<b>ISLAMABAD, Dec 4 : Pakistan will lose 400,000 tons of rice market in the United Arab Emirates in the wake of the proposed move to make DNA testing mandatory for clearance of rice shipments at Dubai ports.</b>
Well-placed sources told Dawn on Monday that some UAE based millers were lobbying for promoting the UK branded DNA test to recapture their eroding market share of basmati in the Middle East following growth in export of basmati from Pakistan.
The DNA testing of UK is a type of non-tariff barrier (NTB). It was developed by UK scientists to tighten imports as per their local labelling requirements, the sources said and added that the Pakistani officials were again seemed ignorant as was in the case of Indian Pusa rice registered as basmati in the EU.
<b>A leading rice exporter on condition of anonymity told Dawn that he had warned of this possibility and development long time back but the powers within Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (Reap) did not then pay heed to the warning and instead took a short-term political view on it. âNow unfortunately, it is possible that within a short time, the UAE could start demanding shipments that are DNA tested based on the controversial UK DNA testing system,â he added.</b>
Pakistan unfortunately, despite the tradeâs opposition, earlier adopted the DNA testing âas an interim measureâ for export of basmati to the EU. Adoption of this controversial test even as âinterim measureâ gives it the stamp of Pakistanâs official approval, he said.
âIf this happens our exporters will face serious impediments to their exports initially to Dubai and then to the entire Middle East, including Iran,â the exporter warned.
The exporter said that the government should not accept the UK DNA testing protocol for basmati as it was mostly based on samples of admixture unofficially and casually obtained by the UK authorities while putting together this testing protocol.
The UK test did not include all approved basmati varieties of Pakistan and it did include informal varieties that may or may not be in existence or from Pakistan. âWe must emphasise that an indigenous Pakistan DNA testing protocol must be developed urgently,â he added.
âOur indigenous test must be based on all approved basmati varieties growing anywhere in Pakistan and with known approved non-basmati varieties as adulterants/admixturesâ, the exporter added.
indian 'experts' are saying this is a good proposal.? are we expected to leave kashmir to the paki sympathisers and terrorists? what is everyone's take on mushy's proposal.
<b>Indian diplomats have been maltreated in Pakistan: Pranab </b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Noting that officers and staff members of the Indian mission were subjected to "constant surveillance" by Pakistani intelligence and security personnel, he said "There has often been close, visible and occasionally even aggressive tailing of officers of the mission and their spouses.
"There have also been other forms of maltreatment and intimidatory tactics," the minister said in a written reply.
Giving details of some of the recent incidents, Pranab said in October this year there was an attempted break-in into the residence of an official, while in August, an official was illegally detained and interrogated.
In March last year, an official was intercepted and assaulted and in February that year, the residence of an official was broken into, Pranab said.
"Such actions are in violation of obligations under the Vienna Convention of 1961 and the bilateral 'code of conduct for treatment of diplomatic-consular personnel in India and Pakistan.â <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
But peace process should continue, When Indian govt can talk with Pakistan after Mumbai blast, why they are making fuss against incidence which is so minute.
Send Mani Shankar Aiyar, everything will be fine.
<b>WASHINGTON (Online) â The US State Department has warned Americans against travelling to Pakistan in view of increased danger of terrorism, reports VOA.</b> State Department statement said that the presence of Al-Qaeda, Taliban and sectarian elements was a threat to Americans, especially in the border areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Further, it had been told that increasing tensions in the ME had raised the possibility of violence for the western people in Pakistan.
<b>KARACHI : A case against the non-implementation of the Kalat Treaty would be filed in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) by the end of January, Khan of Kalat Mir Ahmed Suleman Dawood said Thursday.
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>âAccording to the treaty only three subjects - defence, foreign affairs and currency - would be kept by the center, while Balochistan would be free to make policymaking decisions in the rest of matters,â Khan said. Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah signed the treaty with the state of Kalat.</span></b> He said that they were once again considering filing a petition in the Supreme Court, although the apex court had refused to hear the case last time.
The Khan of Kalat said this while talking to journalists at the hunger strike camp outside the Karachi Press Club. The National Party had organized the strike to protest the ongoing military operation in Balochistan. Khan said that talks with President Pervez Musharraf were possible but this time the president had to come to Awan-e-Kalat in Balochistan. He feared that there could be a Kashmir-like situation in Balochistan if the province were not given its rights as mentioned in the Kalat Treaty. National Party Senior Vice-President Sardar Sanaullah Khan Zehri, who is also a tribal chief of Jhalwan, member Balochistan Assembly Mir Jan Mohammad Buledi, former senator Tahir Bizenjo, former senator Manzoor Gichki, National Workers Party Secretary-General Yousuf Masti Khan, Awami National Party leader Muhammad Amin Khattak and several workers were present on the occasion. staff report
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->SUCHGUPÂ
<b>No Sonia</b>
Big Ben when asked why she would not want to be a Pakistani Sonia Gandhi, replied, drawing herself up to her full height, âBecause, my dear, I am not Italianâ. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<b>Only in Pakistan...</b>
Deep in the Salt Range, in a picturesque valley there is a cement factory, inappropriately named after its poor labourers. A couple of months ago, the management of Poverty-ville Cement decided to lay off 260 workers without explanantion and more importantly, without approrpriate compensation. The workers protested and the rest of the work force downed tools in a strike to express solidarity with their laid-off co-workers. Instead of negotiating with their workers, the management hired hundreds of armed thugs from a neighbouring tribal area and sought to browbeat the workers into submission.
The conscientious local nazim and the Chakwal police got wind of the arrival of hundreds of armed militiamen in their district, went to Poverty-ville Cement and arrested the hired thugs. The management went running to Isloo and knocked on Shortcut âs door who they say is a friend of the ownerâs. Our mole reports that Shortcut ordered the district nazim to get the entire hired militia released and all charges dropped. And so it has happened. Only in the Land of the Pure ...
<b>Our lives in their hands</b>
Readers will have come across a small news item in the press recently about an aircraft of our national carrier which fell precipitiously mid-flight due to an âair pocketâ. We would never have known the truth had it not been for the fact that a high aviation officialâs daughter and her toddler son were on the flight, as wasa powerful senator who raised a right ruckus on his arrival in Isloo. The daughter complained to her father and he asked for a thorough enquiry. It transpires that the aircraftâs auto pilot mechanism was faulty and when the plane plunged thousands of feet the pilot tried to operate it manually. He was inexperienced and nervous and while he steadied the craft for a few minutes, it went into free fall again. This happened a total of three times and the aircraft had plunged thousands of feet by the time it stabilised. The aviation officialâs daughter and other passengers described the horrific experience to their near and dear ones. It was only at the aviation officialâs insistence that an enquiry was launched and the fault with the auto pilot discovered.
The problem with our national carrier is that many of its staffers have left the airline for better prospects elsewhere, particularly in the Middle East with the result that our aircraft are neither properly maintained nor manned. The paucity of qualified ground staff is particularly appalling. Recently, 120 engineers handed in their resignations and they were not accepted. The engineers were doubtless moving on to greeener pastures. Rumour has itthat the management of our national carrier has doubled the engineersâ salaries and persuaded them to stay on.
+++++
<b>Nuggets from the Urdu press </b>
Reversal of marriage sequence
Sarerahe wrote in daily Nawa-i-Waqt that in an English newspaper there was a picture of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, with their daughter, who were getting married at the end of the week. The followers of the temple of enlightened ones shall be glad that we can see such pictures of our future in our newspapers. Very soon, the interest will be paid in advance and the original amount will be received later. Just now, we have seen the emergence of Womenâs protection bill and are waiting for many more results from the bill. In western countries, the sequence of marriages has reversed.
<b>Newspapers not allowed in madrassas</b>
Columnist Zamurd Naqvi, in daily Express, opined that our ulema karam are still living in the medieval era. The daily newspapers and magazines are banned in dini madaris. These students are kept in check so that their brains are not tainted with modern knowledge. These ulema donât fight on the timings of prayers, but create a religious war on the sighting of Ramadan and Shawal moons. The rest of the year, we see no fight on a moon sighting.
<b>Bullet ridden body killed in bomb attack</b>
According to Daily Pakistan, a bullet ridden body of a 40 year-old was found near the fields in Bajaur. His name was Jan Mohammad and he was living 2 kilometers away from the Bajaur madrassa. Local residents suspected him of spying for the government and he roamed around with a satellite phone. His body was found ridden with bullets but anti-government leader Maulana Faqir Mohammad said he was killed in Baujaur bombing.
<b>Question paper is out for us!</b>
According to daily Nawa-i-Waqt, the amir of Tablighi Jamaat, Maulana Abdul Wahab stated that the world is like an examination hall. The question paper was shown to the Muslims before the examination. Even then, if we failed the exams then only death will be the result. He said Muslims are insulted and trampled because of their aloofness from Islam. If they unite sincerely, the power of God will also favor them, and then they would dominate the Christians and Jews (yahood-o-nasara).
<b>Bajaur injured disappear</b>
According to Daily Pakistan, the injured of Bajaur bombing have disappeared from the hospitals of Peshawar. They were under pressure from the government to remain silent. The Khyber medical centre did not confirm whether they were taken away by some agencies or if they disappeared themselves. Some sources claimed that they were taken by Jamaat Islami, but the injured were not in found in Al Khidmat hospital or Al Kuwait hospital.
<b>Dual standards of Muslims</b>
As reported in daily Khabrain, senior Bishop of Church of England, Nazir Ali, was the son of a Muslim but later converted to Christianity. He criticised the dual standards of Muslims who an support invasion of when Muslims are victims of violence, like in Kosovo and Bosnia. But invasion against Muslims is considered wrong, when Muslims are themselves aggressors and terrorists, like in Afghanistan and Iraq. He said no one can satisfy the demands of Muslims as new ones will keep cropping up. He criticised the British government of back tracking on the issue of removing the fanaticism from the British mosques. He said that some ideas and notions of Muslims were not rejected, which is why Muslim religious scholars are spreading fanaticism and hatred on the internet in Britian.
<b>Nikah or gang rape</b>
In daily Express, veteran columnist Athar Tahir wrote that the clerical alliance got trapped in its own politics. Opponents called it the alliance of hypocrites, and Ayaz Amir has called it the national symbol of hypocrisy. It canât be said that they are being punished for hypocrisy as no one was ever punished for hypocrisy in this country. The country was facing gang rapes from its inception and the 17th amendment was a historical gang rape of democracy. The MMA had its pleasure with the government. Some day it might come to light that âangelsâ brought MMA into existence to use them to solemnize this âgang rapeâ as ânikahâ.
<b>Iqbal Day under the influence of clerics</b>
According to daily Nawa-i-Waqt Markazia Majlis-i-Iqbal celebrated Iqbal Day at Alhamra complex. During his speech, when Professor Fateh Mohammad Malik said, âif Allama Iqbal was alive todayâ¦â some one from the hall said, âhe would have been under house arrest like Dr AQ Khanâ. Qazi Hussain Ahmad said that Allama Iqbal is not against the Mullah Omar, the audience shouted, âAl Jihad! Al Jihadâ. Mujib ur Rehman Shami said iqbal was wali ullah and a qalander. Qazi Hussain Ahmad created an emotionally charged atmosphere when he described the events of Bajaur incident in front of the audience and some people were seen with tears in their eyes.
<b>Emotional parade on Wahga border</b>
As reported in daily Nawa-i-Waqt, foreign office representative Tasnim Aslam said it is only rumor that the emotional flag ceremonies on the Wahga border will end. She said both the countries are free to decide about the practice. If India ends the emotional element in the conventional parade on the Wahga border, then Pakistan would decide about stopping this practice from its side.
<b>Christian boy married Muslim girl for money</b>
As reported in daily Nawa-i-Waqt, a Christian, Nauman Khalid, trapped a Muslim girl on the telephone and then married her to swindle lacs of rupees and gold jewellery from her. When the girl told her family, Nauman Khalid produced documents that he had converted to Islam and they were married again. When she got to know that Nauman had four different identity cards and his religion was really Christianity, she came back to her parentâs house. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Top Ten New ScentsBeing Marketed By Pakistan
AyedaÂ
 Â
10. Smoky
 9. Lâeau de Gober
 8. Diesel by Diesel
 7. From Dust to Dust
 6. Scent of a Dead Chicken
 5. Scent of a Man
 4. Eau de Toilette
 3. Pure Essence of Garbage
 2. Lâeau de Ganda Naala
 1. Lâeau de Susu
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Sunni bomb, Shia bomb </b>
FT
Khaled Ahmed
We can kill each other in the hope that collateral damage from our bombs will be so big that the nations we really hate will also be annihilated in the processÂ
 Â
Who will scare whom in the Middle East with a nuclear bomb? Iran is supposed to be poised to make a bomb so that it wonât be threatened again and again with regime change. It thinks that if you have the bomb you canât be invaded. Thatâs what the world thought too.
Pakistan said India had made the bomb so Pakistan too should have it or become Indiaâs slave. In 1999, India nearly invaded Pakistan, ignoring its bomb. Now Pakistanâs bomb is thought to be dangerous for Pakistan, especially if the clergy takes over in Islamabad.
Pakistanâs bomb was also called the Islamic bomb. Some of the money for it had come from the Arabs, so it became the property of the entire Islamic world. A religious bomb, if you please. We said the Quran had actually allowed its building in Sura Anfal.
Then Iran had its revolution which threatened the Arabs. Pakistan was used to old Iran as its strategic depth under the Shah. Since the Arabs came under pressure from Iran in the Gulf they got Pakistan and Taliban to pressure Iran from the east. Arab money and Pakistani clerics mounted an anti-Iran campaign in the 1980s.
Pakistan and Iran clashed in Afghanistan in 1998 and the Taliban ended up killing Iranian diplomats in Mazar-e-Sharif. There were first-ever anti-Pakistan processions in Tehran after that. Iran brought troops up to the Afghan border and threatened it. Strangely, the Taliban threatened Iran with a nuclear strike!
It was quite clear. The Taliban had no nuclear bombs. Iran understood that the message had come from Pakistan. It thus developed that Pakistanâs bomb was after all not an Islamic bomb; it was a Sunni bomb. And it was not actually meant for India!
Vali Nasr in his book The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam will Shape the Future says just that, and concludes that it was Pakistanâs Sunni bomb that first pushed Iran to think of its bomb in the 1990s: a Shia bomb (p.222). This poses yet another problem.
You canât even say that Iranâs bomb would be Islamic, let alone Shia. In fact, there will be no bomb. Spiritual Leader Khamenei says the Quran prohibits the making of a weapon of mass destruction. But Pakistan found its bomb in Sura Anfal! Who is telling the truth?
Author Ray Takeyh in his book Hidden Iran: Paradox and Power in the Islamic Republic also says that Iran thought of its bomb only after it began fearing that a nuclear Pakistan might be grabbed by the Deobandi clergy (p.141). Once again Pakistanâs bomb is being seen as a Sunni bomb.
This immediately triggers another discussion. Both Iran and Pakistan believe in martyrdom as explained in the Quran. When a Muslim dies in war he is shaheed , which means he remains physically alive.
This doctrine will work on India: when we destroy an Indian city with our nuclear bomb, all the Hindus will die; but when India destroys Pakistani cities all the Muslims will be shaheed which means physically alive. Indian Muslims will be the divine collateral damage.
President Ahmadinejad is naïve. He has started threatening Israel before he has got the bomb. Now Israel is thinking of doing something about it. Immediately other problems come to the fore. Can Iran be safe through âmutually assured destructionâ (MAD) with Israel? The problem is geographic: Israel can target Tehran but Tehran canât target Tel Aviv without killing the Arabs and destroying the First Kaaba.
Iran and Israel will achieve MAD and become safe from each other. Iranâs bomb on the other hand will allow Iran to dominate the Arabs. A Shia bomb will finally turn the tide of Sunniâs persecution of the Shia. But the Arabs will turn to Pakistanâs Sunni bomb for help.
Immediately, a doctrinal glitch will give pause. Who will remain physically alive and who will stay dead if both sides are Muslim? This complication was espied by the Deobandi-Wahhabi ulema of Pakistan in the mid-1980s. With much financial blandishment from the Arabs to sharpen the Pakistani mind, it was decided to declare the Shia non-Muslims.
Since the Constitution has not been duly changed to send the Shia out of the pale of Islam, we kill them in sectarian incidents. We have so far done to death thousands of innocent Shias in Pakistan.
Pakistan can launch its Sunni bomb on Iran after apostatising the Shia. Pakistan is used to this. It apostatised the Ahmedis in the 1973 Constitution when its ink was hardly dry. If the Shia of Iran are no longer Muslims they will no longer achieve martyrdom. Once this is done all the great monuments of Iran that are a part of Pakistanâs cultural identity can easily be sacrificed, like the Buddhas of Bamiyan.
After seeing how the Muslims kill each other in Iraq in order to defeat the Americans, one can forget about a secular bomb, an all-purpose device that only non-Muslims can make. An Islamic bomb is do-able, but it has the tendency of morphing itself into a Sunni or a Shia bomb soon after its birth.
We can kill each other in the hope that collateral damage from our bombs will be so big that the nations we really hate will also be annihilated in the process
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>War at the cost of peace </b>
Iqbal Khattak
<b>The presence of a new Taliban commander manifests the complexity of the problem for Pakistan </b>
 Â
The anti-NATO Pashtun tribes, now subsumed under the generic appellation, Taliban, may be in the process of effecting structural reorganisation of their forces in order to operate more effectively against NATO troops deployed in Afghanistan.
The plans to reorganise almost dovetail with divisions within the European Union on how to cope with the growing insurgency that has seen the Taliban resort to set-piece battles against entrenched troops instead of operating in small groups and relying on classic guerrilla hit-and-run tactic.
But as one military expert told TFT, the new and bolder style of warfare also demands more âemphasis on discipline among the Taliban to become operationally more competitive in combat environmentâ.
Analysts are unsure of what âimpactâ the development in South Waziristan might have on North Waziristan where, on September 5, the government cut a deal with the Taliban. But they are concerned that renewed military activity which could be traced back to Pakistani tribal areas could bring more pressure on Pakistan from the coalition forces operating inside Afghanistan and currently facing intensified pressure from the insurgents. âPakistan could be seen as helping and allowing the Taliban to reorganise and attack coalition troops,â says an analyst.
But as one insider pointed out, this would be a poor reading of a complex situation. âPakistan is concerned primarily with keeping its tribal belt quiet. We have lost several hundred troops in trying to fight these people and this is one reason for taking the political route, making deals and keeping these people from attacking troops,â he says.
The situation is typified by the role currently being played by a certain âMullahâ Muhammad Nazir, the new ameer (commander) of tribal militants/Taliban in South Waziristan. âNazir is young, moderate and pro-Pakistan,â a tribal elder who met the militant commander in South Waziristan told TFT over the phone from Wana. Nazirâs background and story evinces the difficult choices Islamabad has to make.
Nazir, said to be in his 40s, was on the governmentâs most-wanted list and surrendered to the authorities in 2004. Interrogators declared him âwhiteâ (clean and clear) and he was released in late 2004 at the time the top five commanders of the Nek Muhammad group inked a peace accord with the government in Shakai.
A source reveals that Nazirâs selection as ameer followed a visit by a high-powered Taliban jirga from Afghanistan. The jirga had come to stabilise the situation in South Waziristan where âbad guysâ camouflaged as Taliban were creating âbad bloodâ between the jihadis and the local Wazir tribes. Targeted killings, say tribal elders, were tarnishing the Taliban image and their âincreasingly unbecomingâ behaviour was driving the local population away. Except for one or two members from Pakistanâs tribal areas, all those who comprised the jirga were Afghans. Reports say it was sent by the Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar.
Sources say that the 2004 deal with the government created factions among the Taliban, largely along Pashtun and Uzbek/Arab lines. âThe foreigners were not happy with the deal and there was a lot of tension,â says a local tribal leader.
This is corroborated by officials, one of whom told TFT that the government waited with some excitement a clash within the Taliban. The foreigners, especially Uzbeks, were attacking army troops and installations and also killing local tribesmen. Around 150 pro-government tribal elders have been killed since the November 2004 deal between militants and the government. Prominent among them was former senator Malik Faridullah Khan. With security forcesâ returning to the barracks following that deal, local militants in general and foreign militants in particular gained much freedom to move around. Taliban commander Malik Khanan in Shakai Valley thus launched a campaign against the Uzbeks who, in response, made two unsuccessful attempts to assassinate Khanan.
The local population was getting increasingly impatient with the âmisbehaviourâ of Uzbek militants. According to tribal sources, the Taliban jirga held extensive meetings with tribal commanders after which Mullah Nazir was âunanimouslyâ appointed the ameer of the mujahideen for South Waziristan. Two eight- and four-member committees were also constituted to âimprove the public image of the Talibanâ.
Under this arrangement, no decision taken by an eight-member committee can be executed without approval of another four-member committee, seen as the supreme body. This body includes Mullah Nazir, Haji Omar, Haji Bakhta Jan, a North Waziristan-based Afghan commander, and Usman, said to be an Uzbek. Under the new rules of engagement, executions cannot be carried out unless the four-member committee approves the guilty verdict passed by the eight-member committee.
The Taliban jirga also decided to dissolve two splinter groups led by one Ghulam Jan and a certain Iftikhar. A central office was opened in Wana for Mullah Nazir. A special committee was also constituted for donations.
Nazir, since taking over, has also banned the recruitment of children below the age of 18. âChildren of school-going age should attend schools instead of waging jihad,â Nazir said when issuing directives after taking over the command of the Taliban.
The problem for the government is that Nazir has chalked out rules of engagement that rely on selective use of violence and also forbid the militants from attacking Pakistani troops. As one senior official put it: âThe good thing about the new Taliban commander is that he avoids engaging Pakistani forces. He believes attacking Pakistani security forces is akin to attacking his own people.â
However, while Nazir has made it easier for Pakistan army and paramilitary troops, under his command the unified splinter groups make no bones about their intention to launch attacks across the border and establish a single chain of command to increase combat effectiveness.
âThe problem is that if the government gets rid of Nazir, it may not be able to stop the Taliban from crossing over into Afghanistan but it would surely invite a new round of violence against own troops,â says this official, adding: âAlso, this shows that the insurgency is now a Pashtun resistance against foreign troops in Afghanistan.â
Nazir is both a boon and a bane.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>KARACHI, Dec 7 : The total liquid foreign reserves held by the country fell down by $175.3 million at $12,303.1m on December 2, 2006, State Bank of Pakistan announced here on Thursday.</b> According to the break up, the central bank held $10,051.3 million whereas other banks held $2,251.8 million.âAPP
Nareshji,
Time had come this Mudy should educate Moody, and will ask some easy questions. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteBegin-Mudy+Dec 8 2006, 08:47 PM-->QUOTE(Mudy @ Dec 8 2006, 08:47 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Nareshji,
Time had come this Mudy should educate Moody, and will ask some easy questions. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' /><!--endemo-->
[right][snapback]61844[/snapback][/right]<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>Mudy Ji :</b>
I unequivocally reiterate <b>More Power To You</b>
LAHORE - Like foreign debt the domestic debt has also expanded by 50 billion rupees in first three months of the current financial year, The Nation learnt on Friday.
From July to September period of this fiscal the domestic debt has enlarged to 2.343 trillion rupees as against 2.293 trillion in June 2006. In percentage the growth on domestic debt amounts to 2.18 per cent in three months of this fiscal.
According to available details, the overall domestic debt has shown increase in first three months of this fiscal because of growth in the treasury bills and national saving instruments.
The unfunded debt, comprising different treasury bills has increased by 41.21 billion rupees while the floating debt, consisting of national saving schemes surged by 14.48 billion rupees from July-September 2006.
The permanent debt, however, depicted 5.58 billion rupees negative growth in this fiscal during the period under review. Permanent debt comprises various types of federal government bonds and market loans.
In foreign exchange the domestic debt amounts to 38.49 billion dollars when calculated at the dollar-rupee parity of 60:87 rupees, announced by the State Bank of Pakistan on Friday.
The total external debt, liabilities and domestic debt stand at 76.21 billion dollars by September 2006 _ 37.72 billion dollars foreign debt and liabilities and 38.49 billion dollars worth domestic debt.
From July to September 2006 the foreign debt has also increased by 480 million dollars, 1.28 per cent, as it stood at 37.24 billion dollars in June 2006. The foreign debt of the country has been showing increase since the last financial year. In 2005-06 the foreign debt and liabilities surged by 1.43 billion dollars and stood at 37.26 billion dollars, from 35.83 billion dollars in 2004-05. In 2003-04 the foreign debt skipped below 35.50 billion dollars mainly because of the pre-payment of 1.60 billion dollars worth expensive debt that was in addition to regular repayment of the foreign debt.
Increase in foreign lending in last one year in the wake of October 2005 devastating earthquake the foreign debt has moved ahead in 2005-06 and in first quarter of this fiscal, said the official sources.
They said the percentage of growth of the domestic and foreign debt has declined to bottom as against the traditional annual increase of 8-12 per cent in the past, before 2002-03.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>KARACHI - The actual trade deficit in the current financial year is expected to hit the record high mark of 14 billion dollars against the revised projection of 12.20 billion dollars of the Ministry of Commerce.</b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->ISLAMABAD/KARACHI, Dec 8 : <b>The International Monetary Fund has expressed concern over Pakistanâs large current account deficit</b>, warning that further widening could compromise external debt sustainability.
During consultations with officials of the finance division in Islamabad, the IMF proposed a raft of measures to arrest the deficit. <b>The measures include the raising of electricity charges, <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>devaluing the rupee by 10 per cent</span> and the floatation of investment bonds.</b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Nareshji,
I was thinking, why Pakis are testing missiles? why suddenly they have decided to show off manhood?
Now I think, something is coming. Mushy and Shortcut have created a real financial mess for Paki Army to deal. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Nareshji,
I was thinking, why Pakis are testing missiles? why suddenly they have decided to show off manhood?
Now I think, something is coming. Mushy and Shortcut have created a real financial mess for Paki Army to deal. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
[right][snapback]61912[/snapback][/right]
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>Mudy Ji :</b>
1. Pakis are Testing the âMeejilesâ as India has tested a few. Good another âMeejileâ less in the Pakistani Store Room! In addition it takes the euphoria caused by tests in the General Pakistani public takes the Average Abdul Rehman's & Abdul Rehmania's mind away from the dire problems of day-to-day life!
2. Shortcut Asis is just a Factum Factotum to Mush the Tush.
The combination reminds me of Colonel Cargil in <b>Catch 22</b>. I think you may find it on Page 36 â Soft Back Edition.
The crux of the matter is that Pakistanâs Resources are being spent on the Military without any regards to the effect it will have on Pakistanâs Financial & Economic Situation. I draw your attention to the following Article :
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>The report further said the fiscal deficit during the first quarter of FY 2006-07 stood at Rs 86.7 billion (1 per cent of projected GDP of Rs 8,808 billion), a sharp increase from Rs 37.7 billion (0.5 per cent of the GDP) in the first quarter of the previous financial year. âThis was largely on account of rising development expenditure <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>as well as large âunidentifiedâ expenditures of Rs 33 billion,â the report commented.</span></b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Mudy Ji, this is over USD Half Billion over a period of Three Months. God only knows of the number of Expenses under other Heads-Items, which, are being Shovelled into the Pakistani Militaryâs Bottomless Pit.
The way things are going about in Pakistan one does not see any sign of Hope other than <b>Uncle and Underwear Friend</b> coming to Pakistanâs rescue and save it from Failing as a State.
Meantime here is another Article commenting on the possible Devaluation of the Pakistani Rupee :
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The International Monetary Fund issued its annual report on Pakistan's economy, in which the country is stated to be making satisfactory progress, a private TV channel reported.
<b>Owing to the increasing trade deficit of the country, <!--emo&:flush--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Flush.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='Flush.gif' /><!--endemo-->the report signalled 20 per cent downward move in rupeeâs value<!--emo&:flush--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Flush.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='Flush.gif' /><!--endemo--> and urged the transparent utilisation of national resources and implementation of elastic policies.</b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
It seems that there is no dearth of such âEncouraging Newsâ in Pakistan!
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Textbook case of 2-nation spin </b>
Pioneer.com
Kanchan Gupta | New Delhi
Six decades after India's blood-soaked partition on the basis of the Muslim League's two-nation theory, passionately espoused by Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has ordered the revision of textbooks to bring them in conformity with his thesis of "enlightened moderation".
If carried through, the reason for Pakistan's creation - Muslims cannot live with Hindus - and why lakhs of Muslim families, including that of Gen Musharraf, migrated to the League's 'promised land', will be made to stand on its head.
Pakistani media reports suggest that the Education Ministry, headed by Gen Javed Ashraf Qazi, has brought about "drastic changes" in the national curriculum for 'Pakistan Studies', which will be incorporated in textbooks beginning 2007. The new curriculum will have to be followed by all provinces.
The changes, aimed at promoting "enlightened moderation" as opposed to Islamisation that formed the basis of the national curriculum till now, will lead to the inclusion of at least three new chapters seeking to halt Pakistan's spiralling descent into radical Islamism.
Apart from dealing with Gen Musharraf's economic privatisation policies and his "vision of enlightened moderation", they will redefine the two-nation theory, remove "hate speech" and remind minorities of Jinnah's August 11, 1947 speech.
Till now, students in Pakistan have been taught, in keeping with historical records, that the two-nation theory that led to their country's creation was based on the League's assertion that Muslims, as a religious community, were culturally, socially and even racially different from Hindus and thus formed a separate nation.
A senior official, quoted in The Daily Times, says the revised textbooks will now define the two-nation theory and Pakistan's ideology "with specific reference to the economic and social deprivation of Muslims in India" by the then British colonial Government.
"An effort has been made to exclude all such material that promotes prejudice against the non-Muslims of pre-partition India. Pakistan's ideology has been explained with reference to the pronouncements of Allama Iqbal and Quaid-e-Azam," the official has been quoted as saying.
Gen Musharraf's spin-masters are obviously trying to make his "enlightened moderation" appear to be an extension of the "enlightened politics" of Iqbal and Jinnah so that the curriculum changes are more palatable for Pakistanis. But history cannot be short-circuited to suit a military ruler's desire to be seen as a reincarnation of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. The Muslim League, formed in Dhaka a hundred years ago to the month, never wavered from its fundamental belief that Muslims of undivided India were "a distinct and separate nation" from the Hindus, which it preached from its separatist platform.
Its demand for separate electorates evolved into the demand for a separate state whose basis, as League documents show, was "neither territorial, racial, linguistic nor ethnic; but based on adherence to Islam".
Allama Iqbal was the first to articulate this demand on December 29, 1930 at the League's 25th session in Allahabad when he thundered, "I would like to see the Punjab, the North-West Frontier Province, Sind and Baluchistan amalgamated into a single state... No Muslim politician should be sensitive to the taunt embodied in that propaganda word 'communalism'. We are seventy millions and far more homogeneous than any other people in India. Indeed, the Muslims of India are the only Indian people who can truly be described as a nation in the modern sense of the word."
Ten years later, the 'Lahore Resolution' was adopted by the League on March 23, 1940, providing the ideological basis for India's partition along communal lines in 1947. At that session, Jinnah had declared,<b> "Mussalmans are a nation according to any definition of a nation, and they must have their homelands, their territory, and their state."</b>
<b>A year before Jinnah travelled to preside over the destiny of what he described as a "moth-eaten Pakistan", he called for "direct action" on August 16, 1946, to serve an ultimatum on the colonial Government and the Congress which still nourished hopes of avoiding partition. The horrendous slaughter of Hindus on 'Direct Action Day' had nothing to do with Gen Musharraf's definition of two-nation theory based on the "economic and social deprivation of Muslims in India".</b>
Negating history is not easy, no matter how lofty the purpose. Ironically, emir of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Qazi Hussain Ahmed understands this better than Gen Musharraf. Reacting to the change in curriculum, he told newspersons in Lahore,<b> "Those who are saying that Pakistan came into being not because of Hindu-Muslim differences but social and economic deprivation, are in fact negating the Constitution of Pakistan itself."</b>
The emir was referring to the Objective Resolution of 1949 whose text is the Preamble to Pakistan's Constitution. Perhaps, Gen Musharraf could take a second look at the document that legitimises the existence of his country.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->LAHORE â <b>Pakistan would sustain a huge current account deficit of 26.20 billion dollars in five years.</b>
The country is expected to brave 5.6 billion dollars current account deficit in 2006-07; 5.6 billion dollars in 2007-08; 5.2 billion dollars in 2008-09; 5.2 billion dollars in 2009-10 and 4.6 billion dollars in 2010-11.
International Monetary Fund has disclosed this in its assessment of the economy of Pakistan under the Pakistan 2006 Article IV Consultation.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo--> 
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' /><!--endemo-->