------------------------------------------------------------------- DAWN WIRE SERVICE ------------------------------------------------------------------- Week Ending : 20 January 2001 Issue : 07/03 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Contents | National News | Business & Economy | Editorials & Features | Sports
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CONTENTS =================================================================== NATIONAL NEWS + Kabul seals border with Pakistan: Taliban vow to face new curbs + New Delhi test-fires N-capable Agni-II + Commission to review draft today: Sindh Privatization Ordinance + Peace move will bear fruit, hopes Turkish FM + US general meets Musharraf + No accord yet on rail link + Six-point policy set to combat drought + Talks on rail links with India begin + CE asks officials to project country as modern Islamic state + Army's stay in WAPDA extended + India running 55 training camps for terrorists + Aliens registration body set up + Govt warns survey form defaulters + New ID cards by end of this month: NADRA --------------------------------- BUSINESS & ECONOMY + Ishrat wants end to dependence on IMF + Aid: Japan awaits positive signals for CTBT signing + Power theft causes $850m loss to govt: ADB + Rupee at record low against Indian currency + Offshore drilling policy announced + SBP resells dollar to banks + KSE opts for legal recourse in battle with SECP + Compensation to US firm: NBP asks govt to pay $0.268m + Cabinet to okay tariff agreement with Hubco + Sugar millers' demand rejected + Businessmen to launch political party + Shortage of POL products likely --------------------------------------- EDITORIALS & FEATURES + Mummiya Ardeshi Cowasjee + 'I want it now!' Irfan Husain + Kashmir & power of illusion Ayaz Amir ----------- SPORTS + Tri-nation contest: Confirmation from India expected today + Rs 400m likely to be spend on SAF Games
=================================================================== DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS =================================================================== NATIONAL NEWS 20010120 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Kabul seals border with Pakistan: Taliban vow to face new curbs ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ahmad Hasan PESHAWAR, Jan 19: No immediate reaction was reported from any part of Afghanistan as fresh UN sanctions against the Kabul regime took effect at 10.00am PST on Friday, while the Ulema conference of the Taliban in Jalalabad vowed not to surrender before world pressure and hand over Osama bin Laden. In Peshawar, which hosts a large number of Afghan nationals, the situation remained peaceful and no rallies or demonstrations were held against the US-led sanctions. For most of the Afghan refugees it was business as usual. There were no reports of protests or anti-West speeches by religious leaders during Friday sermons in Kabul either. Moreover, foreigners employed by aid agencies moved about in the Afghan capital as usual. However, the ruling Shoora of bordering Nangarhar province decided to seal the Pakistan-Afghan border on its side as a mark of protest against the sanctions. Earlier, it was the government of Pakistan which had sealed the border, to prevent a fresh influx of Afghan refugees. According to reports, the decision was taken on the recommendation of a three-day Afghan Ulema conference held in Jalalabad. Maulvi Qamaruddin, the Taliban immigration official, has been ordered to seal the border for all those who want to leave or enter Afghanistan with effect from Saturday. The Afghan Ulema conference, which was held on the instructions of Taliban spiritual leader Mullah Omar Akhund to review the UN sanctions and prepare a strategy for the regime, decided not to bow before world pressure to hand over Osama bin Laden. The purpose of holding the conference, according to sources, was to discuss whether the Afghan government should accept or resist the UN move against them. The sources disclosed that the Ulema conference, after lengthy deliberations recommended that the UN sanctions should be faced with courage and that all the conditions seeking Osama bin Laden's surrender should be turned down. The conference also discussed at length discontinuing trade links with Pakistan as a result of sanctions and asked the Taliban rulers to face the situation with courage instead of bowing before the external forces. Meanwhile, the Afghan Foreign Minister, Wakil Ahmed Mutawakil, has asked the Afghan people to remain peaceful in the face of UN embargo. Talking from Kandhar by telephone to a local newspaper on Thursday night, Mutawakil said the Afghan people would not hold demonstrations against the sanctions. Moreover, he said, Taliban leader Mullah Omar had already declared that security would be provided to all foreign workers in Afghanistan and had asked his followers not to harm anyone in retaliation. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010118 ------------------------------------------------------------------- New Delhi test-fires N-capable Agni-II ------------------------------------------------------------------- Jawed Naqvi NEW DELHI, Jan 17: India test-fired an improved version of its Agni-II intermediate range ballistic missile on Wednesday, capable of delivering nuclear warheads deep inside China, officials said. Analysts said it was significant that the test took place on the last day of Chinese leader Li Peng's visit, barely hours before his scheduled departure from the southern city of Hyderabad for Beijing. The test also coincided with the publication of an interview in which Indian Army Chief General Sunderajan Padmanabhan spoke of the need to upgrade the armed forces with capability to cope with nuclear warfare. Wednesday's launch of the Agni-II took place from India's missile test range at Chandipur on the coast of Orissa. According to officials at the Defence Research and Development Organisation, the Agni, which has a range of more than 2,000 kilometres, was launched at 10am (9.30 PST). The missile had met all its test objectives, the officials said. The new test, the second since April 1999, is meant to test a number of crucial systems on board such as the engines and guidance systems. The Agni-II, which is expected to be the mainstay of India's nuclear forces, is mounted on a rail platform, which means it can be moved all over the country to ensure that it is not targeted by enemy forces, defence analysts said. An Indian TV channel quoted officials as saying the Agni-II uses a solid propellant in its engines not liquid fuel. Solid propellants are considered safer for use. The Agni is designed to carry nuclear warheads. Analysts said Wednesday's test during Li's visit may have been a response to the Chinese explosion of an atom bomb during the visit in 1992 of then Indian President R Venkataraman. Analysts said it was significant that Li was accorded a low-key reception in India during which Prime Minister Vajpayee was not even present in the country. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010120 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Commission to review draft today: Sindh Privatization Ordinance ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sabihuddin Ghausi KARACHI, Jan 19: A vetted draft of the Sindh Privatization Ordinance 2001 is coming up for final review of the Sindh Privatization Commission on Saturday, when it meets to take up about a half dozen points agenda. Divided into seven parts and spread over 48 sections, the proposed ordinance stipulates setting up of an almost independent - financially and administratively - Sindh Privatization Commission, that will put on auction bloc the coal mines, sugar factories, urban real estate, state farms and also the water distribution system and sewerage facilities in the province. The commission will generate funds through privatization of which 90 per cent will go towards relieving the province of more than Rs100 billion loans liability. Ten per cent of the fund will be utilized for poverty alleviation programmes. The ordinance empowers the 12-member Sindh Privatization Commission to establish and maintain a distinct Privatization Fund, in which all the privatization proceeds will be deposited. From this Fund, the Commission has been authorized to withdraw the money for maintaining a Privatization Account to meet its expenditure. The Commission has taken notice of the fact that there were 26 cases against the privatization and auction of state land done by the previous Sindh Privatization Commission. Besides, labour unions and farmers have engaged the Sindh Sugar Corporation, which owns two sugar mills in more than 55 cases. Therefore, the ordinance expects the commission to lay down a privatization-disinvestment methodology that is transparent, fool proof and leaves no room for any dispute. Headed by Syed Nasir Ali Bukhari, a local stock broker, the Commission has on it majority members from the private sector and those bureaucrats, who are in the government agencies that own or control the assets to be privatized. On Saturday, the commission is receiving a detailed presentation from the administrators of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board, having total assets of over Rs6 billion and unrealized receivables amounting to well over Rs8 billion. The 8,000 employees strength labour union of the KWSB has already challenged its proposed privatization. Therefore, a senior official told Dawn over the telephone on Friday that "we are simply holding a departmental meeting with the Sindh Privatization Commission." The KWSB has about 1.3 consumers but hardly 3,500 consumers who get bulk water supply have water meters installed. The domestic consumers are charged water rates on the basis of the size of their plots or the covered areas of the flats. Bulk water consumers, about 3,500 in all, generate more than 60 per cent of the KWSB revenue amounting to well over Rs1.3 billion while about Rs900 million is received from 1.3 million domestic consumers. For the supply of 435 million gallons of water every day, the KWSB has a distribution system that spreads over 5,400 miles. It has 131 pumping stations, eight reservoirs, seven filter plants, seven hydrants and has taken up capital development work of about Rs20 billion. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010116 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Peace move will bear fruit, hopes Turkish FM ------------------------------------------------------------------- Hasan Akhtar ISLAMABAD, Jan 15: Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem said here on Monday that his country's relations with Israel and Palestinians had enabled Ankara to play a more effective and positive role in the Middle East crisis. Mr Cem was speaking at a joint conference with Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar in the foreign office banquet hall. Mr Cem said that PLO chairman Yasser Arafat's intensive endeavours during the past few months had infused more active international interest in the long-standing crisis. Since Turkey enjoyed trust of the two sides, he pointed out, it had been burdened with greater responsibility that required of Ankara to make its modest contribution to resolve the crisis. However, he explained, Turkey was not presumptuous and did not aspire to play a bigger role in the matter. Responding to questions, Mr Cem expressed the hope that the recent "positive developments" in Jammu and Kashmir would continue and bear fruit to bring to an end the plight of Kashmiris. Turkey, he said, had always supported the Kashmiri people and Pakistan's efforts in resolving the dispute. He, however, parried a direct comment on a question relating to the atrocities being committed on the people of occupied Kashmir. Mr Cem, who is on his second visit to Pakistan in the last two years, described the relations between Ankara and Islamabad as excellent and very strong. Wishing Pakistan achieve "a more rational, egalitarian and dynamic framework," the minister said that Pakistan's decision to allocate one-third seats in recent local elections to women was "a revolutionary step" which, he added, Turkey would like to emulate. He said that Turkey had watched with keen interest and appreciation Pakistan's efforts to revitalize its fiscal and economic policies and pull the country out of debts. He hoped that both Pakistan and Turkey would expand their economic relations and provide larger avenues for mutually advantageous opportunities to the private sector so that the private sector enterprise in each other's country could develop. Welcoming his Turkish counterpart, Mr Sattar said the agreement that the two countries had signed earlier in the morning would help institutionalize consultations between them more regularly and frequently. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010120 ------------------------------------------------------------------- US general meets Musharraf ------------------------------------------------------------------- ISLAMABAD, Jan 19: US Central Command chief General Tommy R. Franks met General Pervez Musharraf on Friday to discuss "professional" issues, an official report said. Franks met Musharraf, also Pakistan's army chief, at Rawalpindi General Headquarters near here after arriving on a three-day visit late on Thursday. "Views were exchanged on matters of professional interest during the meeting," APP reported. Franks, who is scheduled to meet the navy and air force chiefs on Saturday, was "given a comprehensive briefing on the prevailing geo-strategic environment in the region." No other details of his meeting with Musharraf were available, and US embassy officials have described the talks as part of a routine "familiarization visit". They said there was no link between the visit and fresh United Nations sanctions against Taliban regime.-AFP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010120 ------------------------------------------------------------------- No accord yet on rail link ------------------------------------------------------------------- Monitoring desk NEW DELHI, Jan 19: The talks between India and Pakistan railway officials for reviewing the agreement on rail communications, including the running of the Samjhauta Express, the peace train, between the two countries continued for the third day with no accord in sight. The officials said the talks were being held in a cordial atmosphere, it is believed that the issue of extension of the train up to Wagah on the Indian side, as demanded by Pakistan, has proved to be difficult to resolve. The delegations, headed by S S Bhandari, additional member (traffic), Indian Railways Board, and Abdul Qayyum, additional general manager (freight), Pakistani Railway, are reviewing the 1991 agreement under which the Samjhauta Express train is running twice a week between Amritsar and Lahore. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010120 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Six-point policy set to combat drought ------------------------------------------------------------------- Correspondent ISLAMABAD, Jan 19: The centre has authorized the provinces to use funds from federal resources to augment their drought related programmes after reports that drought is likely to hit Pakistan every year. The centre has also forwarded a six-point policy for the provinces to address problems of the drought-affected people. "Much of the work must be accomplished by the provincial, district and local governments, specially by the area development authorities and urban water agencies wherever these exist," a letter addressed to the provincial governors said. Official sources told Dawn that the federal minister for environment, local government & rural development, Omar Asghar Khan, has written letters to the provincial governors asking them to develop new policies in accordance with the guidelines set by the centre. The provincial governments have also been informed that drought conditions could extend over long periods and affect large areas. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010118 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Talks on rail links with India begin ------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW DELHI, Jan 17: India and Pakistan began talks on Wednesday to decide whether to renew a 1991 agreement on rail links or to forge a new accord, an Indian official said on Wednesday. "It will be a total review of the 1991 agreement covering all technical and other railway-related issues. It will be discussed whether to have a new agreement or whether the 1991 agreement will be modified or renewed," Akshey Kumar, public relations director of Indian Railways, said. A passenger train travels between the two countries twice a week, and the frequency of freight trains varies on demand. The trains travel between points close to the border. A five-member Pakistani Railways team travelled to New Delhi for a two-day meeting with its Indian counterpart to review the 1991 agreement, which ends on February 7.-Reuters DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010119 ------------------------------------------------------------------- CE asks officials to project country as modern Islamic state ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report ISLAMABAD, Jan 18: Chief Executive Gen Pervez Musharraf has directed different organs of the government, including the foreign office, to promote Pakistan as a modern Islamic state, it is learnt. A cabinet source told Dawn that the chief executive during the last cabinet meeting on Wednesday (Jan 17) called for efforts by various government functionaries to shed the country's image of being "fundamentalist", as perceived abroad. He asked the foreign minister in particular to direct the missions abroad that they should "present true face of Pakistan" and dispel the perception of fundamentalism being connected to the country. "The CE is keen to tell the people of the world that average Pakistanis are moderate Muslims. They are tolerant and not extremist," the source said. The chief executive told the cabinet that he would also personally write letters to ambassadors/high commissioners to work on this line. He said the foreign missions should seek the cooperation of overseas Pakistanis who, the CE believed, were well-connected, better organized, resourceful and patriotic. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010119 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Army's stay in WAPDA extended ------------------------------------------------------------------- Reporter LAHORE, Jan 18: The army's stay in WAPDA, due to end on March 31, has been extended for yet another 21 months to Dec 31, 2002. "Chief Executive Gen Pervez Musharraf allowed extension during the cabinet meeting on Wednesday," WAPDA Chairman Lt-Gen Zulfikar Ali Khan told a news conference called to brief newsmen about the army's performance since taking the control of the public utility in January 1999. "The army's stay has been extended to cement the gains of the present management during the past two years," added the chairman. Some 33,120 army personnel, including 1,441 officers up to the rank of brigadier, had been inducted into WAPDA by the exiled prime minister Nawaz Sharif to eliminate corruption and restructure the utility for making it a profitable organization. The number of the army personnel inducted was cut down to 3,567 during July 26, 1999 to Dec 31, 2000 and to 682 since Jan 1, 2001. "The army presence would be reduced to provide nominal support to cement our gains during the extended period," the general told a questioner. "The department has grown immensely and a conducive environment created (for sustaining the gains)." The expenditure to maintain the presence of the army in WAPDA, the chairman said, had also come down to just Rs900,000 from Rs36 million during the first six months, i.e., Jan-July 1999. General Khan said WAPDA would have to accrue a loss of Rs17-18 billion by the end of the present financial year (2000-01) because of the "increased payments to the independent power producers and the high rate of furnace oil." The expense incurred by WAPDA on account of fuel and payments to the IPPs will increase by Rs36 billion to Rs122 billion during the current fiscal year from Rs86.30 billion last year. The chairman said WAPDA's receivables from various federal and provincial departments as well as FATA and Azad Kashmir "had come down by Rs353 million to Rs32.222 billion by the end of 2000 from June 30, 2000. The federal government, FATA, AJK and KESC owe the utility Rs22.413 billion in arrears as compared to the arrears of Rs9.81 billion outstanding against the four provinces. He said the longstanding dispute between the utility and Sindh had also been solved and the "province had agreed to stay current on its bills in future". Sindh owes WAPDA Rs7.242 billion. He said the public-sector agencies would be given 90 days for the payment of their dues in case "they have some kind of objection to the billed amount". However, in case of a non-controversial bill, they would be bound to make payments in 15 days like other consumers. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010119 ------------------------------------------------------------------- India running 55 training camps for terrorists ------------------------------------------------------------------- Correspondent WASHINGTON, Jan 18: The Taliban, Osama bin Laden and Pakistan figured in a seminar on terrorism held here on Wednesday, in which Islam-abad's role in moderating the Kabul regime and India's role in running terrorist camps in Pakistan was also debated. But, said Mr Steven Monblatt, deputy coordinator for counter- terrorism at the US State Department, America and Pakistan disagreed on how far to go in the direction of isolating the Taliban and persuading them to change what they were doing. He said a way must be found to end Afghanistan's position as a place where terrorists could find a sanctuary and return again and again for shelter. The seminar, entitled "Terrorism: review of 2000 and Outlook for 2001, "was held under the auspices of the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, a think-tank based in the Washington area. Speakers representing various regions, where terrorism is a threat, spoke at the seminar, but most of the presentations were banal and said little that was new. A distinguished exception was Spain's ambassador to the US, Senor Javier Ruperez, who underlined the economic, social and political reasons that could give rise to the phenomenon described as terrorism. The US official, Mr Monblatt, confined himself to the already well- defined policy formulations of his government with regard to the threat of terrorism, but he made it a point to express his agreement with an observation made earlier at the seminar by the political counsellor at the Pakistan embassy, Masood Khan, who had expressed his resentment at the fact that Islam was being equated with terrorism. Mr Monblatt said it was important to distinguish between the two. Mr Khan, who was commenting on criticism of Pakistan voiced by the Indian participant at the seminar,Alok Prasad, deputy chief at his country's mission here, said terrorism did not have one dimension; and while he agreed that terrorists were criminals who should be punished, movements for self-determination and freedom should not, ipso facto, be considered terrorist. He also alleged that, while India accused Pakistan of terrorism, it was itself running at least 55 terrorist training camps within its territory,and accused RAW of fomenting terrorist attacks in Pakistan- a charge that was described as dismissed by Mr Prasad. The Indian diplomat said the Laskhar-i-Tayabba, which claimed responsibility for the recent attack on the Red Fort in New Delhi and Tuesday's assault on Srinagar airport, was based in Pakistan. A brochure on Osama, detailing his alleged master-minding of various anti-US attacks, was also distributed among reporters at the seminar. The booklet has been produced by the Potomac Institute's International Centre for Terrorism Studies, and contains pictures and information about people described as his associates. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010118 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Aliens registration body set up ------------------------------------------------------------------- Rauf Klasra ISLAMABAD, Jan 17: The government has set up a National Aliens Registration Authority (Nara) to locate and register illegal foreign workers and immigrants and to regulate their stay by issuing them annual work permits. Informed sources told Dawn that the federal government was likely to announce amnesty for all illegal foreign workers and immigrants by asking them to get themselves registered with the Authority in a given time. Those who fail to avail this opportunity will be prosecuted. Nara will be headed by interior secretary, who will be its chairman, while FIA Director-general, National Database and Registration Authority Director-general, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Additional Secretary, Home Secretary, Government of Sindh, Joint Secretary of States and Frontiers Regions Division, Inspectors-general of the Police, Islamabad, Punjab, Sindh, the NWFP and Balochistan and Nara Director-general will be its members. In addition, officials from federal and provincial ministries and departments will be available to assist the Authority. Nara Director-general will act as secretary to the Authority. It will also have a full-time Director-general. The Authority has also been authorized to establish task forces at the provincial levels and set up its own force to locate the illegal immigrants. Similarly, it will register all foreigners in Pakistan who immediately before the July 10, 2000, had no permission to stay in the country. Their registration will be annually renewed. The Authority shall also issue work permits to those seeking employment or running their own business. Officials said the Authority had been asked to complete registration of unauthorized aliens within three years. The registered aliens shall not have the right to shift and settle in any city of the country other than the one indicated in his registration card without permission of the Authority. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010117 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Govt warns survey form defaulters ------------------------------------------------------------------- Parvaiz Ishfaq Rana KARACHI, Jan 16: Regional Commissioner of Income Tax (RCIT), Southern Region, Muhammad Shafi Malik on Tuesday warned the businessmen of stern action against all those who did not submit their tax survey forms. Mobile teams are being formed to find all those, who did not comply with earlier survey and propose punitive action against them. He was speaking at a meeting, convened by Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), to discuss problems confronting trade and industry over ongoing spot assessment of stocks and turnover. The RCIT said that these actions would be taken under Ordinance 2000, which suggests fine of Rs25,000 or three months imprisonment or both. He disclosed that these teams would comprise DCs, magistrates, tax officials and members of law enforcement agencies. However, Malik said, prior to final action the defaulters would be again persuaded to submit their tax survey forms. The regional commissioner assured the participants that all possible assistance and cooperation would be extended to the business community, so that congenial atmosphere was maintained. However he informed, the government was determined to collect Rs100 billion to meet conditionalities of the world donor agencies. He requested for full cooperation from trade and industry. He said for this purpose the government last year undertook a task of documentation of the economy through tax survey and also launched tax amnesty scheme. Malik said the amnesty scheme was most successful in Karachi, which contributed around Rs4.5 billion out of a countrywide collection of Rs11 billion. In second phase, he said, the government was targeting for higher collection of revenue alongwith tax returns through voluntary compliance, but this did not happen. As a result of this failure, Malik said even self-assessment scheme (SAS) had to confront some problems. The RCIT also conceded that as compared to last year, the SAS was availed by lesser number of taxpayers coupled with other shortfalls. He said working of the government on revenue collection received a setback. Consequently, he said, the government reluctantly had to go for third phase i.e. spot assessment in order to offset the shortfalls on account of earlier measures. He said all care was being taken to maintain good atmosphere and no harassment was caused to any segment of the society, including trade and industry. He said that even government had little choice and in order to get rid of world donor agencies, "we have to generate enough revenues so that their assistance was not sought so frequently and there should be no tough conditions". Malik said already these agencies had tagged Pakistan as "first tranche" country as we repeatedly fail to meet their conditionalities after receiving first tranche of loan. Earlier, participants were highly critical about the performance of the tax machinery and said, if CBR has failed in executing earlier parts of phase one of tax survey, then why are they pressing ahead with the third stage. Many speakers who took the floor to vent their resentment over spot assessment drive pointed out that since the tax authorities have failed to complete earlier stages of tax survey i.e. distribution and retrieval there was no point in their taking up the third stage of phase one of tax survey. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010117 ------------------------------------------------------------------- New ID cards by end of this month: NADRA ------------------------------------------------------------------- Reporter KARACHI, Jan 16: The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) will begin issuing computerized national identity cards by the end of this month. NADRA has made adequate preparations to ensure that all eligible adult citizens get new cards by July this year, as all the old NICs would stand cancelled by December 31, 2001, and the system would be fully switched over to a computerized database, said NADRA chairman, Maj-Gen Zahid Ehsan Khan, while briefing journalists on Tuesday here at the NADRA headquarters on projects and computerized voters' lists. The new ID card, which will be green in colour with the image of the national flag on both sides printed through the fine lines by a security printer, would have all international security features. It will carry all relevant information including individual's name, father's/husband's name, address, date of birth, new and old ID card numbers, family registration number, permanent and present addresses, mark of identification, signature, thumb impression, photograph, date of issue and expiry, as well as signatures of authorized signatory from the issuing authority. NADRA, besides issuing NICs to all eligible adult citizens, would also issue residency cards to overseas Pakistanis, expatriate Pakistanis, aliens and refugees, and welfare cards to senior citizens and special people, as per the new registration system by December 2001, and creation of the National Data Warehouse, Gen Zahid said. Answering a question after the briefing, the NADRA chief said about 30 million out of 64 million national data forms (NDFs) duly filled in during the 1998 census met the requirement of NICs and on their basis new ID cards would be prepared. Those who possessed old NICs would be charged Rs15 and they would be delivered a new card at home address. Others would have to pay Rs35 a card. He said out of 64 million NDFs, about half of them do not provide complete information. For NICs, new forms would be provided at their doorstep besides making them available at post offices. The new NICs, whose distribution would begin in 18 districts
BUSINESS & ECONOMY DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010120 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ishrat wants end to dependence on IMF ------------------------------------------------------------------- Reporter KARACHI, Jan 19: The State Bank Governor, Dr Ishrat Husain, said on Friday that IMF programmes left little room for Pakistan to pursue an independent economic plan. Speaking at a seminar he said: "The sooner we are able to wean ourselves off the IMF programmes the more liberated will be the economic managers of this country in pursuing an independent course of action...and follow a prudent growth." This course of action "balances the interests of the common man, the requirements of the global economy." The seminar, titled Economic Challenges Facing Pakistan In The New Global Financial Architecture, was organized by the Centre for Development and Democracy - a body aspiring to become a think-tank. "It is not that we are not committed to macro-economic stabilization or removal of distortions from the economy. But we need the flexibility to do so. I can assure this audience that the present global environment in which we are expected to produce instantaneous results is highly constrained and does not allow much room to manoeuvre." The governor said the reason why Pakistan had to seek further rescheduling of foreign debts instead of opting for unilateral moratorium was that exercising the second option would have resulted in unbearable difficulties. Speaking about the tough conditions set by the IMF under its $596 million standby credit, the governor said: "We had to make up for our lapses of one decade in one go." He said it would be wrong to presume that fresh investment had not been flowing in at all. "The three areas where investment activities are most brisk are Oil and Gas, Information Technology and Textiles." DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010118 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Aid: Japan awaits positive signals for CTBT signing ------------------------------------------------------------------- ISLAMABAD, Jan 17: Japan is eagerly awaiting positive signals from Pakistan regarding signing of CTBT. " We are eagerly awaiting positive signals from Pakistan regarding the forging of national consensus for signing the CTBT, which will help us get out of the dilemma between our national compulsion about nuclear weapons and our genuine desire to help Pakistan," said Japanese Ambassador to Islamabad Sadaaki Numata. He was delivering a talk on " Japan and Pakistan: Mutual Perception", at the Institute of Strategic Studies (ISS). He said Tokyo had paid attention to the statement of Chief Executive Gen Pervez Musharraf that Pakistan would maintain moratorium on nuclear testing pending the CTBT's coming into force and that Pakistan would never be the first to resume test. Mr Numata said Japan had a genuine desire to help Pakistan in its efforts for nation-building and economic development. However, he cited "absence of tangible progress" in the nuclear issue was hampering its (Japan's) desire to help Pakistan". On the Kashmir issue,the envoy referred to the visit of Prime Minister Yashiro Mori to the region last year, during which he had told the chief executive and Indian leaders that Tokyo would welcome any initiative to be taken either by Islamabad or New Delhi for peace and confidence-building. The ambassador said Prime Minister Mori had also told Gen Musharraf that he appreciated the efforts made by Pakistan for the establishment of democratic rule and the revitalization of the economy, and expressed the hope that these efforts would bear fruit as soon as possible. At the same time, he said there was a political space or vacuum that needed to be filled. Citing State Bank of Pakistan's statistics, Mr Numata said Japan's direct investment in Pakistan amounted to $59 million in 1998-99, which fell to $17.7 million in 1999-2000. "This does not seem to match Pakistan's potential," he added. Referring to problems of business and investment climate, as cited by the Japanese businesses operating here, he said they would like to see more consistency, transparency, fairness and continuity of policy on the basis of their experiences in dealing with the IPPs, delayed repayment of commercial credits (notably by Industrial Development Bank of Pakistan) and other issues. He described resolution of the Hubco issue as encouraging. The ambassador said he wished to see Japan and Pakistan being fully engaged and working together in the international community as partners to make the world a better place to live in. Referring to the positive elements of the Japan-Pakistan relations, he said Tokyo had signed the Exchange of Notes for the rescheduling of Pakistan's official debt to Japan amounting to S $822 million in last April. This entailed a net inflow to Pakistan of $350 million in 1999, he added. Japan, he said, had been actively supportive of Pakistan in its efforts to secure the standby arrangement from the IMF, which was crucial in tiding over its current external payment difficulties. " We will be actively taking part in the Paris Club deliberations on another debt rescheduling exercise to Pakistan in a few days' time," he added.-APP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010120 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Power theft causes $850m loss to govt: ADB ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ihtasham ul Haque ISLAMABAD, Jan 19: The losses incurred by Wapda and the KESC on account of power theft during 1999 amounted to $850 million (Rs53.55 billion), an Asian Development Bank (ADB) report revealed. "The theft of this magnitude could only be possible through corruption and malpractice at all levels of the organizational hierarchy, the government, politicians, labour, and the society in general," the bank further stated. "The organizations of Wapda and KESC have degenerated into unwieldy, over-centralized and multi-layered bureaucracies, dominated by political expediency where efficiency and quality of services continue to decline." The ADB in its latest report, the copy of which was made available to Dawn, also said that Pakistan's power sector had been affected by institutional and organizational weaknesses that had led to decisions on investments, electricity tariff determination and appointment of senior management and staff becoming increasingly politicized. Wapda's scope has become overextended, as it has responsibilities for water and irrigation, developing the private power programme and planning and operating the power system. Even with 110,000 employees in Wapda and about 12,200 in the KESC, responsiveness to customers leaves much to be desired. Over-time, lack of financial and commercial skills have become major obstacles to the accountability, quick decision-making, and commercial orientation needed to deal with Independent Power Producers (IPPs), it said. Institutional malaise was most obvious in the recent abrupt decline in financial performance, blackouts, and stolen electricity (often the result of collusion between Wapda and KESC staff and consumers). "Consequently Wapda and KESC lost the confidence of their customers, financiers, and the government," the report said. The ADB also believed that Pakistan's energy sector was facing a financial crisis, which stemmed from weak governance, political interference in decision making in the past, rising fuel prices, the adverse impact of power purchases from the IPPs and endemic corruption (especially in the power sector). "Weak governance has resulted in inefficient utility operations, power theft, illegal power supply, reduced billing and collection, and nonpayment of arrears. These problems have had an adverse impact on the financial performance of the utilities and have hindered the effectiveness and sustainability of the power sector," it observed. This situation, the report said, has affected the poor segment of the population more than the affluent and contributed to the build up of the financial crisis in the sector, which has affected the government's macroeconomic framework. Appropriate reforms and necessary adjustment measures including introduction of a market- driven system, are needed to restore financial and operational viability in the sector and to make it self-sustaining, it added. The ADB support of the government's initiatives for structural reforms in the energy sector is considered essential given the urgent need to introduce competition as the driving force for improvement and private sector participation as a vehicle for creating a competitive environment. For ensuring a stable supply of electricity which is essential for country's economic recovery, the ADB has approved two programme loans amounting to $300 million and $39 million Special Drawing Rights (SDR) to support policy reforms. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010114 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Rupee at record low against Indian currency ------------------------------------------------------------------- Reporter KARACHI, Jan 13: The rupee on Saturday fell to a record low against its Indian counterpart on the open market as demand from the Dubai- based informal and formal sectors, is drying up for unknown financial reasons. For the first time after several years, the rupee was quoted as low as Rs1.38 and Rs1.40 for buying and selling against the Indian rupee from the normal average trading range of Rs1.25 to Rs1.30, a fall of eight paisa. Some months back, it was being quoted at Rs1.23 to Rs1.28 to an Indian rupee. "The recent decline in gold prices from Rs5,400 to Rs5,290 per 10 grams may be one of the reasons behind the rupee's slide," one currency dealer said, adding: "A good part of the informal gold trade from across the border and Dubai is done in rupees." But no currency dealer was inclined to believe the whispering that current peace initiatives between the two warring neighbours may slow down the inflow and outflow of the rupee after strict checking on the border. "Smuggling the worldover is now considered a two-way trading channel and no government could stop it and hence the weakness and strength of any currency in trade will depend on its size," market sources said. However, all want to cover the weakness of the rupee and its stability at the previous levels to make up trade losses. In kerb, the dollar was, however, unchanged at Rs61.23 and 61.25 for buying and selling amid slow ready offtake. There was a relative calm on the money markets owing partly to weekend considerations, although the rupee was again quoted modestly lower against the dollar in the inter-bank trading. The rupee was lower by five paisa at Rs58.75 and 59.25 to a dollar for buying and selling respectively as compared to Rs58.70 and 59.20, a day earlier. Banking sources attributed the strength of the dollar to active buying by the importers as leading among them are inclined to re- enter the foreign markets on Monday to make forward covering purchases against their immediate raw material requirements. Some others say the evidence of stray dollar selling by some exporters was not lacking but the amount in trade was too small to give a big boost to the value of the dollar. Meanwhile, the liquidity position on the money market further improved as was reflected by modest decline both in repo and call rates, dealers said. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010119 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Offshore drilling policy announced ------------------------------------------------------------------- Rafaqat Ali ISLAMABAD, Jan 18: The federal cabinet has decided that the companies, investing in the offshore exploration, will not be required to share revenues from the oil and gas production, with the government till the recovery of their cost. The package of incentives for offshore exploration of oil and gas, approved by the cabinet on Wednesday, provided that the investors would initially recover cost (subject to recovery limit of 85 per cent) and thereafter share revenues from oil and gas production with the government. This package would be available to all new as well as existing licence holders for a period of five years. Instead of flat 12.5 per cent royalty, a sliding scale royalty with a holiday of initial four years, was introduced. The corporate income tax was also reduced from 50 per cent to 40 per cent of the profits. Import duties and taxes would be zero for exploration and after the first commercial discovery the same would be three per cent. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010119 ------------------------------------------------------------------- SBP resells dollar to banks ------------------------------------------------------------------- Mohiuddin Aazim KARACHI, Jan 18: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has so far sold back to banks about 50 per cent of the total $255 million, it had purchased from them in one-month swaps against the rupee last month. The SBP had swapped $255 million for rupees with banks between December 13-22 to keep the market liquid at the year-end. Senior bankers say the SBP will sell back the remaining amount of foreign exchange in a couple of days, according to the maturity schedule of the swaps. Bankers say the maturity of about $120 million worth of swaps in past few days has made the rupee stronger against the dollar. "Further maturity of $135 million swaps in next few days may add more strength to the rupee...and keep it up amidst oil payments," said a bank treasurer. Bankers said the SBP had started footing import bills of previous quarter (October-December 2000) on its own - without asking banks to pay part of the bills through purchases from the open market. They said SBP was not financing oil import bills - even through its own kerb purchases. "This time SBP has been making oil payments on its own. They have not involved us," said a local banker. In the past, the State Bank was financing part of oil import bills leaving it upon oil marketing companies to pay the remaining part through open market purchases of dollars. Oil marketing companies (OMCs) used to purchase dollars from the open market through banks. And at times the central bank would simply buy dollars from the open market for footing large import bills. Bankers close to SBP say the central bank has not been making heavy dollar buyings from the open market only because the time is not ripe. "Lately they have not made big buyings," confirmed a leading money changer. So far this month, the rupee has l ost 70 paisa against the US dollar in kerb as the greenback is in demand among those overseas Pakistanis, who are returning after celebrating Eid in Pakistan. Whereas some bankers believe that the maturity of $135 million worth of dollar-rupee swaps in coming few days may keep the rupee stable, the others say much would depend on corporate demand as well. "Today a big local corporate bought $8-9 million from some local and foreign banks," said a foreign banker. "I foresee more demand from the corporate side in the coming days. That combined with oil payments may weaken the rupee - or stop it from getting stronger," he observed. Bankers said the rupee finished almost unchanged in the inter- bank market around 59.15 to a dollar. They said it had fallen to 59.25 on corporate buying but then moved up as some banks started selling dollars. MONEY MARKET: The State Bank on Thursday rejected all bids and offers for treasury bills received at its open market operations. The two-way OMO had attracted Rs8.2 billion worth of bids and Rs10.3 billion worth of offers, but the central bank rejected all of them without assigning any reason. Bankers said this served as a signal for them that the central bank was in no mood to change the liquidity levels in the inter-bank market. They said the market was surplus by a few billion rupees with overnight call rates oscillating between 6-8 per cent. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010118 ------------------------------------------------------------------- KSE opts for legal recourse in battle with SECP ------------------------------------------------------------------- Dilawar Hussain KARACHI, Jan 17: The stand-off between the Karachi Stock Exchange and the watchdog, Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) took a new twist on Wednesday, when the KSE board decided to seek legal recourse, a source close to the bourse said. Surprisingly, the decision to "wave all options including dialogue and seek legal opinion" was reached by a unanimous vote by all members including the seven outside directors, who had been nominated by the SECP. At the heart of the current controversy are the five amendments & modifications that the corporate regulator has sought to include in the articles of association of the bourse. These include: (1) Election of the chairman of the board by the directors as against the existing procedure of election by the KSE members at the annual meeting; (2) Removal of the office of the Vice chairman; (3) Nomination of seven outside directors on the board by the SECP as against the existing procedure of two nominations by the SECP and other two by the Board and three by the institutions; (4) Providing necessary provisions for appointment, removal and termination, including non-renewal of contract, of the MD, with the prior approval of the SECP; and (5) Restricting delegation of the Board's authority relating to operational matters to the MD only. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010117 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Compensation to US firm: NBP asks govt to pay $0.268m ------------------------------------------------------------------- Correspondent ISLAMABAD, Jan 16: The National Bank of Pakistan has asked the government to immediately pay $268,000 to a US shipping company, which had recently won a case against Pakistan, so that the food accounts frozen by the US government on court orders are restored. Official sources told Dawn here on Tuesday that the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) Karachi management had contacted the concerned ministry and asked them to arrange payment to the company so that the accounts were unfrozen. An inquiry into the circumstances which led to the freezing of accounts in the United States last week had held the food wing of the agriculture ministry responsible for making "deliberate" payment of $268,000 to another shipping company instead of paying the money to the contracting shipping firm. Pakistan bank accounts were frozen by the US government after Islamabad failed to pay $268,000 to the shipping company, as directed by a US District Court in Washington. Ninety per cent of the total freight payment for the shipment of wheat from Australia and Turkey had been made to the company - Horsebridge - but the dispute arose on the remaining 10 per cent amount. The remaining payment was made to Horsebridge in October 1995, while Ned Chartering, which was also Horsebridge's broker and had shipped the wheat to Pakistan, was refused payment on the ground that the payment had already been made to its partner. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010117 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Cabinet to okay tariff agreement with Hubco ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report ISLAMABAD, Jan 16: The federal cabinet is meeting here on Wednesday to discuss the current economic situation and to approve a new power tariff agreement with the Hub Power Company (Hubco). Chief Executive Gen Pervez Musharraf, who will preside over the meeting, will be informed of the economic situation by Minister for Finance Shaukat Aziz and Minister for Commerce Razak Dawood. Sources said the meeting would be told about Rs10 billion revenue shortfall that occurred in the first six months of 2000-2001 financial year. According to the downwardly revised revenue target, the Central Board of Revenue could collect Rs180 billion against the target of Rs 190 billion, leaving a shortfall of Rs10 billion. Also, exports were down by 6 per cent in December against the corresponding period in 1999, and the cabinet would be apprised of the reason for this decline, the sources said. They said the meeting would also approve new power tariff agreement with Hubco which would now give 3 billion dollar benefit to the Water and Power Development Authority in the next 27 years. The sources said Hubco was also holding an extraordinary meeting of its board of directors in Karachi on Feb 6 and 7 to approve its new agreement with the government. The meeting would be told that internal rate of return (IRR) of the company had been reduced from 18 per cent to 12 per cent and that it had been done with a view to settling over three years old dispute with the government. The sources said that at its Karachi meeting Hubco would discuss and later take up with the government the withdrawal of a number of FIRs lodged against its senior executives so that they could travel freely in Pakistan. Withdrawal of FIRs, the sources said, would automatically remove the need for arbitration that had been sought by Hubco in the International Chamber of Commerce and Industry. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010116 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sugar millers' demand rejected ------------------------------------------------------------------- Rauf Klasra ISLAMABAD, Jan 15: Federal government has turned down Pakistan Sugar Mills Association's (PSMA) demand to impose 30 per cent duty on sugar import, saying that the mill owners should first bring down the price to last year's level, if the production is surplus this year. The PSMA's demand was turned down by ECC's sub-committee on sugar, which met on Monday to resolve the sugar issue. The ECC also formed three provincial sub-committees in Punjab, Sindh and NWFP, headed by their respective provincial agriculture ministers, to examine proposals submitted by Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) and sugar association for the development of a new sugar policy by February 5. These committees were asked to submit their recommendations within a fortnight for formulating a final sugar policy by the end of next month. It, however, accepted sugar industry's request to review sugar import situation in March, when the local crushing season would end and exact sugar production figures would be available to the government agencies for a decision. Earlier, the ECC's sub-committee, represented by the Commerce and Industries Minister Abdul Razzak Dawood and Agriculture Minister Khair Mohammad Junejo, met the representatives of APSMA and cane growers. The meeting was also attended by Sindh Agriculture Minister Hassan Ali Chaniho and senior officials of the federal and provincial governments. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010116 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Businessmen to launch political party ------------------------------------------------------------------- Correspondent CHINIOT, Jan 15: Top businessmen community of the country has decided to take active part in politics and is heading towards launching a political party, Dawn learnt here on Monday. The decision was taken at a two-day meeting of industrialists and traders held here on Sunday and Monday at a tourist resort on the bank of Chenab river near here. The participants belonged to the Sheikh community of Chiniot which has businesses in Faisalabad, Lahore and Karachi and Memon community of Karachi. A news conference was addressed here on Monday by MCB chief Mian Muhammad Mansha, SM Munir, former Karachi chamber chief Ahmad Sattar, Sheikh Pervez Ahmed and others. They announced that they were finalizing their agenda. Former MNA Qaisar Ahmed Sheikh is their convener. According Qaisar, the meeting resolved that the two main political parties, PML and PPP, had failed in reviving the economy. "Heavy weapons and nuclear bombs could not halt USSR break-up. Now it is the age of economic war and survival is for those who are economically strong," Qaisar quoted the meeting as saying. "To make country economically strong, businessmen have decided to come into politics and decision making," Qaisar said. According to him, the business community was worried over the prevailing political and economic condition of the country. "It wants to increase industrial activity but poor policies of successive governments has disappointed it." DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010115 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Shortage of POL products likely ------------------------------------------------------------------- Correspondent ISLAMABAD, Jan 14: The government's failure to make timely arrangements for the export of surplus motor spirit (petrol) and kerosene after the commissioning of the Parco refinery, has created a crisis-like situation in which diesel, jet fuel and some other POL products are likely to become scarce in the coming weeks. According to knowledgeable sources, with the start of the Parco refinery in Mehmood Kot, Multan, the storage tanks of the refinery for the motor spirit fill up even when the refinery is running at 70 per cent of its capacity. If the situation does not improve drastically, which according to experts is physically impossible, the refinery may be closed down. If the refinery closes, POL products i.e high speed diesel (HSD) JP-4 will be scarce as the imports were made, keeping in view the production capacity of the Parco refinery. In case JP-4 is not available in sufficient quantity, the haj flights might be disturbed. The situation has been further complicated as the chief executive has fixed February 19 as the date for inaugurating the refinery, built at the cost of $900m. The government, which had contacted the Iranian government in March last year for the export of surplus motor spirit, is in a tight corner. The secretary petroleum, Yousaf Abdullah, had led the delegation to Iran and discussed the possibility of Pakistan exporting its surplus motor spirit and kerosene to Iran.Back to the top
EDITORIALS & FEATURES DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010114 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Mummiya ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ardeshir Cowasjee GET on to the internet, click on the search engine 'Bizarre- Pakistan', ask for and then download 'mummy-mummiya'. 'MUMMY-MUMMIYA..... The word 'mummy' comes from the Arabic word 'mummiya'. Mummiya means bitumen or pitch, the tar we use on road surfaces. Arab invaders noted that badly prepared, blackened mummies looked as if they had been dipped in pitch.... Ancient Egyptians believed that everyone had a soul after death. The soul relies on the body for a place to reside. After death the soul travels between the corpse and the Kingdom of the Dead. When the soul returns from its travels in the Kingdom of the Dead it would reunite with the body of the deceased. In order to do this the soul needed to be able to recognize its body. Thus, preserving a corpse through mummification came into practice. >From Newsline of December 2000, 'The Mystery of the Mummy' by Massoud Ansari: "......The mummy was discovered by chance by the Sindh police when they arrested Ali Akbar in Karachi in the course of a murder investigation. During a search of his house, they found the video made of the mummy, and upon interrogation, Akbar divulged that the actual mummy was in Quetta at Reeki's residence and he had been assigned to hand the video to one. Asfandyar, who was to smuggle it out of the country. On the basis of this information and after seeking permission from the Balochistan authorities, the Sindh police raided Reeki's house and recovered the antique. "Unaware of its importance, however, they brought it to Karachi by road in an ordinary vehicle and kept it in a local police station for at least three days. Afterwards, they contacted the renowned archaeologist, Professor Emeritus Ahmed Hasan Dani in Islamabad, who asked them to send him photographs of the mummy. After seeing the photographs, Professor Dani immediately rushed to Karachi to closely examine what is surely one of the most significant antiques ever found in Pakistan. The Sindh police disclosed the discovery of the find in a crowded press conference only after Professor Dani confirmed its importance....... "According to him, the art of mummification belongs exclusively to Egypt. However, he added, the inscriptions on the gold plate are in cuneiform script, which was used in ancient Mesopotamia and later adopted by the Babylonians and subsequently brought to Persia by the Archaemenians...... "However, investigations conducted by the curator of Karachi's National Museum, Dr. Asma Ibrahim, suggest a Persian connection. Her findings are based on the fact that the wooden sarcophagus is engraved with an image of Ahura Mazda, the supreme Zoroastrian deity, and a specimen of cuneiform script, which was extant in ancient Persia about 600 BC.......". >From the magazine Archaeology, an official publication of the Archaeological Institute of America, Volume 54 Number 1, January/February 2001, Special Report: 'Saga of the Persian Princess' by Kristin M Romey and Mark Rose - 'In a dangerous corner of the world, uneasy neighbours clamour for the gilded remains of a mummified noblewoman. Trouble is, she's a fraud': "The bizarre tale of a mummy adorned with a cuneiform-inscribed gold plaque identifying it as a 2,600-year-old Persian princess, perhaps, according to one translation, a daughter of the king Xerxes, began trickling out of Pakistan this past October. Found during a murder investigation, the mummy, an amalgam of Egyptian and Persian elements, had evidently been for sale on the black market for a cool $11 million. While archaeologists in Karachi tried to make sense of the mummy, a dispute between Iran and Pakistan broke out over its ownership. Afghanistan's Taliban regime hinted that they, too, might claim it. Then, one November day, thousands of miles from where the mummy lay in Pakistan's National Museum under the watchful eye of armed guards, 'Archaeology' was shown documents identifying the Persian princess as a fraud. "According to newspaper reports, Pakistani authorities learned of the mummy in mid-October, when they received a tip that Karachi resident Ali Akbar had a video tape showing a mummy he was selling. After interrogation, Akbar led police to the remains, which were being kept in the house of tribal leader Wali Mohammad Reeki in Quetta, capital of Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan Province, which borders Iran and Afghanistan. Reeki told police he had received the mummy from Sharif Shah Bakhi, an Iranian who allegedly found it after an earthquake in a nearby town. Reeki and Bakhi had agreed to sell the mummy and split the profits; Akbar's role is less clear. Reeki said an unidentified representative of an anonymous foreign buyer had offered 60 million rupees ($1.1 million) for the mummy, well below the 600 million rupee ($11 million) asking price. Reeki and Akbar were charged with violating Pakistan's Antiquity Act, which carries a ten-year maximum sentence; Bakhi remains at large. "The mummy was brought to the National Museum in Karachi as news of it spread quickly through the local and international press. In an October 26 press conference, clips of which appeared on NBC's evening news, archaeologist Ahmed Hasan Dani of Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad announced that the mummy, wrapped in Egyptian style and resting in a wooden coffin carved with cuneiform writing and images of the Zoroastrian deity Ahura Mazda, was that of a princess dated to ca. 600 B.C..... "Shortly after the press conference, the Iranian Cultural Heritage Organization, claiming the mummy was of a member of the Persian royal family, said it would take legal action through UNESCO for its return. Salim-ul-Haq, director of Pakistan's Archaeological Department's Headquarters, retorted that the mummy was found in Kharan in Balochistan Province, "which is one hundred percent Pakistani territory. The mummy is property of Pakistan." At that point, Iran said it was cooperating with Interpol for the mummy's return. Pakistan's foreign minister warned against politicizing the issue, while the Taliban, the rulers of most of Afghanistan, demanded that their archaeologists play a role in deciding its ownership........ "Two weeks after the discovery first hit the press, Oscar White Muscarella of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and author of The Lie Became Great: The Forgery of Ancient Near Eastern Cultures9, visited Archaeology's offices, where we asked for his thoughts on the Persian princess. While unaware of the recent find, Muscarella volunteered that its description sounded remarkably similar to photographs of a gold-adorned mummy sent to him last March by a New Jersey resident on behalf of an unidentified dealer in Pakistan - in fact, they were the same. "Muscarella had received four photographs of a mummy in a wooden coffin, replete with golden crown, mask, and inscribed breastplate. An accompanying letter stated that the mummy was owned by a Pakistani acquaintance and was brought by Zoroastrian families many years ago from Iran to Pakistan. The author claimed that the mummy was the daughter of the Persian king Xerxes, referring to an attached one-page translation of the cuneiform inscription on the breastplate. The owners, he wrote, had a video of the mummy - most likely the same video found with Ali Akbar in Karachi - that could be sent to New York if the museum was interested in purchasing the princess. "Muscarella, who suspected immediately that the mummy was a fraud, contacted the translator of the inscription, a cuneiform expert at a major American university, and found out that the dealer's New Jersey representative had not given him the complete analysis of it. The inscription does indeed contain the line 'I am the daughter of the great king Xerxes,' as well as a sizable chunk lifted straight from a famous inscription of the king Darius (522-486 B.C.) at Behistun in western Iran. The Behistun inscription, which records the king's accomplishments, dates to 520-519 B.C., substantially later than the 600 B.C. date proposed for the mummy. The second page of analysis listed several problems with the mummy's inscription that led the scholar to believe that its author wrote in a manner inconsistent with Old Persian. The inscription, he concluded, was likely a modern falsification, probably dating 'from no earlier than the 1930s'.""Archaeology has submitted Muscarella's documentation to federal authorities, who have forwarded the matter to Interpol. Hopefully, by the time this article goes to press, the dispute between uneasy neighbours in a dangerous corner of the world will be resolved. While the Persian princess may be a fraud, perhaps a genuine Egyptian mummy with forged Persian additions, she is a reminder of the powerful emotions that can be sparked by unprecedented, or unbelievable, archaeological discoveries." (Courtesy websites and publications mentioned above) Stop press: Dr Vera Sohrab Katrak (PhD, Institute of Archaeology, University of London, Faculty of Arts, 1959), says the mummy is a fake. Should it be proved that the mummy lying in the wooden sarcophagus at the National Museum in Karachi originates from the Achamaenian period of Persian history, I, as a surviving Achamaenian, lodge my claim on behalf of my fellow Achamaenians. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010120 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 'I want it now!' ------------------------------------------------------------------- Irfan Husain APART from technology and the level of affluence, perhaps the most marked difference between this century and the last is the ideological content of our vocabularies. As the Soviet Union crumbled under the weight of its own excesses and inefficiency, the left everywhere was forced to retreat. This was accompanied by the global triumph of consumerism and the elevation of profit and loss to the position of our governing principle. For the young, socialism was no longer fashionable; for their parents it was an embarrassing reminder of the past. Earnest and humourless young MBAs took the place of intense, argumentative Trotskyites and Maoists on campuses around the world. The NGO movement replaced parties of the left, and personal computers and TV took the place of Marxist literature and existentialist tracts. Humanist philosophies lost out to a hard- edged, no-nonsense pragmatism. In brief, the triumph of the profit motive over idealism was complete. Although altruism has seldom played a major role in human history, most civilized people have paid lip-service to it, and at least pretended that they aspired to nobler things. It was considered crass to be seen as selfish and money-grabbing. No more. Today, everybody wants to be as rich as he can be, as quickly as possible. As the ubiquitous dish antenna shows us what money can buy from Tokyo to Toronto, the universal cry is "I want it, and I want it now!" When my son Shakir first started working a couple of years ago, I was a a bit disturbed by his stated goal of making big bucks sooner rather than later. "You're just being hypocritical," he replied when I voiced my concern. "You like collecting paintings and books and eating at good restaurants, but you pretend not to care about money. In fact, your whole generation has a similar attitude." Sad but true. Growing up, I do not recall any conversations about money or business at the dinner table. Young Pakistanis in the sixties and seventies were much more political than today's cynical generation, and ideology played a much greater part in their lives than it does today. Now, the only ideology around stems from religion, but it is a thesis without an antithesis. But even in the days of greater involvement, there was much ideological and intellectual confusion. Although we had ready-made labels for everyone and everything, looking back, I can only smile wryly at our pretensions. I was reminded of those distant days when I picked up an old edition of "The Opium of the Intellectuals", a collection of columns by Raymond Aaron, a very influential French columnist in the fifties and sixties. An iconoclast, Aaron was writing at a time when Sartre and Camus were at the height of their powers and fame, and Paris was still the intellectual capital of the world. His insights are still relevant fifty years later. For instance, in the chapter "Myth of the Left", Aaron writes: "It is always dangerous to apply terms borrowed from the political vocabulary of the West to the internal conflicts of nations belonging to other spheres of civilization, even and perhaps specially when the political parties concerned are at pains to identify themselves with western ideologies. Removed from their original settings, ideologies are liable to develop in a manner diametrically opposed to their original aims and meanings. The same parliamentary institutions can exercise either a progressive or a conservative function according to the social class which introduces and directs them. "When a group of well-meaning officers with a lower middle-class background dissolves a parliament manipulated by Pashas and speeds up the development of national resources, where is the left and where the right? Officers who suspend constitutional liberties (in other words, the dictatorship of the sword) cannot in any circumstances be described as left-wing. But the plutocrats who made use of democratic institutions to maintain their privileges are no more worthy of that noble epithet." In an era when ideologies blur and overlap, and when productivity and profits are the be-all and end-all of all human activity, it is easy to forget that one of the primary duties of the state is to protect the weaker segments of society. Marxism in all its manifestations professes to do just that: The credo "To each according to his needs" is at the heart of socialism. Capitalism, on the other hand, rewards the ruthless predator. Most rich European countries have developed welfare states where the taxes of the upper and middle classes provide a safety net for the poor. In countries like Pakistan, there are no such provisions for the dispossessed for ours is a sink-or-swim economy. There has been much brave talk of the IT revolution providing countries like Pakistan and India the means to break out of the poverty trap. Computers and the Internet are supposed to be the engines of magical growth. Unfortunately, when misty-eyed enthusiasts expound upon this vision, they tend to forget that it is difficult to spread computer literacy among a largely illiterate population. It would seem that the first step is to teach people to read and write before talking about information technology. Unfortunately, as the elite do not send their children to government schools, these continue to languish or exist only on paper. One of the (unsung) successes of socialist governments, wherever they have existed, is the excellence of the educational system they have put in place. Health is another sector to have benefited under socialism. It is true that in developed capitalist societies, the poor are provided for, leaving aside the thousands who are forced to live on the streets of affluent cities like New York, London and Paris. Schooling is free, as is health care, and the unemployed do not have to choose between begging and starving. But in underdeveloped nations, the poor get no support of any kind from either the state or the rich. They survive as best as they can, and there is a permanent underclass of impoverished people who have no hope and no place in society. Of these marginalized millions, the World Development Report 2000 says: "The world has deep poverty amid plenty. Of the world's 6 billion people 2.8 billion - almost half - live on less than $2 a day, and 1.2 billion - a fifth - live on less than $1 a day, with 44% living in South Asia..." It is clear that without idealism and passion, the wretched of the earth will stay just where they are. The IMF and the World Bank have neither the mandate nor the motivation to pull them out of the poverty trap. Most governments and politicians are not really concerned with the fate of the poor, except at election time. Unless we accept that social conscience goes hand in hand with the profit motive, there can be little hope for a harmonious world. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010119 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Kashmir & power of illusion ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ayaz Amir IT's good that the guns have fallen silent along the LoC. Good too if there is less aimless shelling on the Siachen Glacier which surely must be the most foolish battlefield in the world. It will be a good sign if Hurriyat leaders come to Pakistan and hold talks with officials here and with the leaders of the so- called jihadi organizations. But this flurry of activity should fool no one. None of it will or can lead to a Camp David on Kashmir. The choice in Kashmir is not between peace and war. Never was except when impulsiveness drove Pakistan into unwinnable wars. The choice is between no-peace and no-war. This was the situation obtaining till 1989 when the Kashmiri people rose in revolt against India. If the current moves lead anywhere the best that can be hoped for is a return to the pre-1989 situation, with the Kashmir problem as unresolved as it is today but with a modicum of calm returning to the Kashmir Valley. India clearly stands to gain from this process. What its army in Kashmir has been unable to win its diplomatic overtures will achieve. The question is: will the end of militancy be to Pakistan's advantage? In other words, what is Pakistan hoping to achieve from the current illusion of progress? Surely not a final settlement of the Kashmir dispute. There is no shortage of fools in what passes for the Pakistani establishment - otherwise we would not be in the mess we are - but no one can be so foolish as to think that given goodwill and whatnot (the usual claptrap of weak or confused diplomacy), a final settlement of Kashmir is around the corner or is even a realistic proposition. India will never accept that and Pakistan is not in a position to change this. So the next question is should Pakistan still be interested in the current moves knowing that, apart from clearing the atmosphere (a good enough thing in itself) and dampening the spirit of jihad, these can bear no other fruit? The answer to this question is a harsh one: even if Pakistan knows that India is beating about the bush and has no interest in a just solution of the Kashmir dispute, it should still go for the illusion of peace because no other choice lies before it. The stark truth is that jihad (a term being used loosely here) has no future in Kashmir. This is a harsh thing to say given the blood spilt and the sacrifices rendered but, unfortunately, all too true. A continuation of the insurgency can bleed India, as it has done with creditable results over the past decade, damage Indian prestige and keep the Valley unsettled. But it cannot secure the liberation of the state. This much should be clear from the history of the last 53 years. What the Pakistan army has failed to secure in full-fledged battle the jihadis cannot hope to achieve with their hit-and-run tactics. The jihadi organizations have their strengths - otherwise the Indian army would have crushed them a long time ago - but they also have their weaknesses. Much like the Afghan resistance they lack unity and have no central political organization. But this is not the point. Even if these weaknesses were overcome there would still be no military solution to the Kashmir problem. It is also facile to think that jihad in Kashmir will bring India to the negotiating table. India has always been prepared for talks on peripheral issues, talks lacking substance and skirting the Kashmir issue. From the current moves what we are likely to get at the most is more of the same - another round of inconsequential talks, whether at the level of foreign secretaries or, given luck, at a higher level. Surely the purpose of jihad cannot be to secure such exercises in futility. Pakistan's predicament, however, is altogether different. Far from achieving anything, the jihadi line is creating problems for Pakistan at home. Look, what we reaped in Afghanistan. Unwittingly and for small gains, we entered that conflict holding on to the coattails of the United States. For the US Afghanistan is a distant memory while for us it is a damaging reality casting long shadows on our national existence. Was it for drugs, guns and unwanted refugees that we fought that jihad? What is more, involvement in that conflict nurtured the seeds of religious militancy. The creed propounded in the seminaries which now dot the land, and whose growth is one consequence of that jihad, may not lead to the green banner of Islam flying over Chechnya or the Central Asian republics but it has contributed to the spread of intolerance and bigotry within Pakistan. Democracy already was a weak sapling. Now it must compete for survival with more noxious weeds. Much the same fallout can be detected with regard to Kashmir. The jihadi organizations, exemplars of great sacrifice (let us never forget this), cannot wrest Kashmir from Indian hands but their growing presence is colouring the political waters in Pakistan. The political parties stand discredited. The army is in the process of discrediting itself. The religious parties think they alone remain to be tested and that their hour has arrived. In elections, it is true, they stand no chance. But elections will be of consequence if democracy returns, not as long as it is banished and treated as a soiled commodity. Besides, the consciousness of armed strength (for many of the religious parties have their armed cadres) lends added strength and confidence to their voices. Is there anything more dangerous than soldiers returning from a war, especially a lost war? On whom will they turn their guns and anger? Looking carefully we might just see that it is not India which is making any concessions but Pakistan which is trying to wash away the stigma of "cross-border terrorism" and undo the larger damage wrought by the folly of Kargil. Because of Kargil we painted ourselves as irresponsible. Now we are trying extra hard to prove our peaceful intentions. This has been the history of Pakistan: plunging into adventures and then trying to recover from the consequences. One step forward, several back. As long as the Kashmir insurgency was largely a home-grown affair the advantage was ours and the odium India's. But then in a replay of Afghanistan we had to bring the Kashmiri resistance under the wings of the ISI, which meant that the Pakistan-based jihadi organizations began overshadowing the Kashmiri element. Added to this was the national inability to keep a low profile when circumstances so dictated. Just as Dr A. Q. Khan has never been able to resist the spotlights, none of the jihadi organizations has been able to stop itself from proclaiming its deep involvement in Kashmir. Thus what should have remained a Kashmiri affair became a Pakistani headache, with the international community less willing to put faith in Pakistan's protestations of innocence. Other countries handle these things with greater discretion. Syria never made a tamasha out of its support for the Hezbollah in Lebanon. Somehow such subtlety has always seemed beyond us. Then, of course, came the brilliance of Kargil which overnight transformed the oppressor (India) into the aggrieved party. Anyhow, the damage having been done what remains is to salvage something from the debris. But to repeat the earlier point, the shadow-boxing now on display will lead to nothing. After all, since when did losers in every sphere win victories at the negotiating table? Even so, Pakistan must grasp the only thing on offer, the illusion of peace, and pretend that a great diplomatic opportunity awaits it if only to turn its gaze inwards and fight the jihads within that are clamouring to be fought. Shouldn't we first put our house in order? We cannot make ends meet and yet must play with lordly ambitions - nuclear status, missiles and a lot of pretentious stuff which passes for foreign policy. Our ambitions are not grandiose but foolish, with no connection to reality. Let us manage our own affairs better. Let us strive to achieve political stability. Let us invest a bit more in education and address the causes of our backwardness. Then with what remains let us fight more distant battles. This does not mean we give up on Kashmir. Nor does it mean we kowtow to anyone. May the mountains come to the sea before we do that. Did China give up its claim to Hong Kong? Has it changed its policy towards Taiwan? We too must stick to what we believe in while at the same time keeping our feet on the ground and recognizing that being aware of one's limitations is no weakness and being driven by false pretensions no sign of strength. But for this to happen the redoubts of the old thinking - the thinking born of the Afghan involvement - must be assaulted. Within the Pakistani establishment there are powerful elements which still subscribe to the Hamid Gul and Maulana Samiul Haq schools of foreign policy nonsense. Unless these elements are reduced to their proper places not much hope can be entertained of the scales falling from our eyes.
SPORTS DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010120 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Tri-nation contest: Confirmation from India expected today ------------------------------------------------------------------- Correspondent LAHORE, Jan 19: Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) will inform Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) on Saturday whether it will take part in the three-nation tournament scheduled to be played in April or May later this year. Australia, the third team in the proposed triangular contest, has confirmed its participation. This was stated by PHF secretary Brig. Mussaratullah Khan on his return from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, after attending meeting of the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF). Both, Pakistan and India, last played a home and away series in 1999. The strained relations between the two countries had prompted India to refuse permission to its cricket team to tour Pakistan last December. Meanwhile the nine nominations made by the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) for the FIH different committees and executive board have been accepted by the AHF. The Pakistanis nominees would be the joint contestants from AHF for the FIH elections to be held at Brussels (Belgium) on April 21 under its resurrecting plan. The elections will be held onlyfor the seat of members while the chairmenofthese committees would be appointed by the FIH. The PHF secretary said that all the 18 Asian countries who would take part in the elections were allowed one entry for each committee and Pakistan got nine nominations. The former PHF secretary Brig Manzoor Hussain Atif (retd) was nominated for the seat of the FIH executive board while another former secretaryCol Mudassar Asghar (retd) was nominated for the competition and event committee. Former Olympian and coach Islahuddin will be the candidate for the FIH rules board instead of Atif. For the technical sections Olympian Khalid Mahmood, Shafaat Baghdadi and Inam Rabbani Rana were nominated. Shahbaz Senior would be contesting for the athletes commission. Federal Minister, ShahidaJamil, was nominated for the disciplinary committee with Sardar Khan being the candidate for the marketing and public relation committee in place of Farooq Mazhar. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010116 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Rs 400m likely to be spend on SAF Games ------------------------------------------------------------------- Farhana Ayaz ISLAMABAD, Jan 15: Pakistan will spend an estimated amount of Rs 400 million to host the biggest-ever South Asian Federation Games at Islamabad from Oct 6-15, Chairman Organizing Committee Maj-Gen Arif Hassan announced here on Monday. The status of holding the XI SAF games was given when the 24th South Asian Federation (SASF) Executive Committee unanimously approved rowing 15th sport of the games. The meeting, presided over by Minister for Sports S.K Tresslor in two sessions, was attended by representatives of six SAARC member countries. Bangladesh delegates, who declined to attend, were said to be busy in the on-going elections of their National Olympic Committee. The Indian delegates took the opportunity to quash rumours of any uncertainty associated with their participation in the games, by announcing to send the biggest-ever Indian contingent to the SAF Games. During the meeting Bhutan's plea to include women's karate and taekwondo was rejected by the other members. President Pakistan Olympic Association Syed Wajid Ali Shah urged that all member countries should work closely to achieve the aims and objectives set for the SAF Games 17 years ago. Later, addressing the first media briefing, Maj-Gen Hassan pledged that the games will have a mid-term and long-term objective of boosting national sports performance at the forthcoming Asian and Olympic levels. He said the foremost responsibility of enhancing the performance of the athletes lied with the national federations who will receive complete support from the Pakistan Sports Board and his committee. Pakistan was placed fourth behind India (102), Nepal (31) and Sri Lanka (16) when it earned 10 gold medals during the Kathmandu games. He announced that the all event will be computerized to ensure complete transparency. The chairman gave a detailed briefing on the number of events to be contested, medal tally, finances, fund-raising, facilities, preparations, sponsorships and functioning of the organizing committee. Maj-Gen Hassan announced that as chairman organizing committee he intends to market each sport for sponsorship for which a Advisory Committee will be formed. It was stated that the national competition will be launched to finalize the mascot for the games. The top three mascots will be given attractive prizes and a committee will choose the final mascot. ------------------------------------------------------------------- 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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