Pakistan : Terrorist Wahabi Islamic Rep Pakistan 7

[sumishi]

[size="3"][url="http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article2554499.ece"]The ‘Arab Spring’ and beyond[/url]: The Hindu, October 20, 2011



[/size][indent][size="3"][quote name="MADANJEET SINGH (founder of the South Asia Foundation)"]... ... ... ... ...



The Arab Springers seem well on their way towards subscribing to the Sunni majoritarian culture and becoming another “epicentre of terrorism” like Pakistan, where even the moderate civilians are throwing rose petals on the assassin of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, who was assassinated for defending a Christian woman condemned to die for insulting Islam. The judge of the Anti-Terrorism Court who sentenced Mumtaz Qadri to death has gone into hiding after lawyers attacked his courtroom, and a spate of protests and death threats. Banner-carrying mobs in Lahore, Rawalpindi and other cities are “saluting Qadiri’s glory,” and some fundamentalist organisations have announced huge rewards for anyone who would kill the judge.



“Pakistan once had a violent, rabidly religious lunatic fringe. This fringe has morphed into a majority. The liberals are now the fringe. We are now a nation of butchers and primitive savages. Europe’s Dark Ages have descended upon us,” said Professor Pervez Hoodbhoy, at the Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad.[/quote]

[/size][/indent]

[Naresh]

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[url="http://koolblue.wordpress.com/tag/pervez-hoodbhoy/"]Pakistan is destined to drown in blood from civil war - Pervez Hoodbhoy[/url]



The War within Islam



I am sharing with you some lines that I have just written for family and friends who are warning me :



Whatever one might think of Governor Salman Taseer’s politics, he was killed this Wednesday for what was certainly the best act of his life : trying to save the life of an illiterate, poor, peasant Christian woman.



But rose petals are being showered upon his murderer. He is being called a ghazi, lawyers are demonstrating spontaneously for his release, clerics refused to perform his funeral rites. Most shockingly, the interior minister – his political colleague and the ultimate coward – has said that he too would kill a blasphemer with his own hands.



Pakistan once had a violent, rabidly religious lunatic fringe. This fringe has morphed into a majority. The liberals are now the fringe. [color="#FF0000"]We are now a nation of butchers and primitive savages.[/color] Europe’s Dark Ages have descended upon us.



Sane people are being terrified into silence. After the assassination, FM-99 (Urdu) called me for an interview. The producer tearfully told me (offline) that she couldn’t find a single religious scholar ready to condemn Taseer’s murder. She said even ordinary people like me are in short supply.



[color="#FF0000"]I am deeply depressed today. So depressed that I can barely type these lines.[/color]



Yesterday a TV program on blasphemy (Samaa, hosted by Asma Shirazi) was broadcast (it’ll be rebroadcast today). Asma had pleaded that I participate. So I did – knowing fully well what was up ahead. But I could not bear to watch the broadcast and turned it off after a few minutes.



My opponents were Farid Paracha (spokesman, Jamaat-e-Islami) and Maulana Sialvi (Sunni Tehreek, a Barelvi and supposed moderate). There were around 100 students in the audience, drawn from colleges across Pindi and Islamabad.



Even as the mullahs frothed and screamed around me (and at me), I managed to say the obvious : [color="#FF0000"]that the culture of religious extremism was resulting in a bloodbath in which the majority of victims are Muslims; that non-Muslims were fleeing Pakistan;[/color] that the self-appointed "thaikaydars" of Islam in Pakistan were deliberately ignoring the case of other Muslim countries like Indonesia which do not have the death penalty for blasphemy; that debating the details of Blasphemy Law 295-C did not constitute blasphemy; that American Muslims were very far from being the objects of persecution; that harping on drone attacks was an irrelevancy to the present discussion on blasphemy.



The response? Not a single clap for me. Thunderous applause whenever my opponents called for death for blasphemers. And loud cheers for Qadri, the murderer. When I directly addressed Sialvi and said he had Salman Taseer’s blood on his hand, [color="#FF0000"]he exclaimed "How I wish I did!" (kaash ke main hota!).[/color]



Islamofascism is a reality. [color="#FF0000"]This country is destined to drown in blood from civil war.[/color] I wish people would stop writing rubbish about Pakistan having an image problem. It’s the truth that’s really the problem.



Am I afraid? Yes, I’d be crazy not to be. And never more than at the present time. [color="#FF0000"]The battle for sanity has been lost. Many friends have written to me to leave Pakistan.[/color] How can I? One must keep fighting as long as possible. It is what we owe to future generations.



Cheers

[Guest]

[quote name='Naresh' date='21 October 2011 - 03:23 AM' timestamp='1319147119' post='113418']

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[url="http://koolblue.wordpress.com/tag/pervez-hoodbhoy/"]Pakistan is destined to drown in blood from civil war - Pervez Hoodbhoy[/url]





[/quote]



I have been waiting for the disintegration for the last 10 years and I fervently hope it is not a mirage. However I am also afraid that India is not equipped to handle this event with the present tottering government.

[Naresh]

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[quote name='Savithri' date='21 October 2011 - 11:38 PM' timestamp='1319220013' post='113421']



[quote name='Naresh' date='21 October 2011 - 03:23 AM' timestamp='1319147119' post='113418']

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[url="http://koolblue.wordpress.com/tag/pervez-hoodbhoy/"]Pakistan is destined to drown in blood from civil war - Pervez Hoodbhoy[/url][/quote]



I have been waiting for the disintegration for the last 10 years and I fervently hope it is not a mirage. However I am also afraid that India is not equipped to handle this event with the present tottering government.

[/quote]



Savithri Ji :



A “destabilization” (to put it mildly instead of disintegration) of Terroristan would lead to 50-100 Million Terroristanis to seek “refuge” in India ( Altaf Hussain wants India to forgive 60 Million Muhajirs for going to Pakistan and now wants India to take them back).



The Indian WKK Brigade will only be TOO GLAD to get their long-lost “Slaughterers” back so that there would be a further GENOCIDE of the Kufr i.e. Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians etc. thereby converting India to an Islamic Country.



There are Millions of Illegal Pakistani Muslims already in India and this is one of their modus operandi of entering India Illegally.



[url="http://www.thenews.com.pk/NewsDetail.aspx?ID=25134&title=Indian-visa-scam-gang-arrested"]Gang involved in illegal Indian visa issuance nabbed[/url]



KARACHI: A gang involved in the illegal issuance of Indian visa on being unearthed has led to the arrests of nine accused including FIA, interior ministry officers and passport office personnel from Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad.



Interior ministry sources said that the complaints relating to the issuance of Indian visa violating rules and regulations have come to the forth, which on investigation led to detection of this gang involved in the scam.



Later, FIA three officials, one section officer of the interior ministry and five personnel of Karachi Saddar Branch Passport Office were arrested. Sources said that records were taken into custody during raids at Karachi Foreigners Registration Branch and FIA check post located at Wagah border besides Karachi Saddar Branch Passport Office.



Federal Minister, Rahman Malik directing the FIA DG for thorough investigations into the scam advised him to deal with the culprits sternly.



Savithri Ji : Of course the same can be said of 40 Million Illegal Bangladeshi Muslims in India, but that is another story.



Cheers

[Naresh]

.



[url="http://nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Politics/22-Oct-2011/Big-rally-demands-Bilours-sacking"]Big rally demands Bilour’s sacking[/url]



RAWALPINDI – Awami Muslim League (AML) and former federal minister for Railways Sheikh Rashsid demanded of the government to remove Railway Minister Haji Ghulam Ahmed Bilour immediately for his pathetic handling of the railway affairs.



He said that due to wrong policies of railway minister, Pakistan Railways has no funds even to pay salaries to its employees.



Sheikh said this at a sit-in he had staged in front of Rawalpindi Railway Station in connection with “Save Railways” drive here on Friday. More then 700 railway employees and workers of AML took part in the sit-in, carrying placards and banners inscribed slogans against government and railway high ups.



While addressing, Sheikh Rashid said that he had come here to mourn the destruction of PR with its employees. He said that Haji Ghulam Ahmed Bilour after his statement that Pakistan should close railway department as Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan have no trains has no right to impart his duty as minister.



He said that corruption was on rise in railway while bureaucracy was also involved in plundering money.



“If given full control, I can get the railways back on the track and give salaries to the employees within just 9 days. I should be called Haji Ghulam Ahmed Bilour if I fail to do so,” he vowed.



He said the government was giving jobs to the near and dears of Khurshid Shah, Makhdoom Amin Faheem, Ghulam Ahmad Bilour and Nazar Gondal but in the meantime depriving poor people from their jobs.



“The ministers can be given exorbitant salaries but there are no funds for the wages and pension of the poor railway workers who demanded their legal right” he said.



Sheikh was of view that during his tenure a total of 24 new passenger trains were introduced but Federal Minister for Railways Ghulam Ahmed Bilour forced the railway department for closure of 124 trains. “Bilour remained busy in looting railway money and later distributing among his relatives instead of utilizing it for the betterment of Railway” he alleged.



The Pakistan Steel Mills, Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) and Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) were also being destroyed under a conspiracy. Railway has been a symbol of national integrity and unity. Harming was tantamount of harming national integrity and unity, Rashid lamented.



He said that the British left 10,000 kilometres length of rail track, which now has been reduced to less than 7,000 kilometres owing to wrong polices of the government. Moreover, the use of substandard or fewer lubricants have also destroyed shafts worth Rs 10 million each.



He said that U.S. and its allies wanted to harm Pakistan Army, however, they could not success in their nefarious designs. He said that so far 5000 Pakistan Army Jawans martyred while fighting against terrorists.



“Pakistan is not facing threats from NATO rather its leadership is engaged in destabilizing it” Sheikh Rashid said adding that the government had badly failed to mitigate the maladies of public.



He informed that President Asif Zardari and many other politicians deposited 97 billion dollars in Swiss accounts. He said that N league was playing the role of friendly opposition.



He said that government seemed in no mood to solve the ongoing energy crises as it did not start work on Pakistan Iran Gas pipe line that the heads of both countries decided to build to bring natural gas from Iran to Pakistan. He said that government had also failed in controlling loadshedding.



“Courts are not providing justice to the poor. The crime rate is very high as children of poor people are openly being kidnapped for ransom” he added.



He said that high and mighty was not paying tax rather government was collecting tax from 80 per cent poor people. Scores of families now living off in miserable conditions owing to inflation, he said adding that some people were eating dead bodies to fill their stomach.



Urging all the political parties to join hands to save the railways, AML President Sheikh Rahshid Ahmed he said the present government could only be toppled through a campaign of the railway workers. The next sit-in would be staged at Multan, Karachi and Hyderabad, he informed. The office bearers of Railways Union also spoke on the occasion.



Earlier, Sheikh Rashid took out a rally from Lal Haveli and reached Rawalpindi Railway Station by passing various areas of Rawalpindi.



Tight security armaments were made by police to avert any untoward.



Cheers

[Naresh]

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[url="http://tribune.com.pk/story/280815/jobless-father-in-self-immolation-bid-at-parliament/"]Pakistan - Redolent of Tunisia : Young father self-immolates in front of Parliament[/url]



ISLAMABAD : An unemployed father of two died in hospital after setting himself alight in a suicide bid outside Parliament House on Monday, officials said.



Raja Khan, a resident of Naushehro Feroz in Sindh, poured kerosene over his body before self-immolating. Khan, reportedly in his twenties, left behind a letter saying that he was exhausted by poverty, a police officer said.



Sources said that Khan arrived at D-Chowk, which is near the Parliament House, at around 1:30pm. After he set himself on fire, the police on duty outside the Parliament House tried to rescue him and took him to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims). However, he succumbed there six hours later.



“He was looking very determined. The way he came here and quickly set himself on fire gave us no chance to rescue him,” said one of the police officials who intervened.



Khan’s letter, written in Sindhi, expressed depression over his plight. “I am responsible for my death. I am taking this step because I am fed up with my financial condition,” said a police officer, quoting from the letter.



“If I die I should be buried in Islamabad. I have two children. The government should take care of them,” he continued. Another police official added that Khan also left a bag of clothes and his ID card.



Talking to The Express Tribune, Pims Deputy Director Dr Farrukh Kamal said that Khan was brought to the unit with 90% of his body burnt.



“We tried a lot to acquire his personal details but he was unable to communicate clearly. However, the only thing he said was, ‘I did this because I was sick and tired of my life’,” said Dr Kamal.



Another Pims doctor revealed that saving Khan’s life was virtually impossible as only his feet were unaffected.



Secretary General Human Right Commissions of Pakistan I. A. Rehman expressed serious concern over the increase in self-immolation and suicide cases due to unemployment and poverty. “Every year these kinds of cases increase because people are disappointed, they have nothing and finally they use this option,” he said.



Harris Khalique, a poet and analyst, said that the poor within countries such as Pakistan are squeezed to the hilt by transnational monopoly markets.



The tragic incident is redolent of Mohamed Bouazizi’s self-immolation on December 17, 2010, in Tunisia. Bouazizi was also a young father, also unemployed, and also frustrated with a total absence of opportunity and the crippling cycle of poverty from which he saw no escape.



In Tunisia, Bouazizi’s death sparked mass demonstrations which eventually transformed into a popular movement, ousting the government on January 14 this year. Following Tunisia, the region witnessed the ‘Arab Spring’, leading to revolutionary political change in Egypt and Libya, with several other countries experiencing unrest.



There has been a wave of self-immolations around the world in the past year since Bouazizi. In southwest China, nine Tibetans have set fire to themselves over recent months in protest at what they say is Beijing’s repression of their religion and culture.



Perhaps the most famous act of self-immolation for a political cause occurred when Thich Quang Duc protested against the persecution of Buddhists under the rule of the Catholic Ngo Dinh Diem in South Vietnam in 1963.



Cheers

[Naresh]

.



21:00 B S T i. e. 20:00 G M T : Secret Pakistan



Documentary which explores Pakistan's alleged links to enemy forces in Afghanistan.



[url="http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctwo/watchlive/"] LINK – SECRET PAKISTAN : LIVE STREAMING[/url]



Cheers

[Naresh]

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[url="http://www.geo.tv/10-27-2011/88194.htm"][center][size="6"][color="#006400"]Saudis close PIA’s Jeddah Haji camp[/color][/size][/center][/url]



KARACHI : The government of Saudi Arabia has told Pakistan International Airlines, (PIA) to wind up its Haji Camp in Jeddah without delay, Geo News reported.



This is an outcome of media’s negative reporting, Managing Director PIA Captain Nadeem Yousufzai told newsmen here in Karachi.



Capt Nadeem said this camp was a great help to pilgrims, adding it had been facilitating them in respects, but now it won’t be there anymore to offer such services, thanks to media.



He pointed up that misleading report that PIA was gifting Saudis has annoyed the government of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The closure of the camp is a reaction to such canards, Capt Nadeem added.



Cheers

[Naresh]

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Letter to the Editor – Daily Times – No. 1



[center][/center]



Fight against misspellings



Sir: I am aware that English is not our mother tongue and Pakistan’s literacy rate is quite low but when people use wrong spellings on banners, it really irritates me. I saw an anti-corruption banner on the Mall Road the other day, which read: “Go Couruption Go”. We have also seen ‘condemn’ misspelled as [color="#FF0000"][size="6"]condom’[/size][/color] by some religious groups in their banners. I would just like to make a request to all those who participate in rallies and/or otherwise put up banners: please use a dictionary before wasting your precious money on banners/posters. It would not cost you much and will also save you from being mocked.



LARAIB PASHA



Cheers

[Guest]

[quote name='Naresh' date='22 October 2011 - 04:17 PM' timestamp='1319279991' post='113427']

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Savithri Ji :



A “destabilization” (to put it mildly instead of disintegration) of Terroristan would lead to 50-100 Million Terroristanis to seek “refuge” in India ( Altaf Hussain wants India to forgive 60 Million Muhajirs for going to Pakistan and now wants India to take them back).





[/quote]

People come with territory not without.



Whoever would think that that these Muslim controlled area in Pakistan and Afghanistan and Bangladesh will remain there forever giving us pin-pricks doesn't know of state formation and disintegration.

[Naresh]

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[url="http://www.dawn.com/2011/11/01/pakistan-to-forfeit-final-imf-loan-tranche-ft.html"]Pakistan to forfeit final IMF loan tranche : FT[/url]



WASHINGTON : Pakistan will not take up the final $3.7 billion tranche of an International Monetary Fund loan package [color="#FF0000"]after rejecting strict reform demands,[/color] the Financial Times said Tuesday.



Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh told the daily that the IMF conditions were too tough and the government would instead pursue a home-grown reform program, adding that the “resilient” economy did not need IMF help.



The Washington-based fund bailed out Pakistan with an $11.3 billion loan package launched in November 2008 as the country faced 30-year-high inflation rates and fast-depleting reserves, as well as a deadly insurgency.



But the IMF earlier this year indicated it was unsatisfied with Islamabad’s progress in dealing with its chronic fiscal problems and introducing promised structural reforms.



“Inflation remains persistently high, and budgetary problems are undermining macroeconomic stability,” it said in May.



An IMF spokesman declined to comment on the Financial Times report, but said that the standby facility had expired on schedule on September 30.



The fund has paid out two-thirds of the loan package, with the latest installment disbursed in May 2010.



Three months later the country was hit by the worst floods in its history, which led to a separate emergency aid payment of 450 million dollars. Since then however, the IMF and Pakistan have been at odds over fiscal management.



The IMF forecasts Pakistan to post growth of just 2.6 per cent in 2011, among the lowest in Asia, while inflation is tipped to stand at around 14 per cent this year and next — among the highest in the world.



Cheers

[Naresh]

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[quote name='Savithri' date='29 October 2011 - 04:01 AM' timestamp='1319840616' post='113521']

People come with territory not without.



Whoever would think that that these Muslim controlled area in Pakistan and Afghanistan and Bangladesh will remain there forever giving us pin-pricks doesn't know of state formation and disintegration.

[/quote]



Savithri Ji :



The WKK Secular Type and the Kriminal Kaangress Kamunist Klan will welcome the 60 Million Pakistani Muslims and another 60 Million Bangladeshi Muslims with open arms and Salivating Mouths with the Hope that the 120 Million Pakistani and Bangladeshi Muslims will vote for the KKKK!



No Territory will be required at the same time one cannot be sure that "Au contraire" the Indian Leadership might hand over a part or parts of India to Pakistan or Bangladesh by way of "Confidence Building Measures".



Cheers

[Naresh]

.

Documentary which explores Pakistan's alleged links to enemy forces in Afghanistan.



[center][SIZE="6"][color="#006400"]SECRET PAKISTAN : : EPISODE TWO : BACKLASH[/color][/SIZE][/center]



Cheers

[Guest]

[quote name='Naresh' date='01 November 2011 - 08:11 PM' timestamp='1320158024' post='113564']

.





Savithri Ji :



The WKK Secular Type and the Kriminal Kaangress Kamunist Klan will welcome the 60 Million Pakistani Muslims and another 60 Million Bangladeshi Muslims with open arms and Salivating Mouths with the Hope that the 120 Million Pakistani and Bangladeshi Muslims will vote for the KKKK!



No Territory will be required at the same time one cannot be sure that "Au contraire" the Indian Leadership might hand over a part or parts of India to Pakistan or Bangladesh by way of "Confidence Building Measures".



Cheers

[/quote]



I thought we were talking about the disintegration of Pakistan?!

[Naresh]

[quote name='Savithri' date='03 November 2011 - 07:06 AM' timestamp='1320283681' post='113579']

I thought we were talking about the disintegration of Pakistan?!

[/quote]



Savithri Ji :



The disintigration of Pakistan will result in 60 to 100 Million Pakistani Muslims getting "Refuge" in India!



Cheers

[Naresh]

.

[url="http://www.dawn.com/2011/11/03/trans-afghan-gas-pipeline-the-dream-that-wont-die.html"]Trans-Afghan gas pipeline, the dream that won’t die[/url]



KABUL: On paper, it’s one of the sweetest gas deals there is. At one end, the world’s second largest gas field; at the other, 1.2 billion people demanding clean energy, and in the middle, countries in desperate need of revenues and jobs.



In reality — and especially when that reality passes through Afghanistan and Pakistan en route to India — things are a lot tougher.



Only last week, Pakistan’s Petroleum Ministry said it had agreed purchase terms with putative gas supplier Turkmenistan, and would sign a contract in mid-November. An official in the ministry said Turkmenistan would supply 1.3 billion cubic feet of gas per day for 25 years.



For a pipeline that doesn’t exist outside of the imagination, it was a bold step.



The idea of a 1,700-km pipeline from Turkmenistan to India, known as TAPI, isn’t new. In the mid-1990s, Afghanistan’s then-rulers, the Taliban, talked to an American energy firm about building it.



Almost 15 years and no gas later, the Taliban have been kicked out of power, thousands have been killed in Afghanistan during the US-led war, and the Afghanistan-Pakistan border is one of the most dangerous areas in the world — but the pipeline dream won’t die.



“Without peace and stability in Afghanistan, the pipeline may become only a pipedream,” said Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra, a researcher with the Centre for Central Eurasian Studies at the University of Mumbai.



Violence is at its worst since 2001, according to the United Nations. Foreign forces have already started a security handover in parts of the country, ahead of a full withdrawal of combat troops by the end of 2014. Some fear that when they go, full-scale civil war could break out.



“People are talking about pipelines, roads and railways, and these are all very vulnerable,” said Thomas Ruttig, a co-director with Afghanistan Analysts Network in Kabul.



Afghan officials have pledged security forces, and talk about burying part of the pipeline underground, but even then it would still snake through the Taliban heartlands of Helmand and Kandahar in the south of Afghanistan.



“The pipeline is very long and very difficult to defend — you can’t put a soldier every 20 metres,” Ruttig said.



The Asian Development Bank earlier this year approved around half a million dollars to pay for consultancy and meetings on the project, but when asked at the end of October, it was no longer talking about TAPI.



According to the Afghan Ministry of Mines, the pipeline would pump 33 billion cubic metres a year from the South Iolotan field in Turkmenistan to Fazilka in India, crossing 735 kilometres of Afghan territory, then 800 kilometres in Pakistan.



Between problematic and impossible



Getting Pakistan and India to agree on anything is tough.



Relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours, who have fought three wars against each other since their independence from Britain in 1947, are prickly enough to scuttle the project without any help from the Taliban.



“Two of the major stakeholders in TAPI, India and Pakistan, have major differences including security and transit fee, and more importantly, trust,” Mahapatra said.



But for Afghans, who continue to endure high energy bills and frequent power cuts even in big cities, the potential benefits are so great that the possibility of the pipeline is worth clinging onto.



“Everyone is waiting for the pipeline project because they believe it will be the cheapest energy they will have to run their business,” said Ahmad Khalid Yarmand, head of the Afghan business association in western city of Herat, through which the pipeline would pass.



For the other countries in the plan, it could also be a winning deal. India and Pakistan would diversify their gas supply, while Turkmenistan, a former Soviet republic, wants to triple annual gas exports to 180 bcm by 2030, looking beyond its traditional partner Russia to wider export markets.



Energy experts aren’t holding their breath.



“It works economically and is even quite attractive. Needless to say, [color="#FF0000"]from the political side, it is somewhere between highly problematic and impossible,”[/color] said Jonathan Stern, director of gas research at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies in Britain.



“It depends what route you take across Afghanistan but nothing looks attractive,” he said, adding that, in addition to the security problems, the Indians might in any case refuse to take any gas which crosses Pakistan.



“In summary: it’s all very difficult.”



Cheers

[Naresh]

.

[URL="http://www.thebalochhal.com/2011/03/pakistan-railway-cancels-passengers-tickets-because-of-fuel-scarcity/"]Pakistan Railway Cancels Passengers’ Tickets Because of Fuel Scarcity[/URL]



The Baloch Hal News - Wednesday, November 09, 2011



QUETTA : Pakistan Railways has suspended booking of tickets from Quetta for passenger trains owing to fuel crisis.



Official sources disclosed on Wednesday that railway authorities took this decision because of non-availability of fuel for trains at Quetta Railways Station.



Railways department is running four passenger trains including two for Punjab, one each for Karachi and bordering town of Chaman.



When contacted Divisional Superintendent Railways (DS) Maqbool Magsi said that they had requested for fuel. “If availability of fuel was not ensured then no option will be left with them to suspend train service from Thursday” he added.



People have expressed their serious anger over suspension of booking of tickets from Quetta and appealed Chief Minister Balochistan Muhammad Islam Raisani and Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikar Muhammad Chaudary for taking steps for improving the deteriorating condition of Railways in Balochistan



It is worth mentioning here that Railway has already stopped Balochistan Express, Abaseen, Chiltan Express and Mehran Express due to financial crisis depriving the people from a cheap source of journey.



Cheers

[Naresh]

.

[url="http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011/11/11/story_11-11-2011_pg1_4"]PR chief admits corruption in purchase of locomotives[/url]



* SC told Rs 28 billion required for rehabilitation of Railways



* CJP says amount enough to establish dept afresh



* Court orders cases of corrupt officials be sent to NAB



ISLAMABAD : The Pakistan Railways (PR) chairman conceded before a two-member Supreme Court bench on Thursday that rules and regulations were violated in purchase of 75 locomotives, which caused huge losses to the national exchequer.



The bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan was hearing a suo motu case about non-payment of salaries and pension to the employees and workers of Pakistan Railways.



In compliance with the court’s earlier orders, Railways Chairman Javed Ahmad submitted a report containing plan for rehabilitation of the Pakistan Railways. The report stated that Rs 28 billion were required for rehabilitation of the department.



The chief justice noted that the amount suggested by railways top brass for rehabilitation of the department was a big amount, through which a new Railways department could be established.



The court allowed former railway minister Sheikh Rasheed to become a party in the case. Sheikh Rasheed told the court that rules and regulations were relaxed on the intervention of a top personality of the country for purchase of 75 locomotives.



To a court query, the railways chairman admitted that the rules and regulations were violated and relaxed to some extent in purchase of 75 locomotives. “Violation is a violation, whether it is less or more”, the chief justice noted.



Sheikh Rasheed contended that big shots were involved in the scandal involving the sale of railways scrap on throwaway prices, thus their cases were not being sent to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).



The chief justice remarked that no body would be allowed to sell national institutions. He said the cases of the corrupt officials would be sent to NAB. He said that the court had deeply seen and checked the performance of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and now it was the turn of the newly appointed NAB chairman. He said that the NAB chairman’s performance and reputation would be checked now.



Appearing on a notice, Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq told the court that Director General Audit had pointed out Rs 500 million losses to the national exchequer due to sale of railways scrap on throwaway prices. The chief justice noted that railways engines would not have gone out of order in a day and inquired whether the forensic audit of railways was conducted. The railways chairman, however, stated that forensic audit was not conducted.



To a query, the chairman stated that a new railways engine costs Rs 300 million. He said that tenders for the purchase of new railways engines were being opened on November 24.



Meanwhile, the court adjourned further hearing for November 23.



Cheers

[Naresh]

,

PR continues to bleed, widespread corruption alleged



Chinese companies fail to deliver despite lucrative contracts



* PR rehab possible only via public-private partnership



ISLAMABAD: Budget deficit of Pakistan Railways (PR) shoot up to Rs 60 billion, while Railways has been facing accumulated loss of Rs 90 million monthly because of suspension of freight and passenger trains.



According to some well-placed sources in the Ministry of Railways, the ship of Pakistan railways sank down because of high budget deficit and rehabilitation of this profiteer giant could be possible only with the help of public-private partnership.



He revealed on condition of anonymity that in September 2009, [color="#FF0000"]an amount of Rs 1.5 billion was given as an advance to Chinese Company for purchase of 69 locomotives.[/color]



According to the written statement submitted by former Minister Railways Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed before the Apex court in context of the sou-moto action taken by chief justice of Pakistan on massive corruption in Pakistan Railways, there are more than 12 to 20 qualified mechanics in mechanical department of PR, who could repair the inoperative engines, have been sent on forced leave with malafide intention so that the old engines may not be repaired and instead of repairing the old engines, new engines may be imported, which is a huge loss to the national exchequer.



He alleged that because of negligence and malafide actions by six high officials, three General Managers (GMs) including Saeed Akhtar along with the same number of Additional General Managers (AGMs), no freight train was operational and 124 passenger trains have also been closed down in near past.



Another shocking revelation maintained that Sameen Gandapur of Grade 18 was posted as Chief Purchase Officer against a post of Grade-20, at the instance of the Railways Minister Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, to indulge in irregularities and to cover up the same, while millions of rupees were spent to renovate and furnish his bungalow in Mayo Garden, Lahore.



It was further revealed that there was a fleet of 528 locomotives, [color="#FF0000"]while only 57 locomotives observed in working condition[/color] and in this context GM (Operations) Muhammad Ishfaq Khattak also expressed serious concerns over massive irregularities in a letter written to higher authorities dated on March 19, 2011.



Letter exclusively available with Daily Times disclosed that a project of Rs 14 billion for repair of signals has been given to favourites in violation of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority PPRA Rules and Regulations.



Document further stated that the last census of locomotives depicted a grim situation and [color="#FF0000"]out of the 500 locomotives only 156 were functioning with a compliment of four to six traction motors,[/color] while federal cabinet in its meeting of December 29, 2010, approved Rs 6.1 billion package for repair of 145 locomotives, while unfortunately the amount was yet to be disbursed.



It further said that there was one major reason for this grim situation, [color="#FF0000"]it was the non-availability of locomotives from the latest fleet of 69 Chinese locomotives, while $15.2 million “Maintenance and Spares Contract” signed with Dalian Locomotive Works, China, in September 2009 had failed to produce any results, even after the passage of almost eighteen months, none of the about 50 locomotives has been brought into operations.[/color]



Railways has been [color="#FF0000"]importing 200 coaches from China at the cost of four times higher price[/color] than the ones being produced at Carriage Factory, Islamabad. 20 to 30 coaches per month were produced at Carriage Factory, Islamabad and now the labour has no work to do as the coaches are being imported and that too at a higher price. The Carriage Factory at Islamabad manufactured 400 coaches earlier.



Cheers

[Naresh]

.

[url="http://www.dawn.com/2011/11/12/trade-gap-swells-by-31-per-cent.html"]Trade gap swells by 31 per cent[/url]



ISLAMABAD : Pakistan’s merchandise trade gap [color="#FF0000"]ballooned by 31.38 per cent in the first four months of the current fiscal year[/color] over the last year owing to highest-ever increase in imports and fall in export proceeds.



As a result, the trade deficit reached $6.871 billion in July-October this year from $5.230 billion over the corresponding period last year, suggested data of Federal Bureau of Statistics on Friday.



Trade gap swells even much more in the month of October on the back of rising import bill and decline in export proceeds.



This indicates that country’s exports may fall in months ahead, while imports bill will rise because of high fuel and food imports.



For the current year, the government forecast a trade deficit at $17.292 billion as its rebounding economy raises demand for manufacturing and oil imports. The oil and eatable imports bill also expected to swell in the year 2011-12.



Since January 2011, the trade deficit was improving against the corresponding months last year owing to buoyancy in monthly export growth combined with slowdown in imports until June 30.



But since then, a surge in demand has been witnessed for import of raw materials for the manufacturing sector. Main stimulus behind this industrial demand was the government’s recent decision to lower interest rates, which improved availability of credit to private sector.



Contrary to this, the fall in export proceeds against surge in imports also led to deterioration in the balance of trade.



As a result, the current account deficit also widened to $1.209 billion in July-September period this year as against $597 million over the same period last year.



Even the current account deficit deteriorated despite the rise in the flow of remittances, which were still on the higher sides but failed to contain the ballooning current account deficit because of decline in exports proceeds during the period under review.



Pakistan’s merchandise exports reached $7.853 billion in July-October period this year as against $6.996 billion over the last year, showing an increase of 12.25 per cent. But a fall of 2.17 per cent was witnessed in exports proceeds in the month of October this year as it stood at $1.896 billion as against $1.938 billion over the last year.



Last year, the global price hike of commodities, especially of cotton based textile group pushed up the over-all exports volume from the country by the end of June 2011. The decline in exports indicates that the cotton prices were no more reflected in export proceeds this year.



The government has projected an export target of $25.618 billion for the current fiscal year.



This target was projected on the back of a claim that Pakistan’s textile and clothing exports could reach over $15 billion for the year 2011-12.



On the other hand, import bill went up by 20.43 per cent to $14.724 billion in the first four months this year as against $12.226 billion last year.



Even imports surged by 12.86 per cent in October as it reached $3.607 billion as against $3.196 billion last year.



The government has projected an import target at $42.910 billion in 2011-12. This alone includes the import bill of petroleum products, which could reach $12 billion and over $4 billion import of eatables in the year under review.



Cheers