International Taliban hits Nato Khost base kills 4 See on Page 12 Iran claims full control over making N-fuel See on Page 12 Obama touts SKorea trade deal, looks for more See on Page 11 Crude Oil (brent)$/bbl 91.42 Crude Oil (WTI)$/bbl 89.19 Cotton $/lb 132.34 Gold $/ozs 1,406.20 Silver $/ozs 29.27 Malaysian Palm $ 1,141 GOLD (NCEL) PKR 38,360 KHI Cotton 40Kg PKR 9,860 Yearly(Jul, 2010 up to 2-Dec-2010) Monthly(Nov, 2010 up to 2-Dec-2010) Daily (2-Dec-2010) Total Portfolio Invest (19 Nov-2010) 163.65 0.92 1.07 3796 10.45 -4.53 -2.42 -1.25 -0.73 -1.79 0.27 SCRA(U.S $ in million) Portfolio Investment FIPI (3-Dec-2010) Local Companies (3-Dec-2010) Banks / DFI (3-Dec-2010) Mutual Funds (3-Dec-2010) NBFC (3-Dec-2010) Local Investors (3-Dec-2010) Other Organization (3-Dec-2010) (U.S $ in million) NCCPL GDR update Commodities Forex Reserves (27-Nov-10) Inflation CPI% (Jul 10-Oct 10) Exports (Jul 10-Oct 10) Imports (Jul 10-Oct 10) Trade Balance (Jul 10-Oct 10) Current A/C (Jul 10- Oct 10) Remittances (Jul 10-Oct 10) Foreign Invest (Jul 10-Oct 10) Revenue (Jul 10-Oct 10) Foreign Debt (Sep 10) Domestic Debt (Aug 10) Repatriated Profit (Jul- Oct 10) LSM Growth (Sep 10) GDP Growth FY10E Per Capita Income FY10 Population $16.74bn 14.17% $7.17bn $12.25bn $(5.08)bn $(533)mn $3.50bn $569mn Rs 411bn $58.41bn Rs 4863bn $203.80mn -2.58% 4.10% $1,051 171.21mn Economic Indicators Symbols MCB (1 GDR= 2 Shares) OGDC (1 GDR= 10 Shares) UBL (1 GDR= 4 Shares) LUCK (1 GDR= 4 Shares) HUBC (1 GDR= 25 Shares) $.Price 2.60 20.90 2.00 1.70 10.64 PKR/Shares 111.42 179.13 42.86 36.43 36.48 T-Bills (3 Mths) T-Bills (6 Mths) T-Bills (12 Mths) Discount Rate Kibor (1 Mth) Kibor (3 Mths) Kibor (6 Mths) Kibor ( 9 Mths) Kibor (1Yr) P.I.B ( 3 Yrs) P.I.B (5 Yrs) P.I.B (10 Yrs) P.I.B (15 Yrs) P.I.B (20 Yrs) P.I.B (30 Yrs) 01-Dec-2010 01-Dec-2010 01-Dec-2010 29-Nov-2010 04-Dec-2010 04-Dec-2010 04-Dec-2010 04-Dec-2010 04-Dec-2010 04-Dec-2010 04-Dec-2010 04-Dec-2010 04-Dec-2010 04-Dec-2010 04-Dec-2010 13.16% 13.39% 13.67% 14.00% 13.16% 13.34% 13.58% 13.93% 14.08% 13.75% 13.80% 14.10% 14.38% 14.51% 14.73% Money Market Update Symbols Buy (Rs) Sell (Rs) Australian $ 84.20 85.20 Canadian $ 84.50 85.50 Danish Krone 14.50 15.00 Euro 113.80 115.50 Hong Kong $ 10.90 11.00 Japanese Yen 1.024 1.050 Saudi Riyal 22.68 22.88 Singapore $ 64.90 65.90 Swedish Korona 12.45 12.55 Swiss Franc 86.75 86.85 U.A.E Dirham 23.18 23.38 UK Pound 133.00 134.00 US $ 85.60 85.90 Open Mkt Currency Rates Symbols Buying Selling TT Clean TT & OD Australian $ 84.99 85.19 Canadian $ 85.25 85.45 Danish Krone 15.41 15.45 Euro 114.88 115.14 Hong Kong $ 11.03 11.05 Japanese Yen 1.037 1.039 Saudi Riyal 22.82 22.88 Singapore $ 65.69 65.85 Swedish Korona 12.60 12.63 Swiss Franc 87.87 88.08 U.A.E Dirham 23.31 23.36 UK Pound 135.04 135.35 US $ 85.71 85.90 Inter-Bank Currency Rates Subscribe now Tel: 92-21-5311893-6 Fax: 92-21-5388428 Email: editor@ thefinancialdaily.com www.thefinancialdaily.com CITIES MAX-TEMP MIN ISLAMABAD 22°C 3°C KARACHI 30°C 11°C LAHORE 23°C 8°C FAISALABAD 24°C 5°C QUETTA 18°C -8°C RAWALPINDI 23°C 4°C Weather Forecast Index Close Change KSE 100 11,406.66 63.11 Nikkei 225 10,178.32 9.80 Hang Seng 23,320.52 128.26 Sensex 30 19,966.93 25.77 SSE COMP. 2,842.43 1.18 FTSE 100 5,745.32 22.24 Dow Jones 11,382.09 19.68 Global Indices KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) took back its support of government for National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) on pressure from the US and Britain, according to a cable leaked by WikiLeaks. According to the US State Department cables, Interior Minister Rehman Malik sus- pected that the "establishment" was out to get President Zardari and that MQM was being influ- enced by the US and the UK. In a meeting held on November 9, 2009, Malik claimed to then US ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson that MQM had repeatedly stated that both US and UK had urged the party to oppose the NRO, a move that led the government to withdraw the legislation from parliamentary considera- tion and placed the future of Zardari at risk. Malik requested that the US issue a public statement in sup- port of Pakistani democracy, suggesting such a statement would be useful in protecting President Zardari from mili- tary-induced pressure to leave office. In addition, it would help dis- pel persistent charges from the MQM that US and United Kingdom had urged it to with- draw support for the NRO, thereby placing Zardari at risk. Malik assessed that Saudi Arabia and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML- N) were cooperating with the military and MQM to bring down President Zardari. The document says Malik met on November 9 with Ambassador Patterson to pro- vide a read-out of his meetings with senior officials of the MQM in Dubai. See # 8 Page 11 WikiLeaks KABUL: Prime Minister Gilani speaks with members of Afghanistan's Chambers of Commerce and Industry during their meeting in Kabul here on Sunday. -Reuters ANKARA: The President of Pakistan signed instrument of ratification for D-8 Multilateral Agreement on Administrative Assistance in Customs Matters. The original instrument has been handed over to the Secretary General of D-8 by Pakistan Consul General in Istanbul. The D-8 Group was estab- lished in 1997 at the initiative of the former Turkish Prime Minister Naecmettin Erbakan, to promote development coop- eration among Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey. The establishment of D-8 was announced officially through the Istanbul Declaration of Summit of Heads of State/Government on June 15, 1997. D-8 member countries have a population of more than 961 million which represents almost 15 per cent of the world See # 3 Page 11 Pak signs D-8 trade ratification KABUL: Pakistan and Afghanistan aim to boost bilat- eral trade to $5 billion mark. Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani made this pledge during a breakfast meeting with the Afghan chamber of com- merce and Industry in Kabul on Sunday. Prime Minister Gilani point- ing at the trans-regional devel- opment and connectivity oppor- tunities between Pakistan and Afghanistan, urged the Afghan business communities to make optimum use to develop win- win scenarios. Addressing the leaders and CEOs of the Afghan corporate sector and Afghan business community, Prime Minister said the future of two economies was closely inter-linked and the geo-economic dynamics of the region makes it an essential imperative. PM Gilani said the two coun- tries have a common resolve to implement the transit-trade agreement. He asserted that Pakistan would take additional measures including customs harmonisation and the estab- lishment of trade facilitation mechanisms for this purpose. He added that he has proposed the establishment of special trans-border economic zones. The transit trade agreement with Afghanistan will allow trucks from Afghanistan to transport goods to India through Pakistan via the sensitive Wagah land-route. He said Pakistan and Afghanistan have also agreed to work jointly to enhance region- al connectivity and to establish corridors to facilitate trade and energy transactions. He said projects like TAPI, CASA-1000 and North South Rail link can transform the economic land- scape of the region. Gilani said he has proposed to President Karzai establishment of special trans-border econom- ic zones and to facilitate joint ventures and partnerships in the private sector. "We must optimally build and utilise our mutual economic complementarities. We should establish closer links between our respective chambers of commerce. A vibrant and dynamic Afghanistan-Pakistan CEO's forum would make a huge difference." Gilani said, "Time has now come to shape our own destiny by joining hands and marching See # 2 Page 11 Isb, Kabul aim for $5bn trade Gilani breakfasts with Afghan traders, CEOs PM urges for economic, people-to-people contacts Offers special economic zones in border areas Ghulam Raza Rajani KARACHI: Offshore investors remained active in local bourses as foreign fund mangers once again emerged as net-buyer in Pakistan equity market with $22.87 million worth of buying in the last week as per the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited (NCCPL) data. Furthermore, foreign invest- ment hiked 83.9 per cent WoW compared with $12.4 million witnessed in week ended on 26th November 2010. Foreign investors have been active for nearly last 14 months in Pakistan equity market due to attractive valuation of Pakistani stocks, TFD analyst said. However, their focus remained on few stocks which increased significantly, he added. During the week, offshore investors opted for buying fresh position as foreigners bought shares worth $34.57 million See # 7 Page 11 Offshorers inject $22.8mn into KSE Ahmed Siddique KARACHI: Due to devastat- ing floods and impact of tight monetary policy, again large scale manufacturing (LSM) has reported decline of 2.58 per cent in the month of September 2010, taking the average con- traction to 1.47 per cent in the first quarter of fiscal year 2010-11, according to data from the Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS). During September, two sub- sectors declined as Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC) reported 23.98 per cent drop in produc- tion and Ministry of Industries down by 6.15 per cent, while Provincial Bureau of Statistics showed a growth in production by 6.85 per cent in petroleum products. Large scale manufacturing sector broadly contributes 12 per cent in the country's GDP. With better performance post- ed during FY10 (4.4 per cent YoY growth), recent trend sug- gest a sharp downturn once again. Broadly speaking, the trend is reflective of one time impact of flood, which subdued pro- duction owed to logistic lapses and supply disruption during the said period, as per the research analyst of InvestCap. The heavyweight contributor to industrial production, textile sector is expected to take a hit in terms damage to domestic cotton output, high cotton prices and structural issues in maintaining competitiveness, See # 6 Page 11 Industrial output dips 1.47pc in 1Q LSM contracts 2.58pc in Sept Pak Army test-fires anti-tank missile ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Army successfully tested fire an anti- tank guided missile at Tilla Range near Jhelum here on Sunday. According to military sources, Corps Commander Gujranwala, Lieutenant General Raheel Sharif was also present at the occasion. The missile was tested during the ongoing exercises of Pak Army in Tilla range. According to military officials Pakistan receives these missiles in the decade of 1970 however these are small in size. Now these missiles are updated according to the needs of mod- ern era. These missiles can suc- cessfully hit tanks. On the occasion, Corps Commander Gujranwala Let See # 4 Page 11 During last wk More Beans Spilled Kerry sought Isb-Delhi pact for US civil N-deal with Pak Malik claimed MQM opposed NRO on US, UK pressure; MQM denies global pressure SArabia, a cashpoint for militants: Clinton Karzai admitted Bugti’s presence in Afghanistan PM visit to help lift Pak-Afghan ties: FO ISLAMABAD: Foreign Office Spokesman Abdul Basit has hoped that Prime Minister Gilani's Kabul visit would help in fur- ther enhancing Pak-Afghan economic ties and termed it as series of improving bilateral ties. Talking to a private TV Sunday, Abdul Basit said Prime Minister Gilani's visit main objective was See # 1 Page 11 RGST Bill Fed, provinces talk tomorrow ISLAMABAD: Federation and provinces dialogue on Reformed General Sales Tax (RGST) will resume on Tuesday (tomorrow); Finance Secretary Salman Siddiqui will represent the federation while provincial finance secretaries will represent the provinces. The draft of RGST will be discussed with detail in the meeting. The participants had agreed over reduction of tax on stand loan services from 15 per cent to 10 to 12.5 per cent in the last meeting during last month but the final decision will be See # 5 Page 11 Sindh Home Ministry settles 333 complaints See on Page 2 Karachi, Monday, December 6, 2010, Zil Hajj 29, Price Rs12 Pages 12
Transcript
International
Taliban hits Nato Khost base kills 4 See on Page 12
Iran claims full control over making N-fuel See on Page 12
Obama touts SKorea trade deal, looks for more See on Page 11
KARACHI: Muttahida QaumiMovement (MQM) took backits support of government forNational ReconciliationOrdinance (NRO) on pressurefrom the US and Britain,according to a cable leaked byWikiLeaks.
According to the US StateDepartment cables, InteriorMinister Rehman Malik sus-pected that the "establishment"was out to get President Zardariand that MQM was being influ-enced by the US and the UK.
In a meeting held onNovember 9, 2009, Malikclaimed to then US ambassador
to Pakistan Anne Patterson thatMQM had repeatedly statedthat both US and UK had urgedthe party to oppose the NRO, amove that led the governmentto withdraw the legislationfrom parliamentary considera-tion and placed the future ofZardari at risk.
Malik requested that the USissue a public statement in sup-port of Pakistani democracy,suggesting such a statementwould be useful in protectingPresident Zardari from mili-tary-induced pressure to leaveoffice.
In addition, it would help dis-
pel persistent charges from theMQM that US and UnitedKingdom had urged it to with-draw support for the NRO,thereby placing Zardari at risk.
Malik assessed that SaudiArabia and the PakistanMuslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) were cooperating with themilitary and MQM to bringdown President Zardari.
The document says Malik meton November 9 withAmbassador Patterson to pro-vide a read-out of his meetingswith senior officials of theMQM in Dubai.
See # 8 Page 11
WikiLeaks
KABUL: Prime Minister Gilani speaks with members of Afghanistan's Chambers ofCommerce and Industry during their meeting in Kabul here on Sunday. -Reuters
ANKARA: The President ofPakistan signed instrument ofratification for D-8 MultilateralAgreement on AdministrativeAssistance in Customs Matters.The original instrument hasbeen handed over to theSecretary General of D-8 byPakistan Consul General inIstanbul.
The D-8 Group was estab-lished in 1997 at the initiative ofthe former Turkish PrimeMinister Naecmettin Erbakan,to promote development coop-eration among Bangladesh,Egypt, Indonesia, Iran,Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan andTurkey.
The establishment of D-8 was
announced officially throughthe Istanbul Declaration ofSummit of Heads ofState/Government on June 15,1997.
D-8 member countries have apopulation of more than 961million which represents almost15 per cent of the world
See # 3 Page 11
Pak signs D-8 trade ratification
KABUL: Pakistan andAfghanistan aim to boost bilat-eral trade to $5 billion mark.
Prime Minister Syed YousufRaza Gilani made this pledgeduring a breakfast meeting withthe Afghan chamber of com-merce and Industry in Kabul onSunday.
Prime Minister Gilani point-ing at the trans-regional devel-opment and connectivity oppor-tunities between Pakistan andAfghanistan, urged the Afghanbusiness communities to makeoptimum use to develop win-win scenarios.
Addressing the leaders andCEOs of the Afghan corporatesector and Afghan businesscommunity, Prime Minister saidthe future of two economieswas closely inter-linked and thegeo-economic dynamics of theregion makes it an essentialimperative.
PM Gilani said the two coun-tries have a common resolve toimplement the transit-tradeagreement. He asserted thatPakistan would take additionalmeasures including customsharmonisation and the estab-
lishment of trade facilitationmechanisms for this purpose.He added that he has proposedthe establishment of specialtrans-border economic zones.
The transit trade agreementwith Afghanistan will allowtrucks from Afghanistan totransport goods to India throughPakistan via the sensitiveWagah land-route.
He said Pakistan andAfghanistan have also agreed towork jointly to enhance region-al connectivity and to establishcorridors to facilitate trade andenergy transactions. He saidprojects like TAPI, CASA-1000and North South Rail link cantransform the economic land-
scape of the region.Gilani said he has proposed to
President Karzai establishmentof special trans-border econom-ic zones and to facilitate jointventures and partnerships in theprivate sector.
"We must optimally build andutilise our mutual economiccomplementarities. We shouldestablish closer links betweenour respective chambers ofcommerce. A vibrant anddynamic Afghanistan-PakistanCEO's forum would make ahuge difference."
Gilani said, "Time has nowcome to shape our own destinyby joining hands and marching
See # 2 Page 11
Isb, Kabul aimfor $5bn trade
Gilani breakfasts with Afghan traders, CEOs
PM urges for economic, people-to-people contactsOffers special economic zones in border areas
Ghulam Raza Rajani
KARACHI: Offshoreinvestors remained active inlocal bourses as foreign fundmangers once again emerged asnet-buyer in Pakistan equitymarket with $22.87 millionworth of buying in the lastweek as per the NationalClearing Company of PakistanLimited (NCCPL) data.
Furthermore, foreign invest-ment hiked 83.9 per cent WoWcompared with $12.4 millionwitnessed in week ended on
26th November 2010.Foreign investors have been
active for nearly last 14 monthsin Pakistan equity market dueto attractive valuation ofPakistani stocks, TFD analystsaid.
However, their focusremained on few stocks whichincreased significantly, headded.
During the week, offshoreinvestors opted for buying freshposition as foreigners boughtshares worth $34.57 million
See # 7 Page 11
Offshorers inject$22.8mn into KSE
Ahmed Siddique
KARACHI: Due to devastat-ing floods and impact of tightmonetary policy, again largescale manufacturing (LSM)has reported decline of 2.58 percent in the month of September2010, taking the average con-traction to 1.47 per cent in thefirst quarter of fiscal year2010-11, according to datafrom the Federal Bureau ofStatistics (FBS).
During September, two sub-sectors declined as OilCompanies AdvisoryCommittee (OCAC) reported23.98 per cent drop in produc-tion and Ministry of Industriesdown by 6.15 per cent, whileProvincial Bureau of Statisticsshowed a growth in productionby 6.85 per cent in petroleum
products.Large scale manufacturing
sector broadly contributes 12per cent in the country's GDP.With better performance post-ed during FY10 (4.4 per centYoY growth), recent trend sug-gest a sharp downturn onceagain.
Broadly speaking, the trendis reflective of one time impactof flood, which subdued pro-duction owed to logistic lapsesand supply disruption duringthe said period, as per theresearch analyst of InvestCap.
The heavyweight contributorto industrial production, textilesector is expected to take a hitin terms damage to domesticcotton output, high cottonprices and structural issues inmaintaining competitiveness,
See # 6 Page 11
Industrial outputdips 1.47pc in 1Q
LSM contracts 2.58pc in Sept Pak Army
test-firesanti-tankmissile
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Armysuccessfully tested fire an anti-tank guided missile at TillaRange near Jhelum here onSunday.
According to military sources,Corps Commander Gujranwala,Lieutenant General RaheelSharif was also present at theoccasion.
The missile was tested duringthe ongoing exercises of PakArmy in Tilla range.
According to military officialsPakistan receives these missilesin the decade of 1970 howeverthese are small in size. Nowthese missiles are updatedaccording to the needs of mod-ern era. These missiles can suc-cessfully hit tanks.
On the occasion, CorpsCommander Gujranwala Let
See # 4 Page 11During last wk
More Beans Spilledl Kerry sought Isb-Delhi pact for US civil N-deal with Pak
l Malik claimed MQM opposed NRO on US,UK pressure; MQM denies global pressure l SArabia, a cashpoint for militants: Clinton l Karzai admitted Bugti’s presence in Afghanistan
PM visit to help liftPak-Afghan ties: FO
ISLAMABAD: Foreign Office Spokesman Abdul Basit hashoped that Prime Minister Gilani's Kabul visit would help in fur-ther enhancing Pak-Afghan economic ties and termed it as seriesof improving bilateral ties.
Talking to a private TV Sunday, Abdul Basit said PrimeMinister Gilani's visit main objective was See # 1 Page 11
RGST Bill
Fed, provincestalk tomorrowISLAMABAD: Federation andprovinces dialogue onReformed General Sales Tax(RGST) will resume onTuesday (tomorrow); FinanceSecretary Salman Siddiqui willrepresent the federation whileprovincial finance secretarieswill represent the provinces.
The draft of RGST will bediscussed with detail in themeeting. The participants hadagreed over reduction of tax onstand loan services from 15 percent to 10 to 12.5 per cent in thelast meeting during last monthbut the final decision will be
KARACHI: Another disaster ofoutbreak of diseases is headingtowards the flood-affected people ofKhairpur Nathan Shah and itsadjoining areas in Dadu district, asmajority of people have no shelterthus exposed to severe cold weather.
Sindh government had providedonly 6500 tents for more than 0.15million shelters-less flood affectedfamilies during recent floods, as aresult a large number of families areliving under open sky.
In this situation, the NGOs fear,more than 50,000 children could beaffected from Pneumonia and otherdangerous diseases during currentcold weather.
Although Sindh government isclaiming that they are doing well forthe relief and rehabilitation of floodaffectees but the people of KhairpurNathan Shah town and Taluka havenot received even tents, blankets andwarm clothes yet for protection oftheir families and children from thecold weather.
Taluka Khairpur Nathan Shahcomprises of 12 Union Councils(UCs) of which 10 have been direct-ly affected by the recent floods, mak-
ing the people to shift to safer places.Mehboob Mallah a farmer, living
in Daleji Miyani Village, told PPIduring a visit that their village wasdestroyed due to recent heavy floodsbut nobody of village has receivedtent, blanket or warm clothes yet.
He said that they are very muchafraid how they and their innocentchildren will survive from the coldweather which is unbearable for hav-ing no enough facilities to protectfrom cold weather.
Similarly, Abdul Hameed Mallahof Pejaho Village told that some 20people have got tents and rest wereliving under open sky becausemajority of homes were destroyed infloods.
Abdul Hameed Mallah was doingsmall business of fish-selling on thebicycle but floods snatched his onlysource of livelihood because roadsare still submerged by flood waterand he is waiting for the food bagssupplied by NGOs and government.
When contacted, ENT specialistDr Qaisar Sajjad, in Karachi, he toldthat especially in the case ofKhairpur Nathan Shah, if the gov-ernment will not take immediate
steps regarding the health facilitiesand providing them with winterizedtents, innocent children will face thePneumonia and other diseases likechest, nose, ear and throat ailments.
Meanwhile, Habib-u-AllahSoomro General Secretary ofPakistan Medical Association(PMA) told PPI that pneumonia isthe second largest killer disease ofthe country which will show its facein the winter weather, saying that ifthe innocent children would not beprovided warm clothes and win-terised tents by the government orNGOs, they will be definitely affect-ed by the pneumonia.
Pakistan Peoples Party MPA ImranZafar Leghari who belongs toKhairpur Nathan Shah told that he istrying to get help from provincialand federal governments but felt thatthey will not help people on immedi-ate basis. He appealed President AsifAli Zardari and Prime Minister SyedYousuf Raza Gillani for taking war-footing steps in order to save mil-lions of innocent flood victims fromthe diseases. He also appealed forrebuilding of homes of people inKhairpur Nathan Shah Taluka.-PPI
Dadu-displaceddoubly worriedas winter looms
Staff Reporter
KARACHI: A German expatriatehas collected and donated more than10,000 euros through his personalefforts and endeavours. A cheque ofmore than a million rupees washanded over to Indus ResourceCentre for the rehabilitation of floodvictims.
The person who initiated the gooddeed happens to be ChristianHasenstab, the Chief FinancialOfficer of Merck in Pakistan.
Playing down the Herculeanefforts he put in to collect funds tohelp the flood victims, Hasenstabsaid he was glad t have been of someassistance, though he said he felt hiscontribution was a drop in the ocean.
"The pictures and news reports ofthat devastating flood were just hor-rifying. Meanwhile my family andfriends back home in Germany andother parts of the world were in con-tact and asking me how they couldhelp," said Christian.
He pointed out that people aremore forthcoming with help oncesomeone they know personally isinvolved in the fund-raising and theircontributions will be used sagacious-ly and justly.
Reflecting on how he collected thefunds, Christian continued: "The
response thereafter was immense. Igot my first response in just hoursfrom one of my best friends, askingwhere to send the money.
Thereafter, I started getting queriesfrom friends of friends and frompeople that I didn't even know. But Iwould like to take this opportunity tothank all the people involved.
The Merck CFO continued, "Mydecision which is supported by the
other contributors, and also theGerman consulate is to give thedonation to a Karachi based NGO,Indus Resource Centre. I very muchlike this NGO's approach, which ingeneral is Empowerment of thePeople, or as we say in German"Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe." Hasenstabalso said he had found the people ofPakistan to be a warm and friendlypeople.
German expat collectsRs10mn for flood-hits
Where there's a Will, There's a Way
KARACHI: There is need for morepeople-to-people contact to reflectthe very friendly relations betweenSouth Korea and Pakistan.
Korean Ambassador Choong JooChoi said at a reception hosted byKorean Consul General In-Ki Leehere.
The Korean Ambassador welcom-ing the elite businessmen of Karachisaid he had found the city to be fullof dynamics. He urged the businesstycoons to explore each and everyavenue to increase trade and busi-ness contacts.
The Korean envoy said he wasfully aware that Sindh was a richlyendowed province with a very richculture that was blessed with count-less natural and human resources.
He said he was hopeful that Koreaand Pakistan would continue theircooperation successfully in differentsectors.
He further suggested both coun-tries should join hands to achievetheir common goals and should pro-ceed to go beyond the talking stageand implement the potential thatthey possess. -PPI
Korean envoy urgescloser links with Pak
In-Ki Lee asks traders to raise contacts
ISLAMABAD: The PopulationCensus Organization of the StatisticsDivision has finalised all necessaryarrangements for countrywide sixthpopulation census.
In the first phase, the house listingoperation would start by the end ofMarch 2011, while in the secondphase the population census opera-tion would start by the end of August2011 and would be completed inSeptember 2011.
Decision to this effect was made ata meeting held here in the committeeroom of Population CensusOrganization headquarters under thechairmanship of Asif Bajwa,Secretary Statistics Division.
The Secretary Statistics Divisiontold the meeting that for holding theforthcoming census the country hasbeen divided into 423 census dis-tricts, while more than 91000 per-sons would participate in the house
listing operation. The personsincluded charge superintendents, cir-cle supervisors and enumerators.
On the occasion, the senior region-al and provincial officers of popula-tion census organisation briefed themeeting about the preparations madeso far for the conducting of thehouse listing operation, across thecountry including Azad Jammu andKashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
They also informed the meetingregarding the induction of censusfield personals and the materialsbeing used for the holding of upcom-ing census. They also briefed thesenior officials of statistics divisionregarding the problems being facedby the regional and provincial popu-lation census organization.
The concerned officials directedfor the early redressal of their prob-lems for the smooth conducting ofthis national exercise. -APP
All ready for 6th nosecount
Staff Reporter
KARACHI: 2nd Indonesian SoloExhibition concluded here. The exhi-bition was sponsored by The Republicof Indonesia Karachi Consulate.
The Exhibition provided the oppor-tunity to the businessmen of both thecountries to explore the possibilities ofentering new markets with a long-termvision of gaining economic prosperity.
Consul General of Indonesia inKarachi, Rossalis R Adenan, address-ing a closing ceremony, he said thatthe two-day event focused on promot-ing Indonesia tourism and displayedIndonesian products such as spices,textiles paper products and consumersgoods.
He said that Indonesia and Pakistanenjoy excellent political relations butstressed that these should also bereflected in other fields such and econ-
omy and tourism etc.He pointed out that the culture of
Indonesia has been diverse and thereare 300 ethnic groups with the coun-try's population of 230 million.'Although we are diverse, we are unit-ed', he added.
Furthermore, the exhibition washighlighted the cultural shows,Indonesian Cultural Performances likePuspawresti Dance, Piring Dance,Tanjung Katung Dance Sajojo Danceand Poco-poco Dances, were per-formed by the Indonesian andPakistani students.
The visitors fully enjoyed theIndonesian traditional colorful per-formances that were excellently organ-ised and every one completely enjoyedand took great interest while many vis-itors have come forward to register thename of their children to learn theIndonesian dances.
2nd Indonesiansolo expo ends
Staff Reporter
KARACHI: PAF has launched a reha-bilitation plan for the flood affectees insimultaneous ceremonies held in all theprovinces under Regional AirCommands.
PAF rehabilitation plan aims at provid-ing free-of-cost construction of housesfor flood affectees in flood hit areas ofPakistan which faced maximum devasta-tion during the recent floods; theseinclude areas in and around Mianwali,Dawood Khel, Jacobabad, DeraAllahyar, Charsadda and Risalpur.
PAF plans to construct over six hun-dred houses and the project would becompleted within four months.
The sites for the construction of thehouses have been selected in consulta-tion with the local civil administrationand due attention has been paid for veri-fication of ownership and damageassessment prior to undertaking the con-struction process.
The rehabilitation plan is being cen-trally controlled at Air Headquarters,Islamabad under the supervision ofRegional Air Commands which willmonitor the construction process andensure timely handing over of the hous-es to the flood affectees.
The launching ceremony Sundaymarks the commencement of third phaseof a comprehensive PAF plan to assistthe flood affectees.
Earlier in Phase-I, PAF rescued thestranded flood affectees and providedthem with relief goods; subsequently inphase-II relocated the affectees to floodrelief camps established by PAF atSukkur, Bakhtiarabad, Mianwali, PirPathu, Jacobabad and PAF AcademyRisalpur.
The plan is being launched under thedirective of the Chief of the Air Staffwho considers this as a small contribu-tion of the PAF for our brothers & sisterswho have been affected by the naturaldisaster.
PAF plans 600houses in 4mth
Rehabilitation of Flood Affected
Volunteerstudentshelp 30families
KARACHI: The ConsumerForum has facilitated 30 familieswith the help of students of a pri-vate institute to set up income gen-erating jobs in Karachi.
The Consumer Forum is a stand-ing committee of Federation ofPakistan Chamber of Commerceand Industry (FPCCI), headed byphilanthropist Huma Bukhari.
On the occasion of the 'WorldVolunteer Services Day' beingobserved here on Sunday, aspokesman of the forum said thatthe students of New Port Institutein collaboration of the ConsumerForum help the people.
The students volunteered andmonitored the deserving poor peo-ple after thorough investigationand helped them to set up generalstores etc. which related to the con-sumers and resulted in incomeranging Rs200 to Rs800 per day.
In this regard, the students ofNew Port Institute also organisedspecial session to mark the 'WorldVolunteer Services Day' and eulo-gised the services of communica-tion and economic department stu-dents who served the people in col-laboration with Consumer Forumof FPCCI.
On the occasion, Huma Bukhari,who is also the rector of theInstitute, lauded the efforts of thestudents and hoped that the stu-dents will help identify more andmore such deserving poor familieswho could work and generateincome on self-help basis. -APP
Conferencecalls forresearch
in varsitiesKARACHI: The participantsof 10th Biennial Conference ofPakistan Society forBiochemistry and MolecularBiology (PSBMB) called forcontinued unhindered supportto research activities in the uni-versities in the country.
The 5-day conference con-cluded here Sunday at the DrAQ Khan Institute ofBiotechnology and GeneticEngineering (KIBGE),University of Karachi.
The conference urged theauthorities that the resourcesfor higher education should notonly be continued unhinderedbut further enhanced to ensurethe growth and quality of sci-entific research which is vitalfor the development andimproving the quality of life ofcommon men in the country.
Prof Jawaid Altaf Baig,President PSBMB, Prof MWaheed Akhtar GeneralSecretary PSBMB, Prof.Pervaiz Iqbal of the Aga KhanUniversity, Prof Muhammadlshaq of Sir Syed MedicalCollege and Dr Younus Barozaiof Balochistan Universityaddressed the general body ofPSBMB and acknowledged thehealthier funding for scienceand research activities in recentyears that has created a con-ducive environment for scien-tific activity. However, theywere of the opinion that therewas need to enhance theresources and encourage thehealthy trend to meet the chal-lenges faced by the country.During the conference, about150 research papers were pre-sented from throughoutPakistan in the form of talksand posters. The papers covereda vast spectrum of biochemistryand molecular biology, includ-ing, agriculture, health andmedicine, biotechnology, drugdesign. Memorial lectures forProfessor Zain-ul-Abedin andProfessor MID Chughtai werealso delivered. The 11thBiennial Conference ofPSBMB will be held inKhyber-Pakhtunkhwa in 2012.-PPI
KARACHI: The Consul General of the United Arab Emirates, Suhail Bin Matar Al-Ketbi, hosted areception dinner on the occasion of the 39th National Day of UAE at a local hotel.
Picture shows acting governor of Sindh Nisar Ahmed Khuhro and Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, cutting the cake along with host and other GCC country diplomats. -Staff Photo
Homelessness, Diseases Outbreak
KARACHI: Sindh Home Minister'scomplaint center received 663 com-plaints from 24 October to 03December through telephones, faxand emails while 392 complaintswere received by hand.
The Complaint Center solved 333complaints through police and otherconcerned departments. While oth-ers complaints were in process.
This was informed to Sindh HomeMinister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza by com-plaint center on Sunday in a reportcompiled from 24 October to 03December. Consultant, HomeAffairs, Sharfuddin Memoninformed Zulfiqar Mirza that 147complaints were received againstpolice, two against extortion, fouragainst target killing, five against
vehicle snatching, six against streetcrimes, 17 against kidnapping, 19against domestic violence while 463different complaints were received.
Home Minister reviewed the reportand directed to Consultant, HomeAffairs to solve the problems of peo-ple on priority basis with the coordi-nation of police officials, DCOs andconcerned.-APP
Sindh HM Centre heeds 333 complaints
NEW YORK: US oil prices roseto a 25-month high on Friday, thethird straight rise, as a weaker USdollar spurred commoditiesinvestment and cold weather inEurope and the US Northeast lift-ed heating fuel futures.
Plunging temperatures inEurope and colder weather inparts of the United States prompt-ed a surge in demand for heatingoil and other heating fuels.
US crude futures for Januaryrose $1.19 to settle at $89.19 abarrel, the highest close since Oct.7, 2008, bouncing after an earlydecline on the weak jobs data.
Prices rose 6 per cent over threedays, the biggest such percentage
increase since the three days toOct 1.
For the week, US crude rose6.48 per cent, a second straightweekly gain and the best percent-age gain since the 6.66-per centboost in the week to Nov. 5.
Total US crude trading volumewas above 790,000 on Friday,with less than an hour of post-set-tlement trading left, 30 per centabove the 30-day average.
ICE Brent crude futures tradedup $1.12 to $91.80, after setting afresh two-year high of $91.85.
At least four major banksboosted longer-term outlooks foroil prices this week, with one ofthe most bullish, Goldman Sachs,
calling for US crude futures torise to $100 a barrel next year, asglobal economies rebound fasterthan expected.
Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan andSociete Generale also boostedtheir oil price outlooks this week.But the disappointing US jobsreport was not the only factor thatmight fuel investor caution.
Chinese state news agencyXinhua reported that topCommunist Party leaders havedecided China will switch to a"prudent" monetary policy from amoderately loose stance. Thiscould prompt interest rateincreases and lending controls. -Reuters
3Monday, December 6, 2010
NEW YORK: The euro is like-ly to come under more pressureas worries persist about sover-eign debt woes, with a vote inIreland in the spotlight.
But the Fed's quantitativeeasing plans could temper thedollar's gains and provide afleeting reprieve for the singleEuropean currency.
On Friday, the dollar extend-ed its losses against the euroafter CBS News reported thatFederal Reserve Chairman BenBernanke didn't rule out anexpansion of the Fed's asset-purchase program, though thetelevision network didn't offeradditional context.
On the other side of the coin,illustrating just how difficultthe euro-zone's challengesmight have recently been, theUK Guardian newspaperreported Friday that GermanChancellor Angela Merkel hadthreatened in late October topull her country out of the euro-zone.
Euro-zone troubles will be infocus for much of the week, butparticularly on Tuesday, as theIrish parliament votes on anaustere 2011 budget.
With Irish Prime MinisterBrian Cowen holding only theslimmest majority, the votecould end in a vote of no confi-dence, resulting in the dissolu-tion of parliament and a gener-al election.
That would not be good forthe euro, as instability inIreland would cast into doubtthe country's ability to fulfillthe austerity conditionsattached to the EUR67.5 billionrescue package provided by theEuropean Union andInternational Monetary Fund.
The instability would likelyalso rattle investors who fearthat the aid package for Irelandis but a band aid for a deepeuro-zone wound.
The market will be watching
the zone's bond yield spreadsclosely for signs of a worsening
crisis.On Friday, peripheral euro-
zone government bonds weretightening again, with tradersattributing the move toEuropean Central Bank buyingof Portuguese, Greek and Irishgovernment bonds.
"Everyone will be watchingEurope, and trying to seewhether the euro will stay inthis choppy range, or will ittake another turn for theworse," said Brian Kim, curren-cy strategist at UBS inStamford, Conn.
The common currency will
be biased to the downside, hesaid, until a "comprehensiveplan or solution" is reached,adding, "even if the ECB con-tinues to buy bonds."
"It's still a larger systemicproblem that they need toaddress," Kim said.
Two days of bond buying,and weak US data, helped pushthe euro higher to a rally thaterased the decline incurred overa tumultuous week.
Turmoil will likely remain adominant theme in the marketthis week as investors confrontseveral far-flung sources ofstress: the rolling sovereigndebt crisis in Europe, politicaltensions along the Koreanpeninsula, looming threat offurther policy tightening inChina, and a stumbling USeconomy.
On Friday, a sharply weaker-than-expected US jobs reportsignaled the US economicrecovery might be in deepertrouble than many had realized.
The disappointing nonfarmpayrolls data cemented the casefor the Federal Reserve to ful-fill in total its hefty, $600-bil-lion asset-purchase program,which has been weighing onthe dollar, analysts said. Someanalysts were suggesting thatfurther policy action may alsobe required.
The dollar slumped, fallingagainst all its major rivalsexcept of the Canadian dollar.The Canadian dollar retreatedfrom near parity as investorsopted for currencies with less-intimate ties to the US economy.
The news validated the mar-ket's widely held belief that theBank of Canada, one of threebig central banks meeting thisweek, will likely hold interestrates steady.
The other two--the Bank ofEngland and the Reserve Bankof Australia--are also expectedto hold rates steady. -Agencies
Sovereign debt woes tokeep shadowing euro
US dollar weekly outlook
BANKOK: Asian currenciesadvanced last week, led by thebiggest five-day gain in SouthKorea's won in two months, asreports on manufacturing sig-naled regional growth.
South Korea's won appreci-ated 1.9 per cent to 1,138.55.India's rupee climbed 1.6 percent to 45.1060 and theSingapore dollar added 1.1 percent to S$1.3059.
Expansion in factory produc-tion accelerated in China,South Korea, Taiwan andSingapore over the past twomonths, official data showedlast week, bolstering the out-look for Asian exporters. TheInternational Monetary Fundforecasts the region'seconomies will expand at afaster pace than developednations this year.
"Some good data supportrisk appetite," said MinoriUchida, senior analyst inTokyo at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. "Asiangrowth is solid and currencies
will continue to strengthen, butprobably at a slower pace thanthis year."
Overseas investors boughtmore stocks than they sold inSouth Korea, Taiwan andThailand last week and werenet buyers in India in the firstthree days of the week,exchange data show. The IMFpredicts Asia's developingeconomies will expand 9.4 percent in 2010, compared with2.7 per cent in advanced coun-tries.
The won rose for a third dayas investor concern over ten-sions on the Korean peninsulaeased and US data boostedoptimism that the world'sbiggest economy is recovering.
South Korea's currency hasrebounded 3 per cent sincereaching a two-month low of1,172.50 on Nov. 24, the dayafter the North attacked anisland in the South usingartillery, killing four peopleand prompting retaliatory fire.
India's rupee rose last week
by the most since the five-dayperiod ended Oct. 1 on specu-lation Asia's second-fastestgrowing major economy willdraw investors to new shareofferings by local companies.
Shipping Corp. of India Ltd.,the country's biggest sea carri-er, and the government mayraise $240 million in a shareoffering that opened on Nov.30, Chairman S. Hajara saidNov. 26. A sale by MOIL Ltd.,India's largest producer ofmanganese ore, closed on Dec.1 with bids for 56 times the33.6 million shares offered,according to the NationalStock Exchange.
Elsewhere last week, thePhilippine peso advanced 0.8per cent to 43.895 per dollarand the Thai baht gained 0.5per cent to 30.05. The yuanclimbed 0.1 per cent to 6.6633and Taiwan's dollar added 0.3per cent to NT$30.745.Indonesia's rupiah was littlechanged from Nov. 26 at9,009. -Agencies
Mostly better for wk onregional growth outlook
Asian currencies
NEW YORK: Gold rosealmost 2 per cent on Friday,rising above $1,400 an ounceas the dollar tumbled afterdisappointing jobs data castdoubt on the strength of theUS economic recovery.
Bullion was up more than 3per cent this week, its biggestgain since April, pushed high-er by lingering fears about asprawling European debt cri-sis and fund buying in com-modities across the board.
Gold breached above $1,400for the first time sinceNovember after data showedUS nonfarm payrolls barelygrew in November and thejobless rate unexpectedly hit aseven-month high.
"The employment datatoday makes it more likelythat the US Congress is goingto have to extend unemploy-ment insurance and the taxcuts. The market sees that as
more deficits spending, creat-ing a more positive atmos-phere for gold because thedollar is going down on it,"said Tom Pawlicki, preciousmetals and energy analyst atMF Global.
Pawlicki said the job reporthardened the view that theFederal Reserve would stickto or even extend its $600 bil-lion bond-buyback program tostimulate growth.
Economists said the weakjobs report could give freshimpetus to get a deal done, asexpiry of the tax cuts withoutoffsetting stimulus elsewherecould deal a hard blow to theeconomy.
Spot gold rose 1.7 per centto $1,408.19 an ounce at 2001GMT, its biggest one-day risesince Nov. 4.
US gold futures forDecember delivery settled up$16.90 an ounce at $1,406.2.
Silver tracked gold higher,trading up 2.7 per cent at$29.29 an ounce.
COMEX gold and silvervolume was sharply lowerthan their 30-day average, asinvestors have completed con-tract rollover prior toDecember's first notice day onTuesday.
Earlier this week, goldseemed to struggle to gainupward momentum for a newtest of its record high at$1,424.10 an ounce set onNov. 9, in spite of lingeringworries that Europe's debt cri-sis could spread to othercountries following bailoutsof Ireland and Greece.
But weak US data has givennew momentum to gold.
Platinum rose 0.8 per cent to$1,721.49, and palladiumgained 0.7 per cent to$764.47, off a 9-year high of$776.22. -Reuters
Bullion up over 3pc, biggest weekly gain since April
Several banks boost oil price forecasts through 2011
Oil soars to 2-yr highon cold, weak dollar
NEW YORK: US cottonfutures finished Friday thedaily limit up for the third con-secutive session on speculativefund buying, but volumes werelight and analysts were wary ifthe rally is sustainable.
The benchmark March cottoncontract on ICE Futures USrose its 6-cent limit to finish at$1.3234 per lb, with the sessionlow at $1.273.
After rallying the past threesessions by ending limit up,cotton is again the best per-former on the Reuters-Jefferiescommodity index, having risennearly 75 per cent year-to-date.
On the week, the market is up
18.41 per cent. But the volumetraded since Monday has beenrunning at about 50 per centbelow the 30-day average.
That was the case again onFriday when volume hit around19,300 lots, again almost 50 percent below the 30-day averageof 36,100 lots, ThomsonReuters preliminary datashowed.
"It's a technically-basedrally," said Sharon Johnson,cotton specialist at PensonFutures in Atlanta.
Analysts said the market,basis March, must go past thearea of $1.36 to $1.38 whichare topside targets which would
confirm the market's turn-around from the lows it hit lastweek.
Fundamentally, several ana-lysts believe the market is stillfriendly because they feel sup-plies going into the first quarterof 2011 will be tight since alarge portion of the US cottonharvest has already been sold.
The market also drew inspira-tion from strong cotton pricesin China, the world's top con-sumer. Key May cotton futureson the Zhengzhou CommodityExchange was last done at26,655 yuan per tonne onFriday, up 600 yuan on the day.-Reuters
US cotton limits upfor 3rd day in a row
NEW YORK/LONDON:Cocoa futures rallied Friday asfears of political chaos in topgrower Ivory Coast raised theprospect that supplies of the topingredient in making chocolatesmay face indefinite delays, ana-lysts said.
The key March cocoa contractwent up $67 to close at $2,935 pertonne, the highest settlement sinceNov. 18. The market has gainedover 6 per cent in value since thecrisis erupted on Thursday. Themarket was up 5.0 per cent on theweek, the biggest percentage gainsince the week of July 18.
London's March cocoa futuresrose 36 pounds to end at 1,959pounds per tonne, having alsorisen 60 pounds in the previoussession.
Sugar futures surged as well,boosted by tightening supplies,poor crop outlooks in severalcountries and lingering doubtsabout how much sugar No. 2 pro-ducer India will really be able toexport.
"On the production side wehave seen estimates lowered in anumber of key countries such as
Australia and Indonesia as seeingsmall decreases in less key coun-tries such as Japan," a Europeanbroker said in a daily marketreport.
Scoville said a lot of thestrength in the sugar market has todo with question marks on thevolume of India's sugar exports.
New York's March raw sugarcontract gained 1.05 cents to endat a 3-week top of 29.50 cents perlb, ending the week up 4.43 percent. London's March white sugarfutures rose $12.10 to close at$740 per tonne.
New York sugar may rise explo-sively to 30.42 cents as it hascome to a critical point indicatedby a contracting wedge, and a tinyrise or fall would trigger a big gainor loss, Reuters market analystWang Tao said.
Coffee futures also advanced asthe market remained under-pinnned by tight supplies of qual-ity arabicas.New York's Marcharabica coffee contract gained1.10 cents to close at $2.048 perlb. London's March robusta coffeefutures rose $16 to end at $1,864per tonne. -Reuters
Cocoa rally onIvorian turmoil fears
TORONTO: The Canadiandollar closed on a flat note onFriday after initially sagging ondisappointing US and domesticjob data that undermined hopesof stronger economic growth incoming months.
US nonfarm payrolls rose farless than expected inNovember -- up 39,000 versusforecasts of 140,000 -- and thejobless rate jumped to a seven-month high of 9.8 per cent,dampening hopes for a self-sustaining economic recoveryin Canada's biggest tradingpartner.
In the aftermath of the weak
US data, the Canadian curren-cy dropped as low as C$1.0081against the US dollar, or 99.20US cents.
The currency was alreadypulling back after Canadianemployment data showed amixed performance inNovember with tepid job gainsof 15,200 versus expectationsof 18,000. The unemploymentrate fell to 7.6 per cent from7.9 per cent, but that was large-ly due to young people drop-ping out of the job market.
"A weak Canadian jobsreport and a weak US jobsreport is not painting the
rosiest of pictures for theCanadian fundamental out-look," said Camilla Sutton,chief currency strategist atScotia Capital.
The Canadian dollar regainedground after its initial retreatand closed the North Americansession at C$1.0033 to the USdollar, or 99.67 US cents, littlechanged from Thursday's closeat C$1.0039 to the US dollar,or 99.61 US cents. For theweek, it was up 1.7 per cent.
Overnight, the Canadian dol-lar was only two basis pointsshy of parity at C$1.0002, or99.98 US cents.-Reuters
Canadian dollar flats,but earns 1.7pc in wk
Specs slashbets against
USD, go shortsterling: CFTCNEW YORK: Currency specu-lators trimmed bets against thedollar for a fourth straightweek, data from theCommodity Futures TradingCommission showed on Friday.
The value of the dollar's netshort position fell to $8.55 bil-lion in the week ending Nov.30, from $9.74 billion the pre-vious week, according toReuters and CFTC calculations.
The biggest shift involvedsterling, with speculators bet-ting against the currency for thefirst time since the week endingSept. 28. They were also shortthe euro for the second straightweek.
The Reuters calculation forthe aggregate US dollar posi-tion is derived from the netpositions of InternationalMonetary Market speculatorsin the yen, euro, British pound,Swiss franc, Canadian andAustralian dollars. -Reuters
Sterling logsweekly gainsagainst dollarLONDON: The pound had itsfirst weekly gain versus the dol-lar in a month after the EuropeanCentral Bank said it would delaystimulus withdrawal to calmmarket turmoil as investorappetite grew for higher yield-ing assets.
Sterling was little changedversus the euro last week afterECB President Jean-ClaudeTrichet said the bank will notwithdraw emergency liquiditymeasures designed to supporteuro-area economies. The USadded fewer jobs than forecastand the unemployment rateunexpectedly increased. UKstocks rose.
"If you look back to a weekago the prospect of things wors-ening in Europe, the potentialrisk exposure of UK banks toIreland and Spain also, and thethreat of contagion in Europewas a negative," said DerekHalpenny, European head ofcurrency research at Bank ofTokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd.
"We've seen an easing of thosetensions as the week goes on.Those factors have certainlybeen an important element ofsterling recovery."
The pound rose to $1.5749 asof 5:51 p.m. in London onFriday, a weekly gain of 1 percent. Sterling strengthened 0.5per cent against the euro for theweek.
Data on Friday showed USpayrolls increased 39,000 inNovember, less than the mostpessimistic projection of econ-omists surveyed. The joblessrate rose to 9.8 per cent, thehighest since April, whilehours worked and earningsstagnated, according to LaborDepartment figures.
Sterling has weakened 4.8 percent against a basket of itsdeveloped-country peers thisyear, according to BloombergCorrelation-Weighted CurrencyIndexes, making it the third-worst-performing currency afterthe euro and Norwegian krone.It has appreciated 0.2 per cent inthe past month. -Agencies
Copper endsfirm despitesoft US data
NEW YORK/LONDON:Copper notched its biggestweekly gain in four months onFriday, ending firm despitebelow-forecast US employmentdata that failed to deter demandfor the metal as a hedge againstinflation.
London Metal Exchange(LME) benchmark copper wasuntraded at the close, but lastquoted at $8,725/8,730 a tonneversus $8,720 at Thursday'sclose. It hit a record high at$8,966 on Nov. 11.
COMEX copper for Marchdelivery settled up 2.00 cents at$3.9990 per lb, after brieflycracking the psychological $4level earlier in the session.
Investor confidence was shak-en after data showed US employ-ment increased far less thanexpected in November and thejobless rate jumped to a seven-month high of 9.8 per cent.
Daniel Brebner, an analyst atDeutsche Bank, saw a silver lin-ing in the weaker-than-expecteddata.
Upbeat economic reports outof the euro-zone helped torestore some confidence in theoutlook for base metals demand.
Inventories of four of the sixLME metals rose, the mostrecent exchange data showed.
Copper stocks rose by 1,200tonnes, data showed on Friday.However, stockpiles in LME-bonded warehouses have fallenby over one third since Februaryto 353,625 tonnes and remainclose to the lowest levels in overone year.
The premium for cash copperover the three-month benchmarkhas eased to $55 from almost$63.50 on Thursday.
LME aluminum was last quot-ed at $2,319/2,320 versus$2,355, while nickel fell $200 to$23,500. Lead, which ralliedover six per cent on Thursday,was last quoted at $2,338/2,340from $2,374, while zinc shed$40.50 to $2,219.5.
Tin was at $25,550 versus$25,500 from Thursday. -Reuters
Wheat surges4pc on
crop woesCHICAGO: US wheatfutures rallied more than 4per cent on Friday to theirhighest in nearly a month,bringing gains in the pastthree days to more than 12 percent amid a weak dollar andconcern over Australia's rain-hit crop.
Soybean futures gainednearly 5 per cent and corn 3.7per cent for the week, buoyedby a three-day slide in thedollar index, which hit a one-week low on Friday.
Chicago Board of Tradewheat for March delivery, themost actively traded contract,closed up 30-1/2 cents at$7.79 a bushel. Pricestouched their highest levelsince Nov. 9.
CBOT December cornfutures gained more than 3per cent or 18-1/4 cents toclose at $5.58-1/2 a bushel.
CBOT January soybeanssurged 1.6 per cent to closeabove the psychologicalthreshold of $13 per bushelfor the first time in nearly amonth. -Reuters
Now that WikiLeaks has begunreleasing a quarter of a millionclassified US State Department
cables from embassies around theworld, a new era is dawning. Politicalchange and reform are inevitable world-wide and at long last, there's a chancefor peace and stability in the MiddleEast. Really.
This is how Julian Assange, theAustralian founder of WikiLeaks, viewsthe effect of the dispatches that lay barethe inner workings of US diplomacy,provide frank and often titillating detailof the shortcomings and foibles of for-eign leaders, report on the breath-takingscale of corruption in such places asAfghanistan and Russia, and note that -surprise, surprise - Arab leaders in par-ticular tend to say one thing in publicand quite another in private.
"The...media scrutiny and the reactionfrom government are so tremendousthat it actually eclipses our ability tounderstand it," Assange said in an inter-view with Time magazine on day 3 ofthe data dump, which began onNovember 28. "I can see that there is atremendous re-arrangement of viewingsabout many different countries. And sothat will result in a new kind of harmon-isation..."
The Frequently Asked Question sec-tion of the WikiLeaks website explainswhy things are looking up for MiddleEast peace. "These cables, by giving theplayers an unvarnished description ofhow they are seen...(provide) commonground on which to effectively negotiatepeace and stability."
The phrase "irrational exuberance"comes to mind, and the suspicion thatfame and notoriety have driven the for-mer hacker away from the reality-basedcommunity and pointed him towardsUtopia. In his version of Utopia, thereare no lies, double-talk, secrets, confi-dential conversations and wheeling-and-dealing. It's a brave new world withperennially open microphones.
WikiLeak's original intent, when itwas established in 2007, was to leaksecret documents for the sake of greatertransparency. That has been redefined.
"It's not our goal to achieve a moretransparent society," he told Time, "it's
our goal to achieve a more just society."Who could argue with such a lofty goal?And who can explain how a society, let'ssay America's, can become "more just"by exposing that its diplomats manipu-late, cajole, and don't mince words whenthey report back to Washington howthey see their host countries?
Despite Assange's bombastic predic-
tions, the leak of the embassy messages- 612 published as of December 2, and250,675 to go - is already proving to becounter-productive. It's almost certain
that there will be less transparency inforeign affairs in future, not more. Thedocument dump will probably crampefforts to reduce the over-classificationof documents, according to StevenAftergood, a veteran campaigneragainst excessive government secrecy
who has been sharply critical ofWikiLeaks.
"It has an anarchist approach," he saidin an interview. "It doesn't have anywell-defined agenda other than fosterchaos, suspicion and distrust."
POLL SHOWS OPPOSITION TOWIKILEAKS
None of the leaked cables was marked
Top Secret, a label which would havekept them from the shared network fromwhich they appear to have leaked. TheState Department and the Pentagon
began sharing the Secret InternetProtocol Router Network (SIPRNet)after the September 11, 2001, attacks tomake it easier to connect the dots thegovernment failed to connect before al-Qaeda struck New York andWashington.
As part of the post-leak securitycrackdown, the routine of closing thestable door after the horse has bolted,the White House set up a commissioncharged with figuring out new ways tokeep classified documents secret. TheState Department disconnected itselffrom SIPRNet, to which around threemillion users with "secret" clearanceshave access.
Contrary to Assange's belief, stated invarious interviews, that the Americanpublic favours WikiLeaks' approach tosecrecy - in essence, there should be none,ever - a poll released by Zogby Interactiveon December 2 showed that 77 per cent ofsome 2,000 surveyed saw WikiLeaks as anational security threat and 63 per centwere opposed to US news organisationspublishing the documents.
Such views are no doubt shaped by asteady drumbeat of dire warnings frompolitical leaders, administration officialsand right-wing talk show hosts that pub-lishing the diplomatic dispatches "couldput at risk the lives of countless inno-cent individuals," as the US StateDepartment's legal advisor, Harold Koh,wrote in a letter to WikiLeaks. From thecables so far released, this is as difficultto see as Assange's "new kind of har-monisation."
Would the lives of American diplo-mats in Moscow be in danger becauseone of the cables described Russia as a"virtual mafia state?" Or those in Berlinfor portraying Chancellor AngelaMerkel as risk-averse and lacking cre-ativity? Or the Paris embassy fordescribing French President NicolasSarkozy as "the emperor with noclothes?"
All very embarrassing, to be sure,both for the subjects and for the authorswho thought their dispatches would besafe from public scrutiny until unsealedat the request of historians in 25 years.But life-threatening?
The unintended consequence of theWikiLeaks dump will be self-censor-ship, smaller distribution lists and high-er security classification, all combiningfor less transparency. And the realsecrets will be conveyed the old-fash-ioned, pre-Internet way -- from mouthto ear.-Reuters
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EnsureAfghans
don’t starveAfghans had endured the worst wheat crisis in
2008 and it is feared that the shortfall could beeven higher this year as compared to the past.Reportedly locust swarms, floods, and fungushave affected local wheat production.Therefore, this year, the country will be forcedto import nearly one million tonnes of wheat tosave its people from starvation.
Traditionally, Afghanistan has been depend-ent on wheat supply from Pakistan, Kazakhstanand Russia. While Afghans were confident ofobtaining wheat from the traditional sources,this year wheat production in Russia andKazakhstan has been affected severely as well.In such a scenario Afghans could only dependon Pakistan. Though, India has promised tosupply free of cost wheat to Afghans, logisticsface serious hindrances.
Indian has two routes available through Iranvia Chabahar or Bandar Abbas ports. Though,Afghanistan has signed a transit trade agree-ment with Pakistan, but it does not allow Indiangoods to go through Wagah border. In such acase Pakistan can either allow Indian wheat tocome through Wagah or supply its own toAfghanistan.
Since Pakistan has ample wheat stocks, in allprudence it should exercise the second option.Since the border between Afghanistan andPakistan is highly porous, stopping wheatsmuggling would be very difficult; wheat pricedifference between the two countries offershuge incentive.
India has been investing in Afghanistan heav-ily to win over the hearts of commons mostlyfocusing the northern areas and paying lessattention to south having Pushtoon majority,enjoying strong relationship with Pakistan. Infact the southern areas need wheat more des-perately and it is time to help them.
The mercury level has already started fallingand is now below freezing point in variousparts of Afghanistan. Therefore, the govern-ment should allow export of wheat fromPakistan and also arrange for the logistics at theearliest. In fact the announcement should comeimmediately to ensure delivery of wheat at theearliest.
Pakistan should go one step further and helpAfghans in enhancing local production ofwheat by supplying certified seeds and fertilis-er. Residents of southern parts adjacent toPakistan border should be encouraged to culti-vate more wheat.
Over the years some attempts have been madeto discourage cultivation of poppy inAfghanistan but little has been achieved.Farmers grow poppy only because it offersenormous returns. Cultivation of poppy can't bestopped by issuing orders but by changing themindset and the best incentive is cultivation ofwheat offering good return. On one hand it willhelp in getting rid of poppy and on the otherhand attaining food security.
4Monday, December 6, 2010
Publisher & Editor-in-Chief: Amir A. Ashary
Editor: Shakil H. Jafri
Executive Editor: Manzar Naqvi
Honorary Advisory Board
Haseeb Khan, FCA
Asim Abbas Ashary, CPA
Akhtar M. Zaidi, FCA
Dr. A. Hadi Shahid, FCA
Muhammad Arif
S. Muneer Hussain Rizvi
Khurram Shehzad, CFA
Prof. Zakaria Sajid (KU)
Zahid Bukhari SVP HBL (retd)
Ismat Sabir
Head office
111-C, Jami Commercial Street 11, Phase VII, DHA KarachiTelephone: 92-21-5311893-6 Fax: 92-21-5388428
The Financial Daily InternationalVol 4, Issue 119 Assange, Assange
South Korea plans toresume test firing in dis-puted waters off the
west coast of the dividedpeninsula, near an islandwhich came under deadlyattack by North Korea lastmonth.
Seoul's decision to conductlive-fire drills has angeredNorth Korea.
Tensions have spikedbetween as a result of lastmonth's attack -- the first of itskind on a civilian area onSouth Korean soil since theend of the 1950-53 Koreanwar. Four South Koreans,including two civilians, werekilled in the attack.
The North has revealed nodetails about damage, but theSouth's military said its shellshad hit a baracks, possibly
causing casualties.The North said it fired
artillery shells at Yeonpyeongisland on Nov. 23 after theSouth conducted a firing drill
in the disputed area. Theisland straddles the contestedNorthern Limit Line (NLL).
Here are some facts aboutthe NLL:
n The US commander at
the end of the 1950-53 KoreanWar drew up a sea borderweeks after the Armistice wassigned to prevent naval clash-es off the peninsula's west and
east coasts. The truce made nodirect mention of sea borders.n The NLL off the west
coast, as the maritime borderis called, is drawn aroundislands that lie well north of
what would be the extensionof the land border that hadbeen part of the South's terri-tory before the war.n The North made no issue
of the sea NLLuntil 1973,when it beganviolating thelimit and dis-puting its valid-ity. An agree-ment signed in1991 reaffirm-ing non-aggres-sion and recog-nising eachother's political
sovereignty appeared to settlethe maritime dispute.n In the 1990s, the North
again began disputing theNLL, claiming the real bordershould lie far to the south. In
1999, a North Korean patrolboat violated the NLL by up to10 km (6 miles) but wenthome defeated when a gun-fight killed several NorthKoreans.n A skirmish near the same
area three years later killed sixSouth Korean seamen. InNovember 2009, SouthKorean navy ships respondingquickly to an intruding NorthKorean vessel, pounded itwith thousands of rounds ofgunfire, disabling it andkilling at least one sailor.n In March, a South
Korean warship, the Cheonan,was torpedoed in the area,killing 46 sailors. A interna-tional team of investigatorssaid the North was responsi-ble, but Pyongyang deniesinvolvement.-Reuters
Do You Know What isNorthern Limit Line?
If you are a US diplomat accus-tomed to coaxing, cajoling orstrong-arming governments behind
closed doors, you will be out in thecold, at least for a while, because ofWikiLeaks.
Current and former diplomats saythe flood of US Embassy cablesobtained by the website and the steadydrip, drip, drip of embarrassing disclo-sures in the media have had a chillingeffect on US diplomacy.
"In the short run, we're almost out ofbusiness," said a senior US diplomatwho spoke on condition of anonymity."It is really, really bad. I cannot exag-gerate it.
"In all honesty, nobody wants to talkto us," he added, saying it could taketwo to five years to rebuild trust."Some people still have to talk to us,particularly (in) government but ...they are already asking us things like,'Are you going to write about this?'"
"People outside the governmentdon't want to talk at all."
The 251,287 US embassy cableshave exposed everything from USviews of Russian President DmitryMedvedev as playing Robin to PrimeMinister Vladimir Putin's Batman toan American official calling Cuba andVenezuela an "Axis of Mischief."
A handful of news organisationsobtained the cables and began publish-ing stories about them, as well as someof the underlying documents, on
November 28.A US official said about 1,100 cables
have been posted online by newsorganisations and WikiLeaks by lateFriday, leaving another 250,000 or sothat could surface to embarrass foreigngovernments, and Washington, formonths to come.
Secretary of State Clinton sharplycriticised the leaks and said they willnot harm important US alliances.Undersecretary of State William Burnsgave a harsher assessment in testimo-ny before a congressional committeelast week.
"The reality is that the despicablebreach of trust that we've seen throughWikiLeaks' disclosures has done sub-stantial damage to our ability to carryout diplomatic efforts," Burns said."TIME HEALS ALL WOUNDS"?However, a US diplomat in the
Middle East said the foreign officialshe deals with had not suddenlyclammed up and he suggested thelong-term consequences were likely tobe more pronounced for foreign coun-
tries than for US diplomacy."That's a temporary problem and in
two or three years, maybe less, we'll beback to doing business the way weused to do it," said the US diplomat."Time heals all wounds."
The official said in the Middle Eastthere is often a disconnect between
what leaders say in public and in pri-vate and, with the cables, people inclosed societies may for the first timesee that "in all its glaring inconsisten-cy."
"I think it will have a much deeperand longer-lasting impact on the soci-eties here than it will on our ability toconduct diplomacy," the diplomat said.
Former US Secretary of StateLawrence Eagleburger said he thoughtmost foreign officials were likely toovercome any reticence with theUnited States within six months to ayear, though he stressed this was a ten-tative conclusion.
"We're still big enough and impor-tant enough that people are not goingto be able to avoid talking to us," he
said.Defense Secretary Robert Gates
made the same point on Tuesday: "Thefact is governments deal with theUnited States because it's in their inter-est, not because they like us, notbecause they trust us, and not becausethey believe we can keep secrets.
"Is this embarrassing? Yes. Is it awk-ward? Yes. Consequences for US for-eign policy? I think fairly modest."
Among the most awkward revela-tions reported so far:
-- Saudi King Abdullah repeatedlyurged the United States to attack Iranto end its nuclear program, and wasquoted as saying: "cut off the head ofthe snake."
-- The State Department asked USenvoys at UN headquarters and else-where to procure credit card and fre-quent flyer numbers, mobile phonenumbers, email addresses, passwordsand other data from foreign diplomatsand top UN officials, including UNSecretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
-- China's Politburo directed theintrusion into Google's computer sys-tems in that country in a computer sab-otage campaign that targeted US andWestern allies' government computers,the Dalai Lama and American busi-nesses since 2002.
Asked which countries were particu-larly angry, a senior US officialreplied: "The easier question is, who'snot?"-Reuters
Out in the Cold for Now
The Frequently Asked Questionsection of the WikiLeaks website
explains why things are looking up forMiddle East peace. "These cables, by
giving the players an unvarnisheddescription of how they are seen...
(provide) common ground on which toeffectively negotiate peace and stability."
“
Tensions have spiked between as a resultof last month's attack -- the first of its
kind on a civilian area on South Koreansoil since the end of the 1950-53 Koreanwar. Four South Koreans, including two
civilians, were killed in the attack
As part of the post-leak security crack-down, the routine of closing the stable
door after the horse has bolted, the WhiteHouse set up a commission charged withfiguring out new ways to keep classifieddocuments secret. The State Department
disconnected itself from SIPRNet, towhich around three million users with
"secret" clearances have access.
Current and former diplomats say theflood of US Embassy cables obtained
by the website and the steady drip, drip, dripof embarrassing disclosures in the media
have had a chilling effect on US diplomacy“
FERTILISER000 tonnesUrea Offtake (Jan to Sep 10) 4,190Urea Offtake (Sep 10) 324Urea Price (Rs/50 kg) 851DAP Offtake (Jan to Sep 09) 680DAP Offtake (Sep 10) 226DAP Price (Rs/50 kg) 2,628
AUTOMOBILE ASSEMBLERPAK SUZUKI MOTORUnitsProduction (July 10 to Oct 10) 26,842
Sales (July 10 to Oct 10) 25,279
Production (Oct 10) 7,311
Sales (Oct 10) 7,459
INDUS MOTOR COProduction (July 10 to Oct 10) 17,013
Sales (July 10 to Oct 10) 16,622
Production (Octy 10) 4,827
Sales (Oct 10) 4,830
HONDA ATLAS CARProduction (July 10 to Oct 10) 5,481
Sales (July 10 to Oct 10) 5,172
Production (Octy 10) 1,514
Sales (Oct 10) 1,340
DEWAN FAROOQ MOTORSProduction (July 10 to Oct 10) 186
Sales (July 10 to Oct 10) 70
Production (Octy 10) 0
Sales (Oct 10) 18
BANKING SECTORScheduled bank (Rs in mn)Deposit (Nov 6,10) 4,729,932
Advances (Nov 6,10) 3,011,868
Investments (Nov 6,10) 1,897,426
Spread (Sep 10) 7.57%
OIL MARKETING CO(000 tons)MS (Jul 10 to Oct 10) 744
MS (Oct 10) 198
Kerosene (Jul 10 to Oct 10) 53
Kerosene (Oct 10) 15
JP (Jul 10 to Oct 10) 452
JP (Oct 10) 122
HSD (Jul 10 to Oct 10) 2,182
HSD (Oct 10) 664
LDO (Jul 10 to Oct 10)) 22
LDO (Oct 10) 6
Fuel Oil (Jul 10 to Oct 10) 3,086
Fuel Oil (Oct 10) 854
Others (Jul 10 to Oct 10) 3
Others (Oct 10) 1
PRICES (Ex-Refinery) RsMS (1 Nov 10) 44.53
MS (1 Oct 10) 40.71
MS % Chg 9.38%
Kerosene (1 Nov 10) 51.25
Kerosene (1 Oct 10) 47.31
Kerosene % Chg 8.33%
JP-1 (1 Nov 10) 51.48
JP-1 (1 Oct 10) 47.54
JP-1 % Chg 8.29%
HSD (1 Nov 10) 54.24
HSD (1 Oct 10) 50.38
HSD % Chg 7.66%
LDO (1 Nov 10) 49.51
LDO (1 Oct 10) 46.13
LDO % Chg 7.33%
Fuel Oil (1 Nov 10) 42,046
Fuel Oil (1 Oct 10) 39,276
Sector Updates
Symbol Close Vol (mn)LOTPTA 12.83 100.88NML 62.38 61.75DGKC 31.05 61.00JSCL 13.18 38.46DSFL 2.23 34.78
Symbol Close ChangeNESTLE 2,187.26 192.29WYETH 1,006.25 136.25RMPL 1,972.00 121.40UPFL 1,104.33 68.83BATA 643.71 43.36
Symbol Close ChangeCOLG 852.00 -33.00ULEVER 4,105.00 -28.00SIEM 1,300.00 -25.62FZTM 408.99 -21.01LAKST 316.33 -12.71
Plus 257Minus 153Unchanged 16
Top 5 Volume Leaders
Major Losers
Major Gainers
KSE-100 Index
LSE-25 Index
ISE-10 Index
Active Issues
Monday, December 6, 2010 5
Dhiyan
For the bullish trend to sustain, it’s imperative that foreign investors con-tinue their shopping, however such rally won’t be across-the-board and onlythe blue chips would perform. We would see an panoptic rally once lever-age product is launched and economic indicators blink dark-green. In addi-tion to that, approval of RGST, reduction in interest rate, and arrival of IMFtranche would also support the market. We might see positive activities inmajor banking stocks on hopes of good corporate results. Investors are rec-ommended to invest in oil, fertiliser and selective cement stocks while theycan also take positions in Lotte Pakistan. Market would remain positivetoday.
Mohammad Siddique Dalal, Chairman Dalal Securities
Tariq Hussain Khan, Head of Portfolio Management United Capital
We expect further bullish activities this week on expected launchof MTS in the coming days, hopes of good corporate results, morebuying by foreign funds, and improved internal political situation.Therefore if index manages to sustain the crucial level of 11,525points then it can cross 12,000 points level soon. Investors areadvised to enter oil, fertiliser, cement and textile sectors. Market isexpected to show mixed activities today, however it might end ona positive note.
An investor monitors stock market activities at the Doha securities market
Weekly Review
NEW YORK: Europe's sov-ereign debt crisis will stillhang over global marketsthis week, but on WallStreet, investors will not beafraid to bet on stocks.
Wall Street has shown itsability to hold onto gains, orquickly recover from losseslast week despite Europe'sdebt woes, suggesting thatinvestors are confident of asustained rally.
"When things don't fallapart on bad news, youknow that the market is nolonger vulnerable. The over-all sentiment is pretty solid,"said Randy Frederick, direc-tor of trading and deriva-tives at Schwab Center forFinancial Research inAustin, Texas.
The outstanding put-to-call ratio on index options,heavily focused on the S&P500 benchmark, droppedfrom 1.32 last week to 1.29,showing bullish signs forthis week.
The ratio, which is alwaysgreater than 1, is the primaryhedging vehicle for institu-tional investors. The ratiorises with a market rally asthe possibility of a pullbackalso increases.
"The ability (to not fallapart) is helping investorsremain upbeat on short-termprospects for stocks. We maynot see this continue until theend of January next year, butthe month of December cer-tainly looks encouraging."
The CBOE VolatilityIndex or VIX, Wall Street'sso-called fear gauge, felldespite a decline in stocksearlier in the day as traderssaw fewer reasons to buy
protection.The index, which usually
moves inverse to the S&P500 benchmark, strayedfrom the relationship andclosed at its lowest sinceApril.
The iPath S&P 500 VIXShort Term Futuresexchange-traded note alsonotched a new year low of$41.51 on Friday. The ETN,which offers directionalvolatility exposure, is basedoff of the front two-monthfutures on the VIX.
"There is definitely a trendin the VXX to try to getshort in the ETN," said DanDeming, a VIX options trad-er at Stutland Equities.
Fears that Europe's debtcrisis could spiral out ofcontrol have pushed stocksoff two-year highs hit earlierthis month. Last week, theS&P 500 was down 3 percent from Nov. 5.
But the index recovered tothe early November levelslast week as fears werecountered by a spate ofhealthy economic data andan upbeat outlook on con-sumer spending during theholiday shopping season.
"Europe is kind of its ownplay now," said Jeff Roach,chief economist at HorizonInvestments in Charlotte,North Carolina, adding thatinvestors are starting to brushoff the longer-term macroissues.
On Friday, stocks closedout their best week in amonth with the Dow Jonesindustrial average up 2.6 percent, the Standard & Poor's500 up 3 per cent and theNasdaq Composite Index up
2.2 per cent, after shruggingoff tepid jobs numbers forNovember.
Economic indicators thisweek will be fairly light,with the Institute for SupplyManagement releasing itssemi-annual economic fore-casts for the US manufactur-ing and services sectors onTuesday. The weekly mort-gage data on Wednesday andjobless claims on Thursdaywill still get close scrutiny.
On Friday, Wall Street willwatch for reports on importand export prices inNovember, the internationaltrade deficit for October,and a preliminary readingDecember consumer senti-ment from the ThomsonReuters/University ofMichigan Surveys ofConsumers.
As the year wraps up, port-folio managers will continueto chase outperformingstocks and sell some lag-gards to keep their balancesheets healthy.
The three-day movingaverage of stocks hittingnew 52-week highs on theNew York Stock Exchangeaccelerated at the end ofNovember and is now closeto 250, while stocks makingnew 52-week lows edgeddown in December andremained slight.
The portfolio managers are"all trying to scramble tocatch up. They have per-formance risk, they havebonus risk and ultimatelythey have job risk," saidJeffrey Saut, chief invest-ment strategist at RaymondJames in St. Petersburg,Florida. -Reuters
Rally set to roaras fears die down
Wall Street weekly outlook
Nawaz Ali
KARACHI: Big foreignbuying spurred by higherglobal oil prices sentKarachi Stock Exchangel(KSE) soaring by 2.35 percent --the highest level in 29months-- above 11,400points despite an increase of50bps in key discount rate.
The benchmark KSE 100-Index increased by 261points --2.35 per cent-- toclose at 11,406 points -- thehighest closing since July2008.
KSE 30-Index hopped by245 points -2.28 per cent-- toclose at 10,993 points andKSE All Share Index grew by185 points --2.4 percent-- to close at 7,935points.
Market started the week ona dullish note as investorsstayed on the sidelines aheadof monetary policyannouncement. Howeverdespite a hike in the key dis-count rates the market wentbullish the next day asaccording to experts the raisewas already priced in by it.
State Bank of Pakistanincreased the interest rateson Monday by 50 bps to 14per cent on Monday becauseof persistent inflation due togovernment borrowing fromthe central bank. It is worthmentioning that this was thethird consecutive hike in thediscount rates.
"Investors did not reactnegatively as they had beenanticipating it", said AngelaMemon, an analyst at JSGlobal Capital. She addedthat sentiments remainedbullish despite profit-taking
after an unfavourable revi-sion in the pricing mecha-nism for OMCs and refiner-ies.
Ogra revised the pricingmechanism for refineries andOMCs and reduced theirmargins which invited someprofit-taking as according toexperts it would negativelyaffect their earnings there-fore respective scrips cameunder selling pressure.
The market was underbulls' command in the lasttwo days owing to heavy for-eign buying as crude oilprices in the world crossed$88 per barrel. Further, risein regional stock markets andhopes of good December-endcorporate results too trig-gered the buying activity inthe market.
According to NCCPL data,offshore investors did a net-buying of $22.86 million lastweek while on the local sidebanks did a net-selling of$9.8 million.
The benchmark indextouched the highest and thelowest levels of 11,436 and11,120 points respectivelyduring the week.
Volumes also witnessed asignificant improvement as750 million shares tradedduring the week --157 mil-lion more as compared to aturnover of 593 millionshares a week earlier.
Average daily turnoverstood at 150 million shares--31 million more from anaverage volume of 119 mil-lion shares last week.
Out of total 426 activeissues 257 advanced and 153declined while 16 issuesremained unchanged.
Wetblankets
fail to damp
KSE last wk
Gulf stocks mkt
Kuwait mktup on Zainrebound,
Qatar soarsDUBAI: Kuwait's Zainrebounded from Thursday'sfour week low, despite a share-holder threatening to suepotential buyers of the firm'sSaudi unit.
Zain's shares gained 4.4 percent. It fell 2.9 per cent onThursday. Abu Dhabi's Etisalathas agreed to buy a 46 per centstake in Zain in a deal led bythe Kharafi group. This meansZain must sell its 25 per centstake in Zain Saudi to meetregulatory requirementsbecause Etisalat aleady has aSaudi Arabia unit, Mobily.
"Zain doesn't have a certaintrend -- it's all just speculationbecause no one knows whetherthe (Etisalat) deal will gothrough," said a Kuwait basedtrader who asked not to beidentified.
Kuwait's index added 0.7 percent, ending at 6,865 points.
Qatar's index surged to a twoyear closing high after theGulf Arab state won the bid tohost the 2022 soccer WorldCup.
The benchmark jumped 3.6per cent ending at 8,477points, its highest close sinceOctober 2008. Volumes hit an18 month peak.
"After the initial knee jerkreaction (up), there was someprofit taking before the marketgradually rose," said ShakeelSarwar, head of asset manage-ment at Securities &Investment Co (SICO) inBahrain.
Infrastructure and bankingstocks were the biggest gain-ers. Barwa Real Estateclimbed 6.2 per cent,Industries Qatar added 4.3 percent and Masraf Al Rayanjumped 5.5 per cent.
"Developed markets areclosed, but foreign investorsshould come in tomorrow soshort term traders probablybuilt positions ahead oftomorrow's opening," Sarwaradded.-Reuters
US says got another$1.8bn from GM offering
Asian stocks rise as US data,ECB debt program supports
Monday, December 6, 20106
Volume 750,310,618
Value 29,979,924,023
Trades 361,468
Advanced 257
Declined 153
Unchanged 16
Total 426
Current 7,935.97
High 7,951.66
Low 7,738.68
Change h185.96
Current 11,406.66
High 11,436.40
Low 11,120.95
Change h261.64
Current 10,993.62
High 11,027.88
Low 10,707.80
Change h245.32
Market KSE 100 Index All Share Index KSE 30 IndexSymbolsAlert ! Unusual Movements
Technical AnalysisFundamental Highlights
As on Jun 30, 2009
Dewan Salman Fibre Limited
DSFL closed up 0.70 at 2.23. Volume was 830 per cent above
average (trending) and Bollinger Bands were 101 per cent
wider than normal. The company's loss after taxation stood at
Rs246.014 million which translates into a Loss Per Share of
Rs0.67 for the 1st quarter of current fiscal year (1QFY11).
DSFL is currently 20.8 per cent above its 200-day moving
average and is displaying an upward trend. Volatility is
extremely high when compared to the average volatility over
the last 10 trading sessions. Volume indicators reflect very
strong flows of volume into DSFL (bullish). Trend forecasting
oscillators are currently bullish on DSFL. Momentum oscillator
is currently indicating that DSFL is currently in an overbought
condition.
RSI (14-day) 70.61 Total Assets (Rs in mn) 16,668.04
MA (10-day) 1.84 Total Equity (Rs in mn) (5,909.01)
MA (100-day) 1.63 Revenue (Rs in mn) 4,169.62
MA (200-day) 1.85 Interest Expense 2,050.22
1st Support 2.04 Loss after Taxation (6,233.79)
2nd Support 1.80 EPS 09 (Rs) (17.017)
1st Resistance 2.44 Book value / share (Rs) (16.13)
2nd Resistance 2.60 PE 10 E (x) -
Pivot 2.20 PBV (x) (0.14)
Technical AnalysisFundamental Highlights
As on Dec 31, 2009
NIB closed up 0.09 at 2.95. Volume was 39 per cent below
average and Bollinger Bands were 28 per cent narrower than
normal. The company's loss after taxation stood at Rs3.559 bil-
lion which translates into a Loss Per Share of Rs0.88 for the
nine months of current calendar year (9MCY10).
NIB is currently 13.8 per cent below its 200-day moving aver-
age and is displaying a downward trend. Volatility is relatively
normal as compared to the average volatility over the last 10
trading sessions. Volume indicators reflect very strong flows of
volume into NIB (bullish). Trend forecasting oscillators are cur-
rently bearish on NIB.
RSI (14-day) 58.76 Total Assets (Rs in mn) 208,118.96
MA (10-day) 2.88 Total Equity (Rs in mn) 41,643.27
MA (100-day) 2.86 Revenue (Rs in mn) 18,272.36
MA (200-day) 3.42 Interest Expense 12,872.36
1st Support 2.93 Profit after Taxation 691.05
2nd Support 2.84 EPS 09 (Rs) 0.171
1st Resistance 3.04 Book value / share (Rs) 10.30
2nd Resistance 3.06 PE 10 E (x) -
Pivot 2.95 PBV (x) 0.29
NIB Bank Limited
Technical AnalysisFundamental Highlights
As on Dec 31, 2009
ANL closed up 0.24 at 11.38. Volume was 158 per cent above
average (trending) and Bollinger Bands were 41 per cent nar-
rower than normal. The company's loss after taxation stood at
Rs488.179 million which translates into a Loss Per Share of
Rs1.12 for the nine months of current calendar year
(9MCY10).
ANL is currently 10.4 per cent below its 200-day moving aver-
age and is displaying an upward trend. Volatility is extremely
low when compared to the average volatility over the last 10
trading sessions. Volume indicators reflect moderate flows of
volume into ANL (mildly bullish). Trend forecasting oscillators
are currently bullish on ANL.
RSI (14-day) 55.67 Total Assets (Rs in mn) 38,525.22
MA (10-day) 11.26 Total Equity (Rs in mn) 18,469.71
MA (100-day) 10.82 Revenue (Rs in mn) 11,737.86
MA (200-day) 12.70 Interest Expense 2,424.42
1st Support 11.21 Profit after Taxation 60.53
2nd Support 11.09 EPS 09 (Rs) 0.003
1st Resistance 11.52 Book value / share (Rs) 37.85
2nd Resistance 11.71 PE 10 E (x) -
Pivot 11.40 PBV (x) 0.30
Azgard Nine Limited
Technical AnalysisFundamental Highlights
As on Dec 31, 2009
SILK closed up 0.06 at 2.71. Volume was 73 per cent below
average (consolidating) and Bollinger Bands were 67 per cent
narrower than normal. The company's loss after taxation stood
at Rs700.335 million which translates into a Loss Per Share of
Rs0.32 for the nine months of current calendar year
(9MCY10).
SILK is currently 10.8 per cent below its 200-day moving aver-
age and is displaying a downward trend. Volatility is extremely
low when compared to the average volatility over the last 10
trading sessions. Volume indicators reflect volume flowing into
and out of SILK at a relatively equal pace. Trend forecasting
oscillators are currently bearish on SILK.
RSI (14-day) 48.91 Total Assets (Rs in mn) 68,664.34
MA (10-day) 2.71 Total Equity (Rs in mn) 196.91
MA (100-day) 2.77 Revenue (Rs in mn) 5,913.32
MA (200-day) 3.04 Interest Expense 5,855.52
1st Support 2.71 Loss after Taxation (2,902.91)
2nd Support 2.64 EPS 09 (Rs) (3.224)
1st Resistance 2.82 Book value / share (Rs) 0.22
2nd Resistance 2.86 PE 10 E (x) -
Pivot 2.75 PBV (x) 12.39
Silkbank Limited
OIL AND GAS
Performance of SR Oil and Gas Index
Open High Low Close Change % Change
1,455.22 1,493.05 1,444.78 1,476.90 21.69 1.49
Turnover Total cos Defaulter cos Listed cap Market cap 200-Day High
United Bank Ltd 75.24 60.90 59.85 62.60 63.30 61.55
WorldCall Tele 51.28 2.55 2.45 2.75 2.85 2.65
Company RSI 1st 2nd 1st 2nd Pivot
(14-day) Support Resistance
TECHNICAL LEVELS
JS Investment Ltd 6-Dec 10:30
Mehran Sugar Mills 7-Dec 11:00
Byco Petroleum Limited 7-Dec 1:00
Hala Enterprises Ltd 8-Dec 10:30
Sigma Leasing Corporation Ltd 8-Dec 11:00
Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim Ltd 23-Dec 10:30
BOARD MEETINGS
Company Date Time
Monday, December 6, 2010 8
Five Taiwan firms
bid for AIG's unit
Pru's Asia planstrengthensCEO's gripon power
LONDON: The boss ofBritain's biggest insurerPrudential Plc outlined a plan todouble Asian premiums by2013, a move seen as bolsteringhis grip on the top job after abungled takeover in the high-growth region.
Prudential, facing sharehold-er pressure after the failedmulti-billion-dollar attempt tobuy AIA this year, also said itwas targeting a doubling of lastyear's life insurance and assetmanagement pre-tax profits by2013.
"This is a very positive state-ment and I think that Prudentialcan deliver," said Shore Capitalanalyst Eamonn Flanagan, wholistened to the company's pres-entation.
Prudential shares were up 5.6percent to 592 pence at 1126GMT, among the top gainers inthe FTSE 100 index, as analystssaid the ambitious targetswould lessen calls for chiefexecutive Tidjane Thiam andchairman Harvey McGrath toquit.
"They were convincing and Ithink this should put an end totalk about the CEO or chairmanquitting," Flanagan said.
Prudential was forced to pullits $35.5-billion bid for AIA --the Asian life insurance busi-ness of stricken US insurer AIG-- in June after shareholdersbalked at the price.
The deal, pulled at the verylast minute, left Prudential topay 337 million pounds intransaction fees. AIA was float-ed on the Hong Kong stockexchange in October.
Prudential's Asian business isseen as the jewel in the 162-year old insurer's crown, gener-ating almost half of group salesand still growing stronglythanks to its exposure to thedynamic economies of south-east Asia. Broker PanmureGordon said the aim to growAsian profitability would helpclose the valuation gap betweenthe implied valuation ofPrudential's Asian operation andits competitors, including AIA."The announcement is ofstretching targets and reinforcesthe dividend paying capabilitiesalong with adequate capital togrow the business," PanmureGordon said in a note.Prudential reported 713 millionpounds in life insurance andasset management pre-tax oper-ating profit in 2009 and astronger-than-expected 17 per-cent rise in third-quarter sales inNovember, helped by stronggrowth in its flagship Asianmarkets. -Reuters
Swiss Relauncheslongevityrisk bond
LONDON: Swiss Re haslaunched a series of longevi-ty-based Insurance-LinkedSecurities (ILS) notes, thefirst time the risk of peopleliving longer than expectedhas been securitised in catas-trophe bond format.
Credit rating agencyStandard & Poor's (S&P) saidin a report that the world'ssecond-biggest reinsurer waspreparing to sell the longevi-ty-related series 2010-1 classE notes through CaymanIslands-based special purposevehicle Kortis Capital Ltd.
The eight-year bond willpass Swiss Re's longevity riskdirect to capital marketsinvestors and has been ratedBB+ by S&P. The size of thebond has not been disclosed.-Reuters
WILMINGTON: WashingtonMutual Inc urged a court toapprove a $10 billion deal toend its bankruptcy even as itsought to prevent the release ofprivileged information soughtby shareholders.
Shareholders want to scuttlethe deal, which forms the basisof the company's reorganizationplan. The plan distributes morethan $7 billion to creditors, pay-ing most in full, but leaves noth-ing for stock investors.
The company filed for bank-ruptcy in September 2008, theday after the federal govern-ment seized its WashingtonMutual banking business. TheFederal Deposit Insurance Corpimmediately sold it toJPMorgan Chase & Co for$1.88 billion.
Washington Mutual beganarguing its case this weekbefore Delaware BankruptcyCourt Judge Mary Walrath, whoplans to receive comments fromindividual shareholders onMonday and has set closingarguments for Tuesday.
The deal between WashingtonMutual, JPMorgan and theFDIC divides the disputed cashand tax refunds and settles legalissues and lawsuits that share-holders contend could be worthbillions.
Shareholders won a victoryon Thursday, when a reportfrom a court-appointed examin-er was excluded as evidence.Without that report endorsingthe settlement, WashingtonMutual put its advisers on thestand to testify they did theanalysis necessary to endorsethe deal.
But the company refused toshare privileged client-attorneyinformation, so the testimonywas limited to discussing whatthe advisers could determine ontheir own without relying onadvice from lawyers.
"You didn't need to be alawyer to determine they arefair and reasonable,"Washington Mutual's treasurer,
Jonathan Goulding, said of thesettlement. "A person who iscompetent with financial mat-ters and the like could come tothat conclusion."
Pursuing litigation would costthe company's estate $30 mil-lion a month in interest and $8million in professional fees,Goulding estimated. The com-pany has spent about $150 mil-lion on lawyers, accountantsand advisers since filing forbankruptcy.
"RIGHT AND WRONG"Individual shareholders have
flooded the court with filingsand motions, and sought thechance to grill WashingtonMutual's advisers under oath.
They came from as far asBoston and grumbled outsidethe courtroom that the hearingswere not exposing what theysee as a story of fraud that led tothe unjustified seizure of thebank.
"It's not about the money, it'sabout right and wrong," saidDave Magnuson, a 54-year-oldfinancial analyst fromWilmington, who took time offwork to attend the hearings.
"What is relevant, however, iswhether there are individualswho will profit from wieldingtheir power to influence the out-come in their favor by corrupt-ing the process," he said.
The company may bring asmall mortgage insurance busi-ness out of bankruptcy to pre-serve tax credits left from hugeoperating losses, a humblingend for the one-time stock mar-ket darling.
Founded in Seattle in 1889,Washington Mutual was oncethe largest US savings and loan,with more than 2,000 branches,$300 billion in assets and $188billion in deposits when it wasseized.
The bank's fortunes rose andfell with the housing market,after it aggressively expandedlending to riskier borrowers inwhat became known as sub-prime mortgages. -Reuters
WashingtonMutual begscourt OK tododge crash
Seeks approval for deal with FDIC, JPMorgan
LONDON: A woman walks past a carving of the Prudential logo on the wall of their offices in London. -Reuters
ISLAMABAD: As part of itsenforcement and regulatoryfunction, the InsuranceDivision of the Securities andExchange Commission ofPakistan (SECP) passed 8orders, fining defaulting insur-ance companies in the month ofNovember, mainly on thegrounds of non-compliancewith the statutory deposit
requirements.In addition, 4 show-cause
notices were issued inNovember. Winding-up pro-ceedings against one insurancecompany was also ordered.
The Insurance Division alsoresolved 8 complaints lodgedby the policyholders during themonth for non-payment of theinsurance claims.-NNI
SECP fines 8insurance cos
Kenya's AARto expandinsurancebusiness
NAIROBI: Regional health-care provider AAR Holdingssaid it planned to expand itsinsurance services beyondmedical cover after a privateequity fund said it wanted toinject new cash into the compa-ny.
AAR told Reuters thatInvestment Fund for Health inAfrica (IFHA), which bought a20 percent stake in AAR lastweek, intended to inject anextra 780 million shillings incapital. IFHA paid 750 millionshillings for the 20 percentstake. "We will retain the insur-ance businesses and expandbeyond medical to exploit ourgeneral licence to other classessuch as property, cash-in-tran-sit, employee compensationand fire," Jagi Gakunju, chiefexecutive officer of AARHoldings, said in an interview.
AAR, which intends to list onthe Nairobi Stock Exchange by2015, said it had planned to selloff its insurance businessbefore the equity group steppedin. AAR said its Kenyan insur-ance business required a capi-talisation of 300 millionshillings, while its insuranceoperations in Uganda, Tanzaniaand Rwanda each requiredbetween 100 million and 200million shillings to meetnational capitalisation require-ments. Uganda is yet to set acapitalisation floor but willhave to do so soon under theterms of the East AfricanCommunity integrationprocess, AAR said. The compa-ny's turnover hit 3.5 billionshillings last year but is project-ed to leap to around 15 billionshillings in the next five years.-Reuters
Staff Reporter
KARACHI: Insurance stocksshow positive activities withmore than 6 million sharesaltogether in life and non-lifeinsurance stocks. Adamjee Insurance was thevolume leader with 3.88 mil-lion shares followed by PakReinsurance with 1.77 millionshares. Top gainers of the
week include IGI Insurancewhich increased by Rs2.86 toclose at Rs91 and AtlasInsurance which was up byRs2.55 to close at Rs37.50while American LifeInsurance was down byRs0.88 to close at Rs17.11 andEFU General Insurance lostRs0.61 to close at Rs46.17 tobe the major losers of theweek.
Listed insurers inpremium progress
Adamjee emerges as volume leader last wk at KSE
KARACHI: There is quite ascope for job opportunities foryouths in insurance and taxa-tion.
This was stated by the SindhMinister for Youth Affairs,Syed Faisal Ali Subzwari here.
He was speaking as chiefguest at the certificate distri-bution ceremony for theyoungsters who completedfive-month training pro-gramme in insurance and tax-ation.
The training was impartedby the Sindh Youth AffairsDepartment under Benazir
Bhutto Shaheed YouthDevelopment Programme(BBSYD) Programme.
The minister said that theimpartation of the trainingunder such a programme wasaimed at enabling the young-sters to develop skills so as tosecure jobs on the basis ofmerit.
He stated that we all areaware of the important role ofthe youth in the task of nation-al development. However,they should also be providedwith the opportunities to pre-pare themselves to perform
such a task.Speaking on the occasion,
the Sindh Secretary YouthAffairs, Shoaib AhmedSiddiqui, said that efforts arebeing made to resolve theproblems faced by the young-sters.
He said that comprehensiveplans have been chalked outfor the betterment of theyouths.
The Director Youth AffairsSindh, Khurshid Ali Shaikh,and Saleem Ahmed Siddiqui,also expressed their views onthe occasion. -APP
Jobs seen for youthsin insurance, taxation
ISLAMABAD: NationwidePoverty Survey being carriedout across the country underBenazir Income SupportProgramme (BISP) would becompleted by June 30, 2011.
80 per cent of the surveywould get completed by usingscorecard method of interna-tional standard, said an officialof BISP.
The survey will not only helpascertain the accurate numberof poor people but also forplanning of other social wel-fare programmes.
BISP releases cash grantsimmediately to new families ofthose particular districts wherethe survey process is complet-ed, the official added.
The step will furtherstrengthen the transparencyand speedy delivery to benefi-ciaries in an effective way, theofficial said. In a short span oftime, BISP has reached morethan 2.8 million familiesacross the country and provid-ing financial assistance to thepoorest of the poor adverselyaffected by the high inflationand the impacts of the interna-tional economic crisis.However, the programme isbeing extended making it acomprehensive social safetynet by provision of MonthlyCash Grant, Vocational andTechnical Training, MicroFinance for gainful self-employment and Health,
Accident and Life Insurance.For making all its initiativessuccessful and especiallyCash Transfer Programs,BISP has devised a plan on anew payment mechanism byintroducing BenazirSmartcards and MobileBanking.
The mechanism of BenazirSmartcard has already beenimplemented in the four dis-tricts where the PovertyScorecard Survey has alreadybeen completed.
However, the work on imple-menting the payment mecha-nism of mobile phone bankinghas also been initiated whichwill further strengthen thedelivery system. -APP
Accident and Life Insurance
Askari GenInsurance
set to issueright shares
Staff Reporter
KARACHI: Askari GeneralInsurance Co Ltd will issue 25percent right shares to enhancecapital base and furtherstrengthen financial position.
According to a communiquesent to KSE here, the companyhas sought permission fromKSE for issuing right shares.
BISP poverty survey to
conclude by June 2011
ZURICH: Swiss insurer Zurich FinancialServices AG confirmed its profitability targetand said it was well placed to pay attractive andsustainable dividends.
Zurich, Europe's fourth-largest insurer by mar-ket value, reiterated it was committed to a busi-ness operating profit after-tax return on equity(BOPaT ROE) target of 16 percent in the medi-um term.
Chief Executive Martin Senn said at aninvestor event that a "sustainable" dividendmeant paying the same amount as the previousyear, though a spokesman later emphasised adecision on its next dividend had not yet beenmade. Zurich Financial's board will meet inFebruary to recommend an amount, Senn said.
Senn said Zurich would focus on acceleratingits exit from several centrally managed business-es, freeing up some $600 million in capital.Running down some loan portfolios of theZurich banking group, which would take 3-5years, would free up another 300 million of cap-ital, he said.
For general insurance, its biggest segment,Zurich said it was aiming to improve its com-bined ratio -- a measure of operating profitabili-ty -- by 3 to 4 percentage points relative to glob-al competitors by 2013.
"The targets are much as expected, andemphasising the dividend is clearly a positive,"Credit Suisse Richard Burden said in a researchnote. -Reuters
Zurich Financial confirmsmid-term profit goal
09Monday, December 6, 2010
Arsenal's Nasri challenges Fulham's Briggsduring their English Premier League match
PESHAWAR: Provincial Minister for Sports, Culture &Tourism Syed Aqil Shah presenting the winning trophy
to the top position holder during the annual sportscompetition of a local school.-Online
Woodstightens
grip at hisown tourneyCALIFORNIA: Tiger Woodsgave himself extra reason tosmile after stretching his leadto a commanding four shots inthe second round of theChevron World Challenge onFriday.
Hunting his first victory of ayear he has described as "verypainful" on and off the course,Woods displayed good formfrom tee to green on the way toa flawless six-under-par 66 atSherwood Country Club.
One ahead overnight afteropening with a sparkling 65 inhis own tournament, the four-times champion mixed fourbirdies with an eagle three atthe second to post a 13-undertotal of 131.
For the second straight dayin a row, Woods mastered thefive par-fives on the sceniclayout framed by the SantaMonica Mountains, coveringthose holes in five under totighten his grip.
"I didn't hit the ball quite assharp today but I putted a littlebit better," Woods said in agreenside interview after put-ting himself in good positionto win for the first time sincethe 2009 Australian Masters."All in all, it evens out.
"You've got to take care ofthe par fives here and I've donethat for the first two days. I'vegot to continue doing that."
US Open champion GraemeMcDowell carded a 68 to liesecond at nine under, oneahead of fellow NorthernIrishman Rory McIlroy (70)and Englishman Luke Donald(66).
Britain's Paul Casey wasalone at six under afterrecording an ace at the par-three 12th en route to abogey-free 65.-Reuters
DUBAI: Afghanistan won theICC Intercontinental Cup hereon Saturday by defeating hold-ers Scotland in the final.
The Scots were bowled outfor 82 on the third day of thematch and Afghanistan com-fortably reached their target of124 with seven wickets tospare.
Scotland had gone into thesecond innings with a 41-runadvantage but only two playersscored more than 10 runs andthree were out for ducks toleave Afghanistan to ease tovictory in the 27th over.
The result meant that theScots had failed to emulatetheir success in the inaugural2004 tournament.
Starting the day at 64 for six,they had been hoping for somefight from their tail, but it wasnot to be as first innings heroRichie Berrington was caughtout for 10 by Asghar Stanikzai
off Hamid Hassan.Mirwais Ashraf soon finished
them off by taking the wicketsof George Drummond, MajidHaq and Ross Lyons for a com-bined total of seven runs, withSimon Smith the last manstanding on 10.
Afghanistan lost openerKarim Sadiq for seven runs inthe fifth over off the bowling ofMatthew Parker, but the Asianside were soon coasting to vic-tory.
The other opening batsman,Shabir Noori, hit 35, andParker's fifth wicket of thematch, an lbw to end captainNawroz Mangal's stand at 17,came too late to give Scotlandeven a fighting chance.
The tournament's top runscorer, Mohammad Shahzad,struck an unbeaten 56 off 62balls to help ease the Afghanshome with a second-inningstotal of 124 for three.-APP
Afghans beatScots to grab title
Intercontinental Cup
LONDON: Roger Burden,acting chairman of theFootball Association, haswithdrawn his application forthe permanent position sayinghe can no longer trust FIFAmembers after the failure ofEngland's bid to host the 2018World Cup.
"I recognise that an impor-tant part of the role is liaisonwith FIFA, our global govern-ing body. I am not prepared todeal with people whom I can-not trust and I have withdrawnmy candidacy," he said in astatement.
He added that England's bid
team in Zurich, which includ-ed Prime Minister DavidCameron and the second inline to the throne, PrinceWilliam, were promised voteswhich had not been deliveredby the Executive Committee(Exco) members.
Burden, who was appointedin May after rising through theranks of the FA as representa-tive for Gloucestershire incentral England, said he wouldcontinue as acting chairmanuntil a successor could befound.
His decision followed a dayof recriminations over
England's bid, which attractedjust two votes out of 22 -- oneby their own representative --from FIFA's executive com-mittee in Thursday's poll todecide the venue for the 2018World Cup.
The decision went to Russiawhich will stage football'sbiggest showpiece for the firsttime. Qatar beat the UnitedStates and three others in thevote to decide the hosts in2022.
"I have no issue withRussia's winning bid. I amsure they will put on a greatWorld Cup and I have congrat-
ulated them," Burden said.WIDELY ACCLAIMED"We were equal top of
FIFA's own technical assess-ment of the four bids. We weretop of an independent assess-ment of the best commercialbids and our presentation onThursday was widelyacclaimed as the best of the2018 and 2022 bids.
"Against this background, Iam struggling to understandhow we only achieved twovotes. It is difficult to believethat the voting was an objec-tive process.
"On top of that, Prince
William, the Prime Ministerand other members of ourdelegation were promisedvotes that did not materi-alise."
Burden, who succeededDavid Triesman who himselfstood down after makingleaked allegations of a corrupt2010 World Cup plot betweenSpain and Russia, declined toblame the British media forEngland's failure in the vote atFIFA's Zurich HQ.
"I am well aware that someof the UK media coveragecould have upset some of theFIFA executive committee.
We have a free press in ourcountry and we all have to livewith adverse comment fromtime to time."
Earlier on Friday, England'sbid chief Andy Anson suggest-ed FIFA President SeppBlatter influenced Exco mem-bers before the vote byreminding them of Britishmedia stories which allegedcorruption against them andled to two being banned.
He said that unless the selec-tion process was changed itwas not worth bids likeEngland's bothering with theprocess.-Reuters
FIFA no more trustworthy: FA chief
BERLIN: The 2022 soccerWorld Cup in Qatar could takeplace in January or Februaryto avoid the scorching temper-atures of the summer monthsin the desert state, FIFAExecutive Committee memberFranz Beckenbauer said onSaturday.
Beckenbauer, who won the1974 World Cup as WestGermany captain and alsocoached his nation to the 1990title, said hosting the tourna-ment during the winter wouldbe an alternative.
The World Cups are tradi-tionally held during the north-
ern hemisphere's summermonths after the end of thedomestic league competitions.
Qatar, which beat bid rivalsAustralia, Japan, South Koreaand the United States, said itwould deploy climate-controltechnology to keep the tem-perature on the pitch to 27degrees Celsius while outsideit was a scorching 50 degrees.
"One should think about adifferent solution,"Beckenbauer told the Bildnewspaper, where he alsoworks as a columnist.
"In January or February youhave a comfortable 25 degrees
there. Plans for the biggestleagues would have to changefor 2022 but that would not bea major undertaking."
"It would be an alternativeto using climate control atgreat expense for stadiumsand fanzones," addedBeckenbauer, who is steppingdown from FIFA's powerfulexecutive committee inMarch.
Qatar, which has never qual-ified for the World Cup finals,was picked by world soccer'sgoverning body FIFA onThursday to stage the 2022tournament, a first both for the
Middle East and for an Arabcountry.
It will also be the smallestnation ever to host the WorldCup.
FIFA awarded the 2018World Cup to Russia on thesame day and Beckenbauerhad long opposed the doublevote by FIFA, which has beenseverely criticised for it.
"It was a mistake to do both2018 and 2022 on the sameday but now it has happened. Iwould be happy to leave the2022 decision to the next gen-eration," Beckenbauer said.-Reuters
Qatar WC could beheld in winter: FIFA
LONDON: InternationalCricket Council ChiefExecutive Haroon Lorgat saysthat the ICC has a solid caseagainst the three Pakistanplayers accused of spot-fixingand they would not be shownany leniency if found guilty.
According to PTI, Lorgatsaid the legal team of the ICChas prepared a case which“should stand the test ofscrutiny.”
“We’ve worked hard at col-lecting all the evidence that wewould require to make thecharges stand. I’m confidentthat our guys have worked
very hard in ensuring theyhave got a case they can pres-ent which should stand the testof scrutiny,” he said.
ICC provisionally suspend-ed Salman Butt, MohammadAsif and Mohammad Aamirafter a ‘News of the World’sting expose showed bookieMazhar Majeed claiming thatthe trio were involved in spot-fixing in the fourth Testagainst England at Lord’s inlate August.
They were also questionedby Scotland Yard detectivesand the Metropolitan Policehas provided a file of evidence
to the Crown ProsecutionService to help them decidewhether or not to lay criminalcharges against the trio.
Butt and Amir later lost theirappeals to the ICC over theprovisional bans, while Asifwithdrew his appeal. An inde-pendent tribunal will nowdecide the fate of the trio inJanuary 6-11, 2011.
Michael Beloff QC, the manwho chaired the Code ofConduct Commission thatrejected those appeals, willchair January’s full hearingalong with Justice Albie Sachsof South Africa and Kenya’s
Sharad Rao. Lorgat said that if found
guilty the trio will be dealtwith firmly.
“We need to send out astrong message and that is partof what we want to achieve.We would want to be propor-tional but at the same time wedo not want to show anyleniency,” Lorgat told BBCRadio 5 Live.
“These are severe issues andintegrity of the game isabsolutely fundamental andwe would not want to tolerateany of that in the sport,” hesaid. The ICC CEO, however,
admitted the trio were entitledto appeal any ruling at theCourt of Arbitration for Sport.
“My understanding is thatany matter that we decide onin a disciplinary process isalways open to contest in theCourt of Arbitration forSport.”
Lorgat said the ICC waspleased at measures put inplace by PCB and other ICCmembers to rid the game ofcorruption.
“I am confident the (anti-corruption) steps that havebeen taken in recent monthsand weeks and the task team
we have in place is workingexceptionally well,” saidLorgat.
“PCB are now determined toput in place all procedures andprocesses necessary to ensurefrom the bottom up they havea system in place that will edu-cate their players that will pre-vent the sort of issues we donot want within the game.
“Also there was an impor-tant step that we decided as aboard on November 21 thatevery single member willdomestically install an anti-corruption code that will mir-ror that of the ICC.” -Online
ICC has a solid case against tainted Pak trio: Lorgat
Aamirdenies
match fixingISLAMABAD: Fast bowler ofPakistan cricket team,
Muhammad Aamir Saturdaysaid that he never got himselfinvolved in the practice ofmatch fixing and all the allega-tions against him are baseless.
In a brief interview to a pri-vate television channel theyoung cricketer said he cannotthink about deceiving hiscountry and people for person-al gains.
Aamir admitted that he wasfamiliar to Mazhar Majeed buthe never met him in isolation.
He said that Mazhar Majeedremained the agent of seniorcricket players and almost allthe team players had goodrelations with him and his fam-ily members.
Aamir said that Majeed usedto get tickets of cricket match-es for his family and friendsfrom the players and in thisway he was familiar to all.
The young cricket playersaid that he was concentratingon his case so that this mattercould be settled before theworld cup.
"I want to use my abilitiesfor may nation in the worldcup competition and hopefullyI will have an opportunity", heconcluded.-APP
LONDON: TheInternational CricketCouncil is eyeing June2013 for the inaugural testworld championship andwill use current rankings todecide the four playoffspots, CEO Haroon Lorgattold Australian radio onSunday.
Test cricket, which hasstruggled to maintain itsprofile since the advent ofTwenty20, currently has arankings system but no tour-nament to determine the toptest nation.
The ICC has proposed aquadrennial tournamentwith the four best-perform-ing nations to meet in semi-finals before playing off forthe world title in a bid toboost flagging interest in thelongest form of the sport.
"I think the first possibleopportunity for us to have aplayoff is in 2013 whichmeans that the current rank-ings table would need to beused," Lorgat said.
"For example, right nowAustralia would be strug-gling to qualify for the play-offs. But there may beanother scenario with some-body else would also be inthe frame depending on thisresult they might slip in."
Lorgat was speaking onthe sidelines of the third dayof the second Ashes testbetween Australia, rankedfifth in the current teststandings, and fourth-placedEngland.
"Going forward we'relooking at a league table thatwould be worked on pointsand for match winnings,"Lorgat said, but details onhow to treat draws, whichoccur regularly in test crick-et, were yet to be decided.
"One option is whicheveris the highest ranked teamwould progress through.There's the possibility of thetimeless test, you've got toget to a result," he added.
Lorgat also confirmed the2015 one-day international
World Cup to be held inAustralia and New Zealandwould be stripped from 14teams to 10, while the bien-nial Twenty20 World Cuptournament would beexpanded from 12 to 16.
Sri Lanka will host thenext Twenty20 World Cup in2012.
"In my view (theTwenty20 World Cup) is abetter vehicle to develop thegame, a better vehicle topromote the game, whereasthe World Cup should be theflagship event, should be thebest teams in the world," hesaid.
International tournamentshave been overshadowed bysuspicions of match-fixingby players in recent yearsand the ICC will rule oncharges of alleged breachesof its anti-courruption codeby Pakistan test playersSalman Butt, MohammadAsif and Mohammad Amirin Doha in January.
The trio were provisional-
ly suspended after newspa-per allegations that they hadarranged for deliberate no-balls to be delivered in thefourth test against Englandin August.
Lorgat said the Jan. 6-11hearing would be the finalsay on the allegations, andthe players would have norecourse to appeal, barringlodging their case with theCourt of Arbitration forSport.
Despite the allegations ini-tially angering the PakistanCricket Board and its con-troversial head Ijaz Butt,cricket authorities there hadbecome the first nation toimplement an anti-corrup-tion code for their domesticset-up, Lorgat said.
"We've done a lot of goodwork, Ijaz Butt himself isnow involved with us," hesaid.
"So now if there was a gapin the domestic environ-ment, hopefully we'veclosed that." -Agencies
ICC eyes June 2013 forfirst test world c’ship
DUBAI: Afganistan won theICC Intercontinental Cup hereon Saturday by defeating hold-ers Scotland in the final.
The Scots were bowled outfor 82 on the third day of thematch and Afghanistan com-fortably reached their target of124 with seven wickets tospare.
Scotland had gone into thesecond innings with a 41-runadvantage but only two playersscored more than 10 runs and
three were out for ducks toleave Afghanistan to ease tovictory in the 27th over.
The result meant that theScots had failed to emulatetheir success in the inaugural2004 tournament.
Starting the day 64 for six,they had been hoping for somefight from their tail, but it wasnot to be as first innings heroRichie Berrington was caughtout for 10 by Asghar Stanikzaioff Hamid Hassan. -Online
Afganistan win theIntercontinenal Cup
10 Monday, December 6, 2010Analysis & Feature
An invitation to dinnerat the White Housecould help coax
Chinese President Hu Jintaoto stomach tougher pressureon ally North Korea when hevisits Washington nextmonth.
Hu's state visit to theUnited States, while swad-dled in ceremony, will throwinto glaring focus the two bigpowers' often diverging agen-das on economic imbalances,security disputes and, espe-cially after last week's attackon South Korea, of NorthKorea.
US President BarackObama is expected to use thesummit to urge Hu toincrease pressure on his allyPyongyang, which has trig-gered regional alarm byshelling a South Koreanisland and claiming fastprogress in uranium enrich-ment, which would give it asecond pathway to makingnuclear weapons.
US complaints that Chinakeeps its yuan currency toocheap, giving it an unfairtrade advantage, will almostcertainly feature, said severalscholars who study bilateralrelations.
Hu will arrive at the WhiteHouse, however, carting hisown heavy political baggage.For few leaders does theimportance of a White Housesummit come so bound withits televised stagecraft.
Hu bears the expectationsof a country that sees itself asascending while Americastruggles with deficits,
deserves a bigger hearingover Taiwan, Tibet and otherareas of tension, as well as astate dinner at the WhiteHouse.
"They want the symbolictreatment that they see asdeserving of a Chineseleader. They want to get asmuch as they can in terms ofsymbolism," said PaulHaenle, director of theCarnegie-Tsinghua Centerfor Global Policy in Beijing.
When Hu visited in 2006,then President George W.Bush treated him to a lunch,less prestigious than a dinner.Beijing called that trip a"state visit". Washington didnot.
"Hu will want a dinner andnot a lunch," said Haenle.
"The US side will be look-ing for deliverables to showthat the relationship is work-ing," said Haenle, who for-merly worked on China poli-cy in the White House'sNational Security Council.
"Of course, now they'llwant to do that with NorthKorea first and foremost."
The visit will help Hu bur-nish his statesman aura as heprepares to retire from front-line leadership from late-2012.
"It now is all about his lega-cy. I can't imagine thatPresident Hu wants his lega-cy to be a broken relationshipwith America. So, eachleader is heavily invested inhaving a successful trip,"David Lampton, professor ofChina studies at the Paul H.Nitze School of Advanced
International Studies inWashington D.C., wrote inemailed answers to ques-tions.
"One of the difficulties ingetting success, however, isthat each side measures suc-cess in somewhat differentterms."
Neither side has announcedprecise dates or details forHu's visit. An Obama admin-istration official told Reutersthat Hu will get a state dinner.
NO PICK-UP TRUCKRIDES, PLEASE
Hu's focus on his legacymay encourage him to mutesome tensions but also makehim more allergic to unre-hearsed give-and-take.
Since President RichardNixon's visit to Beijing in1972, which broke decadesof estrangement between thetwo countries, their summitshave been carefully plottedrituals.
Hu's particular aversion toinformal encounters wasshown in 2006 when, accord-ing US officials at the time,he declined Bush's offer for ameeting at his ranch home inTexas, something many otherforeign leaders, keen for abonding ride in the USPresident's pick-up truck,yearned for.
Hu preferred the decorumof the White House.
"For the Chinese, symbolicevents and the right picturesare central, while Americanscare more about addressingissues," said Lampton, theprofessor.
A HEART-TO-HEART
WITH HU?Obama may, however, aim
for something like what hap-pened at the White House inApril 2006.
Bush rearranged the chairsfor Hu's lunch so the two satnext to each other, instead ofseveral seats apart as proto-col recommends, and Bushtalked at length about NorthKorea and its nuclearweapons programme, saidHaenle.
Soon after, Hu sent anenvoy to Pyongyang to passon Bush's demands on curb-ing nuclear activities andoffers for talks.
Beijing did not shift itsbasic stance on North Korea,but it became a bit more
cooperative withWashington.
"Something similar couldhappen with Obama, andfrankly North Korea shouldfeel a little nervous," saidHaenle.
Beijing shows every signof sticking by Pyongyang,which it sees as a bufferagainst the US and its allies.Obama may coax a bit moreflexibility from Hu, but not aturn-around.
"I think the Chinese havedecided the situation is moreprecarious than it's everbeen," Haenle said of NorthKorea.
NO PROTESTSEITHER, PLEASE
Above all, Hu wants no
surprises.Chinese officials prepar-
ing for his visit fear protestsand unanticipated officialUS comments over China'shuman rights record, espe-cially about the jailed NobelPeace Prize-winner LiuXiaobo, said a Beijing-based researcher who hasspoken to Chinese officialsabout the trip. Theresearcher spoke on condi-tion of anonymity, citing theneed to protect thosesources.
Such drama could spoilimages meant to tell theaudience back home thattheir Communist Party-rungovernment is honoured atthe heart of the world's sole
superpower.Beijing also wants to avoid
the gaffes that marred Hu'svisit to the White House in2006, when China's nationalanthem was announced asthat of the "Republic ofChina", or Taiwan, the islandthat Beijing calls an illegiti-mate breakaway.
Hu also stood flustered onthe White House lawn whilea follower of Falun Gong, aspiritual sect banned inChina, shouted accusationsat him for three minutesfrom the press area.
"They're completely para-noid about things goingwrong," said the researcher,speaking of China's diplo-mats. -Reuters
HU & CRY AT
WHITE HOUSE? * NORTH KOREA,ECONOMIC STRAINS LIKELY TO FEATURE IN HU VISIT
* CHINESE PRESIDENT HOPES TO BURNISH LEGACY WITH SPECTACLE
* CHINA JUMPY ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS PROTESTS, SURPRISES
The potential for theUnited States tobecome a major
exporter of liquefied naturalgas is very real as domesticsupply rockets, but the indus-try is not yet fully convincedthat the economics willentice investors.
The massive increase inUS shale gas production andreserves in recent years hasturned the US gas market onits head, prompting tradition-al LNG importers to launchplans to export domestic gasoverseas.
The LNG industry is stillgrappling with the idea thatthe United States -- onceexpected to be a majorimporter of LNG -- now hasthe potential to become a bigexporter.
The United States couldbecome the "next Qatar",said Betsy Spomer, a vicepresident at BG Group dur-ing the CWC LNG Summitin Barcelona this week.Qatar has become the world'sbiggest LNG exporter after adecade of rapid productionexpansion.
Spomer said that BG, itselfa major LNG producer andshipper, and which currentlyimports LNG to US termi-nals, is considering itsoptions for US export.
Two liquefaction plantshave been proposed in theUnited States this year on thesite of existing import termi-nals -- one by CheniereEnergy at Sabine Pass inLouisiana, the other byFreeport and Macquarie
Group in Texas -- both ofwhich could be online by2015. The potential is to ini-tially export around 2 billioncubic feet per day of LNGfrom the United States over-seas.
These would be the firstexport terminals built in theUnited States in 40 years.
The bet for export is thatUS gas prices will stay lowversus European and Asiangas prices over a 25-yearperiod, making it profitableto produce and ship gas fromthe United States overseas.
US gas prices have fallenabout 23 percent since thebeginning of the year, pres-sured by ample domesticsupply, tepid demand andrecord high inventories.Conversely, oil-indexed
prices in Asia and Europehave risen, widening pricespreads across the world.
"Export from the UnitedStates looks doable, butrequires US gas prices to belower than Europe and Asianprices over a longer period,"
Christopher Goncalves, vicepresident at consulting firmCharles River Associates,told Reuters on the sidelinesof the CWC LNG Summitconference.
Top executives from theLNG world gathered togeth-
er this week in Barcelonaand LNG export was a majortopic of discussion. Manysaw US gas prices rising inthe coming years, some saidto above $6 per millionBritish thermal units by halfway through the next decade.US prices fell to near $3 thisyear.
Should the price spreadbetween US and Europeanor Asian prices narrow, or ifpotential investors expect forthem to narrow, then thesenew export projects maystruggle to get built, somesay.
"I feel that the low US gasprice situation is circumstan-tial, and it cannot be thoughtthat this favourable price dif-ference with other marketswill last for the lifetime of a
liquefaction plant," Repsol'sManaging Director of LNGBenjamin Palomo said in aninterview.
The political implicationsof sending US resourcesabroad is another possibleobstacle for these new proj-ects. There is potential forfuture increased natural gasuse in the United States innew sectors like transport.
The US Department ofEnergy is currently lookingat Cheniere Energy's planand is expected to soondecide whether or not toapprove exports to majorimport nations across theglobe.
"In the end, we could useall of this gas at home (in theUnited States)," Goncalvessaid. -Reuters
AMERICA’S LNG EXPORT DREAM
Euro zone countries arelikely to tighten eco-nomic policy coordina-
tion to help end the currentsovereign debt crisis andavoid another one, but a fiscalunion, that would complementthe current monetary one, isunlikely.
The debate on how mucheuro zone members shouldcoordinate economy policywas given fresh impetus bySpanish Prime Minister JoseLuis Rodriguez Zapatero onThursday amid growing mar-ket concern about Madrid'spublic finances.
"What Spain advocates isthat if we have a single cur-rency, it's not enough just tohave a central bank. It's notenough to have a single mon-etary policy. We also need tohave a common economicpolicy," Zapatero said. "Weneed to have a much more
integrated fiscal policy," headded.
The fiscal rules of theEuropean Union are writtendown in the Stability andGrowth Pact, which underpinsthe euro.
The rules are under reviewto make them tougher andforce more coordination onthe fiscal and economic sideand to prevent another debtcrisis like the one triggered byGreece.
The European Central Bankhas long stressed the need tostrengthen the economic leg inEurope's Economic andMonetary Union (EMU) proj-ect -- the euro currency -- butnational interests of its 16members have so far provedstronger.
The sovereign debt crisishas changed that -- there isnow more readiness amongeuro zone countries to accept
some influence of fellow eurozone countries on nationalpolicymaking as reflected inthe deal on a revision of EUbudget rules.
It can be seen in the reformof the Stability and GrowthPact, which includes a rangeof steps to boost economiccooperation -- from EU vet-ting of future national budgetplans to monitoring competi-tiveness trends, macroeco-nomic imbalances and struc-tural reforms.
The euro zone may even getthe right to impose financialsanctions on countries whichimplement bad policies and donot respond to eurozone callsto change them.
NO OTHER WAYA senior German source said
that there was simply no alter-native to more economiccooperation, even if it maysometimes be difficult to sell
to the public.However, it is not clear what
Spain's Zapatero meant bycommon economic policy andmore integrated fiscal policyas interpretations of theseterms differ depending on the
country and the views aresometimes not compatible.
"Everybody agrees that thefact that we have a singlemonetary policy implies thatwe have to have more coordi-nation of economic policies. It
is when it comes to thespecifics that people differ,"said Andre Sapir, economist atthe Brussels-based Bruegelthink tank. One eurozonesource said the likely underly-ing idea of the Spanish remarkon more fiscal integration wasa common eurozone bond,which would substantiallylower the costs of borrowingfor countries from the euro-zone periphery.
The idea of such a bond isbacked by the chairman ofeurozone finance ministersJean-Claude Juncker, butstrongly opposed byGermany, which believes itwould only make sense in areal political union.
For France, a closer eco-nomic union means a politicalcounterbalance to the inde-pendent ECB. But Pariswould not like to see otherstelling it how to run the econ-
omy.To the Germans, closer eco-
nomic cooperation would be away to impose more responsi-ble fiscal policies on others.
For most, more coordinationmeans giving away morenational sovereignty tounelected European Unioninstitutions.
That is why a fiscal union isunlikely to ever materialise,because it would mean thatnational parliaments wouldhave to give up their most fun-damental power of settingtaxes.
"There are currently noplans and no desire for a jointEuropean fiscal policy,"German government SteffenSeibert said.
"A reformed Stability andGrowth Pact already leads tohigher cooperation on eco-nomic and financial policy,"he said. -Reuters
EUROZONE HAS AN AGENDA OF ITS OWN
11Monday, December 6, 2010
International & Continuation
CONTINUATION
Gates todiscuss
Iran withOman's rulerMUSCAT: US DefenseSecretary Robert Gatesarrived in Oman on Sundayfor talks with Sultan Qaboosbin Said and was due to visitan aircraft carrier in theArabian Sea that conductsoperations supporting the warin Afghanistan.
The talks were expected totouch on issues including Iraq,Iran, Yemen and Afghanistan,a senior defense official said,adding that the visit was pri-marily a courtesy call tied tolast month's 40th anniversaryof the sultan's reign.
"This is the highest-level USofficial to meet with the sultanduring a very important andsymbolic period," the officialsaid. "The sultan is widelyregarded as among theregion's most erudite andinsightful leaders in terms ofregional trends and everythingelse."
Oman maintains good rela-tions with Iran and was instru-mental in helping to negotiatethe release of one of three UShikers accused by Tehran ofstraying from Iraq into Iranianterritory.
Oman has been pressing forthe release of the two remain-ing hikers, who have beenheld since 2009.
The sultan also has pushedfor a diplomatic solution to theinternational dispute overIran's nuclear program.
"On Iran as you know wehave this dual track approachof engagement ... while alsoholding Iran's feet to the firewith sanctions to keep themhonest," the defense officialsaid.
"The sultan has been veryproactive in pushing for adiplomatic solution and sothat's helpful."
Global powers are worriedIran's nuclear program isaimed at making bombs, butTehran says it only wants toproduce energy.-Reuters
MOSCOW: An investigator inspects the damaged Tupolev-154 airliner at Moscow's Domodedovo airport.-Reuters
CAIRO: Egyptians votedSunday in a run-off parliamen-tary election which PresidentHosni Mubarak's party will winalmost unchallenged after thetwo biggest opposition groupsquit a contest they said wasrigged.
The National DemocraticParty (NDP), which has neverlost a vote, is sure of a crushingvictory after the MuslimBrotherhood and liberal Wafdparty withdrew. The fiercestrun-off races are where NDPcandidates are pitted againsteach other.
The Brotherhood, the biggestopposition group with a fifth ofseats in the outgoing parlia-ment, won no seats in the firstround. Wafd won two. Egyptianmonitors cited ballot box stuff-ing, voter intimidation by hiredthugs and other abuses.
"I am boycotting these elec-tions. They are a sham, anyonecan see that," said MansourAbdel-Fattah, 22, aBrotherhood supporter from theDelta city of Mansoura.
"I applaud the Brotherhood'sdecision to boycott, of course,Wafd as well," Abdel-Fattahsaid in Cairo. He said he wouldnot travel home to vote, as he
did in the first round.Officials said voting on
November 28 was fair, and anycomplaints were being checkedbut did not undermine the vote.
Analysts said the governmentwanted to shove Islamist andother critics out of the assemblyto deny them a platform beforethe 2011 presidential election.That looming vote is fuellingdebate about how much longerMubarak, 82, can stay in power.
"The first round showed thegovernment was not going togive any space to the opposi-tion. The new people's assem-bly is not for the people. It issimply another NDP committeewith a single purpose: securingpresidential succession in the2011 vote," Wafd party mem-ber Ashraf Balbaa told Reuters.
Officials suggest Mubarak,whose health has been underclose scrutiny since gallbladdersurgery in March, will extendhis three-decade rule by seek-ing another six-year term, if hecan.
If not, many Egyptians sayhis son will run. But analystsquestion whether Gamal, 46,has the popularity among themasses, many in dire poverty,or military support to take over.
WEAKNESS ORSTRENGTH?
The scale of the government'sfirst-round win last Sunday wasa surprise. Political analysts hadexpected the Brotherhood topick up at least some seats. Otheropposition parties and independ-ents won just 12 seats. The NDPwon 209.
The United States, Egypt's allyand a major aid donor, said itwas "disappointed" by the con-duct of the vote.
Investors are still betting on asmooth leadership transition butsay the government has betrayedsome possible unease before thepresidential race by sweepingout almost all opposition fromthe assembly.
"For the government to be get-ting more iron-fisted in itsapproach is never a good sign asit could represent weaknessrather than strength," said JohnSfakianakis, MENA region chiefeconomist for Credit Agricole.
He said that could hit foreigndemand for equities, thoughtreasury bills would remainattractive because of high yields.
Egypt's main share index hasdipped 4 per cent since topping7,000 points five days before thefirst-round vote.-Reuters
Egyptians vote in run-offafter opposition quits
WASHINGTON: PresidentBarack Obama vowed at theweekend to work withRepublicans and Democrats topass a free-trade pact with SouthKorea that he said was a modelfor future agreements he wouldseek in Asia and around theworld.
US and South Korean negotia-tors struck a deal on Friday onthe long-delayed pact, which wassigned in 2007 but had not beenratified for three years because ofUS auto and beef industry con-cerns.
The pact was an accomplish-ment for Obama, who faced anembarrassing setback whennegotiators failed to settle theirdifferences before he visitedSeoul last month, but it wasgreeted less positively in SouthKorea.
"The agreement we'reannouncing today includes sev-eral important improvements andachieves what I believe tradedeals must do. It's a win-win forboth our countries," Obama toldreporters in Washington onSaturday.
A day after the LaborDepartment reported US unem-ployment unexpectedly hit aseven-month high of 9.8 per centin November, Obama said thepact would boost annual exportsof automobiles, agriculturalproducts and other goods andservices by $11 billion and gen-erate 70,000 additional jobs.
South Korean trade ministerKim Jong-hoon denied reports inhis country he had made conces-sions that were not reciprocated.
"By accepting US demands onthe auto sector, South Korea maybe able to advance the time toraise market share in the US automarket," he told reporters, citinggrowing local production bySouth Korean carmakers in theUnited States.
The revised deal keeps the 2.5per cent US tariff on SouthKorean cars until the fifth year ofimplementation, while SouthKorea will immediately halve its8 per cent tariff on US auto
imports."Given the trend, having the
2.5 per cent tariff for another fouryears may have a limited impacton our auto sales," Kim said.
Obama said the agreementwith South Korea showed theUnited States was ready to final-ize more trade pacts -- businessleaders wish two other long-delayed deals, with Panama andColombia, would also getthrough Congress.
"I'm especially pleased that thisagreement includes ground-breaking protections for workers'rights and for the environment.In this sense, it's an example ofthe kind of fair trade agreementthat I'll continue to work for aspresident, in Asia and around theworld," Obama said.
"This agreement also showsthat the United States of Americais determined to lead and com-pete in our global economy," headded.
He also said the agreementshows the strength ofWashington's alliance withSeoul. Tensions in the regionratcheted up last month afterNorth Korea attacked the smallsouthern island of Yeonpyeong,killing four people.
BUSINESS SUPPORT,SOME DOUBTS
Business leaders and analystssaid free trade could be one areaof cooperation between Obama'sDemocratic administration andRepublicans in Congress, whowon a majority in the House ofRepresentatives in the November2 elections, amid voter discon-tent over the sputtering economyand worries over the US deficit.
Obama said he looked forwardto working with Congress andleaders of both parties to approvethe pact.
Both the US House and Senatemust approve the agreement, andSenate Republican Leader MitchMcConnell said he was preparedto work with Obama to winapproval. A range of companiesand industry groups have spokenout in support, including theUnited Auto Workers union and
Ford Motor Co., which wel-comed the changes made toaddress their concerns aboutmarket access provisions of theoriginal deal. House MajorityLeader Steny Hoyer, a MarylandDemocrat, also praised the deal.
South Korea's Kim said thedeal would take effect by the startof 2012 after parliamentaryapproval.
South Korea-based HyundaiMotor, the world's fifth-largestcarmaker along with affiliate KiaMotors, was the only major car-maker to increase sales in thebattered US market last year.
Despite progress on the autoissues, Senate FinanceCommittee Chairman MaxBaucus, a Montana Democrat,said he was "deeply disappoint-ed" the deal did not addressSouth Korea's remaining restric-tion on beef imports imposed inresponse to discovery of severalcases of mad cow disease in theUS cattle herds a number ofyears ago.
Baucus, whose committee hasjurisdiction over trade, said hewould reserve judgment whilecontinuing to work with theObama administration.
Obama said the United Stateswould continue to press for "fullaccess for US beef to the Koreanmarket," but a senior official inthe South Korean governmentsaid no talks were scheduled onthe subject.
"There is no plan to hold addi-tional talks in relation to beefbetween South Korea and USgovernments," the unnamed offi-cial told Yonhap news agency onSunday.
Obama has made increasingUS exports a focus of his strate-gy for generating jobs.
"(The Korea pact) will con-tribute significantly to achievingmy goal of doubling US exportsover the next five years. In fact,it's estimated that today's dealalone will increase Americaneconomic output by more thanour last nine free trade agree-ments combined," Obama said.-Reuters
Obama toutsSK trade deal,looks for more
to improve mutual trust as it is in the interest of the two coun-tries. He said there was a lot of progress in trade between Pakistanand Afghanistan during last two years which has raised massesexpectations of cordial and friendly relations between the twocountries. The spokesman said that forty to fifty thousandPakistanis are taking part in the reconstruction process inAfghanistan and noted that Islamabad enjoy cordial and strongcontacts and ties with Kabul. Abdul Basit said that President AsifAli Zardari would pay visit to Turkmenistan next week. To a ques-tion, he said that India did not inform Pakistan about visit ofJudicial Commission while Islamabad has already informed NewDelhi about sending of Judicial Commission.-Online
Continued from page 1No #1
together towards a prosperous future for our peoples."He said the Afghans were engaged in very successful business
enterprises in Pakistan including arts, artifacts, paintings, carpetsand restaurants, apart from involvement in the transport business.
Gilani said relations between the two peoples were special asthey were immediate neighbours and for centuries, "we have hadmutually-dependent commercial and strong trading ties that needto strengthen further for the benefit of our people."He noted the"tremendous progress" between the leadership and governmentsof the two countries in developing a vision of shared developmentand shared prosperity and was reflected in the solemn declarationssigned between the two sides in 2009 and 2010.
Continued from page 1No #2
population. Total trade among D-8 countries has grown from$14.5 billion in 1999 to $1.15 trillion in 2009. Pakistan trade withD-8 countries accounts for 8.14 per cent of its overall trade whichis the highest as compared to the trade of other D-8 member stateswith members of the organisation. -Agencies
Continued from page 1No #3
Gen Raheel Shareef applauded the professional capabilities andexercises of Pak army. According to ISPR the test fire was success-ful which is aim to review the capacities of war needs. -Online
Continued from page 1No #4
taken in the upcoming meeting to reduce tax on stand loan serv-ices from 15 per cent. The provinces will collect the tax.
According to sources, the provinces have not yet agreed overnine services and there is hope of progress in Tuesday meeting.
On the behalf of the provinces, FBR will collect 15 per centRGST tax on banking, telecommunication, advertising, financeand insurance services. -APP
Continued from page 1No #5
which could lead to lower output by the sector amid higherinterest costs, he added.
We expect the group to witness a decline of 4 to 5 per cent YoYduring FY11 while its impact on LSM would be the most severe.
On the oil front, throughput is expected to rise on the back ofrecent revival in international oil prices and the resultant improve-ment in refinery spreads on regional levels. We estimate this sce-nario to persist during FY11 while see gradual improvement in thesame during 2HFY11 owing to seasonal spike which should carryforward till driving season. The scenario for domestic refinerieshas improved as throughput is expected to enhance on the back offavorable GRMs being realised this time around. We anticipate thepetroleum group to post growth of 10 per cent YoY during FY11.
Continued from page 1No #6
and sold $11.70 million, resulting in net buying of $22.87 mil-lion during the week. Interestingly, none of local categoriesinvested in equity market during the period as biggest weekly sell-
Continued from page 1No #7
Throughout the meeting, Malik was clearly nervous that the US was distancing itself both fromhim and President Zardari. Malik claimed that during the course of his Dubai meetings, the MQMhad repeatedly stated that both the United States and the United Kingdom had urged the party tooppose NRO. Malik claimed that the MQM stated it had received this message during the SindhGovernor's recent trip to the United States and that Altaf Hussain had been approached by the Britishgovernment in London. Ambassador strongly denied these allegations, stating that the US had nothad any such discussions with the Sindh Governor. Furthermore, Leaks added that Afghan PresidentKarzai had admitted the presence of Baloch leader Brahmdagh Bugti in his country during a meet-ing with a UN official in February 2009. According to WikiLeaks, during a meeting in 2007 withthe then US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher, Karzai had expressed his unawarenessabout Brahmdagh's presence in Afghanistan.
According to WikiLeaks, during a meeting with President Zardari in 2009, a US's Senator John Kerryplaced a condition on Pakistan that the latter would have to ink a 'New Security Arrangement' accord withneighbour India, if it wanted a civil nuclear cooperation with US, according to leaked memos of US diplo-matic cables, cited in a letter of the then US ambassador Patterson.Citing a letter of Patterson, WikiLeaksclaimed that Senator Kerry wanted Pakistan to make agreement with New Delhi on New SecurityArrangement, if latter was looking for winning cooperation with US on civil nuclear deal.-Agencies
Continued from page 1No #8
federal interior minister Rehman Malik telephoned the JI secretary general, Liaquat Baloch to dis-cuss the security measures for JI sit-in, in front of Parliament House.
According to a private TV channel, Rehman Malik assured Liaquat Baloch that rallies and sit-inswere a part of democratic setup and said that government would not interfere in the sit-in, besidesproviding fool proof security to rally participants. The interior minister also assured Liaquat Balochthat a judicial commission to probe the case of missing persons and Dr. Aafia Siddique had beenformed, which would soon accomplish the needful.On the occasion, Liaquat Baloch assured the inte-rior minister that JI rally would be a peaceful one, which would record its protest in a disciplinedand organized manner. -Agencies
Continued from page 12No #9
ing were witnessed from banks which sold $42.81 million of shares in the local bourse against buy-ing of $33.02 million, thus turning the net selling worth of $9.79 million.Furthermore, NBFC, localcompanies, local individuals and Mutual Funds remained on the selling side with shares worth $4.36million, $3.93 million, $3.09 million and $1.32 million respectively.
Bangladesh oil imports tohit 4.85mn T by end-June
DHAKA: State-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) will import 3.7 milliontonnes of petroleum and crude oil between now and the end of June 2011 as demand soars,officials told Reuters on Sunday.
That would take imports for the full current fiscal year, which ends in June, to 4.85 million tonnes,up from 3.6 million in the previous fiscal year.
Imports in the first five months of the current fiscal year reached 1.15 million tonnes, whilefull-year imports will include 1.5 million tonnes of crude for Bangaldesh's sole refinery, nearthe main port of Chittagong.
"Our petroleum imports will rise further in coming years as the government has taken plans to setup more fuel-fired power plants," one senior BPC official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The country needs additional fuel for electricity generation as it attempts to plug its energy deficit.It approved 21 diesel and fuel oil-fired power plants to generate 2,334 MW electricity, part of a planto produce around 9,500 MW of electricity by 2015.
BPC is the lone importer and distributor of crude and petroleum oil in the country.It imports crude and oil mainly from Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.-
Reuters
NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur posewith France's President Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.-Reuters
Printed & Published by Amir Abbas Ashary at DRC Printing Press for Data Research Communication (PVT) LTD, 111-C, Jami Commercial Phase VII, DHA Karachi.
TEHRAN: Chief of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization Salehi makes a speech during ceremony to take delivery of
locally produced yellowcake at the UCF plant in Isfahan. -Reuters
GENEVA: Iran announcedwhat it called a major step for-ward in its nuclear program onSunday, showing determina-tion to pursue it a day beforetalks in Geneva with worldpowers which fear Tehran maybe seeking atom bombs.
Nuclear energy chief AliAkbar Salehi said Iran woulduse domestically produced ura-nium concentrates, known asyellowcake, for the first time ata key nuclear facility, cuttingits reliance on imports of theingredient for nuclear fuel.
"This means that Iran hasbecome self-sufficient in theentire fuel cycle," Salehi said.
Western analysts say Iransometimes exaggerates itsnuclear advances to gain lever-age in its stand-off with theWest.
The announcement appearedtimed to show Iran will notback down in a long-runningrow over its nuclear programahead of the December 6-7meeting in Geneva where sixpowers are seeking assurancesits atomic ambitions are peace-ful.
Salehi told a televised newsconference that the announce-ment meant "we will be takingpart in the negotiations withstrength and power." He insist-
ed the Geneva talks were forthe benefit of the other coun-tries, not Iran.
"We want to create a gracefulsolution out of the politicaldeadlock for those who havepressurized us."
Iran says its nuclear programis aimed at power generationwhile the West suspects Tehranseeks weapons capability, andhas tightened sanctions on theIslamic state in recent months.
Western diplomats say thesanctions are hurting Iran's oil-dependent economy despitethe Tehran leadership's denialsof any such impact, and theyhope this will persuade them toenter serious negotiationsabout its nuclear program.
Western powers want Iran tosuspend uranium enrichmentactivity, which can producefuel for nuclear power reactorsor provide material for bombsif refined to a higher degree.
President MahmoudAhmadinejad has said Iran'senrichment will not be discussedin Geneva, though it is the cen-tral concern of the six powers --the United States, Russia, China,France, Britain and Germany --that will be present.
INTERNATIONAL CRIM-INALS
Asked upon his arrival in
Geneva whether he was opti-mistic about the talks, Iraniannuclear negotiator Saeed Jalilisaid: "Everything depends onthe other party's attitude."
Analysts expect no break-through in Geneva, the firstsuch meeting in over a year. Atmost, they believe, the gather-ing will recreate a climate con-ducive to negotiations and leadto more meetings that wouldtackle substantive issues.
Last week's killing of anIranian nuclear scientist inTehran, which Iran has blamedon Western intelligence servic-es keen to impede its nuclearadvances, could cloud theatmosphere for dialogue in theSwiss city. "Once again I amtelling the ill-wishers andinternational criminals ... thatwe are here and we are resist-ing and will continue ourresistance," Salehi said.Sunday's announcement thatIran would use yellowcake, auranium concentrate powder,processed in the country, at itsIsfahan conversion plant wasthe first step in becomingentirely self-sufficient innuclear fuel production, Salehisaid, as progress was alsobeing made developingdomestic uranium mines. -Reuters
Iran claimscontrol over
making N-fuel
ISLAMABAD: Jamat-e-Islami (JI) staged a protest sit-in against price hike, unem-ployment, proposed amend-ments in blasphemy law andfor the recovery of missingpersons in front of ParliamentHouse, demanding end to thepolicies carried out inMusharraf era.
In cars and motorbikes, hun-dreds of JI activists were arriv-ing at the venue to join the sit-in, holding party flags and ban-ners inscribed with slogansagainst America and PresidentAsif Ali Zardari.
JI chief Syed MunawwarHassan, while addressing theworkers, urged the governmentto change its policies towardscurbing the terror menace."Today's policies are seemed
to be the same continued inMusharraf regime," he said.
He said warned the govern-ment against amending theblasphemy law in the wake ofcurrent court verdict against awomen; Aasia Bibi.
"No democracy will spare ifthere would be no supremacyof law and the Constitution.
Islamabad Capital Territory(ICT) Police beefed up securi-ty in federal capital ahead ofthe protest.
Over 1200 additional policepersonnel have been deployedin red zone areas and roadsleading to Parliament House,besides five additional checkposts have also been set up,according to ICT administra-tion.
"So far, no arrest of JI
activists or leaders has beenmade. If the activists remainedcalm, the DeputyCommissioner (DC),Islamabad, Aamir Ahmed Alimay give them access to par-liament house, parade area,"An ICT official said.
The official said Mujahidsquad force, and security per-sonnel were directed to remainhighly alert while they wouldpatrol the adjacent areas of redzone.
Source said the commandos,equipped with sophisticatedweapons and wireless sets,were deployed at all sensitiveplaces. Security personnel inplainclothes with sniffer dogswill also remain patrolling sen-sitive sites. Earlier, The
See # 9 Page 11
Jamat stages sit-inoutside Parliament
Against inflation, amendment in Blasphemy Law
KARACHI: The newly estab-lished Sindh Bank will set up50 branches across the countryduring the year 2011, said itsChief Executive, Bilal Shaikh.
Talking to APP, he said that70 per cent of the branches willbe set up in Sindh province andthe rest in commercial hubs ofother provinces.
"Initially we will have fivebranches within this month-three in Karachi, and one eachin Hyderabad and Naudero,Larkana," he said.
Shaikh further stated that theSindh Bank will have branchesin all the 23 districts of theprovince while 10 will be inother provinces and 17 will beat very lucrative commercialareas of Karachi.
"It is very competitive envi-ronment and our main targetwill be mostly the small grow-ers, salaried class and smalland medium size enterprises,"Shaikh said and added thatpresently disbursement of hugeloans were not in favour of the
banks.He said that Sindh Bank will
also have two branches inLahore, and one each inSialkot, Peshawar and Quetta.
Bilal Shaikh said that one ofthe bank branches will be setup and inaugurated on Dec 26at Naudero, Larkana, andanother will be opened inHyderabad between December20 to 25, while in Karachi, onebranch will be on I.I.Chundrigar Road and anothernear Governor House and yetanother at Shahra-e-Faisal.These will become operationalwithin this month.
Referring to his bankingexperience, the ChiefExecutive of Sindh Bank saidthat he was determined to fol-low the prudential regulationsof the Central Bank to run theSindh Bank on modern lines.
He said that the Board ofDirectors of the Bank willmeet on 13th of December andsubmit its manual to theCentral Bank on Dec 14 for
commencement of commercialbusiness.
About the global recession,Shaikh said that his Bank willoffer credit to the small grow-ers and salaried class at verycompetitive rates and effortswill be made to gain the confi-dence of the clients.
"We will do our best to targetclients with micro financeobjects as big creditors havedisappointed the bankers and itis much easier to get recoveryfrom small creditors as com-pared to the big and influentialclients," he added.
About the top priorities ofthe Bank, Shaikh said that theeconomic development in theprovince will be give utmostimportance and that was thereason that his Bank will targetsmall growers and individuals.
He said that the Bank is list-ed with the Securities andExchange Commission ofPakistan (SECP) and has takenbirth under the BankingCompanies Ordinance. -APP
Sindh Bank plans50 branches in '11
ISLAMABAD: The govern-ment is working on a long-termstrategy for promotion of edu-cation and upgradation of edu-cation standard by allocatingseven per cent of GDP in thissector by 2015.
The government will alsomake necessary legislation inthis regard to achieve theobjectives.
To meet MillenniumDevelopment Goals on educa-tion, a number of projects havebeen launched throughout thecountry not only to promoteeducation at higher level butincrease literacy rate at thelower level also.
The National EducationFoundation is working on aseven billion rupees communi-ty school project to set up spe-cial education centers in the farflung areas of the country topromote education throughinformal ways.
Under this programme,13306 informal schoolsbesides 696 new literacy cen-ters have been set up through-out the country to enhance lit-eracy rate. Under PresidentEducation sector reform pro-gramme, work is underway toprovide missing facilities in theschools at a cost of over sevenbillion rupees. -NNI
Govt mulls 7pcof GDP for edu
Budget allocation to be raised by 2015
ISLAMABAD: The PakistanEconomy Watch (PEW) onSunday said that FederalBoard of Revenue (FBR) isnot fully prepared to tacklecontroversial ReformedGeneral Sales Tax (RGST).
An agency that has failed torealise proper implementationand collection of direct taxeslike income tax, sales tax andproperty tax etc since decadescannot be entrusted to collectRGST, it said.
Government has made seri-ous efforts to convinceprovinces and other stake-holders on RGST but it is yetto initiate dialogue on taxingagricultural income, said Dr.Murtaza Mughal, PresidentPEW.
The situation suggests thatGovernment is finding refugein which is hypocrisy andoverloading those who werealready paying taxes which isdiscrimination against tax-payers and undue favour tothe landed elite.
"Any value added taxes canbe successfully implemented
after complete documentationof economy and reformationof taxation system", he said.
Dr Murtaza Mughal saidthat GST was imposed in1990 that was also a valueadded tax but government isstill unable to implement it asintended and yet they areheading towards another fail-ure.
Government has fixed aceiling that any salaried per-son who earns more thanRs300000 would pay incometax. This decision should beimplemented all over thecountry irrespective of jobsand status of the citizens, hedemanded.
Government did not both-ered for any awareness cam-paign, tried to take trade andindustry into confidence orconsult independent econo-mists before the decisionwhich has raised suspicions.
FBR management is notskilled or efficient enough tocollect such levies; it willonly boost their illegitimateincome, he said. -NNI
FBR not readyfor RGST: PEW
KHOST: A suicide bomberkilled two foreign troops andtwo Afghan civilians in abazaar outside a Nato-base insoutheastern Afghanistan onSunday, and wounded nearly20 others, Nato and Afghanofficials said.
The Taliban claimed respon-sibility for the blast in Gardezdistrict of Paktia province, nearthe Pakistan border.
Major S Justin Platt,spokesman for the Nato-ledInternational SecurityAssistance Force (ISAF) inPaktia confirmed there hadbeen several casualties.
"There were two ISAF sol-diers killed and six wounded,"Platt told Reuters by phonefrom the region.
ISAF officials in Kabul con-firmed it was a suicide blast.
The explosion happened as agroup of foreign and Afghan
soldiers were shopping, a mili-tary source in Kabul toldReuters, adding at least fourAfghan troops were alsowounded.
"Two Afghan shopkeeperswere killed. Eighteen otherpeople were wounded,"Rohullah Samoon, aspokesman for the provincialgovernor, said by phone.
The Taliban spokesman said19 local and foreign soldierswere killed in the attack,although the group ofteninflates casualties amongAfghan and foreign troopswhen reporting attacks.
This year has been the blood-iest since the 2001 ousting ofthe Taliban government, withviolence rising and spreadingto previously fairly peacefulareas of Afghanistan, despitethe presence of some 150,000foreign troops. -Reuters
Taliban hits NatoKhost base, kills 4
US wantsall-out tieswith Pak:Munter
ISLAMABAD: US wants towork with both civil and mil-itary leadership of Pakistan,US envoy to PakistanCameron Munter has said.
Talking to a private televi-sion channel, the envoy saidthat "We want to strengthenthe democratic institutions"adding that "We do not sup-port any undemocraticprocess in Pakistan".
He acknowledged the sac-rifices being rendered byPakistani Army in KhyberPakhtunkhwa and the tribalareas during the ongoingoffensive against the mili-tants.
Replying to a questionabout the repercussions ofWikileaks documentsrelease, Munter said that therelease of the cables wouldnot affect the bilateral ties ofthe two countries.
When his attention wasdrawn towards Ali Fakhridisappearance who is the sonof Jameel Fakhri, the envoysaid that Ali's disappearanceis a human issue and hewould try to get some detailon it.-NNI
Fake Degree Case:
ECPsummons
11 MPstoday
ISLAMABAD: ElectionCommission of Pakistan (ECP)has summoned 11 members ofParliament and provincialAssemblies on 6th December(today) for hearing into fakedegree case.
As per details, ECP has called11 members of Parliament andprovincial Assemblies on 6thDecember (Monday) for hear-ing into fake degree case.
The members would defendtheir degrees before specialcommittee of ElectionCommission. Sources told thatECP summoned 2 members ofNational Assembly, 5 membersof Punjab Assembly, 3 of SindhAssembly and 1 member ofBalochistan Assembly. Themembers are including GhulamDastageer Rajar and JawadHussain from NationalAssembly, Rizwan Gul, FarahDeeba, Afshan Faroque, HajiNasir Mehmood and SuhailKamran from PunjabAssembly, Mukash Kumar,Nadir Magsi and Bashir AhmadKhan from Sindh Assemblywhile, Yaar Muhammad Rindfrom Balochistan Assembly.
Sources further told that thehearing into fake degree case isin final stage and the casewould be settled till the end ofthe December after whichaction would be taken againstfake degree holders in light ofSupreme Court's verdict. -Online
PAEC to set up880kMWN-plant
ISLAMABAD: PakistanAtomic Energy Commission isengaged to supplement thegovernment efforts to over-come energy crisis by installing8800 Megawatt nuclear elec-tricity plants.
Pakistan is facing acutepower shortage and the com-mission is working on variousprojects to fulfill the nationalneeds by enhancing its share inenergy generation.
It is already operating twonuclear power plants at Karachiand Chashma under completeinternational safeguards whilethird plant at Chashma will becommissioned by the end ofnext year. Besides, contributingin power generation, theAtomic Energy Commission isalso focusing its attention onapplication of ionizing radia-tion and radioisotope in thefields of health, agriculture andindustry.-NNI
Russiansatellitescrash into
Pacific MOSCOW: Three Russiansatellites crashed into thePacific Ocean on Sundayafter a failed launch, mediareported, in a setback to aKremlin project designed as arival to widely used U.S. nav-igation technology.
Russian news agenciesreported that the satelliteswent off course and crashednear Hawaii after blasting offfrom Russia's Baikonur spacecentre in Kazakhstan.
A spokesman at the spaceagency Roscosmos could notconfirm media reports butsaid the satellites had deviat-ed from their planned courseafter a Proton-M rocketlauncher malfunctioned.
"It was an unplanned situa-tion," said the spokesman. Hedeclined to give furtherdetails.
Interfax news agency quot-ed an aerospace industrysource as saying that the car-rier veered from course,bringing the upper part of therocket with the satellites intoan incomplete orbit and caus-ing them to fall back into theatmosphere.
Roscosmos said it wouldissue a statement later onSunday.
The satellites were the lastof the batch of 24 satellites atthe heart of Russia'sGLONASS, its answer to theU.S. Global PositioningSystem (GPS).
Russia has been developingthe system since 1976. Thestate has spent $2 billion inthe last 10 years on the proj-ect, and the system is expect-ed to be fully operational byend of January 2011. -Reuters
