Pakistan - News and Discussion 6

Naresh · 06-04-2006, 02:40 PM

[center]Over the top[/center]

[center]Plunderistan

Masood Hasan[/center]

It would be appropriate to rename the country and call it Plunderistan, because what else can one call it now? With each passing day, the scale on which Pakistan's resources are being devoured by groups of people whose appetites are insatiable is beyond explanation. By and large, the human race is greedy and unscrupulous but what we are mute witnesses to has gone far beyond the stage of rape. What else can explain the way whole tracts of land are being gobbled up, entire forests simply vaporising and water resources a matter of theft and disputed claimants? What lies within each of us, like a demon spirit that can plot, plan and execute with such ruthless and imaginative cunning, schemes that are evil and devious, that turn the country's resources into personal bank accounts? Were the same genius to start working for the common good of the country, we would have gone places, instead of floundering like some flunkeys in lists of dubious and disgraceful company and damning statistics.

In the times of the good old Nazis, Jewish homes were marked 'X' which was just as good a way of letting them know that they were ready for the chop. Now, almost six decades after that horror, what the Nazis did to the Jews is what we are doing to our trees. In the name of some blighted woolly-headed confusion that passes for policy, another thousand trees along Lahore's fabled Canal are ready for the traditional sacrificial cutting. The trees have been appropriately marked 'X' by Herr Punjab Government -- it is, as usual, very hard to find out who has actually ordered this exercise -- everyone is brilliant at playing dumb and no official is going to be so foolish as to stand up and say, "I ordered this.' Instead, a labyrinth of half-truths and deliberate falsehood is being enacted to ease the procedure and cause minimal collateral damage. The cutting of Lahore's trees in this particular case starts from the wretched underpass at Dharampura all the way to Thokar Niaz Beg before this car-crazy city gets out and starts plunging towards wherever they are frantically going -- or coming in thousands to Lahore as is the case every day. There is a long report of cruising speeds that has been painfully reconstructed, almost as if the Canal Road is the start of the Formula I and Michael Schumacher is not going to drive unless we comply.

In a nutshell -- although it cannot fit into any nutshell even though the scheme is the work of nuts, it laments the fact that vehicles plying this stretch are unable to attain the desired cruising speeds of say 60 kilometres per hour, which as any self-respecting Paki-sheeda will tell you, is unacceptable. We are also told that the underpasses of which there is an epidemic on the Canal, have been designed to be of five lanes, whereas they are reduced to two lanes at places which is not acceptable. This tragic reduction into twolanes it seems is holding up this nation's arrival into the next century where it wants to be, although more than half are happy to remain in the seventh century. The usual poppycock about environmental impact assessment and taking 'stakeholders into confidence' has been splayed in the newspapers, but from very bitter and repeated experience, everyone including my spaniel knows that this is just hogwash designed to buy time and ease off the pressure. Once the few people stop shouting or protesting, the demented scheme will continue and in this case that is easy because the victims are simply trees. As any idiot will tell you, trees cannot strike back and chop your head off when you chop their arms off. They are sitting ducks for all that matters, although the resemblance to the duck family is just about the same as good governance is to the present landlords.

One can understand if the rest of the city is speeding away on smooth, disciplined roads and boulevards where everyone follows the rules and traffic flows like melted chocolate, but look at Lahore or any other city, large or small, affluent or squalid and all you see is chaos, disorder, mayhem and a complete breakdown of normalcy. So what is special about the Canal that it must be made to look like the autobahn of Germany? In the days of the dreadful Sharifs, Camelot was located with Aba Jee presiding at Raiwind and all roads led to El Dorado. Fawning supplicants and sycophants, of whom many now worship at the altar of Gujrat, trampled fellow travellers to get to Raiwind first and pay homage at the royal court of buffoons. In a matter of days, the face of the areas adjoining and leading to Raiwind changed. Instead of a rutted, pockmarked and acne-infested rural road that badly linked Lahore with Raiwind, there were smooth as silk highways where the mighty gunned their ill-gotten four-wheelers and attained speeds of ecstasy that Lahore's Canal planners now lust for. Wags in Lahore say that since the new capital of Punjab is Gujrat and all roads must lead to our local Rome, the Canal must be widened, powdered, painted and dressed up so that the powerful can be on the motorway in no time at all, as and when they are not choppering out. Wags go further to say that the way the Canal is receiving all the attention, it could just as well be the new highway to link us with India. Pakistan is a fickle country and fortunes change in shocking haste. The castles of impregnable walls come down faster than a house of cards, the courtiers trample one another in their haste to distance themselves from their falling masters and switching loyalties with the next bunch of desperados who are arriving to take over the spoils, is but child's play for them.

The sad truth is that there is no need to touch the Canal or widen it or chop down even a single tree and not the 914, which are tragically marked for slaughter. Can one plead with General Musharraf for clemency in Lahore and elsewhere? We are slitting our own throats. Happily. Lahore, like any other city, suffers not from lack of roads but a lack of law-enforcement. The traffic cannot flow because the average Lahori has still not figured out how to use two lanes, not to mention five that Tepa, Teva, CDG, ABC, XYZ and 123 are dreaming about. Widening roads, as any ass will tell you, only widens the chaos. The day Lahore police is given the power -- withheld for reasons that are too mystifying and fall in the purview of the occult sciences, to enforce the excellent traffic rules and regulations we have, without fear or favour, the traffic here will improve as if God had indeed created a miracle. There are thousands of cars on the roads in a country where policies are so strangely devised that were they to be put together as fiction, they could go on to become best-sellers. More and more imports are flooding the market. Banks are beating a path to your door begging you to buy a car -- any car while oil prices dramatically head for the magical century mark. Instead of investing whatever little money the government has on a really modern and decent public transport network of trains and buses, the need for which has been staring us in the face for years, they are all driven insane by any scheme that borders on lunacy. The trees will be felled not just in Lahore but elsewhere too -- even the green belts will not be spared and all of Lahore will become a great concrete jungle of burning asphalt and super-heated air, just as its new plaza-infected masters desire. The fate of other cities has also been determined and no amount of arguing is going to make an iota of difference today or tomorrow.

The writer is a Lahore-based columnist. Email: masood_news@yahoo.com

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Naresh · (This post was last modified: 06-05-2006, 11:28 AM by Naresh.)

Pakistani Economic Survey 2005-06 â Overview of the Economy

Salient Features :

1. (iii) real per capita GDP grew by 4.7 percent* and per capita income in current dollar term was up by 14.2 percent**, reaching $ 847. (Page I)

2. Per Capita Income Per capita income is one of the main indicators of development. It simply indicates the average level of prosperity in the country or average standard of living of the people in a country. Per capita income defined as Gross National Product at market price in dollar term divided by the countryâs population, grew by an average rate of 13.9 percent per annum during the last four years â rising from $582 in 2002-03 to $847 in 2005-06. Per capita income in dollar term registered an increase of 14.2 percent over last year â rising from $ 742 to $ 847. The main factor responsible for the sharp rise in per capita income include: a sharp pick up in real GDP growth, stable exchange rate, and rise in inflow of workersâ remittances. (Page V)

3. Poverty The fight against poverty represents the greatest challenge of our times. Considerable progress has nevertheless been made in different parts of the world in reducing poverty. The proportion of people living in extreme poverty on global level fell from 28 percent in 1990 to 21 percent in 2001 (on the basis of $1 a day). In absolute numbers the reduction during the period was 130 million with most of it coming from China. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the absolute number of poor actually increased by 100 million during the period. The Central and Eastern Europe and the CIS also witnessed a dramatic increase in poverty. While incidence of poverty declined in South Asia; Latin America and the Middle East witnessed no change.(Page XV)

The latest estimate of inflation â adjusted poverty Iine is Rs.878.64*** per adult equivalent per month â up from Rs.723.40 in 2001. Headcount ratio, i.e., percentage of population living below the poverty line has fallen from 34.46 percent in 2001 to 23.9 percent in 2004-05, a decline of 10.6 percentage points. In absolute numbers the count of poor persons has fallen from 49.23 million in 2001 to 36.45 million in 2004-05. The percentage of population living below the poverty line in rural areas has declined from 39.26 percent to 28.10 percent while those in urban areas, has declined from 22.69 percent 14.9 percent. In other words, rural poverty has declined by 11.16 percentage points and urban poverty is reduced by 7.79 percentage points. Consumption inequality increased marginally during the period. These findings are consistent with the developments on economic scene that have taken place in Pakistan since 2000-01. A strong growth in economy, rise in per capita income, a large inflow of remittances and massive spending on poverty-related and social sector programs were expected to reduce poverty in Pakistan.(Page XVII)

4. Pakistanâs per capita real GDP has risen at a faster pace during the last three years (5.6% per annum on average in rupee terms) leading to a rise in average income of the people. Such increases in real per capita income have led to a sharp increase in consumer spending during the last three years. Per capita income defined as Gross National Product at market price in dollar term divided by the countryâs population, grew by an average rate of 13.9 percent per annum during the last four years â rising from $579 in 2002-03 to $847 in 2005-06. Per capita income in dollar term registered an increase of 14.1 percent over last year â rising from $ 742 to $ 847. ( Page XX & XXI)

5. For promotion of Information Technology, 2339 cities/towns/villages have been provided Internet facility, by March, 2006. Total fixed telephone lines installed by March 2006 were 5.2 million as against 5.1 million up to June 2005 last year. (Page XXII)

In respect of I T there is neither a mention of the Total Industry Turnover nor the Value of Exports.

* Real GDP rises by 4.7%

** Per Capita Income Rises by 14.2%

*** Equates to US 48 Cents Per Day.

Pakinomics at its Best. <!--emo& Confused

tupid--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/pakee.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='pakee.gif' />

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06-05-2006, 09:49 AM

Good catch,
Within one month we have third version.

Naresh · 06-05-2006, 11:23 AM

QUOTE(Mudy @ Jun 5 2006, 09:49 AM)Good catch,
Within one month we have third version.
[right][snapback]52162[/snapback][/right]

Mudy Ji :

Deaf&Dumb.com is now quoting contents from our Forum on the Economic Survey 2005-2006 Thread â prior to the post being corrected.

Cheers <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' />

06-06-2006, 10:56 AM

Nareshji,
Mystery solved. I told you all this GDP etc are ploy to increase defense budget. Here it is

Pakistan raises defence spending by 3.78 percentQUOTEThe defence budget will be 250.18 billion rupees ($4.16 billion) compared with a revised 241.06 billion rupees for the fiscal year ending on June 30.

"Pakistan's impregnable defence is our number one priority," Khan told parliament.


These dumbo pakies stupidity and mathematics is priceless.

Naresh · (This post was last modified: 06-06-2006, 12:54 PM by Naresh.)

QUOTE(Mudy @ Jun 6 2006, 10:56 AM)Nareshji,
Mystery solved. I told you all this GDP etc are ploy to increase defense budget. Here it is

Pakistan raises defence spending by 3.78 percent<div class='quotetop'>QUOTEThe defence budget will be 250.18 billion rupees ($4.16 billion) compared with a revised 241.06 billion rupees for the fiscal year ending on June 30.

A. "Pakistan's impregnable defence is our number one priority," Khan told parliament.


B. These dumbo pakies stupidity and mathematics is priceless.
[right][snapback]52193[/snapback][/right]</div>

Mudy Ji :

A : Comes Naturally to the Harlot of Condomistan!

B : You are âSpot Onâ.

If you want to have the real increase then you should compare the â2006â Budgeted Figures with the â2005â Budgeted Figures not the 2005 REVISED Figures

However, the other benefits of âJacking Up the GDP to Mystic Levels" are :

1. Shortcut As Is and Ilk âcrowingâ : Our Total Debt was 100% of GDP when GDP was USD 68 Billion. Now we have doubled our GDP and halved our Total Debt.

2. With the âDoublingâ of GDP the unrealistic Declared Defence Budget Figure is further lowered. I trust you remember Dr. Ayesha Siddiqaâs interview with DesPardes wherein she declared that the Pakistani Defence Budget in 2001 was, in reality, Pak. Rs. 400 Billion whereas the âDeclared Figureâ was Pak. Rs. 131 Billion.

Four your guidance : A full General is worth Rs 500 million+ :

irshadsalim28: What was the defense budget for the year 2001?

asidd66: 131 billion. If u add these numbers the budget would escalate to over Rs. 400 billion

With inflation and âregular increasesâ the Real Figure of the Pakistani Defence Budget could be over Pak Rs. 700 Million i.e. USD 12 Billion or so. Thus even with the mythical GDP Figure of USD 130 Billion the Real Defence Budget is close to TEN PERCENT

The Paki Idiots do not realize that by âDoublingâ the GDP they have halved the percentage of GDP spent on Health, Education and Welfare!

However, the Indian âDesi Dork Mediaâ are singing the Praises of Pakistanâs Economy Miracle.

May the Present Pakistani Rulers Rule for another Twenty to Thirty Years!

Cheers <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' />

Naresh · 06-06-2006, 12:53 PM

Mudy Ji :

Lo Kur Lo Baat!

Defence budget up by 12 per cent <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Flush.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='Flush.gif' />

ISLAMABAD - Federal Government has increased defence budget by 12 percent allocating Rs 250 billion for fiscal year 2006-2007 as compared to Rs 223.5 billion allocations last year.

Announcing the budget on Monday afternoon, State Minister for Finance Omar Ayub Khan said that the government could not ignore the defence needs of the country.

Major chunk of defence budget Rs.248.23 billion will go to Defence Services. In new financial year Rs 1.7 billion will be spent by Defence and Defence Production Divisions on development projects.

Rao Sikandar Iqbal Federal Minister for Defence termed the increase in defence budget nominal as compared to countryâs defence requirements. âMost of the increase will be used to modernize the weaponry including early warning system for Air Force and frigates for Navy,â he said.

The Minister said it is need of the hour to modernize our forces as the danger still persists.

Federal Government had initially announced Rs 223.5 billion for Defence while presenting budget for the year 2005-2006. It was revised and total expenditure will reach Rs 241.1 billion by the end of current fiscal year. Main reason cited for this increase is the additional expenditure incurred due to October 8, 2005 earthquake.

In 2004-2005 the total allocation for Defence was Rs 211.7 billion. The pension of the retired employees of Armed Forces is not included in the defence budget.

Opposition members in Senate and National Assembly are once again demanding that defence budget should be subject to scrutiny by the Parliament

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Naresh · 06-06-2006, 01:05 PM

Economic Survey <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/liar.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='liar.gif' />

QUOTEA case of âlies, damned lies and statisticsâ? <!--emo& Confused

tupid--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/pakee.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='pakee.gif' /> 

Cheers <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' />

06-06-2006, 08:43 PM

QUOTEEconomic Survey 
I am surprised even he believes in rise in per capita income from $742 to $847.
After earthquake, for a small country it should hit pretty hard, but for Paki's mathematics it worked for better.

Pension is not included in defense budget, what a big fraud?
Why they have budget? Why they fool themselves?

06-06-2006, 10:01 PM

QUOTE Presidentâs House budget increased
By Mohammad Imran
ISLAMABAD: The annual budget for Presidentâs House has been increased by 9.85 percent with Rs 290.224 million allocated for 2006-07 as compared to Rs 261.615 million in 2005-06 budget, which was later revised to Rs 265.415 million.

The president also spent Rs 4 million on grants in 2005-06 against the approved limit of Rs 1 million from his discretionary quota. The main expenditures mentioned in the details of allocations are: Rs 49.06 million for staff and household, Rs 15.7 million for miscellaneous expenses, Rs 16 million for wages of household servants, Rs 7.41 million for maintenance of gardens, Rs 17.24 million for state conveyance and Rs 7.37 million for the establishment of a dispensary.

The president has been allocated Rs 70 million for grants and subsidies and Rs 3.190 million for tour expenses. Another Rs 32.1 million has been allocated for the National Security Council as compared to Rs 29.781 million in the 2005-06 budget.

King of Pakistan now have 4 million to have fun. <!--emo& Big Grin

--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' />

06-06-2006, 10:03 PM

Pakistan poised to become Asian Tiger, UPI -By Khalid Hasan

now tell me why they are not tiger yet? They are dry straw tiger. <!--emo& Tongue

--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' />

Naresh · 06-06-2006, 11:22 PM

Pakistani GDP Doubles in Four Years causing Health Expenditure to drop to 0.51 per cent of the GDP

Health expenditure 0.51pc of GDP : One doctor for 1,310 people

ISLAMABAD, June 4: The public health sector in Pakistan suffers from considerable inadequacies with only one doctor available for 1,310 patients, one dentist for 25,297 people and one nurse for 4,636, according to the Economic Survey 2005-06 released here on Sunday.

Although the ratio between available health facilities and the population has recorded a slight improvement over last year and the number of doctors has increased with the annual addition of around 5,000 medical graduates from private and public sector medical colleges, it is still far below the recommended ratio of one doctor for 1,000 patients.

However, in terms of dentists and nurses, the ratio has recorded a decline compared to the last year when there was one dentist for 25,107 and one nurse for 3,175 people.

The total number of doctors registered with the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council till 2005-6 is 118,160 (18,029 specialists), the number of registered dentists 6,761 (387 specialists) and that of registered nurses 33,427.

There are many bonafide doctors, dentists and nurses who are not registered with the PM&DC but are practising in public-sector medical facilities and private clinics.

In human welfare indicators, Pakistan is still lagging behind compared to other Asian countries, like China, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Poverty, malnutrition, unequal distribution of health facilities and inadequate allocation for the health sector are to be blamed for these deficiencies.

Drug addiction is a growing problem among the youth, with approximately five million addicts of whom 50 per cent are addicted to heroin. The growing number of addicts using syringes poses a great challenge when one considers hidden cases of HIV/Aids and Hepatitis-C.

The use of narcotics also contributes to crime and adds to the cost of already over-burdened healthcare system and the financially strapped social welfare system.

Pakistan is in the middle of an epidemiological transition where almost 40 per cent of the total burden of disease is accounted for by infectious/communicable diseases. These include diarrhoea, acute respiratory infections, malaria, tuberculosis, hepatitis B and C and childhood diseases. Another 12 per cent is due to reproductive health problems. Nutritional deficiencies, particularly iron deficiency anaemia, Vitamin A deficiency and Iodine deficiency disorder, account for a further six per cent of the total.

Non-communicable diseases caused by sedentary lifestyles, environmental pollution, unhealthy dietary habits, smoking, cardiovascular disease, cerebra, vascular accidents diabetes and cancers account for almost 10 per cent of the burden of diseases.

With the increase in life expectancy, disease disability of old age, especially eye problem, paralysis and bone diseases, are also on rise.

In 2005-06, the economic survey said, the total expenditure on health was estimated at Rs40billion of which Rs16 billion was allocated for development and Rs24 billion for current expenditure. These expenditures have shown an increase of 5.3 per cent over last year and worked out to be 0.51 per cent of the GDP.

Over the past three years, public-sector expenditures on health have increased on an average by 11.7 per cent per annum as against 10.6 per cent per annum during the previous five years.

There are 946 hospitals, 5,290 basic health units and sub-health centres, 4,554 dispensaries, 907 mother and child health centres, 552 rural health centres and 289 tuberculosis centres primarily run by provincial governments throughout the country, the report says.

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**acharya** · (This post was last modified: 06-07-2006, 06:12 AM by acharya.)

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

India-Pakistan animosity will be history in 10 years, says Sinha

By Mohammed Rizwan

LAHORE: Yashwant Sinha, former Indian external affairs minister, said on Tuesday that animosity between India and Pakistan would be a thing of the past within 10 years.

Speaking at an interactive dialogue on âIndo-Pak peace: The way forwardâ organised by Pildat at Royal Palm and Country Club, Sinha said the direction of peace between both countries was same envisaged by President Pervez Musharraf and former Indian prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in 2004.

âThe roadmap we came up with in 2004 is staying the course. We knew we would face obstacles, but we also knew that we could either go over them or just bypass them. The simple logic of peace and economics is too powerful to be bogged down by irritants,â he said.

Sinha said a breakdown of the talks and disengagement were not an option regardless of who the head honcho was in New Delhi and Islamabad. However, he said, both countries needed to proceed with caution and patience. âPeople insisting on a timeline are doing a disservice to peace. We have to be cautious and patient in getting to meaningful results. If we link progress to certain issues weâll be shooting ourselves in the foot,â he added.

Sinha also said Kashmir would never be forgotten or put on the backburner. âIndia should not be afraid of dealing with the issue. We must proceed simultaneously on all issues including Kashmir,â he added.

Dismissing a possible role for a superpower in resolving the conflict between both countries, Sinha said, âFor us to look to someone else for arbitration is pathetic. Why should someone else decide what we want for ourselves? I say keep the superpowers out of the subcontinent because if we let them in we both will end up losing.â

He also said no government in Delhi alone could decide the future of Indo-Pak relations. âThere is a complete national consensus in India over the question of peace with Pakistan. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh keeps talking to the BJP and other opposition parties on the issue and there is a convergence of views. Personal rapport between leaders is important, but at the end of the day it is India and Pakistan who talk and not the persons. The dependence on persons has to be given up,â he added.

He said that of all the issues on the table between India and Pakistan, Sir Creek was the most ripe for an immediate solution. âThere are differences on Siachen, but Sir Creek can be resolved immediately. But for the common man, as I have witnessed, the most pressing problem is freer movement across the border and more trade,â he said.

âTrade, economics and peoplesâ movement are keys to lasting peace. I know there are concerns in Pakistan that Indian goods will flood the market and damage the local industry if we allow free trade. We had the same concerns a few years ago vis-Ã -vis China, but today out trade with China is more than $15 billion and we stand in the surplus,â he added.

Host of the dialogue, former foreign and finance minister Sartaj Aziz, said India too must show flexibility on smaller irritants such as Siachen.

**acharya** · (This post was last modified: 06-07-2006, 06:11 AM by acharya.)

<img src='http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/images/2006/06/07/20060607_21.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

<img src='http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/images/2006/06/05/20060605_z4.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

Abject poverty. The government claims the budget for 2006-07, which is scheduled to be announced today (Monday), will have special focus on reducing poverty. Akhtar Soomro

**acharya** · 06-07-2006, 06:11 AM

<img src='http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/images/2006/06/03/20060603_002.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

People take a nap in sewer pipes on a hot afternoon here on Friday. ap

<img src='http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/images/2006/05/31/20060531_002.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

KARCHI - A family watches protesters taking part in a demonstration against regular power cuts. afp

Naresh · 06-07-2006, 11:35 AM

.
Sui plant closed as blast hits pipeline: Vast region affected

QUETTA, June 6: Gas supply to vast areas in the country was suspended late on Tuesday evening when the main compressor plant at Sui was closed after the main pipeline feeding the plant was blown up.

âThe plant has been closed temporarily as a precautionary measure,â official sources in Sui said.

âThe plant will resume operation as soon as the required gas pressure is restored,â sources in the Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) said. The sources said that the repair of the affected pipeline had started.

The PPL sources said that the region to which the supply had been affected stretched from Balochistan to Sindh to Punjab to NWFP.

âGas supply has been stopped to many industrial units, including fertiliser plants, in Punjab, Sindh and other areas of the country,â the sources said.

According to reports, armed men planted a powerful explosive device beneath the pipeline of 20 inches diameter taking gas to the Sui plant from the gas field.

The explosion destroyed a large portion of the pipeline on the outskirts of the Sui township, a senior police officer said.

The sources said that the destruction of the pipeline caused a significant drop in the gas pressure needed to run the plant.

The PPL engineers immediately cut off the affected portion of the pipeline from the rest of the line.

Security forces reached the incident site soon after the blast that rocked the small Sui town.

The engineers launched the repair work on the damaged pipeline under heavy security on Tuesday night.

âWe are trying our best to restore the pressure to restart the plant,â the sources quoted officials as saying. The repair would take at least 20 hours, they said.

KILLED: Meanwhile, one person was killed in a bomb explosion in Panjgur area of Makran on Tuesday. He was identified as Younus Baloch.

A police official said that Younus was a drug addict.

He said Younus had found an explosive device and was carrying it in a bag when it exploded.

Reports reaching here from Bolan district said that three rockets were fired at an FC checkpost in Muach area.

Cheers <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' />

06-07-2006, 11:39 AM

Pakistan a hub of global IT outsourcingâQUOTEAccording to a press release on Tuesday, this milestone was reached under the PSEB program, âStandardization of Pakistani IT industryâ, which was launched in 2003 with a budget of over Rs 200 million. staff report
Pakistan is really IT hub <!--emo& Tongue

--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' />

IBM to invest $6b in India over 3 years

Naresh · 06-07-2006, 11:44 AM

Acharya Ji,

1. Please give a Link to your quoted Articles. Thanks in advance.

2. Pakistani Per Capita Income is a Hoax. Please check the Pakistani F Y 2005 GDP, GNP Per Capita Income etc. as per the State Bank of Pakistan â GDP USD 109 Billion and PCI USD 729 â and compare them with the Pakistani Economic Survey F Y 2005 â GDP about USD 130 Billion and PCI USD 847.

However, the Pakistanis cannot hide the Truth :

$5.7b every year can maintain per capita income

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will need an additional investment of US $5.7 billion every year to maintain its per capita income of $652 under the current population growth rate of 1.9 percent.

According to the Ministry of Population, Pakistan had Rs 20 billion GDP in 1960 with per capita income of $91, which had now increased to $652. In 1960, per capita water availability was 4,000 cubic metres when the countryâs population was 42 million, while in 2000, water availability declined to 1,400 cubic metres per capita with a population of 140 million. In 2003, the countryâs population increased to 149 million, while the availability of water diminished to 1,200 cubic metres. In 2012, water availability will be only 1,000 cubic metres for an expected population of 176 million and in 2020, only 885 cubic metres of water will be available.

According to the Population Ministry data, 43 percent of the countryâs population is less then 14 years of age, 53 percent are between ages of 15 to 65, while four percent of the countryâs population is above 65 years of age. Pakistan shares only 0.6 percent of the worldâs total area of land (0.796 million square kilometres), yet its population share to the world population is 2.36 percent. Pakistan is ranked number six among the most populous countries in the world after China, India, the US, Indonesia and Brazil. In 1950, Pakistan was at number 14.

The ministry under its programme of action, made in line with the recommendations of Ulema summit on population and development, has planned to achieve population growth rate of 1.3 percent by 2020. The ministry also plans to bring down total fertility rate to 2.1 percent from the current rate of 4.1 percent by 2020. Pakistanâs total fertility rate is one of the highest in the world after Afghanistan 6.8, Ethiopia 5.9, Nigeria 5.7 and Sudan 5.4 percent. The contraceptive prevalence rate in the country is 34 percent, which was much lower than most other Muslim countries. Algeria has 64 percent, Bangladesh 54 percent, Egypt 60 percent, Indonesia 60 percent, Iran 74 percent, Malaysia 55 percent, Morocco 63 percent, Turkey 64 percent and Uzbekistan 68 percent. Pakistanâs contraceptive prevalence is only higher than Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Sudan. Afghanistanâs population growth rate is 2.7 percent, Nigeria 2.9 percent, Ethiopia 2.4 percent and Sudan 2.8 percent. Under the programme of action, the ministry had planned to increase contraceptive prevalence rate to 60 percent by 2020 by sensitising the people to the benefits of contraceptives and provide them with better choice of contraceptives.

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06-07-2006, 08:19 PM

QUOTEIn 2003, the countryâs population increased to 149 million, while the availability of water diminished to 1,200 cubic metres. In 2012, water availability will be only 1,000 cubic metres for an expected population of 176 million 
Nareshji,

We think in 2005 Paki population was 168 million, In 2012 it should be around 180 million.

Naresh · 06-07-2006, 09:57 PM

QUOTE(Mudy @ Jun 7 2006, 08:19 PM)
Nareshji,

We think in 2005 Paki population was 168 million, In 2012 it should be around 180 million.
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Mudy Ji :

Most important : You seem to have missed the fact that the Writer States Pakistanâs Per Capita Income as USD 652!

Your Figure of 168 Million could well be right. However the CIA â having a âHeavyâ Presence in Pakistan â in their âThe World Factbookâ stateS Pakistanâs Population : 165,803,560 (July 2006 est.)

With such a Population Explosions the Pakistan will then instead of DUR ROZ JUMAY KAY JUMAY will then BATHE DUR ROZ EID KAY EID

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