<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->ISLAMABAD : The countryâs exports have witnessed a decline of 13.86 percent during the first quarter, July-September period of the current fiscal year 2009-10 as against the set target of an increase in exports by 6 percent.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->KARACHI : Pakistani workers remitted a record amount of $806.12 million in September 2009 as against $660.35 million in same month of last fiscal year (September 2008), showing a jump of $145.77 million or 22.07 percent.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Question : With the World Economy down-turn âworkersâ are losing jobs thereby there is a reduction of âearningsâ
As such could this increase in âRemittancesâ is due to added earnings from the âdrugs tradeâ?
<b>Geo TV targeted again in dictator-style</b>
Updated at: 1000 PST, Sunday, October 11, 2009
ISLAMABAD:
Geo News and some other TV channels were once again blocked by the PPP government on Saturday afternoon, an action replay of the Musharraf-era.
The action was taken allegedly for âobjectionableâ coverage of the GHQ terrorist attack, but the Pakistan Army officially announced that it had no objection to the coverage and asked the government to reopen the channels.
<b>Geo TV, however, remained shut in the afternoon while three other channels, which were also closed, were reopened shortly</b>.
The government often shuts other channels also as a tactic to show that its action is not discriminatory and specific to one. This tactic was also used during the Musharraf onslaught against the Geo.
<b>Video appears to show Pakistan army abuses </b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->ISLAMABAD: Video apparently showing Pakistani soldiers beating men detained in anti-militant operations has surfaced on the Internet, a clip that will likely draw criticism from rights groups and could undercut support for the army's fight against al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
The 10-minute video shows an army officer casually questioning four men in a building. The officer then steps aside and soldiers move in, punching, kicking and whipping the suspects, who scream in pain and writhe on the ground.
The video has been posted on the Facebook and YouTube sites.
Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said the army was investigating the alleged abuse, but declined further comment Friday.
<b>Pakistan's poorly trained and underfunded security forces have long been accused of human rights abuses.</b>
The independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said in an August report it had received 'credible reports of numerous extrajudicial killings and reprisals carried out by security forces' in the Swat Valley since the area was retaken from Taliban control in July.
<b>It was not clear where or when the video was shot, and its authenticity was impossible to verify. It was first posted on Facebook last month.</b>
It shows the officer quizzing one man over whether his brother-in-law is a militant. The man says he does not know. The officer then signals for his deputies to begin attacking the suspect. He is punched, lashed with a leather rope and kicked repeatedly while on the ground.
<b>He screams 'Have mercy on me, oh God' in Pashto, the language of the northwestern tribal areas close to the Afghan border where the Pakistan army is engaged in anti-militant offensives.</b> Two of the men who were beaten appeared to be in their 50s.
<b>New York-based Human Rights Watch said while it was impossible to confirm the authenticity of the video, such abuses are widespread</b>.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>Pak ISI station chief in Delhi dies of electrocution</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->In a significant development, the Pakistan ISI station chief, MK Afridi, at its High Commission in Delhi <b>got electrocuted â while drying his hair </b>late Sunday night at his Vasant Vihar residenceâ and died. His body was taken to Pakistan via Wagah border in the wee hours of morning after intervention at the highest levels.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I hope he was not drying his hair either sitting in bath tub or under shower. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<b>41 killed, 50 wounded in Pak suicide attack</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->A suicide bomber threw himself at a passing para-military convoy near a crowded market killing 41 people and wounding 50 in Shangla district in Pakistan's Malakand division, two days after Taliban militants stormed the army headquarters in Rawalpindi.
Witnesses said the suicide bomber blew himself up near a security forces vehicle as it was passing through a security check post in the market at Alpuri and most of the dead were civilian passers by.
The attack occurred close to a police station.
North West Frontier Province Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said 41 people, including six security personnel, were killed in the blast. Police officials said over 50 people, including soldiers and policemen, were injured.
"The condition of five of the injured security personnel was reported to be serious," a local police official told private TV channel.Â
The official said the target of the bomber was the security convoy, but lots of civilians were killed as they were huge number of people in the market at the time of the blast. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
They are after Punjabi army.
<b>Pakistanâs ambassador in US to be replaced</b>
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->ISLAMABAD: After strong criticism on the Kerry-Lugar bill in Pakistan, the government has decided to replace Pakistanâs ambassador to the US Hussain Haqqani and the announcement in this respect is expected within the next two days.
Well informed official sources have been quoted as saying that the <b>countryâs ambassador to the US would be appointed as a spokesman of the Presidency</b>.
Sources said the announcement with regards to the replacement of Haqqani would be made within 48 hours. <b>Hussain Haqqani is being replaced over the inclusion of some controversial clauses in the Kerry-Lugar bill.</b>
The positions of the <b>Spokesman Presidency Farhatullah Babar and the Pakistan Peoples Party Information Secretary Fouzia Wahab would also be changed, </b>sources added.âOnline<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>Air strike kills 16 militants in South Waziristan</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->ISLAMABAD: Pakistani aircraft attacked Taliban militants in their South Waziristan stronghold near the Afghan border as the government said a ground offensive against the al Qaeda-linked fighters was imminent.
The aircraft struck the militants late on Sunday, hours after commandos stormed an office building and rescued 39 people taken hostage after an attack on the army headquarters.
âThe jets hit and destroyed two of their hideouts in Makeen and Ladha and we have a total of about 16 militants killed,â a Pakistani intelligence official in the region said.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
How they know they are militant?
Pakis are killing their own Muslim brothers and sisters. Very sad.
10-13-2009, 12:01 AM (This post was last modified: 10-13-2009, 12:01 AM by shamu.)
<!--QuoteBegin-Mudy+Oct 12 2009, 08:29 PM-->QUOTE(Mudy @ Oct 12 2009, 08:29 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->They are after Punjabi army.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
It is possible that they got motivated to take revenge after seeing the video of Punjabi soldiers torturing Pashtun elders.
<!--QuoteBegin-shamu+Oct 13 2009, 12:01 AM-->QUOTE(shamu @ Oct 13 2009, 12:01 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin-Mudy+Oct 12 2009, 08:29 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mudy @ Oct 12 2009, 08:29 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->They are after Punjabi army.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
It is possible that they got motivated to take revenge after seeing the video of Punjabi soldiers torturing Pashtun elders.
[right][snapback]101913[/snapback][/right]
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
We are seeing "Civil War" in Pakistan.
Today "Paki fora" is calling to attack India.
I think to unite Pakistan, we may see some sort of attack in India. I was expecting this may happen around Diwali but ISI head just martyred by Hair dryer in Delhi. So possible delay.
Whatever else may be said about the controversy surrounding the Kerry-Lugar Bill and much is being said and written, one thing should be obvious: the Pakistan Peopleâs Party has shown a tendency for masochism which is both laughable and worrying.
I am reminded of the joke about this hunter going out to hunt down this grizzly. He reaches deep into the jungle, spots the grizzly and fires a shot. Boom! The grizzly seems to vanish into thin air just as he fires. As the hunter looks around, thereâs a tap on his shoulder. He turns around and sees the grizzly, who tells him: âYou can either get killed or drop your pants.â The hunter drops his pants.
Once the grizzly is done, he tells him to buzz off and stay clear of him. The hunter returns home, seething with anger, buys a bigger rifle, and returns to the jungle the next day. Sure enough, the grizzlyâs there. He fires his shot. The grizzly disappears again and as if on cue, he feels the tap on his shoulder. The hunter drops his pants!
On his way back he buys a bazooka and returns to the jungle the third time. The grizzly is relaxing. The hunter fires the bazooka; there is a loud explosion and much smoke and dust. Certain that heâs got the grizzly this time, he walks on, when he feels the inevitable tap on his shoulder. The grizzly is standing there, smiling. Even as the hunter is loosening his belt to drop his pants, the grizzly says: <b>âAre you sure you are into this only for hunting!â</b>
I canât but ask a similar question. Guys! Are you into this just for the politics?
The PPP has proved, once again, that it will do the right thing only after it has lost the initiative and been berated and battered.
In April this year I wrote an article on the Berman Bill analysing its conditionalities and arguing that if and when the reconciled legislation was finalised, it would be unacceptable on several counts. All through the process, the Senate and House Bills were there for anyone to see, read and analyse (for a detailed analysis, see Najmuddin Shaikhâs article on A6). It amazes me that the government just sat there, making no effort to initiate a debate on the Bill and approach the US on the basis of Pakistanâs sensitivities to influence the legislation.
It is not good enough to say that all stakeholders including the army had seen the draft and were consulted by the American officials. In politics, quite often, some stakeholders will sit quietly and wait for the right opportunity to strike. And strike they have. It was the governmentâs responsibility to force them into taking a position while the process was going on.
Such a course of action would have entailed initiating a debate on the Bill (the two reconciled drafts). The debate would have resulted in two things: all stakeholders would have been clear about what the Bill contains; and they would have had to arrive at a consensus from the Pakistani side. The government could then have gone to the Americans and placed the Pakistani view before the US administration and the legislatures.
Playing it thus would have allowed the government to retain the initiative. Now, it has had to submit to the furore and place the issue before Parliament after the proverbial has hit the fan. It did the same on the judges issue, conceding to a combination of political and popular pressure and restoring the judges. If it had taken the initiative on the issue, the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) would not have acquired its present sheen.
But while we are at this, there is some irony in what has happened. The armyâs press release seems to have released the âdemocraticâ forces into asking for a democratic debate on the issue. Letâs not forget that just days before the ISPR statement following the corps commandersâ conference, the Punjab chief minister had met the army chief. The army statement talked about the will of the people and the need for the government to get a consensus on the issue. Very smart, indeed.
The PMLN, which never tires of talking about tilting the balance of relations in favour of the civilians, chose, when the opportunity arose, to use the armyâs support to hit at the PPP. This is ironic enough but thereâs more. The US legislation talks about strengthening democracy, etcetera. The issue is now in Parliament and that is a democratic process. It is very likely to end up in a rejection of the Bill. Punjabi has a phrase for such irony: hore choopo!
The worrying part of PPPâs masochism is that it is hurting the partyâs interest. Even those who are not the party voters, if they are politically savvy, would agree that it must retain its position as the largest party which has its presence in all the federating units. Its presence is important, indeed crucial, for Pakistanâs march towards a functioning democracy. Corollary: both for its own as well as Pakistanâs sake, it should stop shooting itself in the foot and putting that injured foot in its mouth.
Ejaz Haider is op-ed editor of Daily Times, consulting editor of The Friday Times and host of Samaa TVâs programme âSiyasiyatâ. He can be reached at sapper@dailytimes.com.pk
<b>Pakistan's public and external debt have increased over the last two years at a pace never witnessed in the country's history. Public debt grew at an average rate of 26 percent per annum, as against 6.6 percent in 2000-07. As a result, Pakistan added Rs2,827 billion in public debt alone in the last two years, as against Rs1,796 billion in the previous seven.</b>
Similarly, external debt and liabilities grew at an average rate of 15.5 percent, as opposed to an average 0.9 percent between 2000 and 2007. In other words, Pakistan added almost $12 billion in external debt during these two years, as against $2.6 billion in the previous seven.
Many factors have contributed to the recent surge in debt. These include the persistence of large fiscal and current-account deficits, sharp depreciation in the exchange rate and unrestrained borrowing. The depreciation of the exchange rate alone added Rs944 billion in public debt. In other words, without borrowing a single dollar or rupee, the country added Rs944 billion in public debt. It had taken five years to add a similar amount of debt between 1999-2000 and 2004-05).
The pace of debt accumulation is alarming, and a sure recipe for fiscal and balance-of-payment crises in the medium term. The massive surge in public debt is bound to increase debt-servicing which, in turn, will consume most of the government revenue and little will be available to spend on physical and human infrastructure. In 1999-2000, almost 72 percent of total government revenue was consumed by debt-servicing alone, leaving hardly anything to be spent on public welfare. With prudent fiscal management, this ratio was brought down to 35 percent by 2006-07; thus creating enough fiscal space for improving the country's physical and human infrastructure and reducing poverty. In the last two years, this ratio has jumped to almost 49 percent. Debt-servicing consumed almost one-half the government's revenue in 2008-09, and as such has become the single-largest expenditure item of our budget.
The way Pakistan has borrowed in the last two years is unprecedented and has injected significant risks to the budget and balance-of-payments going forward. Interestingly, the IMF itself is concerned about the growing risks to its own fund. The IMF has agreed to provide $11.3 billion under the Standby Arrangement to Pakistan. This amount also includes the recent augmentation of loan equivalent to $3.236 billion. The IMF has so far disbursed $5.326 billion to Pakistan and the remaining amount ($6.0 billion) will be disbursed in different tranches by December 2010. Pakistan has also borrowed from the IMF under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) in the past and, including this amount, the total exposure would reach $12.0 billion by the end of 2010. As such, the IMF has emerged as the single-largest source of external financing, and Pakistan has become its fourth-largest borrower.
Such massive borrowing from the IMF involves substantial financial risks to this institution itself. The IMF has stated that "at the time of approval of the Programme, the level of access was already large in terms of Pakistan's economy and debt servicing capacity." The augmentation of $3.2 billion assistance has further aggravated the situation. "Debt service to the Fund will become a significant fiscal burden, and is particularly high relative to reserves, which remain vulnerable to weaker exports, remittances, FDI and possible delays in donor disbursement."
<b>The question then arises as to why the IMF became so generous in lending money to Pakistan when the fragile nature of its debt-carrying capacity was known to them? Why did it bring about substantial financial risks to its own institutions? Why did it create a significant fiscal burden on Pakistan?</b> On our part, did we require such large resources from the IMF? Was it necessary to go for augmentation of resources from the IMF? Why did we opt for an expansionary fiscal policy when there was a resource crunch? Why did we allow our exchange rate to depreciate to an extent where we added nearly Rs1.0 trillion to public debt, without increasing a single dollar in our exports? These are valid questions and must be answered by the government and the IMF.
<b>Under a very optimistic assumption of fiscal (3.6 percent of GDP, on average) and current account (4.5 percent of GDP) deficits, the IMF has projected that Pakistan's total external debt will be $72.0 billion by 2014-15. Given the security environment, the quality of governance, the lax-expenditure environment in the provinces, especially in Punjab, and the economy not being on the radar screen, it is simply next to impossible to expect such level of financial and policy discipline in the government. The present government pursued a right fiscal and monetary policy in 2008-09 and gained considerable dividend as a result.
However, it changed its policy stance in 2009-10, and is unlikely to maintain such discipline going forward. <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>External debt is, therefore, expected to rise to $95 billion by 2014-15.</span></b>
Pakistan will start repaying the IMF loan from 2011-12 and in four years (until 2014-15), it will have to repay $12.0 billion. Will Pakistan be able to repay such a large amount to the IMF alone? How is Pakistan going to bridge its financing gap in the medium term? Will Pakistan be ready to sign yet another Standby Arrangement or PRGF in January 2011? In my judgment, this will indeed be the case.
The writer is dean and professor at NUST Business School in Islamabad. Email: ahkhan@nims.edu.pk
<!--QuoteBegin-ramana+Oct 13 2009, 03:57 AM-->QUOTE(ramana @ Oct 13 2009, 03:57 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Odd things are happening too fast. Are Paki Nukes safe? MSNBC
Aftermath of the attack of GHQ by former soldiers.
[right][snapback]101924[/snapback][/right]<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
US Media is clueless about Pakistan.
Pakistan is sliding down very fast.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>The larger question, pointed out by many commentators, is the integrity of the Pakistan Army.</b>Â Rawalpindi is a military garrison town. <b>Any attack that comes close to the residence of a general officer, not to mention Army Headquarters itself, requires complicity and active cooperation by garrison guards from the Army itself.</b>Â
<b>Multiple attempts to kill senior officers during the past several years </b>have made it obvious that <b>guards at military cantonments in Rawalpindi are not dependable.</b>
Army Headquarters is not easy to breach. <b>A succession of guards and higher NCOs had to cooperate in this attack, willing to risk the lives of fellow guards.</b> The enormity of the security breach is difficult to overstate, especially in light of the history of assassination attempts against Musharraf when he was Chief of Army Staff and President.Â
Yet even under Musharraf, no attack so daring had so much success. <b>This is a major failing of General Kayaniâs management of the Army. If the Army cannot protect itself, how can it be expected to protect the nationâ¦.that is the message the anti-government forces intended and succeeded in sending.</b>
For the rest of the world, <b>the surest conclusions are that the Pakistan Army cannot be trusted to protect itself; the enemies of the government can attack at will anywhere; the Army is so penetrated by Islamists that it is not reliable; no major operations in South Waziristan will succeedâ¦the Army cannot be trusted to fight its own citizens.</b> More later.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
He doesn't address the bigger security of nukes question.
Its still not clear who did it? The Paki Taliban aka TTP or a self inflcited drama to get uncle's attention?
<!--QuoteBegin-ramana+Oct 14 2009, 02:29 AM-->QUOTE(ramana @ Oct 14 2009, 02:29 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->I want more evidence of that! In fact I want more of that!
[right][snapback]101945[/snapback][/right]<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This information is from Paki fora.
Now they want to kick India and so-called Indian agents in Pakistan, according to them in thousands and Afghanistan.
<!--QuoteBegin-Mudy+Oct 14 2009, 02:23 AM-->QUOTE(Mudy @ Oct 14 2009, 02:23 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->This was not self-inflicted. This is war between Punjabi and rest of Pakistan excluding Sindh.
Non-commissioned are taking drone revenge.
[right][snapback]101944[/snapback][/right]
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Some one should lay the grundwork for riots in Pakjab!! Let Pakjabis Punish Pathans living in the neighborhood . This is the onlee way to evenge the attack on GHQ.
<b>Jets pound militant hideouts in South Wazirista</b>n
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->PESHAWAR: Aircraft bombed militants in the South Waziristan region on the Afghan border on Tuesday a<b>s government forces prepare for a ground offensive against the militant hub,</b> security officials said.
....
âThereâs been a heavy bombardment. They targeted some militant hideouts as well as pro-Taliban tribal elders,â said an intelligence agency official in the region, who declined to be identified.
<b>Two ethnic Pashtun tribal elders were said to have been killed</b>, he said.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
They are just killing their own people.
Now Pashtuns will take revenge against Punjabi.
Yesterday, was very quiet day in Pakistan.
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->