oct 5

5^th October

Ministry of Food and Agriculture

• Prices of wheat flour in Sindh and NWFP are likely to shoot up to Rs700 (for a 20kg bag) from Rs620 within a month, sources in the ministry of food and agriculture said. On Saturday, flour price rose in Punjab to Rs420 per 20kg after the termination of the provincial government’s Ramazan package, which ensured provision of flour at a subsidised rate of Rs300. Sources in the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock told Dawn that the prices could rise in Sindh, NWFP and Fata by another Rs100 before sowing begins for the next wheat crop.

 

Ministry of Interior

• A married woman was allegedly declared kari in a jirga and it was decided that she should be killed while the man alleged to be karo was asked to pay Rs100,000 and a girl’s hand as fine. According to sources, a jirga was held between two groups of Lashari community under the supervision of area notable Ashiq Abbasi near Razidero, Gambat taluka, about a week ago. The woman Naheed Lashari was allegedly declared kari whereas the man alleged to be karo, Aziz Lashari, was asked to pay Rs100,000 and marry his three-year-old niece Farzana with one Naseer 5, as fine.
• Seven persons, including five women, died and dozens were hospitalised here on Saturday following the outbreak of a mysterious disease in Sundhya village of Chakesar Union Council. Due to limited health care facilities in the district, the affected people were admitted to various hospitals in Swat valley.
• Unsanctioned charged parking is being conducted by various towns at major shopping destinations in Karachi and is a cause of irritation for the general public who, along with immense pressure on account of inflation, are also made to bear as much as Rs20 per vehicle for parking.
• WHILE city police were unable to solve the mystery of theft of six deer from the Jallo Park with three of them still missing, the World Animal Day was observed around the globe on Saturday. Meanwhile, people kept on buying tickets for entry into the Lahore Zoo on an occasion when the world arranged special programmes at zoos with free entry to create awareness among the public about animal rights.

Ministry of Health

• Gastro death toll rose to two, while nearly 100 fresh cases were reported on Saturday at Chanan Ke. Area people told Dawn that Abdul Sattar, 50, expired on Friday night. Earlier, Mohammad Husain, 90, had died of gastroenteritis. About 600 people, including children and women, suffering from the disease have so far contacted the district government camp and various healthcare facilities in the city for treatment. However, accurate official figures are not being made available to the media. Gastroenteritis erupted on the second day of Eid as area people consumed polluted tap water being supplied by a village council against a monthly bill of Rs40.
• An extremely dangerous practice has been observed recently of a group of young girls disguised as doctors and selling substandard and unhygienic medical products through their door-to-door visits in various areas of the capital.

Ministry of Information Technology

• Internet users are facing connectivity problem thanks to the system of lone internet service provider, Special Communication Organization, being dead slow. The users have to dial dozens of times to connect but internet hardly logs on to the annoyance of almost all subscribers. When contacted the authorities of SCO said it was trying to improve its system and shortly the users would experience a fastest and modern internet system but for that they would have to wait. Earlier, Comsats enjoyed monopoly and used to charge the subscribers here five times more than the rates it charged in rest of the country.

Ministry of Water and Power

• Pakistan Wapda Hydro Electric Central Labour Union has complained of undue favours in the transfers and postings of Wapda officials. A three-member delegation of the union led by its central president, Abdul Latif Nizamani, registered this complaint with the managing director of the Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco), Fazal Ahmed Khan, during a meeting. The delegation informed the Pepco chief that such undue favours and politically-motivated postings of officials were a great hurdle in the development of the Wapda.

Cabinet Secretariat

• Some 400 people, mostly children, fell victim to food poisoning after taking sub-standard burgers in the Barhingh village of the Bhimbher district of Azad Jammu and Kashmir late on Friday, police said. Emergency has been declared in the Bhimbher District Hospital where 195 patients have been admitted due to critical condition, Senior Superintendent Police Bhimbher Abrar Haidar told APP on Friday night.

 

6^th October

 

Ministry of Education

• Con-fusion prevails over the Higher Education Com-mission-recommended bachelor’s programme that, according to teachers at the University of Karachi, has been adopted in haste and without proper consideration. The frequent changes being made in the programme have also perturbed students, who feel that the administration itself is not clear about the system, Dawn has learnt. Apart from the fact that the university’s deepening financial crisis poses a serious threat to the survival and effectiveness of the programme, the major criticism has been the very title of the degree. Most of the senior teachers — including the deans of the arts and science faculties — Dawn spoke to, have no clue as to why the programme has been named Bachelor of Studies, contrary to the worldwide practice of declaring such a programme bachelor of arts or bachelor of science.
• The careers of Pakistanis studying for their MS degrees in South Korean universities may be under threat, and many are blaming the policies of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) for their plight. The students are studying in South Korea on HEC scholarships, but the organisation has allegedly withheld their stipend for the months of July and August. Many of the students have received scholarships for their PhDs†from their universities, but are now being told by the HEC that they can no longer pursue their higher education there.

Ministry of Food and Agriculture

• The Sindh Chamber of Agriculture on Sunday rejected sugarcane’s support price of Rs81 per 40 kilogram fixed for 2009 and demanded that the minimum price should be Rs84 per 40kg. The leaders of the chamber demanded at a meeting that the sugar mills should be made operational from Oct 15 instead of Nov 10 to enable growers to harvest their crop on time. The meeting was unanimous in its opinion that if the mills started on Nov 10 it would push back sowing of wheat crop and lead to acute shortage of wheat in the province. The meeting expressed concern over shortage of water and continued rotation programme and observed that this would seriously affect the sowing of wheat.
• Wheat is the staple food of over 25 million people of the province with a consumption of around 3.412 million metric tones annually, 90 per cent of which is imported. The consumers are also vulnerable to market manipulation. Punjab’s ban on inter-provincial movement of wheat and flour has caused great disparity in the prices of flour between the two provinces. For example, consumers in NWFP are paying Rs700-Rs750 for a 20-kg bag of wheat flour, which is selling for Rs300 in Punjab. Surge in prices of other food items also has economic, social and cultural impacts on the everyday life. A recent study suggests that households in NWFP have reduced food intake, changed its pattern and slashed down spending on wedding ceremonies and other social gatherings because of soaring prices of edibles. A research on “Price hike and its impact on the household income” identifies the middle and lower-income groups have been widely hit. The study carried out by the Regional Institute of Policy Research and Training, a Peshawar-based consultancy firm, says the prices of food items have increased by 32 per cent, whereas prices of non-food items including kerosene oil, petrol and diesel have surged by 120 per cent over the last six months. “The low-income group with an average income of Rs8,000 a month is the worst hit by the rising food prices. The people, the study says, are making both the ends meet by reducing consumption of food and non-food items, additional work and changing the food pattern. It indicates that 50 per cent of the households in the low-income group, 15 per cent in the low-middle income group, 50 per cent in the middle-income group and 35 per cent in the high-income group have reduced their food intake. Dr Nasir Ali Khan, a Peshawar-based economist, says there is no doubt that food security has emerged as a major challenge in many developing economies, but in Pakistan and more specifically in the NWFP, rural households spend 60-80 per cent of their income on food.

Ministry of Labor and Manpower

• Bhatta Khisht Labour Union has said that more than 150,000 workers, affiliated with the brick-kiln industry, were not provided with healthcare and educational facilities as per law of the land. Speaking at the Atta Labour Hall Peshawar on Sunday, BKLU acting president Roman Khan said that the entire brick-kiln industry in the province was being run by the contractors, who were allegedly worst kind of exploiters. He said it was an important sector, wherein daily wage-earners were caught in a web of bonded-labour for decades, but the government’s labour department had been ignoring their problems. He said 99 per cent of the workers were not in possession with the national identity cards, for this reason they could not cast votes, buy and sell property, if they had any, and could not appear as witness before any court or forum.

Ministry of Finance

• NWFP falling in poverty trap. This situation will lead to unemployment in the province with the highest rate of unemployment. Its economy needs to grow at a rate of 7-8 per cent per annum to create additional employment of 1.2 million to cope with the unemployment which currently stands at 13 per cent.

Ministry of Health

• Managerial problems are the reason Sindh is facing recurring polio cases, said Dr H.B. Memon, National Programme Manager, Expanded Programme on Immunisation. Memon told The News that during polio campaigns, officials concerned had been known to form teams comprising boys aged 10 to 12, or sent Baloch-speaking girls to Pashto-speaking areas, which led to a breakdown in communication in the campaign. In addition, Memon said that there were not enough teams.

 

Oct 15

1. Cabinet Secretariat

• It is very disappointing to note that the city (Karachi) has been hijacked by private cars that show no regard to other citizens. Excluding a few responsible citizens who know the rights of pedestrians and other commuters and drive accordingly, the rest have become a nuisance for their constant violation of traffic laws.
• The City District Government Karachi has constructed several flyovers and underpasses as well as signal free corridors. They have also renovated most of the city roads making them wide and spacious as well as beautiful and these are giving rapid passage to vehicular traffic. This mega development over the last three to four years has perhaps given raise to over speeding and other breaches of law by those drivers who don’t want obstacle in their way.
• It is very annoying that commuters across the city, especially those in private cars and other four wheelers including 4WDs (for example, Parado and Pajero) have gradually become impatient while driving. It is not only my personal experience but a large number of people complain that the city seems to have been owned by people in cars. They complain that those on foot and bicycles are harassed by these private cars sometimes due to horns or otherwise by flashing full beams at night.
• Lack of pedestrian bridges compelled many to risk their lives and rush through fast moving vehicles while due to lack of education on road safety, many people avoid pedestrian bridges (if available) and thus cause problems for both motorists and themselves. It is a common observation that pedestrians and cyclists are often hit by mechanised vehicles during rush hours since they have no other option but to risk through heavy traffic. There is an immediate need to utilise the same infrastructure as exclusive bus ways to provide relief to the poor and those who are on bicycle.
• A large number of people from tribal areas have been displaced due to the militant insurgency. Unfortunately, a lot of innocent civilians have become homeless as a result of this operation. The makeshift refugee camps that they have been moved to lack basic facilities like food, drinking water, sanitary services and medical support. With the coming winter season, the government should take immediate and concrete steps to resettle the displaced refugees and provide them with basic facilities. Moreover, the corporate sector must take up this issue as part of their corporate social responsibility and play their role to minimize the troubles of those affected.
• The female teachers of the Government Girls Secondary School, Behar Colony No 1, want to draw the attention of the accountant general of Sindh to the unnecessary delays in our salaries since Feb 2008. Initially, they were told by the office concerned that our data was not recorded in the Accountant General’s office and that we had to submit a fresh application in this regard.
  However, after submitting a number of applications to the AG Sindh office through proper channel, the problem is still unresolved. As a result every month they receive salaries in the last week of the next month via billing system instead of receiving them directly in our bank account after paying an extra charge of Rs300. Therefore, a request with the AG Sindh to take notice of the unjustified delays and resolve this problem.

1. Ministry of Culture

• The bickering between the Sindh government and the Federal Department of Archaeology and Museums over the preservation work of ‘Tajjar building’, one of the most significant monuments of national heritage, is extremely awful. If the federal department of archeology feels that the national memorials have not been handled by the provincial authorities properly, specially in the case of Kot Deji and Rani Kot, then what they have done to other historical buildings, such as Wazir Mansion, too leaves much to be desired.
• Another edifice of national importance which is a shambles due to a lack of interest shown by the department is an early 8th century mosque built (probably the first one in the subcontinent) by Muhammad Bin Qasim in Alore (or Arore) at a distance of 25 kilometres from Rohri town. Alore (now a small village) was once a metropolis: capital of Sindh situated on the bank of the River Indus. It was here that Muhammad Bin Qasim defeated Raja Dahir, the ruler of Sindh, and established Muslim rule in this part of the world.
  The performance of the Federal Department of Archaeology and Museums was never satisfactory as can be witnessed from numerous decaying sites of national significance spread all over the country. Thus considering the fast deterioration of valuable heritage, the provincial government has created a Department of Antiquities, Sindh, to look after the archaeological, historical and physical heritage of the province. The department has three wings — Heritage, Conservation and Archaeology.
• Recently the Sindh government has also established, at the initial stage, an endowment fund of Rs1 billion, which will subsequently be raised to Rs3 billion, for the preservation of the physical heritage of the province.
• A 14-member management board, which includes renowned educationists, archeologists, bankers and public representatives, has been constituted to manage funds and evaluate, pass and monitor the heritage conservation projects. The secretary of Sindh Antiquities Department will act as the board’s secretary. The antiquities department would prepare and submit conservation projects in the fields of investigation, documentation, research, physical conservation, post-excavation conservation of sites, museum/archive-based research related to physical heritage and training to the management board. Only the well-researched projects will be evaluated by the board for the necessary funding.
• It is time this subject was handed over to the provinces to deal with. However, keeping in view the fact that the objective of both the federal and provincial governments is same, i.e. ‘conserving national heritage’, the federal department of archeology may also fund and assist the provincial government with expertise available with them in carrying out proper protection and maintenance of the monuments.
• It is proposed that in the case of Tajjar building also the federal archeology department in the interest of preservation of this national heritage should generate funds and expertise and leave the overall conservation work to the department of antiquities, instead of creating impediments. The committee should have eminent people from various walks of life established by the provincial government to preserve national assets of antiquity.
• Several prominent artists and performers from the NWFP have started leaving the country for more hospitable climes abroad. This is a sad state of affairs. Despite the ouster of the MMA which had terrorized the local population and banned all forms of entertainment conditions seem to have worsened as the Taliban continue to make inroads into the NWFP society. They are now pushing out the last defenders of art and music of the province. If this trend is not arrested, pretty soon we will have no culture left in this once vibrant and thriving cultural centre of Pakistan. At the very least, the culture ministry and relevant departments should provide incentives for these artists and performers to stay in Pakistan and give them the protection they deserve.

1. Ministry of Economic Affairs and Statistics

• The $1.4 billion lending to Pakistan by the World Bank (WB) is not expected to fully materialise during the current fiscal year 2008-09, as programme loans for the country were still facing suspension, and only project loans that were still to be negotiated in due course would qualify for lending, a WB official told. The figure $1.4 billion is just an indicative figure mentioned in the Country Assistance Strategy 2006-09 for proposed lending for Pakistan in the current fiscal year 2008-09 and does not necessarily mean that WB is bound to release this much amount of foreign exchange to the country. Despite the claims of the government that the WB has agreed to provide $1.4 billion during the current fiscal year 2008-09, the actual lending to Pakistan during the current fiscal would be much less than the figure released by the Pakistani authorities after the bilateral meeting held in Washington, explained the sources. The WB has already changed its lending strategy for Pakistan keeping in view the downturn in the economic conditions of the country. According to the existing strategy of the WB for Pakistan, until the country’s macro-economic indicators were improved according to the benchmark, programme loans for Pakistan would remain suspended.

1. Ministry of Food, Agriculture & Livestock

• The flour crisis in NWFP may lead to a famine if the provincial government did not take steps to ensure an uninterrupted supply of wheat and flour to the province, warned NWFP chapter of Pakistan Flourmills Association. Chairman of the association, Muhammad Sadiq, said in a statement that the province had a wheat stock for only five days and if both the federal and provincial governments did not take note of the situation, the flour crisis here might deepen to an unthinkable level.

1. Ministry of Health

• During the first PPP government in the seventies, professional doctors were hired to work as Sindh Health secretaries. They were dedicated to their jobs and worked for betterment of the system and doctors; they were not indulged in corruption. After the dismissal of PPP Governments, professional doctors were replaced by CSS beauracrats who did not know anything about the health system and worked to fulfill the whims of the politicians.
  The scenario however is different this time as the government seems too occupied as they have still not appointed a professional person as secretary Health in Sindh. The Government should take serious notice the polio cases and other indicators and learn lessons from the previous government that hired a secretary Health who not only helped reduce polio cases but also dismantled the I I Depot from where millions of rupees went to a secretary as monthly commissions from the purchase of medicines. He gave tough resistance to other corrupt officials of Health during his tenure because he was not involved in any corrupt practice, and did a lot for the improvement of health.

1. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting

• There seems to be a negative approach being adopted by some of the analysts, reporters and anchors on TV channels these days. Given the sensitive nature of events in the country it is the responsibility of the media to give informed and accurate news reports instead of giving out graphic details of each bomb blast or militant operation. Doing so has an extremely negative impact on the morale of the viewers because it creates disappointment and terror. The image of any country depends on the media of that country and our media should realise their responsibility in this regard.

1. Ministry of Interior

• The security forces, while continuing to target hideouts of terrorists, on Tuesday killed 14 people in different parts of Bajaur Agency. Also, volunteers of the Charmang tribal Lashkar and militants affiliated with Baitullah-led Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan took positions on top of mountains as the Lashkar expedited its onslaught against the militants and their supporters in Charmang area of the Nawagai Tehsil. Security forces continued targeting suspected hideouts of militants in Rashakai, Tang Khatta, Tangi, Chenar and Kotki areas of Bajaur, twice using gunship helicopters and jets to pound the positions of militants, killing 14.
• A hoax-caller, this time, chose Geo Plaza in Islamabad to create fear among the people on Tuesday morning. The caller threatened that a high-intensity bomb had been planted in the Geo Plaza which would blow up within a few minutes.

1. Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas

• The DHQ Hospital in Gilgit is a major tertiary care unit in the whole of the Northern Areas catering to a population of more than 1.5 million, most of which lives in far-flung areas. But the hospital is in a pathetic condition. Most of the doctors are absent from duty for several days a week and even if they come, they come at around 11am and leave at 1pm. There is always a scarcity of medicines.

 

1. Ministry of Labor, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis

• Playing their favourite games with friends and living a stress free life is a normal style of living of every child but for Mohammad Ahmed it is a dream, which can never come true even on holidays.

According to the statistics of UNICEF, an estimated 158 million children aged 5-14 are engaged in child labour – one in six children in the world.Millions of children are working in hazardous situations or conditions such as in mines, with chemicals and pesticides in agriculture or with dangerous machinery. They are everywhere but invisible, toiling as domestic servants in homes, laboring behind the walls of workshops or hidden from view in plantations.The UNICEF data claimed that in South Asia, around 44 million were engaged in child labour.One can witness a number of children working in the streets many among them selling a vast array of small items.

Maria, who used to be a domestic worker, says, “I wake up at 6 am, prepare breakfast for my father then come to a house where I have to wash utensils, cook lunch, sweep and mop the floors and also buy things from the market.”She said her two younger sisters also go to different homes and do the same work with her mother. Khurram said that whatever the type of work, most working children lack any job security, receive no pay if they are absent or ill and cannot seek any protection if they are abused or mistreated by their employer.

In general, children do not keep the money they earn (unless they live on their own) but the money they take home is often essential for the survival of their family.

when asked that if he would get an opportunity to go to a good school free of cost, Ahmed said he could not leave his sewing machine now because if he did so, his family would starve to death and his sisters would not get married.
A number of other children who are working in different markets and bazaars said they were working due to increasing inflation and poverty. Now it is the job of the country’s financial managers to find a solution to the increasing number of child labour in the country.

1. Ministry of Water and Power

• The unscheduled and prolonged load-shedding in twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad is badly affecting the life of citizens besides damaging their electric and electronic appliances. Before holy month of Ramazan there was a set time and duration of load-shedding in every area.
• But after end of Ramazan no proper schedule of power outage has been announced by Islamabad Electric Supply Company and unwarranted power breakdowns have commenced all over the country. There is no uniformity in the timing and duration of the load-shedding in different areas and the duration in some areas is two hours a day, in some four hours and many areas are witnessing more than six hours load-shedding. Besides damaging the appliances it has badly affected the study schedule of the students. It has also affected the small and cottage industrial sector of the area badly.
• Sudden power breakdowns are also damaging electronic and electric home appliances including computers, televisions, refrigerators, irons, microwave ovens and tubes and bulbs.
• Affecting the work schedule of citizens, power outage has increased the level of anxiety causing uneasiness during sleeping hours, said Dr Arif Jehangir, Physician and Surgeon. Besides affecting industrial and commercial activities across the country, prolonged loadshedding has deprived the citizens of sound health and calmness.
• The residents of Peshawar city and its suburban rural areas are braving hours long unannounced and unscheduled power load shedding, making their lives of the people miserable. While the residents of the city facing more than eight hours load shedding, the rural areas have to brave it for more than 15 hours in 24-hours.

1. Ministry of Women Development

• For 36-year-old Shamshad Khaskheli, resident of K.K. Nizamani village of District Hala in Sindh, October 15 (today) is just another day to earn a living by sewing clothes. Oblivious to the significance of International Day of Rural Women whereby United Nations General Assembly urges governments to undertake measures to improve the situation of rural women, Shamshad says that she has no hope that the condition of rural women will improve in the coming year. “I don’t know what this day is about. I just hope the government realizes that women residing in the rural areas are no fools and are in need of sewing machines that actually work,” laments Shamshad sharing her disappointment. Sewing machines were recently distributed among the women in her village by the local union council, however, none of them were functional, she says. “The media only highlights announcements by governments, but does not follow up with the recipients.”
• Shamshad, who is a councilor, questions the government on how to support the other women in her district when she is not empowered herself. The mother of six, who has completed her matriculation, charges between Rs120 and Rs150 for a shalwar suit. However, unfortunately, the number of her customers has dwindled due to the rise in inflation rate in the past few months, leaving the family dependent mostly on her husband’s meagre income through teaching.

 

Oct 14

1. Cabinet Secretariat

• While the traffic problem is aggravating day-by-day on Murree Road, the concerned authorities have failed to inaugurate the much-trumpeted Elevated Super Expressway Project, which was scheduled to be inaugurated in the first week of October.
• The project was to be inaugurated by Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif on October 1. Ironically the project is yet to be inaugurated and there is no official word on the delay.
• According to well-placed sources, the recent suicide attacks in Islamabad, which created insecurity in twin cities, are the major reason behind postponement of its inauguration.
• Sources said that the Punjab chief minister is not satisfied with the present security arrangements in twin cities, giving instances of two recent suicide attacks in the federal capital, which claimed lives besides creating panic among residents of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
• Access to drinking water is the fundamental right of every human being. This assertion, however, does not hold true in the case of people of Nari (a village located in Khushab district).
• The people of the village have no access to clean drinking water for the last forty years. The main reason behind the water crisis in the village was shortage of underground water, which compels poor residents of the village to bring water from a far-flung brook situated near a small village Katha Masral.
• The underground water in the village is not usable too as it is saltish, thus forcing the villagers to purchase costly tank-water, which is brought through tanks from hand-pumps located in the suburbs of the village. The water supplied through the tanks is not always free from contamination. As a result, epidemic diseases like hepatitis A, B, and C have broken out in the village and had affected many people.
• A project of drinking (potable) water for the village was launched in 2004. Under the said scheme, water was to be fetched from a canal located a few kilometres away from the village with a water purification plant to be constructed to channel drinking water to the villagers.
• But it has hit snags due to vested interests of politicians and the district administration for many years. The residents of Nari still bring water through a small canal after an interval of every fifteen days. In this regard the villagers had protested many times but all in vain as the residents of Katha Masral consider the said brook situated near their village their private property.
• Furthermore, the Lahore High Court had made a final ruling on the water issue case some six years back in favour of the residents of Nari village but the concerned authorities could not implement the court decision.
• Regrettably, the villagers had attacked district courts building (Jauharabad), as a last resort, some two years back in a violent protest and consequently a number of villagers were sent to jail because of aggression. But all this also could not solve the problems faced by the inhabitants.

1. Ministry of Defence

• USA will sell new, sophisticated radar systems and Cobra helicopters to Pakistan. The nation is astonished why we are buying these radars and choppers from US? We have seen how, in the last seven years, the planes and drones of US Air Force have been violating our airspace regularly. Not a shot has ever been fired upon these ‘intruders’. What do we need these radars and choppers for? It is better we spent that money on social development

1. Ministry of Economic Affairs & Statistics

• Some small banks borrowed money at 20 percent call rate on Monday because reduction of 100 basis points in cash reserve requirement hasn’t helped them as much as it has helped others. Bankers told that call rate dropped to 16 to 17 percent for large banks but small banks were still getting money at higher rates. The banking system had received over Rs 30 billion on Saturday as the State Bank’s decision to cut CRR took effect. But maturity of a previous open market operation sucked Rs 54 billion from the market and the central bank had to inject funds in the market. Banks picked up Rs 35.375 billion at 12 percent rate of return in the five-day reverse repo. The State Bank of Pakistan had injected Rs 54 billion into the banking system on Monday last week. “Large banks have no problem,” said a treasury official at a large local bank. “Even last week when there was so much volatility in the market, only the small banks faced problems.”
• Markets all over the world go through bull and bear runs periodically, maintaining nature’s normal distribution of returns. Every now and then heavily leveraged positions either buy a punter, a Malibu beach house or spit out a trader onto the streets to look for a minimum wage job. But the sanctity of the market is maintained.
• If the price of a good has been determined by the buyers and sellers to be five rupees when the last trade was at a hundred rupees, you can freeze the market all you want the trade will still happen at five rupees. The only difference between our country and other developed countries is that they get it over with in one day and move on with their lives. We on the other hand love to prolong our misery because the brokers need to maintain their thirty servants, luxury cars, and an ostentatious lifestyle even if it involves a humble retiree’s pension savings to be injected into the market to buy them that penthouse in Dubai.
• Why does the government insist on getting poor old NIT to pump liquidity into the market? Market freeze has caused a run on mutual funds. Govt encouraging off-exchange transactions with market freeze all of which can be done in own market.

1. Ministry of Environment

• Pollution, dust, heat, smoke are also causing eye problems. Besides water-borne diseases are also increasing infections of eyesight. He said use of certain medicines during pregnancy also causes infections among babies. While adult also use steroids such as ‘rose water’, which causes more damage. He said these trends are increasing manifold. Generally, around 1.6 million people suffer from eye problems in the country. Out of which, 80 per cent are reversible or preventable disease, which require certain kinds of surgery or other treatment to restore normal eyesight. Only 20 per cent eye problems cannot be treated.

1. Ministry of Finance & Revenue

• The rupee weakened to trade at a record low of 80.40 to the dollar early on Wednesday as it came under more pressure from import payments, dealers said. There was talk in the market that the State Bank of Pakistan intervened to support the rupee and it recovered slightly, trading at 80.20/30 by 0430 GMT.
• Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves have gone down sharply in recent months and were at $8.32 billion in the week that ended on Oct. 4. Reserves were at an all-time high of $16.5 billion in October last year.
• Analysts believe the State Bank’s reserves are barely enough to cover two months of imports.
• A World Bank official said on Monday the bank could provide Pakistan $1.4 billion support during the next nine months, but its disbursal required board approval.
• The ongoing international financial crisis would bring insurance sector under pressure. It now faces major challenges arising from various socio-economic risks, including stock market turbulence, rising trend in the interest rates, widening fiscal and trade imbalances, and worsening security conditions.

1. Ministry of Information Technology

• A mysterious five per cent service charge on about 80 million pre-paid customers was imposed, the PTA and cellular companies have confirmed.
  Before the budget 2008-09, the pre-paid customers were charged 10 per cent withholding tax on every new load, which was deducted in advance. The customers were also paying 15 per cent sales tax on every call.
  However, the present government increased the sales tax from 15 per cent to 21 per cent for mobile users by declaring the mobile phone a luxury item.
  Along with this the government also levied Rs750 import tax on the sale of every handset even if it was worth Rs1000. In the present situation the pre-paid mobile users are supposed to pay Rs29 in taxes for every Rs100 used.
  According to a senior PTA official the active pre-paid users, who according to experts are merely 35 to 40 million, load a total of Rs1 billion per day on an average. The charges were secretly imposed on September 25 without any notice to the customers. The PTA officials remained reluctant to reply.

1. Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources

• Country will face yet another energy crisis as several thermal power plants with a generating capacity of upto 1,200 megawatt electricity have either halted their production or reduced their generation capacity, following the suspension of gas supply to them, it is learnt.
• The officials in the Pakistan Electric Power Company informed that in the aftermath of thermal plants closure due to gas supply suspension, the Pepco authorities have asked the distribution companies to prepare new schedule of load shedding duration in big as well as small cities and towns, including rural areas, which will be from 6 to 8 hours.
• The water release from Tarbela and Mangla has also been reduced to around 60,000 cusecs from 1,40,000 cusecs, leading to the scarcity of electricity over 3,000 megawatt from hydel generation side.
• They said that at present, the total power production capacity in the country was about 10,000 MW out of which a rental plant at Sheikhupura with capacity of 285 MW and GTPS in Faisalabad with capacity of 170 MW had halted their production after being disconnected from gas supply from the SNGPL.
• Although gas is to be provided to various thermal power plants for generation of 5,800 MW electricity, but in actual fact much less gas is usually being made available and that shortage is often overcome through furnace oil supply.
• About 400MW extra burden of electricity has been put by SNGPL on WAPDA, which the industry of Punjab and NWFP was using currently.
• Right now power consumers are facing a massive power shortfall of about 4,000 megawatt and this crisis would further deepen by another scarcity of 1,200 megawatt after the closure of seven thermal power plants due to disconnection of gas supply following the shutdown of Qadirpur and Sawan gas fields on Oct 12, which produce upto 500 to 600 million cubic gas feet per day.
• It is to be noted that Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Ltd (SNGPL) had announced to cut supply to the industrial sector of the Punjab and NWFP from Sunday and issued notices to them in this regard.
• On the pretext of smooth supply of gas to the domestic consumers, the company decided to cut the supply to the industries, which also include Independent Power Producers, generating electricity mainly through gas or furnace oil.
• It was a strong perception that this winter would give a considerable relief to the public and wriggle the country out of loadshedding and power crisis but the notion proved to be wrong, thanks to SNGPL.

1. Ministry of Ports & Shipping

• The dispute between the Sindh government and the Port Qasim Authority over the land surrounding the port and its charges has not yet been decided despite a second intervention by the federal government.
• The Sindh government had raised objections about the commercial and industrial utilization of the land by the PQA and told the PQA that the land could be used only for port purposes (operations), otherwise, the Sindh government has the right to reclaim the land from the PQA.
• The issue had been raised by the previous Sindh government when the PQA announced the setting up of industrial zones and homes on the land surrounding the port.
• The ministry of ports and shipping and the PQA authorities had rejected the claim of the Sindh government and declared that the authority was the owner of the land and it had the right to utilise it for every purpose.
• The Sindh government had conveyed to the PQA that Sindh reserved the right to collect charges (of the land) if the PQA sold it for commercial and industrial purposes.
• The ports and shipping ministry and PQA was under the control of the then MQM minister Babar Ghori when ex-chief minister Arbab Rahim had raised the objection.
• The Sindh government has reportedly conveyed to the federal government that under the international and law of the land, the sea is the property of the federal government while land reclamation from the sea was the right of the provincial government.
• For filling the almost empty exchequer, the government is now selling Pakistan’s national assets that are to serve Pakistan for the next many years. The assets that belong to Pakistanis are being traded off to foreigners and the protest of Pakistanis against this atrocity is not being publicized at all.
• The employees of OGDCL (Oil and Gas Development Company Limited) staged protest on October 9 against the selling of this national asset and marched from the headquarters of OGDCL to the parade ground and eminent people including senior officials of the organization and columnist, Ayaz Amir also addressed the gathering.

1. Ministry of Sports

• The lack of professionalism in the Pakistani cricket team cost us a victory in the Twenty20 tournament. Our batsmen make frivolous errors, and are unable to identify slower deliveries, even though as professional cricketers they should be able to read specific deliveries and bat accordingly. To defend a low total like 132, the fielders needed strong fielding but they let a lot of singles through. In the bowling department as well, players like Shoaib Akhtar made many mistakes. Maybe it is time to bring in old experienced players like Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis to train the players of our team.

1. Ministry of Textile & Industry

• Industrialists, traders and shopkeepers are losing millions of rupees due to gas suspension. Power crisis is already hurting the industrial activities now suspension of gas supply further deepened the crisis, said manufacturers and industrialists’. A textile manufacturer said that weeklong suspension of gas along with 10-hour daily power breakdown will devastate the textile industry. They said that SNGPL had notified them for gas shutdown of two weeks, advising them to make alternate fuel arrangements in that period. They said that it was difficult to turnover to alternate fuel supply as it involved total replacement of the gas fuel system by alternate diesel fuel system machinery.

1. Ministry of Water and Power

• Water shortage reaches alarming 35%:Crisis may affect Rabi crops, shortage may increase to 40 percent : Load shedding increases as hydroelectric power production down by 4,000MW.
• Unscheduled loadshedding in the city is adding to people’s inconveniences despite the fact that the water and power minister had issued instructions to do otherwise.
• On the other hand, Wapda officials claimed that the difference between power generation and consumption had widened causing increase in the power outages duration.
• A senior official of PEPCO said that the duration of power outages had increased after reduction in hydro generation as the water release from Terbala and Mangala had substantially decreased. He said that demand supply gap had reached at 4100 mega watt, as the current power generation was around 10,000 mega watt but demand stood at 14100 mega watt.
• He pointed out that after the closure of gas from Qadir Pur gas filed some 1100 mega watt thermal generation was also reduced.
• Out of 1100 mega watt thermal generation houses, three could not shift to alternate fuels, therefore some 555 mega watt could not be generated while the rest was being produce through alternate fuels, he added. He said that due to unexpected weather conditions, power demand had also not declined this year as compared to the last year.
• He mentioned that last year, the energy demand was at 13000 to 13100 mega watt which currently stood at 14100 mega watt as air conditioners were in use in day time. He said that currently 6 to 8 hours power outages continued across the country and there was no way out to overcome the situation.

 

 

Oct 13

1. Ministry of Environment

• Decades of official neglect and increasing pollution have turned the once flourishing Baba Island literally into a big dump of filth. The entire island, invaded by mosquitoes and flies, simply stinks and is inhabited by an ailing fishing community, a visit to the island showed.
• Hardly at a 20 minute distance from the main city, Baba Island is a part of Keamari Town’s Union Council 4 that encompasses Bhit Island, Younasabad, Sualehabad, Kakka Village and Shamspir Island, with a population ranging between 30,000 and 35,000. Of these localities, Baba Island is said to be the oldest inhabited place.

• To a first-time visitor, the island considered by many as a model fishing island in the union council is nothing but a spot with garbage littered all over. Its 12,000-plus population lives in utter filth, completely overtaken by the menace of gutka. More painful, perhaps, is the fact that its youth offers little hope.
• For the past two months, camels roaming the city streets have caused significant damage to trees planted along various roads.
• The green belts on the main roads of Gulberg, Model Town and other areas have been adorned with the Alstonia and Beripata trees, which take five years to take root and grow, and were imported from various countries across the world.
• There are about 20 camels roaming the city, which belong to different people from Southern Punjab and Sindh. The camels were brought to the city with the objective of starting rides for children, however, they have ended up roaming the city and damaging roadside trees.

1. Ministry of Food, Agriculture & Livestock

• The Sindh Chamber of Agriculture urged the government  to direct Pasco to establish centres across the province for the purchase of rice at government-fixed rate of Rs900 per 40 kilogram.
• The chamber leaders said at a meeting that the government should establish sale centres in Tando Allahyar, Hyderabad, Tando Mohammad Khan and Matiari for the sale of urea fertiliser at the rate of Rs650 per bag.
• The meeting pointed out that the sugar mills had not yet issued bills to farmers and reminded the government that despite the mill owners’ agreement with the government on clearing outstanding dues by Aug 15 the growers had not yet been paid their bills.
• The meeting urged the government to ensure adequate supply of water for kharif crops and demanded that the crushing season should be started on time to facilitate growers and help them cultivate wheat crop.
• To achieve the wheat production target of 25 million tons for the forthcoming wheat crop would certainly be an uphill task for the government due to precarious state of supply of inputs and water deficit in the range of 35 to 40 per cent for the Rabi season.
• The target is the highest-ever in the country’s history. So far, wheat production has peaked at 23.5 million tons for a single season. Therefore, the new target would be an acid test for the government.
• The reasons behind such a mounting wheat production target are obvious. Wheat flour is not easily available in the market and its price has been all-time high. The situation is worse in bigger cities. Huge wheat imports help meet domestic needs. Such an uncertain situation has forced the government to make efforts to increase wheat output and ensure food security.
• However, to realise the target, a two pronged strategy has been adopted. First, efforts are being made to enhance crop area. The government has set 2.2 million acres target for cultivation of wheat.
• The wheat support price has been fixed at Rs950 per 40 kg. It would definitely encourage the farmers to grow wheat on more area. The growers would be discouraged to grow crops competing with wheat, like maize and sugarcane.
• Second, the government is trying to increase wheat yield per unit area. Wheat yield could be increased by timely sowing, using certified/healthy seed, incorporating fertilisers in balanced amounts, supplying irrigation on critical growth stages and controlling weeds by spraying weedicides. The import of urea from Saudi Arabia to overcome fertiliser shortfall has also been welcomed by farmers.
• The price of sugar in Lahore has shot up by a significant degree over the last few days. Some have attributed this to the miscalculation of local demand and increased export, resulting in shortages and price-hikes at home. One hopes that this is not a repeat of the previous year’s wheat crisis, when low local prices prompted suppliers to export, and even smuggle, wheat to foreign customers. The government is now considering a ban on the export of brown sugar to stabilise prices. This may anger exporters, but unfortunately could be the only short term policy to stabilise prices. However, one also hopes that the authorities learn from this and improve their demand and supply assessment mechanisms so as to maintain stable and fair prices while also encouraging export.

1. Ministry of Health

• Most residents of Keamari town appeared apologetic about the fact that even their small children have now been hooked to drug-laced gutka, but showed no will to fight against the menace.
• “It is an unfortunate fact that gutka consumption is destroying our fishing community and our youth. People know it’s bad, but still they eat it,” When asked what future their community has, people showed little concern. Addiction to gutka has deprived them of the sensitivity to community issues and they showed no interest in understanding the strong link between hygiene and prosperity, while others find themselves too weak to fight the menace of gutka that has emerged as the biggest threat to the fishermen community’s survival in recent years.
• Most of them blamed the government for all their ills. “The government has not done its job. We live in filth because there is no proper sewerage and drainage system here. The seawater that enters homes during the high-tide season stays there for months as there is no system to drain it out. Besides, there is an acute shortage of sweepers. People throw garbage along the island’s periphery so it can strengthen the island’s foundation. This way we have also reclaimed some land from the sea over the years.”, Mukesh Sahtia, a doctor at a government-run basic health unit said: “Every second person here is ill. Skin and respiratory infections and mouth ulcers are common and this is because of the prevailing unhygienic conditions, gutka-chewing habits of the people and the fact that the place had remained deprived of drinking water for a long time.”
• An official of the Health Department on Saturday said that a total of 28 new polio cases had so far been confirmed in the NWFP this year. Director General Health Dr Sajid Shaheen directed all the executive district officers (EDOs) to spare no effort in making the three-day anti-polio vaccination drive, scheduled to commence on Monday, a success.

1. Ministry of Housing and Works

• The Banaras Chowk flyover project is facing problems after City District Government Karachi (CDGK) stopped its construction on the demands of the local traders. They oppose the project and compare it to the Berlin Wall complaining that it aims at dividing their market permanently.
• During a recent visit, it was seen that the face of the Banaras Chowk has totally changed. One would be hard-pressed to call it a part of cosmopolitan Karachi. The area resembles a part of some tribal region owing to the dug-up roads engulfed in dust and smoke, the encroachments and a few pillars of an abandoned flyover.
• All roads connecting to the Banaras Chowk including the Abdullah College Road, the road connecting Habib Bank Chowrangi to Banaras Chowk, Shahra-e-Orangi and the Manghopir road bear resemblance to muddy, dusty and dug-up roads of a war-torn area.
• The Bacha Khan Chowk or Banaras Chowk Flyover was initiated in early 2007 in order to connect Shahra-e-Orangi and Abdullah College roads and to reduce vehicular traffic’s pressure at the roundabout, which often remains jammed owing to the heavy flow of vehicles, encroachments and occasionally due to protests.
• The design of the bridge was altered to protect some 450 houses around the roundabout on the demands of the locals in December 2007. However, the work on the project was delayed again after local traders protested that it will destroy their businesses.

1. Ministry of Textile & Industry

• The Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry has expressed grave concern over an increase of 45 to 50 per cent in electricity tariff and said that it would lead the cottage industry to complete destruction. In a statement issued on Saturday, the president other leaders of business community said that the industrial and agriculture sectors simply could not afford that much increase in power tariff.
• They called upon the federal government to monitor the performance of Hesco and demanded that increase in power tariff be withdrawn.

1. Ministry of Women Development

• The cases of violence against women are increasing alarmingly and within the last nine months about 1,464 cases of violence against women were reported in the province, of which 229 were murder cases and another 220 women killed under the allegation of so-called honor, or Karo-Kari, 67 women raped, another 50 women gang-raped, according to data compiled by the Aurat Foundation, an NGO working for women’s rights.
• Aurat Foundation obtained these figures from shelter homes, women’s crises centers, newspapers and citizen action committees for women rights for the project “Policy and Data Monitor on Violence against Women” in collaboration with the Violence against Women watch group.
• According to the Aurat Foundation data in the first quarter (January-March 2008) about 328 cases of violence against women were reported out of which 80 women were murdered, 65 women were killed under the charges of Karo-Kari, on seven women murder was attempted, 14 were rape cases and 10 cases of gang rape were reported, 24 women committed suicides and 38 women were kidnapped.
• In the second quarter (April-June 2008) the number of cases of violence against women almost doubled and about 390 cases were reported. The data shows that 74 women were murdered, 55 were brutally killed under Karo-Kari charges, 13 raped and 26 were gang raped, 43 committed suicides, two women were sold and 71 were kidnapped.
• The data shows that the second last quarter (July-September) of 2008 was the worst for women of the province and an alarming 746 cases of violence were reported. The data shows that 75 murder cases were reported within 90 days of this quarter.
• The so-called honor killings or Karo-Kari cases rose and about 100 cases were reported out of which 69 were women and 31 were men. About 12 cases of attempted murder on women were reported, 40 cases of rape and 14 cases of gang rape were reported, whereas 204 cases of abduction were also reported in this quarter. About 46 women committed suicides, one woman was burnt to death, 14 cases of sexual assault and 40 cases of kidnapping were reported, 74 women suffered custodian violence and 55 women suffered domestic violence.

 

 

Oct 12

1. Cabinet Secretariat

• Low ranking officials are blamed for negligence and made scapegoats in the aftermath of tragic incidents to shift pubic criticism from higher authorities.
  Termination or suspension of low ranking officials in police department had become a routine in the federal capital, claimed police officials. In some cases, higher authorities did not carry out a proper investigation before taking an action against lower grade officials, they said.
• They said usually head of a government department was responsible for failure of his department but this was not the case when it came to police department.
• Higher officers like inspector general of police, senior superintendent of police , superintendent of police  etc were rarely suspended or terminated in the wake of suicide blasts or other violent incidents, they said.
• THE decision of the federal government to privatise the Qadirpur gasfield, the country’s second largest gas reservoir, has created a lot of uproar in Sindh,
• A few weeks ago, in a similar manner, the federal cabinet established, through a notification, the ‘Thar Coal Authority’ by abolishing the Sindh Coal Authority, a statutory body which came into existence through an act of the Provincial Assembly.
• Surprisingly, in both these cases, the provincial subject has been encroached upon by the very party which, before coming into power, always claimed to be championing the cause of allowing maximum autonomy to the provinces. The decision, therefore, at the face of it appears lopsided and hasty, besides it is beyond the pale of the federal government’s sphere of influence.
• It is never wise to sell precious assets, especially those having the value of strategic and public importance, which also includes gasfields. Had the apex court not intervened on time, the case of Pakistan Steel Mill would have been another failed story like the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation. In the case of the KESC even the government has now realized that its decision to privatize a public utility was not scrupulous.
• Besides, how long the sale of such assets will bear the cost of day-to-day expenses of the administration. The government, therefore, instead of going for the easy way of disposing of precious national assets, should make efforts to create more funds through proper taxation and also stop wasteful expenditure.
• POOR families have absorbed the huge increase in food, transport and utility rates by cutting down expenses on food, education and healthcare and they are worried that flour rates would rise further.
• Balancing a budget with Rs 4,600 (the minimum wage) is an impossible task as prices of food, petrol, diesel, electricity and gas have increased by 30-70 per cent during the past six months. There is no way that an average family of six (the national average family size is 6.5) could pull on without sacrificing basic needs.
• Flour is the staple food of Pakistanis. According to UN calculations, average consumption of flour when used as a staple food is 125 kilogrammes per person per year. That comes to 12 kg per person per month. A family of six thus requires 72 kg of wheat flour per month. At current price, flour costs Rs 1,512 per month. We presume that a family consumes pulse only that is the cheapest food that can be eaten with roti made from flour. The family would need 250 gm of pulse every day or 7.50 kg per month. The cost of pulses at average of Rs 100 per kg would be Rs 750 (gram pulse is cheaper and all other are higher than Rs 100 per kg). At minimum edible oil requirements of 20 grams per person per day the family would require 3.5 kg of edible oil or ghee that at current rates would cost Rs 420 per month. The minimum cost of essential vegetables such as onions, ginger, garlic and spices per month would be Rs 300.
• Kitchen fuel would add another Rs 300 to kitchen budget (this is minimum as low income families normally do not enjoy natural gas facility). The cumulative cost of feeding a family of six a diet that is nutritionally deficient costs Rs 3,282 per month. A person earning Rs 4,600 per month is left with Rs 1,318. After paying average electricity bill of Rs 300 and water charges of Rs 200, the family is left with Rs 818. The bread earner who earns Rs 4,600 has to go to his workplace for 25 days a month.
• The minimum transport fare is Rs 10. He would require a minimum of Rs 20 per day for the fare that for a month comes to Rs 500. These are essential expenses that no family could avoid. The family is left with Rs 318.
• Majority of the poor do not own a house and have to live in rented houses in slums. The minimum house rent for a room ranges from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000. The rent is paid by cutting on food expenses resulting in acute malnutrition among the poor.
• They do not have resources to buy quality foods. They do not eat meat and most of the vegetables, fruits. They do not afford to buy even sugar or milk though they do make cuts in food consumption to buy milk for their infants. They have no resources for educational and heath needs. This cannot go on for a long time. The productivity of a major chunk of population would decline. The IQ of the generation growing on malnutrition would be much lower. The percentage of disabilities would increase and so would health problems.
• This is the situation when flour is available in Punjab at Rs 420 per 20 kg bag or Rs 21 per kg. However when the next crop arrives, the wheat procurement price would increase from Rs625 per maund to Rs 950 per maund. The Punjab government is currently supplying wheat to flour mills at Rs 690 per maund. After harvest in April 2009, wheat release price would increase to Rs 1,025 per maund. Mills would add Rs 2.40 per kg grinding and other charges that would increase the rate of flour to Rs 1,115 per maund or around Rs 560 per 20 kg. Budget allocations for purchase of 72-kg of flour for a family of six would increase from Rs 1,515 per month to Rs 2,016 per month. This would be an addition of Rs 500 per month in the family budget provided the rates of all other necessities do not go up. Though April is more than six months away but the expected increase in the staple food is a matter of great concern for the poor.
• THE city roads give scenes of parking lots for the public transport vehicles at the last stops on almost all the routes and there is a dire need being felt to allocate places for parking lots for these vehicles. Almost at all the last stops including Bagriian, Kahna, Chuingi Ammar Sidhu, R A Bazaar, Wagah Town, Shera Kot, New Airport, Batti Chowk and WAPDA Town, the Provincial Transport Authority and the City District Government Lahore have not allocated any spaces for the parking of the public transport vehicles.

1. Ministry of Economic Affairs and Statistics

• The meeting between Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan and Karachi Stock Exchange remained inconclusive on a set of proposals put forward by the KSE to stabilise the jittery market. “The SECP and Board of Directors of KSE will meet again on Sunday to discuss further the proposals seeking the much-needed liquidity injection in the system,” a participant of the meeting told.
• The CPI inflation jumped to 24.52 percent during the first three months – July-September 2008 – against 7.07 percent over the same period of last year on the back of continuous increase in the prices of commodities and services with food and energy on top, according to Federal Bureau of Statistics.

1. Ministry of Environment

• The cruel game of bear baiting continues to take place in some parts of Pakistan despite the fact that it is illegal under the Pakistan Wildlife Act, under the clause of prevention of cruelty to animals. The game includes a very cruel practice where the bears are tied to posts after having their teeth and claws removed (which is in itself an extremely painful process) and trained hunting dogs are then let loose on them for the mere purpose of entertainment. The World Society of Prevention of Cruelty Against Animals is trying to stop this practice from continuing in Pakistan but there is still a lot to do. We must campaign for the elimination of this cruel practice.

1. Ministry of Finance & Revenue

• Inflation edged up to 24.25 per cent during the first quarter of the current fiscal year compared with 7.07 percent over the corresponding period last year, official data compiled by the Federal Bureau of Statistics revealed on Saturday.
• Driven by food and fuel prices, the headline inflation still remains very high during the period under review despite decelerating a bit in September from August this year.
• The inflation rate, which is based on the consumer price index, rose to 23.91 per cent in September, compared with a 25.33 per cent increase in August depicting a slight decrease. However, the rate was 8.37 per cent for the corresponding month last year.
• The government has projected a target of 12 per cent for inflation for the year ending on June 30, 2009. The IMF expects full year inflation to end at an annual average rate of 23 per cent.
• Analysts said the inflation will remain on the higher side for the next several months owing to increase in domestic oil and upward revision of electricity tariffs. The pace of price rises, particularly of wheat, sugar will accelerate further in the coming months.
• Figures released here showed that food inflation increased to 29.91 per cent in September over the same month last year. Prices of non-perishable food items witnessed a surge of 37.61 per cent and that of perishable items 44.82 per cent. Industrial goods have also recorded a tremendous increase during the month under review, belying the argument that the rise is seasonal.

1. Ministry of Health

• Healthcare facilities including allied hospitals in town have been reporting registration of significant number of dengue fever suspects consistently for more than a month strengthening further doubts of health experts that the infection might take shape of an outbreak.
• Within past one week, the allied hospitals have received as many as six suspects of the infection from scattered areas of the town and well from outside tehsil Rawalpindi. Of the six suspected cases, three have already been tested positive by National Institute of Health, Islamabad, confirming the very existence of Aedes Aegypti, the female mosquito that causes dengue fever. It also proves that the vector causing infection could not be controlled so far.
  Benazir Bhutto Hospital has received a total of four suspects of dengue fever within this week.

1. Ministry of Interior

• Despite tall claims by police of taking measures to stop rising vehicle theft incidents, over 800 vehicles have been stolen over the last nine months in the district.
• According to official data seen by Daily Times, over 800 vehicles including 650 cars, over 100 motorbikes, 15 tractors, dumpers etc have been stolen this year so far in the district. Over 50 cases of vehicle snatching at gunpoint were reported with the city police and in these cases about 25 people were hurt by the attackers on resistance.
• In the same period last year, around 685 vehicles were stolen which meant that the police have failed to arrest vehicle thieves. Over the last nine months, the police have remained on high alert because of terrorist attacks and prevailing unrest in the city.

1. Ministry of Textile & Industry

• The downward trend in auto sales (cars + LCVs) continued as auto saled stood at 27,034 units for July-September 2008, showing a decline of 44 percent year-on-year, the data released by Pakistan Automobiles Manufacturers Association (PAMA) shows.
• The month-on-month basis story was a bit different as unit sales rose by 5 percent.
• “High rates of car financing along with imposition of 5 percent Federal Excise Duty on sale of vehicles, increase in sales tax by 1 percent and inflationary pressures in the economy remained the key issues behind the decline in sales,” Atif Zafar, analyst at JS Capital said.
• He said that the increase in the last month was mainly due to increase in sales of Corolla by Indus after the launch of the new model. Car sales had performed poorly during July-August due to the delay in the launch of the new model of Corolla. However, new Corolla sales have now boosted car sales in September 2008, as unit sales rose by 23 percent to 7,889 units against 6,433 units in August 2008. Moreover, Dewan Farooq, which had performed poorly last month saw an increase in its sales.
• High inflation (+23.9 percent), rising car prices, and the slow down in auto financing continues to have a breaking effect on auto sales

1. Ministry of Water and Power

• The prevailing power crisis in the country worsened on Saturday as power deficit swelled to 4,000 MW because of further reduction in water outflows from the Tarbela Dam, closure of seven thermal power units and zero supply of gas to power houses.
• The Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco) has increased load-shedding across the country to 6-8 hours from 4-hour outages. The hydel generation has been reduced by 2,600 MW because of reduction in outflows from the Tarbela reservoir from 55,000 cusecs to 30,000 cusecs. Earlier, outflows from Tarbela had been reduced from 100,000 cusecs to 55,000 cusecs. However, outflows from Mangla stand at 29,000 cusecs.

 

 

Oct 11

1. Cabinet Secretariat

• Pakistan International Airline has increased its Haj air fares by Rs 15,000 from Karachi to Jeddah, and by Rs 20,000 from Lahore and Islamabad to Jeddah, under the Open Haj Policy. The new fares will be effective from November 23, 2008, Geo News reported on Friday. An economy-class return ticket to Jeddah from Quetta and Karachi will cost Rs 100,000, while club-class tickets will cost Rs 125,000. An economy-class return ticket from Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan and Peshawar will cost Rs 120,000, while club-class tickets will cost Rs 150,000.
• Uncovered manholes on major roads of the city are a constant threat to the motorists as well as pedestrians. According to a survey conducted by ‘The News,’ pedestrians and drivers are in a constant danger of injuries and damage to their vehicles due to uncovered manholes on Mall Road, Jhelum Road, Airport Road, Benazir Bhutto Road, Rawal Road, Peshawar Road, Asghar Mall Road and some other roads. Uncovered manholes on footpaths along roads pose a serious risk to the lives of pedestrians. In order to check accidents, passersby have put tree branches in manholes to warn pedestrians of danger.

1. Ministry of Economic Affairs and Statistics

• Weekly inflation measured through sensitive price index surged by 30.67 per cent during the week ended on Oct 9 over the corresponding week of last year, Statistics Division said. This increase in inflation is driven by food prices, particularly flour and sugar etc during the period under review. The persistent increase in diesel price also propelled transport fares in the past few weeks. The inflation, however, recorded an increase of 1.48 per cent over the previous week, indicating a rising trend in the prices of these commodities. The SPI data showed that the worst hit were households with Rs3,000 monthly income. According to the data, the SPI witnessed an increase of 33.04 per cent and 31.77 per cent for households in income brackets of up to Rs3, 000 and Rs3, 001 to Rs 5,000, respectively.

1. Ministry of Finance & Revenue

• The country has posted a trade deficit of $5.549 billion during the first quarter (July-September) of the current fiscal year 2008-09 as compared to $3.635 billion in same period last fiscal, projecting an increase of 52.65 percent.
  Increase in trade deficit during the month of September 2008 was recorded at 62.13 percent with a deficit of $2.027 billion as compared with a deficit of $1.250 billion in September 2007.

1. Ministry of Interior

• Taliban beheaded four elders from the Charmang tribe on Friday after they had attended a pro-government jirga in the insurgency-hit region of Bajaur, officials said on Friday. Assistant Political Agent said the Taliban kidnapped the four –when they were returning home after attending a jirga convened to plan action against the Taliban.
• Forty-three members of the Ali Khel tribe were killed and scores of others injured, many of them seriously, when a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden pick-up truck into a Jirga in Hadeezai area of the Orakzai tribal agency on Friday afternoon. Official and tribal sources said the death toll could mount as many of the injured shifted to various hospitals in Orakzai, Hangu and Kohat were in a critical condition. The victims also included children.

1. Ministry of Labor, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis

• A large number of brick kiln laborers Friday staged a protest demonstration and urged the government to bail them out from inhuman living conditions, ensuring provision of healthier life standard as envisaged in the Constitution.
  The demonstration was organized by All Pakistan Brick Kilns Association. The labourers from various cities of Punjab including Sargodha, Sialkot, Chakwal, Malakwal, Mandi Bahauddin, Gujranwala, Multan and Phalia marched through the street in front of the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Press Club (Camp Office) and staged a sit-in for half-an-hour before returned back to their hometowns.
  They chanted slogans against the atrocities of owners of brick kilns and their contractors who, according to the protestors, subject them to severe torture and force them to lead an inhuman life.
• The protestors waited with a hope that any of the officials from the Labor Ministry or other relevant department would come and listen to their grievances but all their hopes dashed to the ground as no one bothered to come to them.
• During an interaction with ‘The News’ a representative group of these protesting laborers alleged that they have been leading an inhuman life at the hands of owners of the brick kilns and all their requests to the relevant quarters have fallen on deaf ears.

1. Ministry of Religious Affairs and Zakat and Ushr

• Workers of different organizations, including Masood Shah Colony Welfare Association, Tibb-i-Islami Council and Anjuman Aashiqan-i-Madina, staged a demonstration outside the press club to protest against the ongoing construction of a seminary in the Cantonment area.
  Speaking on the occasion, locals said that the seminary was being constructed by activists of a banned outfit which had created harassment among people of the area. They said that the banned outfit had also distributed objectionable pamphlets. They demanded of the authorities to immediately stop the construction of the seminary. Meanwhile, Sunni Tehrik activists staged a demonstration outside the press club here to protest against police failure to arrest the killers of their leaders. The activists carried banners and placards and raised slogans against the police and the killers.

1. Ministry of Textile & Industry

• The government has not formally approved the scope and size of the Research and Development (R&D) support for the textile sector. Textile exports constitutes major portion of the country’s exports, and with no motivation at all for textile sector by the new government, the sector is not going to contribute as per its potential during the current fiscal year, the official said.

 

oct 10

1. Ministry of Finance & Revenue

• THE existing IMF-dictated IT returns and mandatory non-taxable wealth statement for income exceeding Rs500,000 have scared many to declare less income or to take risk and abstain from filing a return. A general fear does exist that anyone who once submits an IT return is subsequently hounded by tax officials with reference to any one of the numerous columns of IT return.
  Various draconian tax laws and procedures have already forced most rich people to invest in Dubai, Europe and elsewhere. The reported threat of seizure of assets by tax officials on the pretext of misuse of money whitening scheme will only accelerate flight of capital. Except for one-time additional revenue, the whitened money is worthless for the nation if it is not invested in productive projects of national interest.

1. Ministry of Food, Agriculture & Livestock

• Mealy bug menace’ had warnedthe impending danger to agriculture in Pakistan.
  Owing to the attack of mealy bugs there was 40 per cent loss in cotton production in 2007 (Dawn, Oct 17, 2007). There is a recurring incidence of the mealy bug disease on mango in Sindh and Punjab and it has been investigated and published by us in International Journal of Biology and Biotechnology (Vol. 3 (3): 561-562, 2006).
• The mealy bug is an oblong-bodied insect and remains covered with a white-waxy sticky substance and appears as white fuzzy matter on flowers, fruits, leaves and stems on the affected parts. The bugs secrete a sugary substance called honeydew which is a good source of nutrition for a special group of fungi. The bugs suck juice from soft and succulent parts of plants and prefer to remain in the canopy of foliage and on the lower surfaces of leaves (away from sunlight).
• The honeydew secreted by the bugs falls on the upper surface of leaves lying underneath. The fungi grow vigorously in the honeydew (sugary substance) drops and produce luxuriant colonies full of black network of vegetative cells and spores. The entire foliage of a tree (mango etc.) appears black from a distance.
  In a pilot experiment on the control of the pest through a research project on mycorrhizal biotechnology of sunflower, funded by the HEC, we found spraying of the soapy lather soon turning into soapy flakes under the influence of heat and being blown away. Pesticides such as malathion or Fayfanon applied at 0.05 per cent concentration (dosage) as spray showed adverse effect in the advancement and spread of the mealy bugs on sunflower.
  Mealy bugs have been attacking many a plant of economic importance for the last two years and, therefore, it requires to be investigated thoroughly to control the mealy bug menace to agriculture, horticulture and fruit trees in Pakistan.

1. Ministry of Foreign Affairs

• Nine people, five of them civilians, and four suspected foreign militants, were killed and several others injured in yet another missile attack by a US spy plane on Ghundai village of Tapi area of the North Waziristan tribal region Thursday evening. Tribal sources said two US spy planes were seen flying at extremely low altitude over Ghundai village during the attack. Sources close to militants told this correspondent from Tapi village near Mirali that the US aircraft fired two Hellfire missiles on the house and hujra of Maulvi Sahar Gul in Ghundai village.

1. Ministry of Health

• Three more cases of polio two in Punjab and one in the NWFP were confirmed .Sources at the National Institute of Health in Islamabad told Dawn that five-month-old Haroon Tariq, who belongs to Mian Channu, 11-month-old Hasnain of Jhang and Amjad of Peshawar had tested positive for poliomyelitis.
  Amjad received seven doses of polio drops and Haroon and Hasnain three each.

1. Ministry of Interior

• At least eight people were injured when a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into the central office of anti-terrorist squad located in the premises of Police Headquarters here at 12.50 pm Thursday.
• Militants on Thursday attacked a police van transporting prisoners to Timergara with a remote-controlled bomb near Dir, killing 12 people, including three cops and four girl students and injuring 10 others.
• Seven prisoners, who were involved in cases of serious nature, were being shifted in a police van after producing them in a local court, when unidentified militants blew up their vehicle with improvised explosive device (IED) planted at a roadside at Khwago Oba, a town six kilometres off Dir Khass, the district headquarters of Dir Upper.
• The blast killed 12 people, including four girl students of the local primary school and three cops besides injuring 10 others.Four of the prisoners identified as Badshah Rahman, his brother Jehanzeb, Tazamin, Sajidullah and an unknown person were among the dead.

 

 

Oct 9

 

1. Cabinet Secretariat

• Three years have passed since the earthquake of October 2005 claimed tens of thousands of lives and changed the lives of millions of families. This was the worst natural disaster in the history of Pakistan, and required a mammoth response effort. Our allies came to our aid with financial and logistical support. As a result, the immediate rescue efforts went well. However, the challenging aspect was reconstruction and rehabilitation. While projects have been underway for over two years now, there is much that needs to be improved. For example, transparency is a problem as far as grants and supplies are concerned. Many people are still living in makeshift shelters and have not seen any serious assistance that can rehabilitate their lives. The local economy is yet to be revived, when it is understood that until jobs are created in the region, true reconstruction will not take place. One hopes that the government will take a hard look back at three years of performance in rehabilitation and reconstruction and will make improvements and adjustments on a priority basis where necessary.
• The National Commission for Human Development was unexpectedly closed in August despite its invaluable contribution to human development — education, adult literacy, primary healthcare, capacity building and community development — with the massive network covering about 122 districts of Punjab, Sindh, the NWFP, Balochistan, AJK, and Fata and with more than 80,000 employees at its disposal.
• Its closure was tantamount to economic genocide of thousands of families. The NCHD, set up in 2001, aimed at improving public sector delivery mechanisms to achieve Millennium Development Goals set by the UN.
• The MDGs encapsulate development aspirations of the world as a whole. They are not only development objectives: they encompass universally accepted human values and rights such as freedom from hunger, the right to basic education, the right to health and a responsibility to future generations.
• In adopting the millennium declaration in 2000, the international community pledged to “spare no effort to free our fellow men, women and children from the abject and dehumanising conditions of extreme poverty.” We are now more than halfway towards the target date — 2015 — by which the Millennium Development Goals are to be achieved.
• Being a signatory to the millennium declaration, Pakistan too was bound to devise means and mechanisms to achieve the desired goals of millennium development.
• Establishment of NCHD was a pertinent move in this regard, which aimed at achieving the goals through universal primary education, adult literacy programme, volunteerism for community development, primary healthcare programmes, capacity building programme, etc.
• NCHD started its operations in 2002 in just two districts, Mardan and Narowal. Since then it has expanded, and its programmes are now being implemented in 122 districts.
• Pakistan was the first country to establish a public-private partnership to mobilise global resources for human development following the monetary conference for international financing of development in March 2002.
• The Pakistan Human Development Fund is a public-private partnership that channelled resources from the government of Pakistan, private sector and the international donor community, into the NCHD and its programmes.
• The main objective of the fund was to consolidate efforts towards building human capabilities by supporting various programmes and projects in social sectors for improvement and enhancement of education and literacy; primary healthcare; poverty alleviation; development of working skills; improvement of social service delivery.
• The Fund lent financial and other support to the efforts of the NCHD to build the capacity, train and enhance the competency of the government functionaries, elected representatives and non-governmental organisations working in the social sector at the district level.
• The current annual budgetary requirement of NCHD is Rs2.3 billion to run its six programmes in 122 districts of the country. This is a very economical budget which is less than that of even any single district of the country.
• The release of this amount should no be a problem for the government given the urgency of achieving the MDGs, invaluable contributions of the organisation in the sector of social development and danger of loss of employment of 80,000 family earners.
• The NCHD and PHDF board members met Prime Minister Gilani on May 29 to apprise him of the work NCHD has been doing. The PM issued orders for an immediate release of Rs874 million to the commission.
• He also directed the finance ministry to include funds for NCHD in the next year’s budget, saying that NCHD has done commendable work and his government believes in continuity of policies.
• In spite of the remarks by the prime minister in appreciation of the role of NCHD and an assurance of the release of the required budget to NCHD, no further steps were taken to save this organization.
• As a result of unavailability of the funds, the chairman decided to abruptly shut down all the programmes of NCHD and employees were issued dismal letters.
• Later a meeting was held with the government and an announcement was made about the continuation of NCHD till December, and putting the matter before a committee for further decision.
• The government again reneged on its promise and no notification was issued in this regard. The government must clear its position and do the needful to retain NCHD.
• It is most unfortunate that educated and highly qualified young people are leaving the country to find more opportunities in greener pastures abroad. This deprives our country of the precious human capital. The malaise lies in the few opportunities available in the country because of the poor state of economy. Our neighboring countries are flourishing because of good governance, galloping economy and encouragement given to foreign investors to set up industries within the country. We need to do something and take remedial measures so that at least our future generations don’t leave.

1. Ministry of Finance & Revenue

• The rupee’s further plunge to 79 against the dollar has caused another shock to Pakistan’s already troubled economy. This is the lowest the rupee has fallen, and now we have a mere two months’ supply of foreign exchange to cover critical food and fuel imports. While the government is sending delegations to all major allies, there is a need for immediate action. We must ensure that the Friends of Pakistan summit in Abu Dhabi is a success, and we get more than mere words. We need substantial pledges from allies and donors to ensure that we do not default on our immediate debt obligation of around $3 billion.
• Our National Savings Centres are outdated and overcrowded. It takes on average one hundred minutes time for one transaction. A person had to go once a month to the Walton Road Savings Centre to avoid overcrowded DHA Lahore Cantt Savings Center where it normally takes two hours time. This is too much for a person who already had spine surgery and chronic back problem. This time-consuming working of National Savings Centres is causing a lot of inconvenience to the public in general and senior citizens in particular.The central directorate of National Savings has neither the ability nor the capacity to perform efficiently. It would be appreciated if the ministry of finance could make available these schemes through commercial banks, including the National Bank of Pakistan.
• A large amount of these new notes were being circulated in black. A sealed pack of Rs5 notes was being quoted for Rs680 in the black market. Two questions for the governor of the central bank. One, why were fewer notes available with commercial banks while a greater number of new currency notes was available in the black market? Two, will any investigation be conducted as to how the notes disappeared from commercial banks and found their way with brokers of new notes allowing them to fleece the general public?

1. Ministry of Housing and Works

• D-18 wants the attention of the authorities concerned towards the plight of the members of the Veteran Housing Society, D-18, Islamabad. This society was started for retired officers of the armed forces 20 years back, but no development work has been started yet although all other adjacent housing schemes have been developed. The Islamabad deputy commissioner and the CDA chairman are requested to look into the matter and get the development work started.

1. Ministry of Interior

• Traders staged a demonstration in front of the press club here on Tuesday in protest against the police’s failure to check the rapid increase in crimes in the city.(DADU)
  The protesting traders marched through different roads of the town and raised slogans against the police. that armed men snatched motorcycles and looted valuables from other people and Rs50,000 cash from a medical store.

1. Water and Power

• The Tarbela reservoir was left with little quantity of water which could badly affect the coming Kharif crop, sources at Tarbela Dam.
  They said that quantity of water in the reservoir could cater to Irsa’s need of irrigation for next thirty days only. Sources said that water storage of reservoir was decreasing by about half feet daily due to shrinking inflow of water in river Indus. Water in the reservoir is only 100 feet short of its dead level, which is 1,369 feet.
• Sources said that although Irsa had, owing to prevailing critical situation, reduced its water indent from 65,000 cusecs to 60,000 cusecs from Wednesday but as the Kharif or wheat sowing season was about to start in the country during the next couple of weeks, the water demand for irrigation would definitely shoot up ranging between 70,000 cusecs to 76,000 cusecs per day.
• They said that inflow of water on Wednesday was 49,000 cusecs against the discharge of 60,000 cusecs on the demand of Irsa. The water level of the reservoir was recorded as 1472.07 feet and electricity generation stood at 2,652 megawatts. While last year this day the inflow of water in the reservoir was 40,000 and outflow on Irsa’s demand was 55,000 cusecs.
  Official source said that Tarbela’s powerhouse had the capacity to generate about 3,000 megawatts electricity from the available quantity of water but for saving it for Kharif crop, the reduction in the quantity of discharge of water was imperative.
• Dozens of houses, a school, a dispensary and hundreds of acres of cultivated area were inundated after the Rein Shakh Canal developed a 100-foot wide breach near Nawabshah on Wednesday.
• The local people tried to plug the breach on self-help basis while the Irrigation staff reached the site hours late. Irrigation Department sources said that the breach occurred at RD-15 and soon widened to 100 feet. The floodwater entered dozens of houses of villages Sarwar Zardari, Gabar Dahri and Sonahro Zardari while a school and dispensary were also inundated. The standing crops of sugarcane, rice and banana were also flooded.
  The sub divisional officer of the Irrigation Department told this scribe that machinery had been taken to the site and the staff was trying to plug the breach. However, a team of journalists present on the site neither found any machine nor staff on the site. Later, Executive Engineer Irrigation Abdul Aziz said that Sub Engineer Irrigation Faheem Memon and Darogah Khan Muhammad were suspended on the charge of negligence.

 

 

Oct 7

7^th October

 

Ministry of Interior

• At least 22 people were killed and 62 others injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up in the outhouse of PML-N leader Rashid Akbar Niwani here on Monday. The blast came just four days after a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the house of Awami National Party chief Asfandyar Wali Khan in Walibagh, Charsadda, killing five people.

Ministry of Finance

• Standard & Poor’s cut Pakistan’s sovereign rating further into junk territory, saying the country’s worsening external liquidity may imperil its ability to meet about $3 billion in upcoming debt obligations. The widely expected action comes after Pakistan said on Saturday its foreign reserves fell $690 million to $8.1 billion in the week ended September 27, an announcement that sent the rupee to a record low against the dollar on Monday. The State Bank of Pakistan said its reserves fell to $4.7 billion from $5.4 billion previously, representing a little over two months of import cover.
• Government borrowing rose over 100 per cent in the first 11 weeks of the current fiscal year, State Bank of Pakistan data showed. The government borrowed a total of Rs173.23 billion ($2.21 billion) from July 1 to Sept 13, all of which was covered by the SBP. The government borrowed Rs179.44 billion ($2.29 billion) from the SBP, and paid Rs6.21 billion ($79 million) to other banks, according to the data. Last year, a total of Rs85.7 billion were borrowed from July 1 to Sept 15, out of which Rs2.9 billion were borrowed from the SBP and Rs82.8 billion from other banks.
• A sharp fall of the rupee has played havoc with the economy, with foreign debt rising from Rs2,759 billion to Rs3,493 billion, size of the economy dropping below $150 billion and per capita income slipping to $780. Economists have urged the government to realise the urgent need of addressing the factors that are putting pressure on the rupee and damaging the economy. They say Pakistan’s foreign debt at the end of the last fiscal year in June stood at $44.5 billion, which has increased in rupee terms by Rs743.25 billion as the currency plunged after July from Rs62 to a dollar to Rs78.50. The decline is still on and the government has not taken any concrete steps to stem the rot. Gross domestic product, which was $160 billion on the basis of the rupee value of Rs62, has slipped below $150 billion. Earlier, Pakistan was moving steadily to join the club of Middle Income Group countries as its per capita income increased to $990 at the end of the last fiscal in June. However, the per capita income has now declined to a little over $780 after the sharp fall in rupee’s value.

Ministry of Food and Agriculture

• Sugar mills have cautioned that there may be an expected increase in sugar prices owing to upward revision in the minimum support price of sugarcane for the season 2008-09. The Pakistan Sugar Mills Association has hinted that during the new crushing season, the price of white refined sugar may go up to Rs38 per kg from the current price of Rs32 per kg in the open market. The millers pointed out that in view of an increase in the cost of production of sugarcane due to abnormal increase in the prices of fertiliser and fuel, coupled with an increase in other cost elements, it was inevitable for the Sindh government to enhance minimum support price of sugarcane to Rs81 per 40kgs.The millers argued that a 30 per cent increase in sugarcane price over the previous year when it was fixed at Rs67 and later revised to Rs63 per 40kg was bound to have an impact on sugar price.
• ‘Naanbais’ went on strike for an indefinite period after failure of their talks with the local administration over the issue of ‘roti’ price here on Monday.   Earlier the city administration again arrested a large number of ‘naanbais’ for selling ‘rotis’ at the rate of Rs3 instead of Rs2 on Sunday night. As a mark of protest, ‘naanbais’ closed ‘tandoors’ in all parts of the city.  According to an estimate, there are more than 4,000 ‘tandoors’ in Rawalpindi. They cater to the needs of thousands of people, especially labourers who have come to Rawalpindi from far-flung areas of the country to earn their livelihood.  Hundreds of ‘naanbais’ protested against the local government in front of the district coordination officer’s office. They raised slogans against Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif and tried to block main roads of the city, including Jhelum Road at Kutchery Chowk and Benazir Bhutto Road.
• People of Shangla district Monday expressed anguish at the non-availability and skyrocketing prices of flour as a 20kg bag of the commodity was sold for Rs750 in the open market. The dwellers resented the non-availability for the last two days, saying everyday they quit more important works and search for the commodity to feed our family. Whereas on the other hand, flour dealers also lamented the limited supply of the commodity from the flourmills and termed it the main reason for the non-availability of flour in the city. Flour dealer Ali Khan told The News that a 40kg flour bag of low and fine quality was being sold in the market for Rs1,300 and 1,400 respectively.

Ministry of Environment

• Green belts and trees are fast depleting in Rawalpindi, which once had a ‘green look’, though not like Islamabad, and it is solely happening due rapid urbanisation and haphazard development, thanks to its proximity with the federal capital. It has become a common sight to see trees being cut or uprooted to pave the way for development projects that may change fortunes of many in terms of creation of jobs, but can certainly bring misfortune for the local environment. According to statistics, some 1,000 full-size trees were removed for expansion of the Mall Road, 1,500 for Airport Road and 500 each for Murree and Saidpur roads, triggering extensive damage to the environment.

Cabinet Secretariat

• More than 500 internally displaced persons from Bajaur Agency in the Degree College Camp here were suffering from gastroenteritis while several of the families were compelled to stay in the open air due to non-availability of tents. A group of local newsmen that visited the camp established in Government Degree College here Monday said the IDPs were left in a pathetic condition by the government aid agencies, non-governmental organisations and even the philanthropists.

 

Oct 4

4^th October Charge Sheet

 

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

• Twenty-one people, two women and a child among them, were killed in a missile attack on a village in North Waziristan on Friday. According to local people, the missile was fired from a Predator drone which hit a house in the village some 15km west of Miramshah. Military sources denied that any Nato drone had carried out the attack inside Pakistan territory. According to Reuters, military spokesman Maj-Gen Athar Abbas said the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force had informed Pakistan it would be conducting an operation across the border from North Waziristan. “Isaf informed us at around 4pm that they were conducting an operation in Afghanistan, across from North Waziristan. There was no violation, no incursion or intrusion on our side.” Local officials, however, said 21 people had been killed in the attack, but their names and nationalities could not be ascertained.
• For Democratic vice presidential candidate Joseph Biden, Pakistan is the most dangerous country in the world, with nuclear weapons that can hit Israel and the Mediterranean. His Republican rival Sarah Palin also considers Pakistan dangerous, but sees Iran as the greatest threat to the world peace.

Ministry of Education

• Pakistan is still far from achieving the Education for All goal set by Unesco with Education for All Development Index  scores lower than 0.8. Pakistan has been included in the low EDI category due to low primary school participation, adult illiteracy, gender disparities and inequalities in education in addition to poor quality of education, according to a Unesco report. The situation indicated the need for significant improvement across the EFA spectrum, the report said. Global Monitoring Report 2008 of Unesco says the situation in Pakistan is particularly challenging where pre-primary pupil-teacher ratio remains at 41:1 – one teacher available for 41 students.

Ministry of Health

• A go-slow or failure on the part of the federal government to understand the significance of projects has deprived the provincial Aids-control programme of a centre of excellence planned for HIV and Aids care and therapy for patients both in Sindh’s interior and Karachi. Sources in the Sindh Aids Control Programme said that the Jinnah Postgrduate Medical Centre was identified by the provincial aids managers for the establishment of a centre of excellence on its premises about one and a half years back to increase the provision of HIV-care services and provide antiretroviral therapy for patients testing positive to the deadly virus.
• Anti-polio campaign eating up funds. Authorities in Pakistan have failed to control the polio virus despite a polio vaccination campaign that has been going on for 14 years as 11 new cases have been reported in the last two months. The campaign to eradicate the virus from Pakistan started in 1994. So far, nationwide there have been over 60 rounds of oral vaccine administration to children below five years of age. ìPolio is still not finished in Pakistan and if you look at statistics there is no difference in the number of cases between the early 90s and now,” Farooq Hassan, a child specialist who had been involved in the campaign, said.
• The number of people suffering from cholera and diarrhoea in the militancy-stricken Swat Valley are constantly increasing as 1200 persons have been admitted to Saidu Sharif Hospital in the last three days. Sources said that more than 400 patients of cholera, dysentery and other water-borne diseases were brought to Saidu Sharif Hospital, raising the number of affected people to 1200 in the last three days. They included men, women and children.

Cabinet Secretariat

• The controversy surrounding the excavation and embankment raising work carried out in and around the Makli Hills necropolis by a powerful politician keeps cropping up every so often despite official efforts to settle the issue amicably. According to highly placed sources, former Sindh Assembly member Ghulam Qadir Palijo, who is the father of Sindh Culture Minister Sassui Palijo, owns land next to the Makli Hills necropolis, which is protected under the Antiquities Act, and was raising an embankment and also carrying out excavation for a trench on his lands to protect them from rainwater that comes from the Makli Hills and inundates his agricultural farm. The rainwater was supposed to be diverted to a nearby drain.
• Major health facility in Bajaur Agency, a portion of which is occupied by the paramilitary forces, is lacking medical staff and other basic healthcare facilities, adding to the miseries of the patients of the area. The hospital’s main operation theatre has been closed due to the absence of orthopaedic surgeon and two surgical specialists as the local population is facing great difficulties in shifting wounded to other areas due to the closure of the main roads and ambulance service. Information gathered by Dawn revealed that despite high intensity conflict in the area the main hospital was without nurses, lady doctor and surgical specialists. X-ray and laboratory facilities in the hospital are non-operational owing to absence of technicians.
• Politicians and bureaucrats in Karachi fear that the National Finance Commission deliberations may again witness friction and fireworks and eventually end up with a ‘no-consensus’ as Punjab’s interests are best served by a status quo, and senior officials in Islamabad secretariat are not indicating any change of their mindset as is well reflected in the terms of reference issued from Islamabad.
• Utility Store Corporation would increase prices of 1,300 items including, pulses, sugar, tea, soaps, soft drinks, spices and detergents from Saturday. A notification issued by the Utility Stores said prices of essential items had sharply increased in the open market and increasing prices at the USC Stores was unavoidable. It said the new price list would be implemented from Saturday but new flour prices would apply from Monday. According to the new price list, the rate of 20-kg flour bag at Utility Stores would increase from Rs 300 per bag to Rs 373 per bag on Monday. The prices of all toothpastes, detergent powders, bath soaps, spices, shampoos and tissue papers have increased.

• The price of sugar has increased from Rs 30.50 per kg to Rs 34 per kg. The price of gram pulse has increased from Rs 47 to Rs 50 per kg, gram white price has increased from Rs 63 per kg to Rs 68 per kg.The price of red chilli powder (200 gm) has increased from Rs 38 to Rs 40, turmeric (100 gm) price has increased from Rs 12.50 per pack to Rs 14 per pack.The price of Sufi Soap pack has increased from Rs 84 to Rs 85 and Tapal Dana Dar Tea (200 gm) price has increased from Rs 75 to Rs 79. The price of Lux (125 gm) has increased from Rs 30 to Rs 31 and pickle price has increased from Rs 120 per kg to Rs 133 per kg.The price of Lipton Yellow Label Tea (200 gm) has increased from Rs 83 to Rs 87, Supreme Tea pack (250 gm) price has increased from Rs 88 per pack to Rs 93 per pack. The price of National Red Chilli Powder pack (200 gm) has increased from Rs 68 to Rs 72.

• The price of Ariel Detergent Powder has increased from Rs 197 to Rs 199 per kg and Express Detergent Powder price has increased from Rs 97 to Rs 103 kg. Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo, the adviser to Prime Minister on Industry and Special Initiatives, during his visit to Utility Stores in Ramazan had announced that the prices of essential items at Utility Stores would drop in days ahead. Contrary to his announcement, the federal government has increased prices of essential items at the USC.

Ministry of Interior

• Due to the deteriorating security situation in Pakistan, the UN Secretary-General on Thursday approved imposition of Security Phase-III, which requires the children and spouses of the international staff to leave the country and relocated for an interim period.
• Manghopir area of Gadap Town has become a regular body dumping ground, The News has learnt. In the past one week alone, two bullet-riddled bodies, stuffed in gunny bags, were found dumped in the area. Occasionally, the hands and feet of the bodies inside gunny bags were found to be tied, while at other times, the corpses have been badly mutilated. According to the Manghopir police, the area is an ideal place for body dumping in the sense that it is on the fringes of Karachi, which means that not many people loiter around.“One body was found four to five days ago this week,” a constable from the police station told The News. “That was found in a gunny bag. Then again a day before another body was found badly mutilated, almost cut into pieces by the killer.”

Ministry of Religious Affairs

• For the first time in the country’s history, people of the Punjab, especially those of Lahore’s walled city, rejected the official moon sighting decision of the central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee and celebrated Eid on Thursday, one day after the rest of the country.  Previously, people of the NWFP, defying the decisions of the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee, had a history of celebrating more than one Eids. But this controversy was the worst in the controversy-ridden history of the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee and its chairman Mufti Munibur Rehman during the last five years.

Ministry of Finance

• Professional fund managers at Asset Management Companies (AMCs) failed in April-May to anticipate the current financial turmoil in the country, which resulted in the massive redemption of Rs60 billion from total assets under management of AMCs. According to the Mutual Funds Association of Pakistan, assets under AMCs management fell by Rs60 billion or 15 per cent to Rs335.17 billion in September from Rs395.04 billion in March. Experts said professional fund managers failed to fulfill their commitment of protecting their investors’ funds, as they failed to foresee the complicated crisis of liquidity in the country and remained optimistic when the crisis began.