EDITORIAL

Economic Policy-Making and Professionalism in Pakistan

Meekal A Ahmed
06-03-10

There is a huge disconnect between the economic challenges Pakistan faces, some of which are very complex requiring skilled economic minds, and the way economic policy-making is conducted. In the initial years after Partition, economic policy-making was dominated by the ICS/CSP cadre who, by virtue of the unquestionable high standards of the exams they had to pass to qualify, were deemed to know everything. They could run the Cabinet Division one day, an airline the next, or be a central bank governor the day after that, with equal competence and efficiency. Professionals and more specifically professionals in economics had no place in their scheme of things. Indeed, there were few professional economists to begin with. FULLSTORY

Talking with India

Munir Akram
03-03-10

It was no surprise that the meeting between the Pakistan and Indian Foreign Secretaries ended in impasse. India had agreed to the meeting under US pressure. It made a virtue of necessity by projecting its agreement to the meeting as a bold attempt by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to normalise relations with Pakistan despite public opposition in India. But, India did not move an inch from its position that the talks only cover terrorism, specifically the demand that Pakistan punish the alleged organisers of the Mumbai attacks, even without evidence that would hold up in a court of law. Only thus, said India, would confidence be built to address the outstanding issues on the agenda of the composite dialogue..FULLSTORY

The Bank of the South
- alternative to World Bank and IMF finally launched

Najma Sadeque
02-03-10

On the other side of the Pacific and Atlantic, leaderships more loyal to their own countries than to personal Swiss bank accounts to stash stolen money, have been taking matters into their own hands. Pakistan, unfortunately, has taken scant note of curative financial and economic efforts elsewhere to learn from. But in September 2009, after four years of efforts, the Presidents of seven Latin American countries -- Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela -- signed an agreement for the creation of the Bank of the South, a development bank to finance projects in the region. .FULLSTORY

Tarin: The Technocrat

01-03-10

Former Finance Minister Mr Shaukat Tarin resigned from his portfolio to concentrate on his own banking business. The new major shareholders of Silk Bank wanted him to concentrate on the bank of which he has 21% share. Mr Shaukat Tarin is an achieved technocrat in the financial field. He remained the President of Habib Bank and Union Bank in Pakistan and Country Manager of Thailand for Citi Bank. He was twice elected as the chairman of Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE).FULLSTORY

Foreign Investment Should Supplant Aid

Dr Meekal Ahmad
25-02-10

There is much discussion these days about the aid pledges made to Pakistan at the recent conference in Tokyo. Much of it centers on the delays in translating those aid pledges into actual disbursements. This is understandable since the economy's macroeconomic framework and, more specifically, the domestic and external gaps were specified with an assumed level of aid disbursements in mind. Only part of the promised aid appears to have come through thus far. This would leave Pakistan with no alternative but to adjust the twin gaps to lower levels of external financing, with possibly adverse consequences for growth..FULLSTORY

Pakistan: An agenda for renewal

Munir Akram
12-02-10

While our national media and public attention is naturally focused on the internal and external crises and conflicts Pakistan confronts today - terrorism, power outages, inflation, Afghanistan, India - it is essential for thinking Pakistanis to examine the more fundamental challenges we confront in ensuring the viability and vitality of the Pakistani state. All of us, specially those over 60, can attest, that barring brief periods and specific areas of success, Pakistan is today a much-diminished country - in social, economic, political and strategic terms - as compared to the early years of Independence. It is vital to arrest this steady erosion and to plan for Pakistan's renewal. .FULLSTORY

The Anguish Over the Depreciating Rupee

Meekal Ahmed
05-02-10

There is much disquiet in the public mind, including among economists who should know better, about how harmful and wrong the seemingly unremitting depreciation of the Pakistani rupee is. This is bad policy they say, maybe a sinister IMF plot, and something needs to be done about it although they don't say what.FULLSTORY

Daily-basis chemicals

Najma Sadeque

In the US, there is an agency that registers every new chemical called the Chemical Abstract Service which began to function in 1956, long after chemicals were in fairly common use. Its job is to assign a registry number to every single chemical as soon as it is invented or discovered. FULLSTORY

Why plastics have to be phased out

Najma Sadeque

Perhaps if all the world's people could be presented on a daily basis, on their television sets, the unbelievable sight of a sort of island that is twice the size of France, but made up entirely of the world's plastic garbage, floating in the midst of the Pacific Ocean, the camera closing up from space to show the details of what the rubbish is made up of, people might start thinking about getting rid of the unnecessary plastic in their lives. It is not for nothing that this island of trash is known as The Great Garbage Patch. It spreads over 400,000 square miles, and is the single largest body of pollution in the world. Three-fourths or more of the rubbish have come there from land, discarded carelessly by humans. FULLSTORY

Lethal container laden trucks continue to ply freely: Ahmed Parekh
- 'Shipping Lines must be taken to task for container truck accidents'

Aamir Hassan

The lethal container traffic movement in Pakistan, particularly in the metropolitan city of Karachi, has risen sharply during the past few years, posing severe threat to the commuters and pedestrians. These deadly containers, to date, are not at all complying to even some of the basic safety measures which are strictly being followed around the world in order to minimise the possibility of container related accidents. FULLSTORY

At least the Army has taken cognisance of the Kerry-Lugar Bill

Qudsia Kadri
08-10-09

The most controversial Kerry-Lugar bill recently passed by the US Senate on September 24th 2009 has finally been deciphered and as a daily newspaper runs headlines of General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani's protest to the United States through its commander of International Forces in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal who recently met with General Kayani. These very columns of this newspaper had identified the clauses in the act passed by the Senate, of the formidable consequences in the garb of the fancy terminology of this act has tried to impose on Pakistan. In summary this act has tried to make an attempt to weaken the Pakistan Army, to the extent of even decreasing the role of the armed forces in National defense matters. FULLSTORY

Living routine, chemicalised lives

Najma Sadeque
15-08-09

We always associate the pleasant-smelling with all that is good, healthy and desirable. This includes perfumes which are made differently in the west and are alcohol-based. But alcohol is also cleansing and an antiseptic (which is why it is rubbed on the skin before an injection is given), and when any skin medicine is not available after an insect bite, many people often apply perfume. FULLSTORY

When corporate science destroys

Najma Sadeque
03-08-09

President Obama's June 4 address in Cairo attracted the comments of political observers from every corner of the world. That's an indication of the enormous variety of expectations from that address, partly because of the hopes built-up (courtesy the media), during the weeks preceding the address, and partly because of the gigantic chaos left behind by his predecessor, that Obama seems determined to clear. FULLSTORY

A call for sensibility

A.B. Shahid

Pakistan in a state of confusion…

Qudsia Kadri

Sadly, Pakistan today is at a crossroad, where internationally it is being branded off as "A State in Turmoil, a Failed State, a State which is passing through an economic crunch, which does not seem to forecast any economic turnaround." . FULLSTORY

Wake-up call for the PM

A.B. Shahid

The recent disclosure by the Washington Post that a tacit understanding exists between the US and Pakistan over targeting the militants (impliedly using drones) inside Pakistan, should shake Pakistani Premier's confidence in his much-touted US support for Pakistan's democratic regime. Although denied by him and his able Foreign Minister, it has damaged the government's credibility. FULLSTORY

The unchecked Indian Hegemony

Qudsia Kadri

As the world's oldest unresolved dispute gathers momentum in Jammu and Kashmir the world watches silently and India continues its atrocities unabated and recklessly. India, the democratic state, the worlds fastest growing economy, "the secular state", has grown into a monster and her brutal occupation since the past 60 years has reached a point, where the Indian Army has bypassed all norms of decency and used the worst forms of torture on the people of the valley. FULLSTORY

Pakistan's real tragedy

A.B. Shahid
14-04-08

Further downgrading of the country's sovereign risk rating, as well as the risk ratings indicative of its external and domestic debt repayment capacities, both in short and medium-term is a compliment that Pakistan's incumbent regime received from international financial circles. FULLSTORY

The crash, the bailout and us

Najma Sadeque
14-10-08

As if the killings and suicide bomber attacks and food crisis aren't bad enough, the media has been abuzz with the disconcerting around-the-clock coverage of the global financial crash. They tell you about the losses suffered, the social suffering, but don't explain why it happened. It's not reassuring when a banker or stockbroker acquaintance can't explain it to you either and how you may be affected, except in such incomprehensible terms so unconvincingly that you begin to suspect they don't understand either or have something to hide. FULLSTORY

Predictions of a second 9/11

A.B. Shahid
29-07-08

President Bush's term is coming to an end; it is only appropriate that it does so with a bang as big as the one that followed his entry into the White House - the first 9/11. A second 9/11 could revive America's weakening flair for continuing its 'war on terror' launched by the neocons under the able leadership of Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney, hence predictions about a second 9/11 are being made by the US media. FULLSTORY

A poor-friendly budget, is it?

A B Shahid
14-06-08

In sharp contrast to the past tradition, the budget speech of the Finance Minister was punctuated neither by thumping of the desks by the treasury members' nor by shouting from the opposition benches. At one stage, the silence of the assembly chamber visibly disappointed Sherry Rehman, which was caught by the TV camera's eye. FULLSTORY

Implementation will speak louder than budget speech

Qudsia Kadri
14-06-08

The budget speech was short and concise. Many aspects were left unexplained and the days ahead shall perhaps make the picture clearer. Let us start on the premise that what the people of this country are waiting for is not a budget speech read out by the Minister Finance, but rather a fruitful implementation of policies and concession's announced. We in the world of finance know that budgets announced every fiscal year are not just balancing the income and expenditure of governments (as expenditures on budget over the years have yet to be balanced to actually have an impact). Governments have other objectives to incorporate rather than the actual procedure of putting forth the balance between income and expenditure. FULLSTORY

After a disastrous track record in 40 countries,
Bt cotton is "welcomed" in Pakistan

Najma Sadeque
12-05-08

No other fabric can compare with cotton, especially for warm weather wear. It will always be worn; it will always have a market. Cotton production has kept rising gradually around the world since the 1930s; then with booming populations and demands, shot up since the 1980s. After that its demand has remained on an even keel, but not so much because of lack of demand as lack of buying power on the part of poor consumers. And now, for reasons unknown but can be suspected, genetically-modified, or Bt cotton as it is known, is being thrust upon us. FULLSTORY

A house of cards

A.B. Shahid
29-04-08

Last week EU's Javier Solana predicted (or ordained?) that Mr. Musharuff will complete his term as president - something odd for a seasoned diplomat. This was followed by a more irresponsible outburst by French President Nicolas Sarkozy who predicted that Pakistan could crash like a "house of cards" because it is next to Afghanistan and has an atomic bomb. FULLSTORY

Agri economy again on wrong track?

Qudsia Kadri

Agriculture the heart of Pakistan's economy during the past many years has not been given due attention. Successive governments have chased foreign direct investment (FDI) equity markets, privatization and other sources for increasing reserves of the country. FULLSTORY

Food as weapon

Najma Sadeque

There are some things from military history that civilians should know, and be conscious of at all times as they have a bearing on today's local and global food shortage and rising prices. Today's food shortages, whether local or global, are more artificial than real. Even though vast areas of cropland, especially in America and Brazil, have over the past few years been diverted to growing biofuel crops instead of foodcrops, there is still enough food produced in the world to feed each and everybody. FULLSTORY

Divided we stand, divided we fall

Qudsia Kadri

We as Pakistani's continue to look and behave as trapeze artists in a circus consisting of every size and shape. While we continue to fight, and create unwarranted situations on some pretext or the other, the rocky boat we are traveling on and which in the recent past has managed to collide against many rocks and surfaces seems to have lost the path to a common destination or goal. FULLSTORY

Fixing people's brains and jobs in 100 days

Najma Sadeque

Almost everything on our new prime minister's laundry list of reforms has been long needed, long overdue, a most welcome relief, and deserves not just three but a thousand cheers. So much within a mere hundred days will be a feat indeed, and even if a few of the items over-run the deadline by a few days, weeks, or months, it would be understandable. Just going through the list is revealing of how very many - too many -- and excessive have been the wrongs heaped on the Pakistani people for too long. FULLSTORY

Terrorism__ the time to redefine

Qudsia Kadri

As American elections draw near, several questions exist in the minds of Government's all over the world, and in particular, in the minds of the American voters. They face a difficult time, economic recession with the dollar falling consistently, and America's imperial adventures under George W. Bush's erratic rule. FULLSTORY

When humans eat the food meant for fish

Najma Sadeque

There's a fish in the sea that you wouldn't eat to save your life. It's distastefully oily, chock-full of tiny bones, and stinks to high heavens. Which is just as well because nature definitely did not design it to be eaten by humans. Yet it is considered to be the most important fish in the sea. Because it is the sole or primary food for most other bigger, predatory fish which we eat, as well as of sea birds. The world's largest fish, the whale shark, which lives to 80 to 150 years old, which grow to over 40 feet and can weigh up to 15 tons, also thrives on it. FULLSTORY

What the police have to do with commerce and development

Najma Sadeque
10-02-08

It was the philosopher Plato, who lived many centuries ago, who said that a government should pay their protective forces as little as possible, at least at the lower levels that come directly in contact with the public, so as to keep them dependant on the system. - Meaning keeping them so poorly paid that they are forced to be corrupt and extract bribes from the public to survive, and therefore blindly obey unjust orders of the state so as to hang on to the job they need. This certainly diminishes respect for a man who is revered as a great philosopher but turns out to be arrogant and class-conscious. Many Pakistanis have reason to believe the same of our successive governments. FULLSTORY

Is it worth investing in fisheries any more ?

Najma Sadeque
27-01-08

Persuading people to examine a reality different from what they have been accustomed to believing is difficult enough. Trying to convince of something that is not always visible to them with their own eyes is almost impossible, especially if it doesn't suit their own interests. And nothing could be worse if the topic has never been thought of at all. Yet it is time now for Pakistan's fisheries industry to have second thoughts about "modernizing" their vessels and boosting their export catch at a time when the oceans have been depleted by 80 percent through irresponsible, worldwide overfishing. FULLSTORY

Viewpoint
Now what next… Have we not had enough

Qudsia Kadri
10-11-07

The country seems to be passing once again through a period of transition and uncertainty. But that should not surprise us - the "naïve" citizens of this country. Emergesncies and martial laws have been part of our sixty-years of history with varied forms and a kaleidoscope of governments. FULLSTORY

MQM will always oppose Feudalism, says MQM Convener
Understanding between Gen. Musharraf, Benazir mainly attributed to extremism

Qudsia Kadri & Aamir Hassan
26-10-07

Getting off the train at Edgeware UK and waiting to be picked at the station by someone from the MQM Secretariat in London, I expected to walk into an expensive building with extravagant furniture and a lot of pomp and show. But I was indeed pleasantly taken aback when an extremely polite young gentleman called Qasim Raza picked me up and drove us to an apartment building. As we walked up the stairs to enter the secretariat, I was greeted by the young staff who all stood up to acknowledge me and I was seated in the conference room. Looking around the rather old and basic furniture, the wooden shelf with books, the small TV set, I did wonder as to why many of us believed that the working set up of the MQM leaders and workers in the UK would be grandeur personified. FULLSTORY

The grand design

A.B. Shahid
25-10-07

We believe that there are only seven great wonders. We are dead wrong; many more keep surfacing each day. For instance, within three days of what the Newsweek rightly calls "the deadliest terrorist bombing in Pakistan's history", it published an elaborate study in its October 29 issue (October 22 edition) wherein it concluded, that "the most dangerous nation in the world isn't Iraq. It's Pakistan." The miraculous reaction speed of the magazine is indeed amazing. FULLSTORY

Clever by half

A.B. Shahid
23-10-07

Beginning the early hours of October 19, the media has shown viewers and readers the bits and pieces of evidence about the mid-night assassination attempt during Ms. Benazir's journey to the Quaid's mausoleum. A newspaper editorial went as far as stating definitively that the crime was committed by Al-Qaeda. FULLSTORY

Back to the old ways for better profits

Najma Sadeque
22-10-07

The elections may bring democracy - at any rate, partially at least, in yet another version of it. After all there are so many different stated varieties and manifestations of it around the world. But what will it do for commerce and industry? -- And for mass employment and standards of living? -- since these two areas are directly linked. FULLSTORY

For my Motherland

Qudsia Kadri
14-08-07

This column is dedicated to my motherland____ the only one I posses and can call "my very own". Like millions of others I opened my eyes in a land called Pakistan. A country which was to be a land of the pure, the pious, the honest, the committed and the peaceful. Growing up in a country which most of us loved and were proud of was a pleasant experience of learning in the seventies. We would listen with avid enthusiasm to the tales of Independence and partition. Our parents and grandparents all had vivid memories of incidents and pre-partition stories, of love and sacrifice, of valor and wisdom, of courage and integrity. FULLSTORY

Pakistan at 60

A.B. Shahid
14-08-07

August 14, 1947 will remain a significant milestone in the history of not just the Indian subcontinent, but of the world because it symbolises the victory of a downtrodden minority against an imperial power that had the tacit support of extremists among the Indians. Muslims of the Indian sub-continent showed the world's colonized people that they too could wrest freedom from their foreign masters. The fact that after the creation of Pakistan colonies everywhere rose against their masters to become independent proves the point. FULLSTORY

Where is our socio-economic independence after 60 years?

Ali Ashraf Khan
14-08-07

When the Pakistanis woke up on the morning of the 14th August 1947 they thought they were a free nation in a free country, the nation danced jubilantly to follow to follow the path of honesty and sincerity with this natural asset they started to work when even pen and paper were not available to them. Karachi was loaded with humdrum activities, people worked from morning till late night. Pakistan had to face multiple problems: no office buildings, no furniture, no stationary and on top of it no funds. India had refused to release Pakistan's share from the funds held in India, but the Pakistani nation was not bothered because it had a will of a nation. Quaid-e-Azam himself refused to take any salary as the head of the state. People who were not sure of their next month salary worked day and night to build the infant state. This is how Pakistan started to work for progress and prosperity till the assassination of Liaqat Ali Khan who himself was a victim of political intrigues which had surfaced after the death of Quaid-e-Azam. FULLSTORY

Comments
Pakistan becomes a punching bag___

Qudsia Kadri
04-08-07

The fears of Pakistani's, nagging and pressuring us since the 9/11 episode, seems to be not haunting but actually being dished out to us in the form of threats from US presidential candidates. What started as a confused political expediency statement from democrat Barak Obama, has spread down to the republican candidate Tom Tancredo, who not wanting to stay behind, came out with a punch and fist, scatter-brain statement of attacking the sacred houses of Mecca and Madina to hit back at the Muslims. Obama, desperate for his vote bank has implicitly announced that if elected, he would not restrain from attacking and bombing Al-Qaeeda safe havens in Pakistan with or without Pakistan's support. FULLSTORY

Time to stand united

Qudsia Kadri

Time seems to be closing in on Pakistan from all directions in the days to come. We seem to be drifting into a helpless state of despair. When things have gone wrong, when the government on ill-advise of its chosen few has consistently made many faux pass during the year or so. Who soever have been the 'enlightened' advisor's have yet to see light. Every institution unfortunately including the legislature, the judiciary, the intelligence agencies the opposition have all been played one against the other. Instead of cohesion and communication between the organ's of state, a dreaded game of bloated egos, rivalry and mud slinging has gained mammoth proportions. FULLSTORY

Monetary Policy 2007-08: more dilemmas than remedies

A.B. Shahid
09-08-07

The policy conveys the impression that SBP is seeking quick fixes to issues that defy such a remedy. It also reflects its dismay at the results of the measures adopted in FY 07 monetary policy (monetary expansion exceeding its target by a hefty 5.8 percent), and over-optimism about what the monetary policy can deliver in isolation in a country like Pakistan. While SBP's dismay at the results of FY07 has been appreciated unreservedly by market observers, they expected more realism in its approach proposed for FY08. FULLSTORY

Environmental terrorism: Coming to Pakistan?

Najma Sadeque
05-07-07

It is academically and analytically correct to refer to poverty and environmental damage in numbers and percentages. But it is considered officially unbecoming to spell out the human face of poverty. After all, it is not only embarrassing for those who govern and live well off taxpayers and loan-payers' backs, it is downright shameful as it also exposes the indifference to avoidable and easily solvable problems without resorting to aid or excessive trade. FULLSTORY

The know-alls who don't know enough

A.B. Shahid

The Lal Masjid saga was a dark chapter in our history. It proved that sometimes everyone has to reap the harvest of what a handful choose to sow. That pampering demented and overly self-righteous clerics that encourages them to go berserk, can lead to unimaginable tragedies. The anguish caused is irreversible, and its victims may take years or, perhaps, a lifetime to get over it. We must share in alleviating their sufferings. Making political capital out of such tragedies by sensationalizing them would be an unforgivable sin. FULLSTORY

Warning economic signals from the vanishing bee

Najma Sadeque
09-07-07

Most people - except for beekeepers - stay steer clear of bees, not because they don't like them (they certainly appreciate their honey!) but for fear of being stung. That of course has always been good for the bees. People do not see them as prey and generally leave them alone. But people also take them for granted and don't bother to learn about how indispensable they are to mankind, especially for human-driven agriculture. FULLSTORY

Knighting Rushdie will sustain the divide

A.B. Shahid
26-06-07

Besides giving rise to a variety of reactions raging from reasoned to completely insane (whose venom will sustain the gulf between the West and the Muslims), knighting Rushdie raises a far more important point to ponder. Won't Tony Blair and George Bush commit more divisive acts before they leave power to ensure that their legacy of hate continues to divide the West and the Muslim World? For the future of both it is imperative that the fire keeps burning and Muslims and nations of the West keep blaming each other for it instead of Bush and Blair, and makes sense for them to stall their eventual accountability. FULLSTORY

Militarism and the fiction of 'free trade'

Najma Sadeque
24-06-07

The average South Asian - which means people from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka - does not associate war, aggression or a militarist culture with trade. Here one refers to foreign trade, not internal trade of which there was plenty. That is because, historically, South Asia was (and still is) such a resource-rich territory that it never needed to cross beyond its borders to acquire essential commodities, whether by fair means or foul. FULLSTORY

Budget 2007-2008 around the corner

Qudsia Kadri

As the government and Islamabad have remained eagaged primarily in dealing with the judicial crisis, the Lal Masjid fiasco, the political uprisings, the conflicting media curbs over ethical and biased reporting on the electronic media, all seem to have put the budget on the back burner. FULLSTORY

Comments
Is it Euphoria or delusion-----------

Qudsia Kadri
Tuesday, May 15th 2007

The situation continues to rapidly deteriorate in the country. Saturday the 12th of May will be remembered as one of the darkest days in the country's history. Karachi witnessed the worst of the cold-blooded killings of its residents. With the first rays of sunshine we awoke to perhaps a tense feeling of a de'ja-Vu. But not in our wildest dreams had we anticipated the tragedy that was to fall upon this city. FULLSTORY

COMMENT
Waiting for DIVINE INTERVENTION----------

Qudsia Kadri
Thursday May 3 2007

As the Budget 2007-2008 approaches, the activities of concerned departments and Islamabad increases. This renewed energy is sadly seen every fiscal year around this time before the budget is announced. The issues facing the economy are several and even the fruit vendor around the corner is aware of what ails our economy. We have been penning down our thoughts and recommendations over the past few years, but obviously our financial wizards advising the prime minister on all financial matter's do not deem it necessary to pay any heed to the voice of the faceless man on the streets, the man whose frail shoulder's cannot further carry the burden of poverty, deep-rooted unemployment and an everyday rise in inflation. FULLSTORY

Comment
The Confusion continues

Qudsia Kadri

The country seems to be in a state of perpetual confusion these days. Conflicting statements from different departments of the Government in the same set-up, are not only confusing but controversial as well. There seems to be no cohesion between the members of the cabinet. Decisions and statements seem to be emanating on individual basis. Every man and woman at the helm of affairs seems to be steering their own ship, each wanting to outdo the other. FULLSTORY

Can we even hope for Electicity?

FP Investigative Report

The investigative team of the Financial Post published an in-depth report on the mismanagement of electricity last week in a forgotten and orphan City called Karachi. However, it came as no surprise when the high level meeting of the stakeholders on Monday was chaired by the federal minister for water and power Liaqat Ali Jatoi and attended by the newly appointed CEO and other stakeholders in the power sector came out with no solutions except the same rethoric with no substance. FULLSTORY

Who is Protecting the Former ZTBL President?

FP Special Report

Islamabad: This newspaper has been reporting the illegal retrenchment and misdeeds of the former President of ZTBL Mr. R.A Chughtai. The national assembly standing committee on finance which has met a number of times during the past few months met once again on Saturday. The issue of the retrenched employees was debated, more than 700 people were fired by R.A Chughtai and a few other individuals of the bank. FULLSTORY

Apprehensions about benefits of Gwadar Port

FP Investigative Report

The commercial development of Gwadar Deep Sea Port Terminal, Balochistan was formalised by the much-trumpeted inauguration of a long-term lease to Port of Singapore Authority (PSA) International yesterday. FULLSTORY

View Point
To write or not to write

Qudsia Kadri

The recent instructions passed on to the print and electronic media regarding the ongoing judicial crisis the country is going through leaves us in a dilemma of sorts. Being a student of Law back in the late eighties and witnessing several legal proceedings in the lower and superior courts both in Pakistan and abroad has taught someone like myself to hold the judiciary and its officers in the highest regard and respect. FULLSTORY

It can only happen in Pakistan

FP Staff Report

As the heat by the labour unions mounted and the pressure built up in the National Assembly by the opposition against the former president of Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) R. A. Chughtai, he was removed as president of ZTBL. But the interesting saga does not end here. Mr. Chughtai has taken over immediately after his removal as Chairman of SME Bank. FULLSTORY

The same ulterior motives

Najma Sadeque
04-03-07

Although the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has been around for more than a decade and a half now, it is surprising that most businessmen, industrialists and traders, know very little about it and are completely oblivious of its origins, objectives and modus operandi. Most have a very simplistic understanding of WTO - that it exists merely to facilitate trade, so what's so bad about that? Ask the usual businessman to explain the WTO and its rules to you and to define exactly what is good about it, few will be able to go beyond generalities. The average merchant assumes that all WTO member countries are subject to the same 'equal' rules. FULLSTORY

Comment
The cracks are being fanned…

Qudsia Kadri

Loss of human lives in any form, shape and in any attack, any act of subversive activity is not only deplorable but a tragedy which is extremely difficult for surviving families to deal with. FULLSTORY

Amendments in Hudood Law - has anything changed?

Qudsia Kadri

As a woman, a working woman of the society, of the Islamic republic of Pakistan, my head hangs in shame and disgust, like all other woman of this country every time I have to pick my pen to write about violations and abuse against the female body. Each time and here we emphasis the rapid and constant increase in the violent and worst form of degradation and abuse of any human body called Rape, is appalling to say the least. After the Muktharan Mai episode in Punjab, much professed to have changed in the country. Different NGOs, human right organizations, came forward to condemn the act. FULLSTORY

Comment
Response to appeals for Mirza's life frustrating

Qudsia Kadri

As Islamabad prepares to welcome Prince Charles and Duchess of Cornwall, the execution of Mirza Tahir Hussain on November the 1st looms as a miserable end to Tahir's life after having spent 18 years in jail in Rawalpindi. An unnamed aide of President Musharraf was quoted yesterday by the Daily Telegraph newspaper in London as dismissing suggestions by Hussain's family that the Pakistani president could pardon him-"it would be seen to have been done under Western pressure" the aide was quoted in the daily Telegraph. FULLSTORY

Can you ponder on our fate?

Qudsia Kadri
16-09-06

The forlorn look, the besieging eyes, the painful burden of workload. Can you look at us and see any ray of hope, any light at the end of the tunnel for us? Is this where we belong in the dump yards of the city collecting and hunting for any remains of food, any remains of re-saleable items. Even animals don't have to go through the disgrace of scavenging for their meals.. FULLSTORY

The "Wolf! Wolf!" story

Najma Sadeque
28-08-06

This month we have seen watched the strangest event unfold that will not even have to be written in the history books because it is so ludicrous and belongs more in the realm of Hollywood comedy. But fact is often stranger than fiction. A young man walks into a supermarket. He chats with the owner who knows him well. Whatever he does is recorded by the security camera. FULLSTORY

Financing the rich

Najma Sadeque
31-07-06

After getting their fingers burnt - or rather, their countries, over and over again - Third World governments know by now that the World Bank and IMF are not the 'development' good Samaritans they have always pretended to be but a self-serving tool, essentially of the US or the international finance system, depending on point of view. One can only wonder what might have happened after the Second World War if the US had not come up with its Marshall Plan to give grants to Europe to rebuild their war-devastated infrastructure and kick-start their economies again. FULLSTORY

The unofficial club of those who run the world

Najma Sadeque
24-07-06

Earlier this month on July 14th, a private gathering of the world's most powerful and richest corporate men, virtually all-white, started off its two-week retreat in an isolated part of California's famous Redwood forest, 70 miles from San Francisco. This venue is The Bohemian Grove, owned by a 134 year-old very private, very secret men's club known as The Bohemian Club. Most of the 3000 male Caucasian members and a few hundred of their guests, also white males, have gathered there to attend what has been described as "the greatest men's party on earth," with party after party, entertainment, plays, theatre, and an endless flow of gourmet food and alcohol. FULLSTORY

The Doha Round bluff

Najma Sadeque
03-07-06

It is both common sense as well as established wisdom for hundreds or thousands of years that a community or a country does not and should never relinquish control over the land and waters and other naturally-endowed aspects from which people derive their sustenance, the materials for their daily use, their livelihoods, their surplus for barter or trade, and their very survival. Whatever people traded, they have never given up control over agriculture - except under sheer duress against their will, as happened during colonialism. But once colonialism passed into history, it was never even suggested or expected that any country should compromise any area of their economy such as agriculture that could erode citizens' economic rights. FULLSTORY

Trees for preservation …. and profit

Najma Sadeque
06-06-06

While big farmers and agricultural scientists have made vast strides in the field of crop-farming, they have neglected both the potential of trees in bringing productivity to marginal lands, as well as using trees to preserve the environment and save us from the worst onslaughts of pollution, land degradation and global warming. FULLSTORY

Dialogue between Western and Muslim world

Colin McGrath
01-06-06

I set out on my trip to Pakistan and wondered where I was heading to and what I was going to do. I had the briefing notes and some background information - but I didn't know any of the other delegates and had such limited knowledge about Pakistan. The apprehension was ever present. FULLSTORY

How would you feel about human genes in your food ?

Najma Sadeque
30-05-06

It's actually rather late in the day to be asking because the scientists of multinational agri-business corporations have been taking liberties with human genes for the past decade at least without telling the public too much about it. Even when some news would appear in the media about genetic engineering -- or biotechnology as it is also called -- it would usually be some promotion or propaganda about its claimed miracles and benefits emerging indirectly from the profit-oriented perpetuators. The accidents or unexpected, unwanted consequences are usually suppressed or skimmed over even when some dissenting scientist or whistleblower tries to highlight the risks. FULLSTORY

The economic hit men

Najma Sadeque
09-05-06

In late 2004, an unusual book appeared in the US. It was written by an economist and business management expert, but it was nothing about text-book economics and business. Far from it. It was about breaking all the rules for good business and economics but becoming fabulously wealthy anyway. It was an autobiography - since the writer was a key perpetuator - but also an expose about the global dirty tricks of the past four decades of the unaccountable government within the government in whose pay he was. FULLSTORY

Investing in the food industry: second thoughts

Najma Sadeque
02-05-06

One of the most popular areas of investment, both local and Foreign Direct Investment, is in the food industry. It is frightening to think that just a couple of dozen or so Western food corporations dominate the food-consumption of America and most of the West, and has an eye on taking over the rest of the world as their market. Their coming may not have been obvious earlier to developing countries, but the strategy and efforts started a century ago. FULLSTORY

Fishy business

Najma Sadeque
25-04-06

Because the earth's waters are so vast and so deep, people always believed that the marine life in it was inexhaustible. Even operators of huge factory-fishing trawlers that haul in hundred of tons of fish, once believed the same. They thought the ocean was so vast it could not possibly be damaged by the activities of puny humans. As it turned out, the 'puny' humans, armed with arrogant and inadequately-tested technology and overpowering greed, have succeeded too well. Within a mere half a century, more than two-thirds of the world's fisheries have been either already fully exploited or over-fished. FULLSTORY

The patenting of life forms and knowledge

Najma Sadeque
18-04-06

When a creative person writes a novel, or composes a piece of music, or makes a great painting or other work from imagination and personal knowledge, it is obvious that he or she has ownership over that particular creation, and should not only receive all credit for it but also just remuneration for it if commercialised. That is why the concept of 'copyright' was invented. That is how, for example, the movie industries make hundreds of billions of dollars by making scores of copies of their films for the world market which copyright gives them, or whoever they authorise, the exclusive right to do so. FULLSTORY

The genetically-modified diet

Najma Sadeque

For decades now, Western multinational agri-based corporations have been spreading the word that traditional agriculture can no longer feed the world's current and future peak population, and that industrial agriculture is the only solution - in other words, only large-scale, corporate-run, export-oriented agriculture can save the world. Based on this justification, they first brought out the so-called High-Yield-Variety (HYV) seed in the Sixties, followed by other supposedly high-output packages over the years. FULLSTORY

'Aid' - country-control through other means;
now being reformed for the global good?

Najma Sadeque
28-03-06

One of the complaints that ordinary civil society everywhere in the developing world has about the business and industrial communities in their own countries that because they are well-off and comfortable, they don't bother to be informed or involved about economic, financial and social issues that affect the entire country and economy and thereby tend to be elitist and to alienate themselves from matters of the public interest and the sovereignty of the country. This includes issue of foreign aid and how it is utilised, or rather misused to benefit the few at the cost of the majority. FULLSTORY

Manipulation by money

Najma Sadeque
20-03-06

So much money! Almost all of it created out of nothing for the last century-and-a-half, and succeeding in creating an imperialist world and an impoverished counterpart. It is amazing how entire governments, academics, bankers, economists and planners have swallowed this as right and the only way possible for progress, without questions asked. FULLSTORY

The takeover through seed

Najma Sadeque
13-03-06

In the past century in America, non-farmers have intruded in the farmer's world, and the same has happened over the past five decades or so in Asia, Africa and South America ever since the time developing countries obtained their independence. While the age of specialisation becomes more and more heightened in scores of other areas, the peasant is no longer regarded as farming specialists - even though they are the original agricultural scientists - but as ordinary labourers whose traditional knowledge is not wanted, and rank only slightly better than the lowliest labourers of all - the unskilled worker. FULLSTORY

Subsidies: A time to kill, and a time to give

Najma Sadeque
06-03-06

As long as people have to eat, as long as climate and output are unpredictable, and because agriculture is a biological process, subsidies will always be necessary at some time or other, among other things to stabilise prices, especially when there's a glut or a shortage, and to ensure food security at both the household and national level. FULLSTORY

Blasphemous cartoons: Inappropriate use of press freedom

Qudsia Kadri

The outcry and outrage of Muslims all over the world is fully justifiable. The publication of blasphemous cartoons, first by a Danish newspaper and then picked up by several European newspapers in Spain, France and Germany shows the inappropriate use of freedom of the press by irresponsible, unprofessional and totally biased management and editors of these newspapers. FULLSTORY

Is our conscience alive!

Qudsia Kadri

TOUCHE! We have done it again. And all hands point towards our policy-decision makers sitting in Islamabad. How do we as a nation continue to abet in horrendous crimes like rape against the women of this country? Are we totally shameless, or will our head of state continue to operate under pressure and dictation for fear of facing consequences from these sources? FULLSTORY

What's nurturing terrorism - an 'evil ideology' or frustration of the oppressed!

Qudsia Kadri

Through the columns of this newspaper we have time and again reiterated the need for spreading love, harmony and brotherhood amongst the different political, ethnic, religious and sectarian divide looming in our everyday lives. FULLSTORY

The State of Pakistan Economy: Perennial Problems Persist

FP Special Report

The second quarterly report on the economy of Pakistan for 2004-05, issued by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), has received eulogistic reviews in much of the popular press and laudatory headlines in the electronic media. The expected growth rate has been termed as historic. This growth has been supported by forecasts of sharp improvement in agriculture and strong growth in industry. There is, however, a lot more in the SBP report, not just the contrived reduction in unemployment, which goes to show that the fundamental problems of the economy remain in spite of the favourable impact of the fortuitous developments of the last five years. The report can be used as an early warning for the policy makers. FULLSTORY

Prisoners of fate

Qudsia Kadri

How ironic and stereotype I feel as I once again pick my pen to write about International Women's Day. It seems just like yesterday that special columns and seminars, workshops and conferences were held a year ago-and we the women of Pakistan have not moved forward. In fact we hardly took a few steps and were grounded. We in retrospect have begun to stagnate, to face oppression, to face violence, abuse, dishonour, hunger, prejudice, and murder. FULLSTORY

Let us hang our heads in shame

Qudsia Kadri

Horrific, unbelievable, degrading, disgusting and totally shocking words cannot describe the barbaric act of rape committed against Pakistan Petroleum's lady doctor in Sui, Dera Bugti. The shameless response of PPL authorities in trying to cover up the barbaric and inhuman act against the serving medical lady doctor on 2nd January cannot be penned down. FULLSTORY

VIEWPOINT
Need to unearth evil source behind terrorism

Qudsia Kadri

Every day some new horrific episode of terrorism takes place in some part of the world. Suicide bombings, abductions and kidnappings, beheadings of foreigners are all part of the New World Order. It could be Iraq, it could be Russia, it could be acts of violence, sectarianism or bomb blasts in our own country. What has brought about this constant state of unrest and fear in the hearts of people, what is the evil source, which has created hatred and animosity in the hearts and minds of God fearing law abiding citizens. FULLSTORY

The Broken Soul

Qudsia Kadri

The State of Civil Society has deteriorated to an extent in our "Islamic Republic" of Pakistan that any self-respecting human being would hang his head in shame at the recent tragedy, which has occurred in the Darul Aman in Hyderabad. Whatever the reasons for the escape of the women from the home, no justification can be given for the attitude of the police officials who recovered these women only after they were found by the police authorities in Nawabshah. FULLSTORY

Denial: Where are we heading?

Raiyan Khan

Muslims everywhere are in a deep state of denial. From Egypt to Malaysia, there is an aversion to seeing terrorism as a Muslim problem and a Muslim responsibility. Terrorism is a Muslim problem for particularly good reasons. To begin with, most of the terrorist incidents actually occur within the Muslim world. In Pakistan, for example, terrorist violence is endemic. Marauding groups of fanatics such as Sipa-e-Sahiba and Sipa-e-Muhammad have spread terror throughout the country. In Egypt, militants of Islamic Jihad have killed tourists, and members of the extremist organisation Gama-e-Islami have made the life of ordinary Muslims a living hell. FULLSTORY

"Challenges before the United Nations"

Lord Ahmed rose to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they support strengthening of the United Nations.
The noble Lord said: My Lords, I should like to thank the Government and all your Lordships for taking part in this important debate. The United Nations remains the only global institution, with a membership of 191 member states, which has truly universal principles. The main objectives of the United Nations charter, being drawn up and coming into existence in 1945, were conflict prevention; to promote human rights, justice and respect for international obligations; and to promote social progress and better standards of life. The UN has evolved to deal with the challenges of peacekeeping roles as well as humanitarian work in times of conflict and during natural disasters. FULLSTORY

The Carnage

Qudsia Kadri

Every time an act of terrorism or a tragedy befalls this nation, we condemn, sympathise, write about the horrors of such incidents. The government orders inquiries, offers compensation to the families, issues statements - and life goes on. However, if we have to stop just for a moment to ponder and question such horrific incidents, we would surely find some answers, some insight leading to the occurrence of terror and terrorism. FULLSTORY

Daughters of Sorrow

Qudsia Kadri

"Women opened the windows of my eyes and the doors of my spirit. Had it not been for the women - mother, the woman - sister and the woman-friend, I would have been sleeping among those who seek the tranquility of the world with their snoring." FULLSTORY

First Ladies Summit adopts measures for the uplift of rural women

Qudsia Kadri

The Third Summit of First Ladies of Regional Steering Committee for the advancement of Rural and Island women of Asia Pacific (RSC-AP), recently concluded in Islamabad. The Summit adopted various measures and accepted the Islamabad declaration by the First Ladies. FULLSTORY

Privatisation process in the doldrums

Qudsia Kadri,
Asad J Rizvi

Since the start of the privatisation initiative in 1988, with the floatation of the minority chars of Pakistan International Airlines Corporation, the process has never been as slow as in the past two years. The process has come to a virtual halt and there appears to be o signs of a take-of. The initial impetus to the privatisation process was provided during the first tenure of Nawaz Sharif as Prime Minister. FULLSTORY

The unforeseen frontiers of tragedy

I begin today a series of articles on the aftermath of the ongoing war waged on Afghanistan and the people of the war torn frontiers.
The recent happening s in the area after September 11 are known to all, even a child roaming the streets of Karachi knows the details of the Afghan war, but what has been an eye opener and an overwhelming scenario for me has been me recent visit to Chaman and the Afghan border, with a friend of mine, Shireen Niazi who runs an NGO called Medical Equipment Aid. We had undertaken to take relief goods for the refugees and had collected many items such as tea, sugar, rice, milk powder, lentils, oil, atta, blankets, and loads of warm clothing which we had packed in individual bags to hand out to different refugee families. In spite of severe family resistance, we were determined to go down and see for ourselves the damage, the losses incurred by the people of Afghanistan. FULLSTORY

FP ELECTION WATCH

FP Staff Report

About three weeks back FP formed election teams in the four provincial headquarters to conduct small-scale gallop polls for the forthcoming elections. FULLSTORY