ECONOMIC CONDITION OF PAKISTAN DAWN NEWS ARTICLES

Despite drone attacks and other irritants, govt not ready to take tough stance against US
By Baqir Sajjad Syed | From the Newspaper (16 hours ago) 15TH APRIL2011. ISLAMABAD, April 14: Security cooperation may be the bedrock of US-Pakistan ties, but problems in counter-terrorism collaboration will not hold back Islamabad any further from proceeding with a reset in the relationship with Washington. The only thing I would like to state is that Pakistan attaches immense importance to its relations with the US. We have a multi-track engagement with the US. Law-enforcement and counter-terrorism is one such track, Foreign Office Spokesperson Tehmina Janjua said at the weekly media briefing on Thursday while responding to a number of questions about drones and covert CIA operations in the country. The remarks clearly suggested that Pakistan wanted to move on with the relationship despite issues in security ties. It was only on Wednesday that the Foreign Office had described the continuing drone attacks as a core irritant in the counter-terrorism cooperation. The spokespersons comments came ahead of Foreign Secretary Salman Bashirs visit next week to Washington (April 21-22) where he would discuss many of the thorny issues complicating the relationship and probably try to push the Americans to correct the fundamentals of their engagement with Pakistan. Furthermore, Ms Janjuas replies suggested that the government was not ready to adopt a tough stance similar to the one it took last month by pulling out of trilateral talks with the US and Afghanistan when missiles targeted a tribal jirga in North Waziristan, even though it had lodged a protest with Ambassador Cameron Munter after Wednesdays Angoor Adda attack. ISI chief Gen Shuja Pasha was earlier this week in Washington for talks with CIA Director Leon Panetta. Even though an unusual post-meeting statement issued by CIA said that its relations with ISI remained on strong footing, the drone attack in Angoor Adda suggested otherwise.

There are now signs that Mr Panetta did not fully accept Gen Pashas wish list that he carried with him and only agreed on giving limited concessions. Prior to Gen Pashas trip to the US, Centcom Commander Gen Mattis visited Islamabad to listen to Pakistani militarys grievances. Sources said that although the US military was sympathetic to Pakistani concerns, other quarters President Obamas national security team and CIA were proving tough bargainers. Failing to convince the US to at least provide it a face-saving on the drone war which is hugely unpopular in Pakistan, the latest tactic in governments armoury is to expand the debate on drones to other countries to build pressure on the US to revisit its policy. Obviously as an effort on the part of the government of Pakistan to address this core irritant in the counter-terrorism campaign, this issue will be discussed with those countries that have an interest in counterterrorism, Ms Janjua said. Although she did not specify with which countries Pakistan was interested in raising the matter, talking to reporters after the briefing she hinted that the matter had been discussed with the UK with which Pakistan had recently initiated a security dialogue under the umbrella of Enhanced Strategic Dialogue. STRAINS WITH IRAN: The spokesperson at the briefing tried to downplay protest by Iran over recruitment in Pakistan for Bahraini defence forces many of whom are likely to be used to suppress pro-democracy movement in the Gulf state. With Iran, we have very good relations. We discuss all issues in a very friendly manner, Ms Janjua said while responding to several questions about the Iranian protest made with Pakistani charge daffairs in Tehran. Diplomatic sources said the Iranian government, while conveying its reservations, had categorically stated that continued hiring of retired military personnel by welfare wings of Pakistani military would have serious implications for bilateral ties that are already not in the best of shape because of differences over regional policies. Bahrains national guards have recruited about 1000 retired military personnel through Fauji Foundation and Bahria Foundation. These are in addition to almost 10,000 Pakistanis presently serving in security services of Bahrain. Ms Janjuas efforts to talk down the Iranian protest coincided with comments by Iranian Ambassador Mashaallah Shakeri at a round table discussion in Islamabad

on situation in the Arab world. He questioned the logic of other countries sending security personnel to suppress a movement in another country. But, the envoy, conscious of his diplomatic limitations, made no direct reference to the recruitment in the host country (Pakistan) for Bahrain. Even the legitimate government of a country has no right to suppress the demands of the people. How come the strangers, those who do not belong to that country they take the troops to suppress the people of another country. So this is a big question which the Iranians are raising, Mr Shakeri said.

Centre and provinces owe Rs160bn to Pepco

By Khawar Ghumman | From the Newspaper (16 hours ago) Today ISLAMABAD, April 14: Minister for Water and Power Naveed Qamar informed the National Assembly on Thursday that the federal and provincial governments owed Rs160 billion to the Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco). In a written reply to a question raised by Nighat Parveen Mir of the PML-N, the minister said the Sindh government was the biggest debtor with Rs100 billion, including Rs63 billion of the Karachi Electric Supply Company, outstanding against it. He said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa owed Rs20.35 billion, Punjab government Rs7.99 billion and Balochistan Rs3.84 billion to Pepco. Receivables of Rs4.6 billion from the federal government have been put under three heads; departments (Rs1.33 billion), agencies (Rs1.4 billion) and defence forces (Rs1.8 billion). The federal government owed Rs4.439 billion under different subsidies; Rs960 million for agriculture tube-well, AJK receivables Rs402 million and Rs3.07 billion subsidy for the agriculture sector in Balochistan. A separate payment of Rs11.95 billion was due from all provincial governments under the head of agriculture and tube-well subsidy led by the Balochistan government with Rs6.1 billion followed by Punjab Rs5.5 billion, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Rs126 million and Sindh Rs47 million.

He said that during a meeting presided over the finance secretary in January the provincial chief secretaries were asked to make strenuous efforts for the payment of dues and the provincial finance secretaries were being pursued for the recovery from the major defaulting departments. Mr Qamar said the distribution companies had been made to sign performance contracts wherein all companies were required to report their progress regarding recovery of arrears to the ministry of water and power on a regular basis. On the question of whether the government had written off any payment owed by any department to Pepco, the ministers response was in the negative. In reply to a supplementary question, he said the recovery of outstanding dues had been a thorny issue for the past three years but the government was keeping a consistent pressure on all defaulting departments.

Second day CNG strike: Ministry feels the heat

By Kalbe Ali & Aamir Yasin | From the Newspaper (16 hours ago) Today ISLAMABAD, April 14: Under pressure because of the strike, the Ministry of Petroleum has called a meeting to review situation of gas supply today and hinted at ending the two-day weekly off for the CNG filling stations from next month. Majority of the CNG filling stations remained closed in Rawalpindi and Islamabad on the second consecutive day on Thursday. With less public transport on the road, people faced long waits at bus stops and paid cabs higher fares to reach their destinations. Motorists patiently waited throughout the night and the day outside the CNG filling stations. On Thursday Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani directed the ministry to convene a meeting of Gas Load Management Committee on Friday to review the gas supply situation in the country. The prime minister also directed that the representatives of `major stakeholders` should be called to the meeting and find solutions to minimise the problems of the industry and the people. The stakeholders include All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma), fertilizer industry, power plants, Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and

Industry (FPCCI), Sui Southern Gas Company, Sui Northern Gas Company and the three CNG associations. In his directive, the premier asked the committee to analyse the gas shortage situation and `rationalise` distribution to lessen problems of the people. The filling stations in Punjab went on an indefinite strike on Wednesday on the call of All Pakistan CNG Association (APCA) to press the government for ending the two-day weekly off and unfair gas distribution. Filling stations owned by the powerful and the oil marketing companies remained opened at Peshawar Road, Adiala Road, Tulsa Road, Dheri Hassanabad, Bakra Mandi, Chungi No. 22, Benazir Bhutto Road, Sadiqabad, Rawal Road and Bostan Khan Road in Rawalpindi and F-8, F-7, I-9, I-8, G-7 and other parts of the capital city. But they could not deal with the demand in the twin cities. While the strike call has been given by the APCA in Punjab only, the ministry also called the CNG associations` representatives from Karachi also. Malik Khuda Bukhsh, chairman of CNG Owners Association, on Thursday held talks with Secretary Petroleum Imtiaz Kazi on problems faced by CNG retailers and consumers due to loadshedding. Malik Bukhsh criticised the government for continuing the two-day weekly off for the CNG stations, saying the domestic demand has gone down as heaters and geysers have been turned off. The secretary petroleum told him that there would be no gas loadshedding for CNG filling stations from the end of May. But only two days back, the ministry had told APCA that the two-day weekly off would only end after June 30 this year a refusal that led to strike across Punjab. The ministry has also invited the CNG Dealers Association of Pakistan, led by Abdul Sami Khan, for discussions today. Travelling daily between Rawalpindi and Islamabad, commuters, including students and office workers, were seen waiting for private public transport, which remained thin on Thursday. Raja Riaz, president of Suzuki Owners and Drivers Association, lashed out at the government for not heeding the demands of CNG association, saying the strike was devastating for their business. Scores of our vehicles are not on road because of unavailability of gas. Taking advantage of the strike, the cabbies, who got the gas tanks filled at night, charged extra fares from the passengers. Complaining about the strike, Salman Rasheed, a resident of Westridge, said from Westridge to Saddar, the cabdrivers were demanding Rs120 instead of

normal Rs50. He said he opted to go on foot instead of paying more than double fare. But the cabdrivers, refuting claims of overcharging, maintained that they were running their vehicles on petrol. Meanwhile, owners of CNG stations on Thursday staged a protest demonstration at Faizabad. Holding banners and placards, they blocked Benazir Bhutto Road for some time. A contingent of police escorted the protesters. Dawn APCA Supreme Council Chairman Ghayas Paracha told that the CNG filling stations resumed the supply in Lahore, Gujranwala and Multan temporarily. As Mondays and Tuesdays are weekly off in Multan, Lahore, and Gujranwala, CNG filling stations had been closed there for the last four days. We resumed the supply for the convenience of people, he said. But in other parts of the province, we will continue our strike till the government meets our demands. About the meeting called by the secretary petroleum, Mr Paracha said it was about `other` issues and their demands were not on the agenda. We are demanding fair distribution of gas and end of two-day weekly off for CNG. He claimed that almost 90 per cent the CNG filling stations were closed across the province. When his attention was drawn towards the filling stations providing gas, he said the APCA had not forced the petroleum marketing companies to close their outlets as they were not members of the association.

Politics of non issues

By Khawar Ghumman | From the Newspaper (16 hours ago) Today We are really good at making issues out of non issues. Latest on the list is the devolution of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) under the 18th amendment. Over the last couple of weeks, politicians, media, civil society and of course the universities teachers and students are harping on only one subject HEC should be devolved to the provinces or kept as a federal entity. Irrespective of the fact if the people have adequate information about the controversy, everybody is taking part in the raging debate as a religious duty, which further muddies the issue. Be it our rabid TV talk show hosts, versatile columnists who can deliberate upon anything under the sun, or journalists who mould information on the basis of their biases, HEC remained the hot topic.

But interestingly all this is happening about a decision which presumably should have been discussed threadbare first by the 27-member Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Reforms (PCCR) and then the Parliamentary Commission on the implementation of the 18th amendment. One wonders what the PCCR had been discussing during its some 80 plus formal meetings if the issues related to the provincial autonomy, mainstay of the much lauded 18th amendment, remained unsolved. Political parties and media had endorsed the passage of the 18th amendment. All members of the PCCR this year on the eve of Pakistan Day have been bestowed with the highest civil award Nishan-e-Pakistan for cleansing the constitution of 1973 of aberrations introduced by military dictators. But to the surprise of many, all hell broke loose the moment the government announced formal devolution of federal ministries and divisions under the amendment, including the HEC. So much so some of the political parties, which were part of the landmark constitutional amendment, also joined the bandwagon. They obviously taking a cue from public response, largely in favour of keeping HEC as a federal body, have started opposing the commissions devolution. Concerns are also being raised over transferring women and culture divisions to the provinces by pointing out lack of capacity at provincial level to handle them. But the issue is not that a certain federal department should be run in Islamabad or managed by the provincial governments. It is the ruckus over the issue despite the fact that first the PCCR, which had 27 experienced politicians of all hues as its members, and an equally important eight-member bipartisan Parliamentary Commission on the 18th amendment implementation had discussed to ensure smooth completion of the devolution process. In both cases, Senator Raza Rabbani of the PPP was given the leading role. Looking at the controversy, it is difficult to understand if the subject was discussed in detail during the PCCR meetings. And if it had been discussed in detail, both by the committee and the commission, and subsequently all political parties had given their consent to wrap up HEC, why all this commotion? Werent the two main opposition political parties in the National Assembly in picture of what they explained as dire consequences if the HEC is transferred to the provinces? Or they are only playing to the gallery as described by Senator Rabbani during his hard hitting remarks in the National Assembly in the defence of HEC devolution.

Mr Rabbani billed the ongoing controversy a storm in a teacup. But many believe it is not. Even the fiercest critics of the HECs performance had supported its existence. Vice chancellors committee, a body of heads of 130 degree awarding institutions both from private and public sectors, have also opposed its devolution. Not getting into the argument whether the HEC has been given protection in the 18th amendment, what was the fun in announcing transfer of a department which is to be replaced by another similar government body? It would have been better if Senator Rabbani had sat with the HEC officials and discussed setting up of new Standards of Higher Education Commission to replace the commission. However, like many politicians, he kept on sending his point of view on the subject through media. According to media reports, it was on the HEC officials repeated requests the senator spared some time to listen their concerns. Ideally, this discussion, taking into account all concerns, should have been taken place at the level of the implementation commission. Lastly, if a public sector body is needed to oversee standardisation of higher education, as announced by Senator Rabbani, the government should have brought in required changes in the existing set up, instead of opening a Pandoras box, which has virtually taken the country by storm.