage schemes of less than 0.2 MAF (million acre feet) and costing less than Rs200 million. These schemes would be executed by the provinces while Wapda would provide the required technical assistance wherever required. Regarding Wapda's deficit, the chief executive has constituted a high-level committee headed by finance minister Shaukat Aziz. Chairman Water and Power Development Authority Lt-Gen Zulfiqar Ali and Chief of Staff (COS) to chief executive Lt-Gen Ghulam Ahmed will act as members of the committee which will forward its proposals to the Chief Executive by Feb 10 on how to resolve Wapda's deficit of Rs18.8 billion. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010202 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Azhar fails to win over rivals ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ashraf Mumtaz LAHORE, Feb 1: Initial contacts made by Mian Mohammad Azhar, an aspirant for the office of PML presidentship, with some pro- Nawaz Sharif party leaders on Thursday in a bid to settle differences and create unity in the party, failed to break the ice as the two sides stuck to their positions. The former governor said there was a need for party elections so that leadership could be changed. However, the leaders he met were of the view that the procedure he was going to adopt to achieve the target was not acceptable to them. "We gathered the impression that Mian Azhar plans to set up his own faction of the PML, although he does not clearly say so", Rai Mansab Ali told Dawn after the meeting. Others whom Mian Azhar met were: Rana Tanvir Husain, Shahid Mehdi Nasim and Chaudhry Nazir. They told Mian Azhar that the central leadership should be approached for party elections, if at all it was necessary for the sake of unity. The idea of requisitioning a meeting of the general council, they said, was not in the interest of the party. Rai Mansab said the former governor had been told in plain terms that, at present, Raja Zafarul Haq and Makhdoom Javed Hashmi were leading the party and they alone, or the party's central working committee, could take a decision about elections. He said those with whom Mian Azhar held talks had also told him that they were with the deposed prime minister and would remain with him. A statement issued later by Mian Azhar said that he had told the leaders that everybody should shun differences and rise above all conflicts for the unity of the party. A united PML alone, he said, could get majority in the next elections and play a role for the restoration of democracy. Admitting that Rai Mansab and Rana Tanveer had certain reservations about Mian Azhar's ideas regarding the party unity, the statement said that Mian Azhar wanted that the party leadership should be elected and not nominated by anyone. Mian Azhar plans to meet more leaders in the days to come. Meanwhile, Rai Mansab and others called on party Vice-President Mian Yasin Wattoo and briefed him on their talks with Mian Azhar. Mr Wattoo, according to Rai Mansab, endorsed the viewpoint of his colleagues. Punjab PML President Zulfikar Khosa, whose ouster was being sought through the general council, was furious over reports that he might be given some position in the central organization of the party if he stepped down in favour of Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi. Mr Khosa said he did not know whether Mian Azhar had either stooped so low or he had such a lowly opinion of him (KHosa) that he wanted to hold conciliation talks through the media. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010201 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistan, Saudi Arabia agree to boost trade: JMC meeting ends ------------------------------------------------------------------- Syed Rashid Husain RIYADH, Jan 31: The sixth Pak-Saudi Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) has stressed on improving the role of private sector in enhancing the trade relations between the two countries. The JMC ended its meeting on Wednesday on a positive note stressing the need and the desire of both the countries to bring their economic relations at par with the excellent political relations between the two states. It decided to intensify their economic relations and take special measures to strengthen this relationship. Pakistan Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz and Saudi Commerce Minister Osama Jaffer Faqeeh, later signed the minutes of the sixth JMC. At the end of the JMC, it was announced that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have agreed to renew the existing agreement on protection and promotion of investments in each of the two states. Emphasis was also laid on more regular visits by private sector entrepreneurs of the two states. In this regard, the Saudi authorities agreed to look at the problems of the Pakistani businessmen in obtaining visas for Saudi Arabia. It was also decided to give a greater and more enhanced role to the Pak-Saudi Joint Business Council, which was established last year in the private sector. The JMC decided to explore possibilities of further cooperation in a number of fields, including investments in petroleum, gas and other related energy sectors, food and agro-based industry, banking, information technology, cement industry, textile goods and readymade garments, leather industry and fertilizer. The possibilities presented by the ongoing process of privatization in both the states also came under review. Already 26 joint venture projects exist between the two countries. After the initial session, the JMC was divided into four sub- committees on commerce and investment, science and technology, education and culture and a separate panel of businessmen to promote interaction between private sector of the two states. Pakistan also offered training to Saudi railway personnel and students in its institutions. Increasing the number of Saudi students in Pakistani educational institutions, specially the medical colleges, also came under review and it was agreed that these would be looked into. It was also decided to jointly review the existing tariff regimes in both the states so as to give a boost to trade between them. The next Pak-Saudi JMC session has now been scheduled to take place in Islamabad after about a year and a half. Earlier, the Pakistani Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz called on King Fahd and Crown Prince Abdullah. He also met the Saudi finance minister. Meanwhile, Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry hosted a lunch for Pakistani delegation. The Pakistani side during the meeting gave a detailed review of the existing economic climate in Pakistan and urged for more Saudi investments in Pakistan. The presentations made by Shaukat Aziz and the other members of the delegation were well received by the almost packed hall of the chamber. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010201 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Perception about Pakistan improving: CE discusses vital issues ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Ihtasham ul Haque ISLAMABAD, Jan 31: Chief Executive Gen Pervez Musharraf told the federal cabinet here on Wednesday that perception about Pakistan in the outside world had improved and was now helping the country forgebetter political and economic relations with foreign countries as well as international donor agencies. Informed sources said that the chief executive who presided over the meeting believed that the international community now better understood Pakistan's point of view on various issues. He said change in the perception of the world community was helping Pakistan to forge better economic ties with the international donor and other multilateral agencies. "The chief executive told his cabinet colleagues that change in the perception of foreigners about Pakistan was helping both economically and politically", Secretary Information Syed Anwar Mahmood told Dawn after the meeting. Secretary General Finance Mr Moeen Afzal briefed the cabinet about the meeting of Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz and his team with the Paris Club members recently. The secretary general informed the cabinet that Pakistan had successfully negotiated the rescheduling of $1.8 billion loans with the members of the Paris Club. He said that there was a broad-based appreciation of the economic revival programme of the Pakistan government by the Paris Club members. The Club also appreciated the expenditure control mechanism and reduced borrowings being pursued by Islamabad. The Club members also praised the overall performance of the government during last year. HUBCO ACCORD: The cabinet approved the settlement agreement reached with the Hub Power Company last December. The cabinet observed that the agreement was a positive development which reduced Hubco receivables by $63 million annually. "This translates into a saving of nearly Rs4 billion in foreign exchange every year. The agreement also reopens doors for foreign investment in the country", the meeting was told. QUAKE: The meeting expressed deep sorrow at the loss of life and property caused by the devastating earthquake in India and Pakistan. The chief executive described it as a great human tragedy for India and thanked Allah for sparing Pakistan with only minor losses. He extended his heartfelt sympathies to the people of India in their hour of grief. KYOTO PROTOCOL: The cabinet accorded approval to a proposal of the Ministry of Environment for accession to Kyoto Protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to demonstrate Pakistan's continued commitment to the protection and preservation of global environment. AIR SERVICE: The meeting also approved signing of a new air services agreement between Pakistan and Switzerland. The agreement provides more freedom in terms of flight operation between Pakistan and Switzerland. DEMONETISATION: The cabinet extended the last date of demonetisation of Re1 and Rs2 currency notes to Dec 31, 2001. It also approved minting of Rs5 coins from Dec 31, 2001. The cabinet also approved adoption of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea. The accession of the protocol will facilitate Pakistani flagships to reduce commercial time loss and extra expenditure when engaged in international trade and when visiting ports of the states having adopted SOLAS Protocol 1988. The meeting reviewed implementation of the decisions of the cabinet and the chief executive's directives by the Ministry of Local Government, Environment and Rural Development. During the meeting, Gen Musharraf observed that recently-elected representatives at union council levels should be motivated to join the process of development and participate in nation building efforts. "The elected representatives at grass-root level can play an effective role in creating unity, sectarian harmony, promoting an atmosphere of tolerance and in curbing extremism and sectarianism in our society", he said. The devolution plan, he said, when implemented, would revolutionise the entire society as the new system would inculcate confidence and spirit of leadership and service in the elected representatives at grass-root level. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010131 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Peshawar newspaper press set ablaze ------------------------------------------------------------------- Mohammed Riaz PESHAWAR, Jan 30: Angry protesters on Tuesday attacked the office of the daily Frontier Post and set ablaze the printing machinery. The fire gutted the machinery, newsprint rolls as well as other printing material kept in the building. Despite the presence of police personnel posted at the newspaper office, no efforts were made to prevent the mob which walked away after ransacking the office and burnt the printing press, housed in a nearby building. The fire, which continued for several hours, turned everything into ashes. Various students organizations also held demonstrations to protest against the publication of blasphemous material in the newspaper. Students started their rally from Peshawar University and after marching through city streets they gathered at the Hayat Shaheed Chowk near the US Consulate, where the rally was diverted by the police to Saddar. Heavy contingents of police were deployed on all roads and bylanes leading towards the US Consulate. After marching through Saddar streets, the slogan-chanting students gathered outside the Governor's House where the rally was addressed by their leaders who demanded of the government to award exemplary punishment to the newspaper management. Although, most of the students later dispersed peacefully, a group of students carrying batons entered the Peshawar Press Club and damaged signboards. Leaders of various religious parties also held a meeting at Madni mosque in Namakmandi. The also took out a procession from the mosque under the leadership of Maulana Abdul Malik of the Islami Muttahida Mahaz, and marched up to the Qisa Khawani Chowk. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010131 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Kashmir Day to be observed officially ------------------------------------------------------------------- Reporter LAHORE, Jan 30: The government is learnt to have decided to officially observe the Kashmir Day on February 5 and is making elaborate arrangements for the purpose. The main events will be human chains and demonstrations that will be attended by three provincial ministers at the three bridges connecting Azad Kashmir with the Punjab, official sources said on Tuesday. They said ministers of the Azad Kashmir government would also attend the demonstrations at Mangla, Azad Pattan and Karor Hullar (Kotli) bridges. Here human chains will be made to show solidarity with Kashmiris struggling to get their right of self-determination. The sources said the demonstrations would be held in the morning and the names of the participating Punjab ministers would be announced later. Symposia and seminars will be organized in major cities of the province on that day. There will be declamation contests and speeches on Kashmir issue in colleges and schools and intellectuals and artistes will take out rallies. Arrangements will be made to facilitate the Kashmir Day processions by political parties. Meanwhile, Lahore commissioner Shahid Najam told a news conference that the administration would play facilitator's role in the holding of Kashmir Solidarity Day functions. He said that section 144-CrPC would be lifted but elaborate security arrangements would be made on the occasion as there would be great temptation for the enemies to sabotage the functions. There would be a strict screening of participants in the rallies to be held on Shahrah-i-Quaid-i-Azam. All hotels and guest houses would be checked a couple of days before the event. On February 5, the Shahrah-i-Quaid-i-Azam would be divided into various sectors as activities of various political parties and religious groups would be staggered to avoid any clash. There will be a seminar and a photo exhibition on Kashmir at Alhamra Art Centre at 3pm. There will be a balloon display on The Mall. The commissioner said that a three-day Kashmir Food Festival in the Old Anarkali on February 4 to 6 and Kashmir Craft Show at Cultural Complex, Ferozepur Road, would be special features on the occasion. There would be a special rally of writers, intellectuals and artistes from Alhamra Art Centre to LDA Plaza on Kashmir Road at 3pm, while there will be special functions in Kashmir Block, Allama Iqbal Town, on Feb 5. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010130 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Constitutional amendment not needed ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ansar Abbasi ISLAMABAD, Jan 29: The government announced on Monday that it had made several changes in the proposed devolution plan, unveiled on August 14 last, maintaining that the implementation of the revised plan would neither require any constitutional amendment nor would need any extra cost or further employment in public sector. Speaking at a press conference following a high-level meeting presided over by the chief executive on devolution plan, Chairman National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB), Lt-Gen (retd) Tanvir Naqvi said that in the future set up the provinces would retain their law and order responsibility which would only be partly shared by the district governments. Naqvi said that implementation strategy of the devolution plan had been finalized under which provincial finance commissions (PFCs) and provincial and district transition teams (PTT & DTT) were being set up to evolve mechanism for financial and administrative devolution and to smoothen district's transition from present to future set up. He said that the PTTs and the DTTs would evolve different strategies for different districts keeping in view their cultural, economic, demographical and geographical conditions. These teams, he said, would decide how the decentralization of power be done and what sort of re-organization was required to change the face of the district departments according to the future demands. These teams, to be set up in next month, would also estimate the immediate as well as recurring cost on the implementation of the devolution plan. Referring to the Monday's meeting, the NRB chief said it had been decided that neither extra cost would be allowed nor further employment would be made. The government, he believed, would be able to restructure/reorganize the existing official machinery to mould it to meet the future demands. The NRB chief said that the draft law earlier prepared to cover the devolution plan had been changed to great extent and all unnecessary details had been omitted. He said there had been detailed and indepth consultation between the provinces and the centre on issues connected with the devolution plan. The proposed Local Government Act covering the devolution plan, he said, had been finalized and would be sent to provinces in a couple of days for their final views on the draft law. He said that deliberations with regard to the revision of Police Act and constitution of citizen's tribunal were also in final stages. To a question, Naqvi said that the law and order responsibility would remain with the provinces, but added hastily that the district government would also have a role in the maintenance of law and order. However, he did not offer any explanation as under which constitutional or legal authority the district governments would share this authority with the provincial government. When asked whether the setting up of provincial finance commissions or the sharing of law and order responsibility by the districts would require any constitutional amendment, he said, "no". With regard to the number of amendments required to cover the devolution plan, the retired general took a complete somersault to what he had been saying in the past and said, "No constitutional amendment is required to provide legal cover to the devolution plan." He, however, said that the provinces might have their own views with regard to the constitutional amendment required. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010129 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Six killed; vehicles, property torched in Karachi ------------------------------------------------------------------- Arman Sabir KARACHI, Jan 28: Six people were shot dead and 14 others wounded in various parts of the city in sectarian violence on Sunday. The killing sparked violence in which police officials were beaten up, many vehicles torched and private and public property was damaged. Tension gripped Shah Faisal Colony, SITE, Banaras, Sabzimandi and Nagan Chowrangi, etc. Although patrolling by the police and rangers was intensified in troubled and sensitive localities, the law and order situation remained volatile. Later, the army had to be deployed in Shah Faisal Colony to control the situation. Eyewitnesses said a Toyota Hiace (EF-0079), carrying nine people, was fired upon by unidentified men while passing through an underpass near Natha Khan Goth. The travellers were going to Jamia Farooqia in Shah Faisal Colony No 4. "As the vehicle crossed Sharea Faisal to enter Shah Faisal Colony, unidentified armed men started firing on it. First, they targeted the driver and then continued spraying the vehicle with bullets, targeting other people before fleeing," said a witness. As a result, five people died and four others suffered serious wounds. The dead were shifted to Jamia Farooqia and the wounded were taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. The deceased were identified as Shaikhul Hadees Maulana Inayatullah, 70; Shaikhul Hadees Maulana Hameedur Rehman, 50; Mufti Mohammad Iqbal, 60; his 12-year-old son Talha; and van driver Abdul Hameed, 40. The injured were identified as Constable Mohammad Ramzan, Maulana Abdus Sattar, Bilal and Yasir Iqbal, son of Mufti Iqbal. The condition of Abdus Sattar was stated to be serious. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010131 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Benazir considers high-risk return ------------------------------------------------------------------- LONDON, Jan 30: Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto has said that she intended to return soon to Pakistan to play a role in country's future - a move that may put her on a collision course with the military regime. In an interview she told the London-based Guardian newspaper that she intended to go home "sooner rather than later", and that she was determined to play a political role in country's future. Ms Bhutto, whose both terms as prime minister ended in dismissal by presidents on the ground of corruption and mismanagement, said she hoped to revive democracy. After governing from 1988 to 1989 and 1993 to 1996, she fled in 1999 shortly before a court sentenced her to five years in jail for taking huge kickbacks. There is a warrant for her arrest. But she said she would return home, even if the "regime jails me, disqualifies me, or seeks to restrict me in anyway" from trying to revive democracy. She shrugged off the prospect of imprisonment. "I remain the single-most important political force in the country," she said, adding that her family's history reflected Pakistan's own struggle with dictatorship. Five corruption cases are pending against Ms Bhutto in Pakistan. Her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, has been charged with eight and is in jail. The critics accuse Ms Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif of driving Pakistani politics and the economy ever lower. However, Benazir said the euphoria which came when Gen Pervez Musharraf deposed Nawaz Sharif and assumed the title of Chief Executive had evaporated. "His plans to revive the economy and restore accountability were a shambles. Pakistan was divided and on its way to being failed state. The only beneficiaries were clerics who wanted the "Talibanisation" of the country. Benazir also bitterly condemned the recent decision by the British Home Secretary, Jack Straw, to help Pakistani prosecutors who have begun investigating her overseas wealth.- Dawn-Guardian News Service
BUSINESS & ECONOMY DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010202 ------------------------------------------------------------------- US rejects request for revising F-16 payment accord ------------------------------------------------------------------- Rauf Klasra ISLAMABAD, Feb 1. The United States has rejected Pakistan's request for revising or modifying F-16 payment settlement agreement saying it is too late to accommodate such a request, official sources told Dawn. Under the agreement signed in September 2000, the United States had agreed to return Pakistan's $140 million, which Islamabad had deposited a decade ago for the purchase of F-16 fighter planes that were never delivered. Washington forcibly deducted $60 million from this money for 300,000 tons of wheat which it had earlier provided to Pakistan as aid. It asked Pakistan to buy soya bean oil and oilseed for the remaining $80 million and that too at exorbitant rates. Islamabad had recently asked the United States to allow it to import wheat instead of 165,000 tons of soya bean seed and 50,000 metric tons of oil as their import will hurt the local oilseed production programme. While categorically refusing to accept Pakistan's request, the United States has warned Islamabad that if soy bean is not imported, Washington will not pay a single penny and Pakistan will be responsible for the loss of its $80 million. If Pakistan does not import soya bean, "Washington will take the F- 16 deal chapter as closed once for all and there will not be any liability on the US," the source quoted Washington as saying. However, Washington has accepted Islamabad's another request for changing the shipment schedule of soya bean seed and has sent a revised schedule to the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) to import the commodity before September, 2001. Last month, the sources said, Islamabad had requested the US government to allow it to bring about some changes in the nature of F-16 settlement after the local press disclosed that the US was selling soya bean at much higher rates than those prevailing in the international market. Soya bean seed is selling in the international market at around $200 per ton but, under the agreement, the United States is selling it to Pakistan at $250 per ton. Similarly, it is also charging $50 extra per ton for the shipment cost. Pakistan will be paying $24 million as shipment cost to US shipment companies out of a total of $80 million. When the issue was raised in the Press, the Finance Ministry called a meeting to consider the import of soya bean. After long deliberations, it was decided to import wheat instead of soya bean seeds as Washington was selling it at unrealistic prices. The decision to import wheat was taken on two grounds. Firstly that wheat production was likely to be short in 2001 and secondly the import of soya bean would play havoc with the local oilseed development programmes. Accordingly, the Finance Ministry officials held a meeting with the officials of the US embassy in Islamabad and requested them to modify the accord. Pakistan's request was forwarded by the embassy to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), which refused to make changes to the agreement. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010202 ------------------------------------------------------------------- FCY deposits at 50pc of reserves: Dollarization spell again? ------------------------------------------------------------------- Mohiuddin Aazim KARACHI, Feb 1: Fresh foreign currency deposits of banks rose by 35 per cent to about $570 million in January 2001 exposing Pakistan- once again-to the perils of dollarization of economy. Bankers told Dawn that their fresh foreign currency deposits placed with the State Bank rose to about $570 million on January 31 2001 from about $423 million on December 30 2000-an increase of 35 per cent or $147 million. Now these deposits account for more than 50 per cent of total liquid foreign exchange reserves of around $1.132 billion as on January 31. If these deposits are subtracted from total reserves net liquid foreign exchange reserves stand around $563 million only-barely enough to foot two-week import bill. Bankers cite several reasons for an unusual growth in foreign currency deposits of banks in January including half a per cent cut in US interest rates and consequent fall in global interest rates. They say that falling interest rates in the international market had reduced the temptation for holding dollars abroad and made the meagre returns SBP pay on these deposits look a little better. In early January when the US benchmark overnight lending rate was 6.5 per cent six-month LIBOR (London Inter-Bank Lending Rate) was being quoted around 6.2 per cent. After half a per cent cut in the US discount rate (from 6.5 to 6.0 per cent) in mid- January LIBOR fell gradually to about 5.4 per cent by the end of the month-a fall of 80 basis points in one month. "This fall in LIBOR reduced the temptation for holding dollars abroad," said treasurer of a foreign bank. "And at the same time it made the SBP rates of return look better encouraging banks to mobilize foreign currency deposits and place them with the SBP." In January the SBP offered 4.5 per cent return on the foreign currency deposits placed with it for three months. The same rate is valid this month. Bankers close to SBP say the sudden growth in foreign currency deposits is a cause of concern for the central bank that has to return these deposits to the banks by end-March. The $596 million IMF standby credit requires Pakistan to do several things and returning these deposits to the banks is one of them. Earlier in July 2000 Pakistan had to free-float the rupee just to qualify for the standby loan. Bankers say another half a per cent cut in the US repo rate (from 6.0 to 5.5 per cent) on Wednesday would trigger further rate-cuts in global market encouraging people to hold dollars within Pakistan. "And that is nothing short of re-dollarization of the economy," said a senior central banker. After burnings its finger deep into dollarization Pakistan had to freeze $11 billion worth of foreign currency deposits after going nuclear on May 28 1998. The freeze has shook the confidence of local and foreign investors as well as overseas Pakistanis and efforts to restore the lost confidence are yet to produce real results. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010203 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Banks seek 100% cash margin from Kabul importers ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sabihuddin Ghausi KARACHI, Feb 2: International banks, operating in Dubai and other states of the UAE, are now demanding a 100 per cent cash margin from the Afghan importers, following the imposition of UN sanctions on Taliban administration in Kabul. A recent phenomenon, the demand for a 100 per cent cash margin by the international banks, is reported to have brought a virtual suspension in the opening of the letters of credits by the Afghan importers. According to the local bankers and traders in Karachi this suspension of opening of Afghan importers' letters of credit in Dubai would impact the Afghan Transit Trade as a considerable quantum of goods imported against foreign exchange passes through Karachi port on its way either to Chamman in Balochistan or Torkham in NWFP. At the same time traders report a considerable slowdown in the bilateral trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan following a virtual suspension of overland transport links and telephonic communications between Torkham and Jalalabad-Kabul and Chamman- Qandhar. Those Pakistani traders, mostly based in Peshawar and Quetta, who are regular supplier of essential goods to Afghanistan on deferred payment basis for last many years are now reported to be stuck up with severe cash flow problem. "Almost Rs1 billion is stuck up against ghee supply", Amjad Rashid, a well known Pakistani food merchant who supplies about 1,000 tons of ghee to Afghanistan every year informed Dawn by telephone from Islamabad on Friday. His estimate is that a total of about Rs2 billion is stuck up in bilateral trade with Afghanistan which, "by all accounts and considering the severe recessionary conditions is a crippling blow on the small traders". The Afghan Consul General in Karachi Moulvi Rahmatullah Kakazada however appeared to be unaware of the implications of UN sanctions on the bilateral trade. Talking to Dawn in his office Moulvi Kakazada said that his government has requested Pakistan for inclusion of 17 items in the Afghan Transit Trade which were deleted by the Pakistan government. Pakistan's bilateral trade with Afghanistan is mostly conducted in Pakistani rupees, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Export Policy and Procedure Order 2000. Under these provisions, all goods and commodities produced in Pakistan can be exported against Pakistani currency to Afghanistan via overland routes Torkhan- Jalalabad and Chamman-Qandhar. The exports to Afghanistan against foreign currency received through advanced payment or letters of credit is allowed a maximum duty drawback of 7.5 per cent of the FOB. This low and a fixed duty drawback rate of 7.5 DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010203 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Rs 8 billion paid in sales tax refund: July-Jan figures ------------------------------------------------------------------- Parvaiz Ishfaq Rana KARACHI, Feb 2: There is a sizeable rise of 19.92 per cent in sales tax refund payments to exporters, during first seven months (July to January) of current fiscal, official sources disclosed on Friday. The sales tax collectorates (East and West), Karachi, have paid Rs8.019 billion in refunds during first seven months of current fiscal as against payments of Rs6.687 billion made in the corresponding period last fiscal. But a quantum increase in refund payments during last month (January 2001) speaks volumes of facts, in the background of ongoing brawl between CBR and exporters over SRO-417, which lays down method for claiming sales tax refunds. According to official figures, sales tax refunds payments by both the collectorates (East and West) during January 2001, rose by 118.17 per cent over a corresponding period of last fiscal. In total Rs2.244 billion were paid against Rs1.028 billion in the same period last year. The exporters had been agitating against the SRO-417 for being stringent in claiming refunds. Because of non-payment of refunds, their liquidity was badly effected during first six months of current fiscal. The CBR on the other hand had been claiming that the new refund rules under the SRO-417, had helped a lot in countering fake refund claims. Even recent amendments in SRO-417 were rejected by trade and industry and the minister for commerce is also on record to have criticized the "twist and turns" placed by bureaucracy in these amendments. According to details, the collectorate of sales tax (East) during first seven months of current fiscal paid Rs5.21 billion or 41.95 per cent higher than the corresponding period of last year, when refund payments were to the tune of Rs3.67 billion. The sales tax collectorate (West) during first seven months under review paid Rs2.809 billion as against Rs3.016 billion of the corresponding period last fiscal. However, a sharp rise in refund payments were noted last month, when a total of Rs558.68 million were paid compared to Rs396.963 million of a corresponding period last fiscal - an increase of around 41 per cent over the previous year's payments of refunds. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010203 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Guideline for DFIs, banks merger soon ------------------------------------------------------------------- Jawaid Bokhari KARACHI, Feb 2: A new official policy guideline backed by facilitating rules would be unfolded soon to promote financial supermarkets through mergers of banks and financial institutions, offering a broad spectrum of services. Under the proposed scheme of things, sources revealed that any financial institution or bank would be eligible to offer the widest range of financial services. And within a corporate identity, administrative divisions would be allowed to be set up for diverse businesses -leasing, investment banking, securities services, Modarabas etc. The main line of business would determine the corporate identity. The diverse financial services under one umbrella would be modelled on the latest global trends in the financial sector. There is a growing realization among bankers that lending alone, getting riskier, cannot sustain profitability. Global corporate restructuring, uncertain business environment and the regional economic cyclic crises recurring with unprecedented frequency makes it imperative that institutions should be reshaped to grapple with changing realities. The banks are also facing many facet competition from the capital market. Though acquisition and mergers would remain a voluntary affair, the regulators would lay down the rules of business. The present impediments in mergers and acquisitions would also be removed. Sources said that regulators want strong financial institutions that are able to induct modern technology and become cost effective. A large number of financial institutions operate with rudimentary technology, low skill and manpower which do not match the modern banking requirements. The financial sector has been allowed to expand, ignoring the viability of such large numbers in the current size of the real economy. To encourage mergers, the State Bank has raised the minimum paid up capital of commercial and investment banks, allowing them some breather to manage investment or seek mergers. According to a study conducted by a leading industrial group, the economy is being serviced by 252 commercial banks, leasing and Modaraba companies, unit trusts, venture capital firms, investment banks, insurance firms, DFIs and mutual funds which have together a paid-up capital of Rs. 124 billion or about $2billion which is less than the paid-up capital of any one multinational bank. Sector-wise the number of units and their aggregate paid- up capital (in bracket) is as follows : There are 42 commercial banks (Pakistani banks Rs.51.64 billion and foreign banks Rs.18.2 billion), 32 leasing companies (Rs.4.84 billion), 48 Modaraba companies (Rs.8.14 billion), 15 investment banks (Rs.5.12 billion), 10 DFIs (Rs.10 billion), 39 mutual funds (Rs.4.76 billion), 2 unit trusts (Rs.14billion), 2 venture capital firms (Rs. 4.8 billion) and 39 insurance companies (Rs.2.93 billion). Financial analysts identify three major hurdles in acquisition and mergers, the absence of modern corporate culture, lack of funding to promote acquisition and mergers and regulations not conducive to corporate marriages. The merger of two financially weak institutions cannot produce a single strong financial entity. The injection of funds is needed to improve the financial health of the new unit. The other option is that financially viable and bigger institutions take over the weak ones. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010202 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pulses, atta, egg strain consumer pocket ------------------------------------------------------------------- Reporter KARACHI, Feb 1: A price increase in pulses, wheat flour, eggs, and ginger during the last one month has hit hard the low and middle income group, who have to contribute greater part of their earnings to the kitchen budget. Wheat flour and pulses claim a substantial share of low and middle income group people who are the hardest hit by this price spiral. A market survey (from January 1 to February 1) reveals price surge in gram pulse to Rs32-34 per kg in posh localities as compared to Rs29-30 last month. In Nazimabad area, retailers are charging Rs32 per kg followed by Rs28 in Landhi, Quaidabad and Malir areas. Moong also shot to Rs32 per kg in areas like Tariq Road, KDA Scheme, Bahadurabad, Defence and Clifton from Rs25 per kg. In Nazimabad, F.B. Area, North Nazimabad - moong is available for Rs28 per kg, while in Malir and Landhi it is retailed at Rs27. Mash rose by Rs4 to Rs48 per kg the whole of the city. Last month, it was charged at Rs44 per kg. Masur now ranges between Rs34-36 per kg in posh areas as compared to last months's price of Rs32-34. However, people living in middle income group areas can get masur for Rs32 per kg. However, wholesalers did not agree with the current increasing trend saying that the prices have come down by at least Rs2-4 per kg due to over supply position and paucity of buyers in the market. They said pulses import rose by 82 per cent in July-December 2000- 2001 in terms of quantity as compared to the same period of last fiscal. Fine atta price also soured to Rs13 per kg in upper income group areas as compared to last month's price of Rs11.50 per kg. Disparity in the prices of atta from area to area also looms large as fine atta is available at Rs12 per kg in Landhi, Korangi, Nazimabad, North Nazimabad, F.B. Area and Gulshan-e-Iqbal. Similarly, atta no.2.5 also increased to Rs11 per kg from Rs10. However, in some areas, it is available at Rs10.50 per kg. In poultry, only egg prices are higher by Rs2 per dozen at Rs34 from Rs32 per dozen due to rising cold wave. The live bird rates fell to Rs60 per kg as compared to Rs64, while its meat ranges between Rs101-105 per kg as compared to Rs112. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010202 ------------------------------------------------------------------- World Bank seeks speedy privatization ------------------------------------------------------------------- Reporter KARACHI, Feb 1: The World Bank Managing Director Shengman Zhang said here on Thursday that Pakistan should contain its population growth rate and take long-term measures for a sustained growth of its economy. Speaking at a meeting of top bankers and industrialists at the State Bank he said a lower population growth rate might help Pakistan move faster toward economic development. The participants of the meeting told Dawn that Mr Zhang was of the opinion that Pakistan had recently showed some signs of improvement but it had to go a long way in exploiting its potential for a sustainable economic growth. Mr Zhang said that Pakistan should speed up its privatization programme to fill in the gaps in its foreign exchange earnings and expenses. They said the World Bank official observed that under present circumstances Pakistan could find it difficult to fill in external financing gaps. Zhang arrived here on a five-day visit to Pakistan during which he is expected to meet Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz and Chief Executive General Pervez Mushrraf also. At the State Bank meeting he was accompanied by the WB representative in Pakistan John Wall. The bankers briefed the World Bank official on several key issues of Pakistan's economy as a whole besides informing him about the problems and prospects of certain sub-sectors of the economy. They said SBP Governor Dr Ishrat Husain spoke about the economic policies put in place in the recent past and briefed him on how these policies had contributed in improving the economic indicators. Mr Saqib Shirazi informed him that a 30-35 per cent growth in the sales of motorbikes indicated improvement in the income levels in rural Pakistan. And against that a 5-6 per cent growth in car sales indicated that in urban parts of the country the situation was not that promising. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010201 ------------------------------------------------------------------- SBP raises paid-up capital: Investment banks, housing finance cos ------------------------------------------------------------------- Mohiuddin Aazim KARACHI, Jan 31: The State Bank has raised the minimum paid-up capital for investment banks from Rs 200 million to Rs 500 million. But it has given the investment banks two years to meet this limit. An SBP circular said on Wednesday that "no investment bank shall commence or carry on business unless it has a minimum paid-up capital of Rs 500 million." But it gave them time to make up for shortfalls. It said if an investment bank fell short in meeting the new paid-up capital limit it should meet 50 per cent of the shortfall by January 1, 2002 and the remaining by January 1, 2003. This means that an investment bank whose paid-up capital is Rs 200 million will have to raise it to Rs 350 million by January 1, 2002 and to Rs 500 million by January 2003. Bankers close to SBP said the raising of paid-up capital limit was aimed at weaker non-efficient investment banks to seek mergers with stronger ones or get out of this business. They said the move was also aimed at minimizing the risks for depositors of investment banks. But investment bankers said since they were not allowed to raise deposits worth more than seven to ten times their paid-up capitals risk coverage for their depositors was adequate. Three out of total fifteen investment banks already have paid- up capital worth Rs 500 million or more; two have Rs 300 million or more and four others have paid-up capitals of Rs 200 million each. Following is the list of investment banks with their paid-up capitals: (i) Al-Faysal Investment Bank (Rs 978m); (ii) Al-Meezan Investment Bank (Rs 901m); (iii) Al-Towfeek Investment Bank (Rs 310m); (iv) Assets Investment Bank (Rs 100m) (v) Atlas Investment Bank (Rs 118m); (vi) Crescent Investment Bank (Rs500m); (vii) Escorts Investment Bank (Rs 200m); (viii) Fidelity Investment Bank (Rs 345m); (ix) First International Investment Bank (Rs 200m); (x) Islamic Investment Bank (Rs 197m); (xi) Jahangir Siddiqui Investment Bank (Rs 140m); (xii) Orix Investment Bank (Rs 200m); (xiii) Prudential Investment Bank (Rs 100m); (xiv) Security Investment Bank (Rs 201m) and (xv) Trust Investment Bank (Rs 100m). DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010201 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ceremonial, video taxes abolished ------------------------------------------------------------------- KARACHI, Jan 31: The Sindh government has abolished Video Tax and Ceremonial Tax on marriage halls and clubs, says a handout of the provincial excise and taxation department issued here on Wednesday. The tax amnesty has been granted in an ordinance entitled "The Sindh Finance Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2001" promulgated by the Sindh Governor on Jan 27. The ordinance also provides relief to taxpayers on immovable properties, buildings owned by widows, minor orphans, disabled persons and private vehicles registered 10 and 15 years ago. The handout said that the property tax would not be leviable in respect of immovable properties whose estimated gross annual rent does not exceed Rs864. The buildings and lands owned by widows, minor orphans or permanently disabled persons will also be exempted from property tax. Private vehicles (cars and jeeps only) on completion of 10 years and 15 years of payment of motor vehicle tax since first registration of the vehicles, will be liable to pay tax at the rate of 75 and 50 per cent, respectively. The people engaged in the business of video films were no more required to obtain licences as the Video Tax had been abolished, the handout said. The people engaged in running the affairs of marraige halls, lawns, hotels, clubs or community halls were no more required to obtain licences from the excise & taxation department to allow ceremonial parties and other gatherings on their premises as the Ceremonial Tax had been abolished, the handout concluded.-PPIBack to the top
EDITORIALS & FEATURES DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010128 ------------------------------------------------------------------- N.E.D. University ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ardeshir Cowasjee 'FLAWED, flawed, flawed is what we are,' said I last week, utterly exasperated, to the self-styled Maulana Amjad Thanvi, the Alim who sits with me on the NED Syndicate. 'Yes, yes, we are frauds,' retorted the growing-deafer-by-the-day learned man, who dyes his hair black and henna-reds his beard. Maulana Sahib is now in the process of obtaining an honorary doctorate from the Karachi University and the next time we meet I may well be addressing him as Maulana Doctor Thanvi. He is a pleasant man and claims to be of a progressive bent of mind. It was in the early 1920s that Sahib Singh Chatur Singh Shahani, the forward-looking principal of Dayaram Jethmal Sind College (established in 1887), made a plea to Jamshed Nusserwanjee: 'Jamshed, get me some funds. It is high time Karachi had a full- fledged engineering college.' Jamshed raised the core money from the four sons of Nadirshaw Eduljee Dinshaw (NED) who had just died - Hoshang, Minocher, Dinshaw, and Faredoon. The Khilanani family and the Hindustan Construction Company of the Birlas made up the deficit and the NED college was established. After Pakistan came into being, the college finally evolved, in March 1977, into a university of engineering and technology. The college was a highly rated establishment until, as with this country and all its institutions it was hit by the general downslide and the substantial overall deterioration. The rot was stemmed in December 1996 when Engineer Abul Kalam was appointed vice-chancellor. He found upon his plate, awaiting him, the case of 64 students who had been fraudulently passed in their examinations, not just once, but several times as they had been allowed to take and retake their exams. Kalam asked the chancellor, Sindh Governor Kamal Azfar, to hold an inquiry. The chancellor appointed me to so do in my capacity as a member of the Syndicate. Exercising abundant caution, I asked Kalam to have the written papers of the 64 reassessed by an independent engineer. This he did, appointing Engineering Doctor Shahid Alam. Alam failed the lot. Mr report to Chancellor Azfar was sent on February 16, 1997; Subject: 'Fraud: The case of NED students.... incapable of passing their examinations who were allowed to appear again and again until it was contrived to give them pass marks. You have asked me to hold an inquiry into this sordid affair, which I have done...'Under pressure, or under instructions, the former vice-chancellor, Professor A.Q. Qazi, engineered to have passed certain students who were not eligible to be passed. The Chancellor, averse to any decision-taking which may ruffle his placid feathers, wriggled out of it by asking his nominee on the Syndicate to quietly tell Kalam to ignore my report and do nothing. The matter dragged on and the 64 petitioned the Sindh High Court. They were heard by Chief Justice Wajihuddin Ahmad and Justice Roshan Isani. Wajih knew his onions. He took the decision to remand the matter back to the Syndicate. When a member retabled the matter at a Syndicate meeting, the majority was persuaded to resolve that the degree certificates be issued to the 64 who had been fraudulently passed. On December 23, 1998 I wrote to Lt-General Moinuddin Haider, Azfar's successor as Chancellor of NED University and Governor of Sindh: 'By a process of manipulation, the majority of the NED Syndicate members have managed to resolve that degree certificates be issued to those fraudulently passed. The vice-chancellor and the minority (which includes me) do not wish to be a party to the fraud. 'I am sure that you too would not like to be a party to fraud. It is time you intervened and annulled the relevant resolution under the powers vested in you in terms of Section 25(1) of the NED University Act. Until the matter has been investigated by you, may I request that you instruct the vice-chancellor not to take any action concerning what has been resolved as recorded under resolution No. 108.4 (c). 'Sent herewith for your information and guidance is a copy of my letter dated 16-2-97 addressed to Chancellor Kamal Azfar concerning this subject.' Governor Haider took the line of least resistance and slept over the matter. In 1999, it was decided to give these aging students a refresher course, and to then re-examine them. fifty-four took the refresher classes and then passed the exams. Seven who had refused to take the courses and re-examination petitioned the High Court of Sindh. Their case was heard by Justices Hamid Mirza and Shabbir Ahmad who decided that, in terms of the majority decision of the Syndicate, the seven should be passed. NED then appealed to the Supreme Court where the matter was heard by Justices Nazim Hussain Siddiqui and Abdul Hamid Dogar. Leave to appeal ws refused and the petition dismissed, with the remark. 'The Vice-Chancellor was clearly directed to implement the Syndicate resolutions Nos. 108 and 110. Taking a lenient view, we are not issuing contempt notices to those who passed the resolution No. 115.6 but warn them to be careful in future.'Kalam had no choice but to give the degrees, which he sadly and with much disgust did, noting upon the certificates: 'Degree awarded in compliance with Sindh High Court decision dated 22-2-2000 on CP D-42 of 1999. The seven went to their advocate who on 16/1/01 sent a notice to the vice-chancellor and the Registrar: 'You are, therefore, called upon through this notice to issue the degree to my client... without any remarks failing which my clients will be left with no option but to approach both the Hon'ble Courts for appropriate contempt proceedings...' An emergency meeting of the Syndicate was called on 23/1/01. Thirteen attended. Twelve of us resolved that we approve of the action taken by the vice-chancellor in issuing the degrees with his notation. One member involved in the original fraud, naturally dissented. What are we supposed to do? Resign and go sailing? Or press on and attempt to resist blatant mischievous wrongdoing? Should men such as the seven be allowed to work as structural engineers, unqualified to construct buildings, bridges, etc, which with the slightest earth tremor can fall and kill? DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010202 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Servitude and the daily grind ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ayaz Amir IN the bright dawn of the Musharraf era when at least for the innocent the air seemed full of hope and the promise of renewal, a Focal Group was set up to suggest a package of police reforms. The godfather of this enterprise was someone who has since emerged as the country's foremost orator, Lt-Gen Moinuddin Haider, and its chairman was my friend, the ex-senior policeman (and great bibliophile) Zafar Rathore. Around the table were other grizzled veterans of the bureaucratic trade, senior civil servants and luminaries of the police service, each one of them (not a whit abashed by his own modest record in service) behaving as if he had found the Holy Grail. No doubt because of some accident, I too found myself a member of this distinguished group. Knowing something of the value of such conclaves I missed the first couple of meetings. At some stage I made an appearance, there to find that the most serious issue before the Group was how to end 'political interference' in the workings of the police department, this being considered by the assembled bishops as the root cause of the department's malaise. This I found a bit odd. Of what immediate relevance, I asked, was 'political interference' at a time when the imposition of military rule had put an end to the last notion of political interference? Eyebrows rising quizzically, I was told that this was for the future. And hence, in order to free the angels of the police department of any interference, the Focal Group agreed on a package of measures more ingenious if not complicated than the hidden structure of the pyramids. The Focal Group's recommendations have not been implemented and never will be. But what it was trying to achieve through its elaborate proposals is now a fact on the ground, thanks to military rule. No wadera or politician has a hand in the posting of SHOs. No local grandee can influence an investigation. Has this led to any improvement in police performance? Not a bit. Freed from political restraint police officials have become more arbitrary and corrupt. About Chakwal at least I can say with confidence that in every matter coming before the police, cognizable or not, the ultimate arbiter is money. While this was always the case before, this practice has become more enshrined in the last 12 months. Nor should this be surprising. Whatever the other consequences of military rule, two things happen whenever the military dons the garb of national saviour: the bureaucracy becomes coarser and more wilful while bribery rates go up. It has been no exception this time. Granted, political interference is mostly unwarranted. But sometimes it is a salutary check on bureaucratic excess or indifference. The banishing of politics removes the last restraint on the bureaucracy. If the army monitoring teams think they are a check on anything they should take a second look at their effectiveness. My friend Afzal Shigri, Commandant, National Police Academy, and one of the moving spirits behind the Focal Group on Police Reforms, often spoke the most vehemently against 'political interference'. He should take time out and visit the field, perhaps taking Chakwal in his ambit, to see for himself the general happiness resulting from the independence not so much declared as assumed by the Punjab Police's thanedars. As for superintendents of police, take Chakwal again where the SP, a decent and likeable fellow (qualities not to be scoffed at in this day and age), seems content to play the role of postmaster, readily receiving complaints and marking each one of them 'for inquiry', a process so stretched out in practice that it breaks a petitioner's back before it leads to anything. The SP is unable or unwilling to sift matters for himself, perhaps because of his lameduck status, his transfer having been ordered six months ago but no one yet being sent to replace him. Most inquiries he sends to the assistant superintendent of police, a lost soul who seems to have stumbled into this profession. In revenue matters sensible people never approach the deputy commissioner. They go straight to the patwari. So too in criminal cases. Sensible people talk things over with the Station House Officer or the investigating officer (usually a sub-inspector or assistant sub-inspector). Unless one has an uncle or a son-in-law in the service, climbing higher up the ladder is a waste of time, so lax has supervision become in this department. Of course police officers have long excuses on their lips. But what avail excuses to the common man? With no petro-dollars to burn, and this being neither Taiwan nor Singapore, life is hard enough for most Pakistanis. There should be no need for a corrupt and predatory administration to make it any harder. Notice how ordinary Pakistanis cringe before authority. They are stuck with the habits of servitude because authority is so fashioned here that it bears down upon the weak and lowly, treating them as things of no consequence. But why blame only the poor? Notice how better-placed Pakistanis make fools of themselves before foreigners. Colonialism alone is not to blame. The young of today know nothing of colonialism. Other countries have got over worse colonial hangovers. Our predicament seems different. The arbitrariness of power - the fact that it can be given and withdrawn without reference to constitutional sanction - lends a sense of precariousness and insecurity even to the elite classes. Thus we see the absurdities with which this land abounds. Politicians not standing for their own rights or the rights of the people but begging favours from the military. The spirit of authoritarianism strong and pervading everything, the flame of resistance dead. The highest politicians considering it a great boon if junior American and British diplomats come calling on them. Retired generals vying for ambassadorial appointments. Serving corps commanders not considering it a waste of time to head sports organizations. Judges every three or five years adjusting themselves to the doctrine of necessity. The state itself extending a begging bowl before foreign donors. The common man helpless before his SHO. The entire culture thus woven is one of dependence, sycophancy and insecurity. Why should we be surprised if the best amongst us are also the foremost in corruption? Insecurity of such Mughal proportions (advancement and procurement of sinecure in Mughal times depending upon the goodwill of the emperor) can only breed corruption and flight to sunnier climes. This then seems to be the bitterest wage of authoritarian rule: it imposes the habits of subservience on a people, makes them bend and teaches them how survival is a function of conformity, prosperity the reward of being able to swim with the tide. Then we say we did not speak up when Yahya Khan and the Eastern Command performed their macabre dance in East Pakistan. We could not have spoken up. We were not programmed to speak up. A similar situation recurring, our national response will still be the same. Forget the distant past, where were the howls of protest over the transparent folly of Kargil? There was no martial law imposed on the country then. It is just that the national intelligentsia has been trained, like beasts in a circus responding to the whip, to take anything that comes from the defence establishment on trust. What hidden dimensions of rocket science were needed to tell us that conducting nuclear tests would be a huge mistake? Yet on this question the national intelligentsia was mesmerized by the atomic lobby which for years, and for mindless reasons, has been advocating nuclear belligerence. So it applauded the nuclear tests just as it has applauded every shenanigan Pakistan has contrived for itself these past 50 years. The only change discernible is now. After the economic knocks of the past three years, the atomic lobby has gone quiet. Generals and air marshals no longer write so frequently about the imperatives of 'national security'. The national intelligentsia was always obsessed with foreign policy almost as if it was a branch of science independent of domestic policy. Now it has become slightly more introspective, turning its gaze inwards and trying to focus for the first time on the evidence of disorder mounting within the Republic's hallowed frontiers. When the curtains come down finally on the current episode in our history, this may well be counted as the foremost achievement of the Musharraf regime: that by the very fitfulness of its journey across the desert sands, it may have opened the nation's eyes to the real nature of its problems. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010203 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Stagnation vs creative chaos ------------------------------------------------------------------- Irfan Husain I don't normally go to modern western music concerts, but when my old pal Masood Hasan rang me to say that his son was playing at a local hotel and that I had to come, I couldn't say no. And I'm very glad I went because young Mekaal not only leads his group, but has also composed most of the music they played with such verve and energy. While all the (mostly-British) members of the Mekaal Hasan Band were clearly very talented, for me Akhlaq, the percussionist on the tablas stood out. His use of the local drums was original and very skilful as he matched his colleague on the normal percussion set beat for beat and riff for riff. His solos were inventive and intricate as he revealed aspects of the instruments not explored by other Pakistani tabla-players. This musical experience reminded me of conversations I have had with ustads and aficionados of our classical music. Basically I have asked them why no new ragas are being composed: most of the great ragas are centuries old, with many of them dating back to Amir Khusro in the 13th century and Tansen from the Mughal Emperor Akbar's era. In all these years, no notation system has been developed and the ragas are passed on from ustad to disciple. The people I have spoken to are almost unanimously of the view that the ragas that have been handed down represent such a range of melodic genius that no improvement and further addition are possible. In support of this position, they cite the great works of Mozart, Chopin and Beethoven, and argue that since the time of these giants, no composer has matched their works. I have tried to argue that nevertheless, composers have continued to write scores for symphonies and audiences have enthusiastically flocked to these concerts. In short, just because brilliant music was created in the past is no argument for the absence of any effort to surpass it. But our classical music is in a rut without our few remaining maestros putting in any thought or effort to explore new themes. Even Ustad Raees Khan, one of the subcontinent's leading half-a-dozen or so exponents of the sitar, feels that it is not possible to create any great new ragas. According to him, audiences are not receptive to experimentation, and insist on hearing their favourites. Thus, the only innovation taking place in music is being done by enthusiastic young musicians who are marrying the western idiom of rock, pop and rap to their own musical vocabulary and experience. The stagnation evident in our classical music is also present in our culinary tradition. Not only are we failing to preserve old regional recipes, we are not innovating and experimenting. Cooks in homes and restaurants are repeating themselves endlessly (I will not say ad nauseum) without any attempt at creating exciting new dishes. But even those of us who claim to be interested in gastronomy are not very demanding, insisting only that the dishes we are familiar with should be well-prepared. And yet South Asian restaurants continue to gain in popularity, not just in Britain but also in most western countries. An amazing third of the billions of pounds spent by the British on eating out every year goes to desi-style restaurants. In many of these establishments, especially those at the upper end of the spectrum, chefs have introduced dishes that I hadn't ever heard of. Many British chefs are using our spices to enhance dishes of western origin, creating a 'fusion cuisine' that is currently very fashionable. So there is nothing inherent in our cuisine that prevents innovation and change: fossilized attitudes and laziness are the only barriers. This stagnation and reluctance to innovate extend to almost every walk of life from literature to science. Almost every Pakistani who has made a name has done so abroad where originality and experimentation are encouraged and rewarded. Here, a status quo based on mediocrity stifles creativity, especially among the young. Our establishment fears and mistrusts genius; indeed, our only Nobel Laureate, Abdus Salam, wasted much of his precious time in a futile attempt to convince successive governments to set up a centre for research into particle physics here in Pakistan. Despite all his dazzling achievements, he died a disappointed man, unsung and unwept in his own country where his Ahmadi beliefs outweighed his enormous contribution to science. Others who can be termed intellectual and artistic refugees range from the writer Hanif Kureishi to the classical dancer Naheed Siddiqi. Thousands of others have been forced to leave these shores to make either a name or an honest living for themselves. Something in the very air here seems to extinguish the creative spark: while the mediocre thrive and the rascals prosper, genuinely talented people either sink without a trace or migrate. An essential prerequisite for the creative process to begin is the right and duty of thinking persons to question the basic principles and the most cherished beliefs of the majority. If both state and society deny this right, then the urge to explore the unknown and expand the limits of knowledge shrivels up and dies. Breakthroughs only come when an individual is dissatisfied with the given theories and decides to test them. If he is discouraged from doing so by an environment that is both repressive and self-satisfied, nothing new will be discovered. When Galileo refused to accept that our Earth was the centre of the universe, he was rejecting centuries of Christian orthodoxy. Culturally, respect for our elders is deeply ingrained in us. Even when our parents or our teachers are clearly wrong, we are taught from childhood not to contradict them. This attitude has evolved into a mind-numbing orthodoxy under whose influence we agree with our superiors and elders without thinking. Our educational system emphasizes conformity and discourages originality, and our rigid administrative structure positively frowns on subordinates contributing fresh insights or challenging the fixed ideas of their bosses. The result of this hidebound attitude is that nothing changes, except for the worse. We are locked into a cycle of mediocrity where the products of the system pass on this unquestioning behaviour to successive generations.
SPORTS DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010203 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Moin retained captain as PCB ends suspense ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sports Reporter KARACHI, Feb 2: Moin Khan is retained as Pakistan cricket captain for the tour to New Zealand after a week of drama and uncertainty regarding the wicket-keeper's future. Brig Munawwar Rana, director Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), told Dawn from Rawalpindi that Moin will continue until March 31 before his extension is discussed and decided for the tour to England. "Our policy is very cleare. We will appoint captain on series by series basis after evaluating the performance of the skipper and the team," he said. It was also decided that Moin will represent Pakistan in the Test captains meeting slated for Feb 12 at Melbourne and to be chaired by International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive David Richards. "Moin reportedly had a one-to-one meeting with the PCB chairman on Thursday and I am sure they must have discussed several issues," declared Rana with reference to the ongoing rift between the players and coach Javed Miandad over the share in $1.3million logo deal. "The PCB's position on the issue is very clear: the players and the coach are getting according to the contract. The perception that coach has been paid from the players share is wrong. "I wouldn't call it misunderstanding but misperception because most of the players don't know what their overall contracts are. In fact, the players are not likely to know the contract between the board and the coach," he added. The PCB director admitted that the recent scenario must have unsettled the players but hoped they would put it behind them and look forward to what is a very demanding tour. "When something unusual happens, it naturally affects everyone associated with it. It is sad that the misperception led to controversy involving Moin Khan and Javed Miandad. "But the dust has now settled with and everything is crystal clear. The players know what is expected of them and so does the captain and the coach." Moin said from Rawalpindi that he was a relieved man and now can concentrate on cricket and additional assignment. "Frankly speaking it has been the worst week of my career. I had never been in situations like this before so it was a nightmare experience. But I am glad it's all over. "It was depressing to read every morning that my place in the team was under threat. But I am glad that the PCB chief has lived upto his reputation of supporting the players in difficult and testing situations," the veteran of 62 Tests said. Moin refused to be drawn in the controversy regarding the logo share but said the matter had been settled amicably. The PCB director, however, said Moin will not be part of the selection committee which will finalize the New Zealand-bound squad on Saturday. He said it was the prerogative of the selectors to pick the squad. "The captain's role starts when the players are handed over to him." Regarding the tri-nation earthquake series in Sharjah, Rana said the PCB was an autonomous body and didn't require government clearance to play anywhere no matter if India are participating there. "We don't know officially if India have agreed to play there but as far as we are concerned, we have no problems. ------------------------------------------------------------------- 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.
Dawn page
Webbed by Philip McEldowney
Last update:
.