International Delhi can’t rein in Kashmiris: FO See on Page 12 Jul 31 verdict fortified democracy, says Aitzaz See on Page 12 USA to expand Kabul embassy See on Page 12 *Crude Oil (brent)$/bbl 86.10 *Crude Oil (WTI)$/bbl 84.65 *Cotton $/lb 138.73 *Gold $/ozs 1,354.00 *Silver $/ozs 24.80 Malaysian Palm $ 1,001.00 GOLD (NCEL) PKR 37,350 KHI Cotton 40Kg PKR 9,109 Yearly(Jul, 2010 up to 2-Nov-2010) Monthly(Oct, 2010 up to 2-Nov-2010) Daily (2-Nov-2010) Total Portfolio Invest (22 Oct-2010) 101.26 -3.46 1.20 2532 4.19 0.55 -1.82 -2.15 -0.36 -0.07 -0.33 SCRA(U.S $ in million) Portfolio Investment FIPI (03-Oct-2010) Local Companies (03-Oct-2010) Banks / DFI (03-Oct-2010) Mutual Funds (03-Oct-2010) NBFC (03-Oct-2010) Local Investors (03-Oct-2010) Other Organization (03-Oct-2010) (U.S $ in million) NCCPL GDR update Commodities Forex Reserves (22-Oct-10) Inflation CPI% (Jul 10-Sep 10) Exports (Jul 10-Sep 10) Imports (Jul 10-Sep 10) Trade Balance (Jul 10-Sep 10) Current A/C (Jul 10- Sep10) Remittances (Jul 10-Sep 10) Foreign Invest (Jul 10-Sep10) Revenue (Jul 10-Sep 10) Foreign Debt (Jun 10) Domestic Debt (Aug 10) Repatriated Profit (Jul- Aug 10) LSM Growth (Aug 10) GDP Growth FY10E Per Capita Income FY10 Population $16.88bn 13.77% $5.18bn $9.03bn $(3.85)bn $(545)mn $2.65bn $455.10mn Rs 310bn $55.63bn Rs 4863bn $124.90mn -3.85% 4.10% $1,051 170.96mn 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 19.05 2.00 1.70 9.71 PKR/Shares 111.31 163.12 42.81 36.39 33.26 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) 03-Nov-2010 03-Nov-2010 03-Nov-2010 29-Sep-2010 03-Nov-2010 03-Nov-2010 03-Nov-2010 03-Nov-2010 03-Nov-2010 03-Nov-2010 03-Nov-2010 03-Nov-2010 03-Nov-2010 03-Nov-2010 03-Nov-2010 12.75% 13.11% 13.24% 13.50% 12.69% 12.98% 13.21% 13.61% 13.70% 13.65% 13.74% 13.83% 14.21% 14.34% 14.50% Money Market Update Symbols Buy (Rs) Sell (Rs) Australian $ 84.40 85.80 Canadian $ 84.30 85.30 Danish Krone 14.90 15.30 Euro 119.20 120.50 Hong Kong $ 10.85 11.09 Japanese Yen 1.062 1.065 Saudi Riyal 22.70 22.90 Singapore $ 65.90 66.90 Swedish Korona 12.30 12.80 Swiss Franc 88.20 88.70 U.A.E Dirham 23.20 23.40 UK Pound 136.60 138.50 US $ 86.55 86.85 Open Mkt Currency Rates Symbols Buying Selling TT Clean TT & OD Australian $ 85.36 85.56 Canadian $ 84.78 84.98 Danish Krone 16.09 16.12 Euro 119.95 120.23 Hong Kong $ 11.04 11.06 Japanese Yen 1.065 1.067 Saudi Riyal 22.81 22.87 Singapore $ 66.42 66.58 Swedish Korona 12.88 12.91 Swiss Franc 87.30 87.51 U.A.E Dirham 23.29 23.35 UK Pound 137.15 137.47 US $ 85.63 85.83 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 29°C 9°C KARACHI 36°C 19°C LAHORE 30°C 15°C FAISALABAD 31°C 13°C QUETTA 25°C 4°C RAWALPINDI 29°C 11°C Weather Forecast Index Close Change KSE 100 10,617.65 64.22 Nikkei 225 9,159.98 5.26 Hang Seng 24,144.67 473.25 Sensex 30 20,465.74 120.05 ADX 2,761.75 1.91 SSE COMP. 3,030.99 14.44 FTSE 100 5,748.97 8.46 *Dow Jones 11,160.38 28.34 *Last Updated 20:00 PST Global Indices ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani addresing the PPP Parliamentary Party meeting at PM House. -APP WASHINGTON: Exuberant Republican leaders promised on Wednesday to exercise their new power in Congress to roll back key portions of President Barack Obama's agenda, but Obama said voters were telling both parties to work harder to find consensus. Republicans picked up at least 60 House seats, far more than the 39 they needed for a majority that would topple Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and put Republicans in charge of House committees. Many races remained too close to call. It is the biggest shift in power since Democrats gained 75 House seats in 1948, and it gives Republicans their largest House margin since 1928. "It's pretty clear the American people want a small- er, less costly and more accountable government," John Boehner, in line to become the next House of Representatives speaker, told reporters. "Our pledge is to listen to the American people." Voters anxious about the sluggish economy, and unhap- py with Obama's leadership, punished Democrats in mid- term election, giving House control to Republicans and weakening the Democratic majority in the Senate. A notably subdued Obama told a news conference in the White House that Americans were frustrated and demanding solutions, but he acknowl- edged it would be difficult to find common ground. "What Wednesday told us is that no one party will be able to dictate where we go from here, we must find common ground in order to make progress on some uncommonly difficult challenges," he said. Boehner and Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell said voters had given them a mandate to roll back some of the prime accom- plishments of congressional Democrats in the last two years, including healthcare and financial regulatory reforms. But split government is more likely to spark a legislative stalemate when the new Congress begins in January. Senate Democrats can block House initiatives, and Obama's weakened hand will still hold the veto pen. Republican leaders showed See # 15 Page 11 Republicans rule House We must find common ground to make progress, Obama urges Republicans KARACHI: Saudi Prince Bandar bin Khalid bin Faisal Wednesday wrote a letter to Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry alleging Pakistan's religious ministry of commit- ting huge corruption in provi- sion of residences to the Hujjaj at Makkah. The Saudi prince, in a letter to Chief Justice Chaudhry, accused the Federal Religious Affairs Ministry of funds' embezzlement. He addressed the CJP divulging that the Religious Affairs Ministry rejected the Saudi offer pertaining to the residences for the 35,000 pilgrims costing just 1500 riyals, which was just 2- kilometer away from Haram and committed for the lodg- ings costing 3400 to 3600 riyals. Chief Justice of Supreme Court, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry while taking suo moto notice on the letter writ- ten to Chief Justice about alleged misuse in Hajj Affairs sought reply from the Ministry of Religious Affairs with in 15 days. However, Ministry for Religious Affairs denied the allegations. Secretary Religious Affairs Agha Sarwar Qazilbash also termed the Saudi Prince's letter fake and called upon the Foreign Ministry to confirm its authenticity. Qazilbash said that the gov- ernment took Rs238,000 which is 3600 riyal from each pilgrim for Hajj expenditures and there was not irregularity in the whole process. - Agencies Saudi Prince writes to CJ on Pak hajj affairs’ scam Prince Bandar says religious ministry involved Religious Affairs Ministry denies allegations ISLAMABAD: International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission in the wake of devastating floods has enhanced Pakistan's fiscal deficit target from 4 per cent of the GDP to 4.7 per cent of the GDP. "Pakistan has so far received $7.4 billion from the IMF", a senior official of the ministry of finance. He said that International Monetary Fund (IMF) review mission which was likely to conclude its talks on November 4, but it has been extended to November 6. Highlighting the governem- nt's economic governance poli- cy, he said that the government is committed to strengthening the national institutions of eco- nomic governance by promot- ing merit and inducting profes- sionals as heads of organisa- tions for good governance and check misuse of national resources of the country. The government under the plan of "Strengthening of the National Institution of Economic Governance" in the Ministry of Finance has recom- mended that heads of institu- tions like Public Sector See # 8 Page 11 ISLAMABAD: Minister for trade and industry Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani said govern- ment is concerned over the increase of sugar prices and it is taking steps to bring the prices down. He also informed that sum- mary of the imports of second hand vehicles has been sent to the Economic Coordination Committee. Responding to queries in NA during Question Hour session, minister for trade and com- merce Bijarani said govern- ment is trying to stabilise the hike in the price of sugar. He also said that Pakistan Steel has shown deficit of Rs39 billion in the last two years. He said that we have enough capacity to meet our sugar needs till Dec 15, and the sugar mafia is creating this deficit, he also said that the utility stores are selling sugar on a control rate of Rs55/kg while the gov- ernment is supplying sugar to See # 10 Page 11 Govt steps in to curb sugar price Govt. to allow import of conditioned cars: Bijarani ISLAMABAD: National Assembly on Wednesday passed the Amended Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority Ordinance, 2002 with the majority votes of 75 to 50. Minister in charge of the Cabinet Secretariat, Nawabzada Ghazanfar Gul moved the Bill further to amend the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority Ordinance, 2002 in the National Assembly. However, PML-N member Zahid Hamid raised objection over clause-2 of the Bill and requested to withdraw it. Amendment in the Bill was of section 3, Ordinance XVII of 2002, in the Oil and Gas Regulatory Ordinance, 2002 (XVII of 2002), in section 3, for sub-section (4) the following shall be substituted, namely: "The Chairman shall be an eminent professional of known integrity and compe- tence with a minimum of twenty years of related experi- ence in law, business, engi- neering, finance, accounting, economics, petroleum, tech- nology, public administration or management". Zahid Hamid rejected the amendment which was then put to vote, however 75 members gave vote in favor of the amend- ment and 50 voted against it. Thus the Bill was passed with the majority. Furthermore, Dr Babar Awan, Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs introduced the Bill of Islamabad Rent Restriction in the National Assembly. The minister presented a Bill further to amend the Islamabad Rent Restriction Ordinance, 2001 [The Islamabad Rent Restriction (Amendment) Bill, 2010]. The Bill provides that every agreement between landlord and tenant shall be presented before controller for record and all payments in connection See # 7 Page 11 Amended Ogra Ord passes NA Bill further to amend Rent Restriction presented MNAs submit motions over PoL prices hike NDU, Vocational Education Bills deferred in NA PSO suspends supplies to KESC KARACHI: Pakistan State Oil (PSO) suspended the supply of furnace oil to Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) for differences on issues relating payment, media reported Wednesday. According to the PSO officials, additional supply comprising 250,000 tonnes of furnace oil daily to the KESC was slated to begin Wednesay; however, the supply is not being restored owing to the dissent from the Company regarding the complete payment of the furnace oil to the PSO. According to the sources, the PSO was to supply the KESC with furnace oil at gas price; while, the price difference was to be paid by the Finance Ministry. It should be mentioned here See # 9 Page 11 ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has directed the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs to expe- dite the drafting of Accountability Bill for presen- tation before the Parliament. He asked the Law and Justice Committee of National Assembly to hold frequent meetings to finalise the Accountability Bill. Prime Minister gave these directions at a meeting with Federal Minister for Law, Dr Babar Awan, Minister for Labour and Manpower Syed Khursheed Shah, Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Qamar Zaman Kaira and Chairperson National Assembly Committee on Law and Justice, Begum Naseem Akhtar Chaudhry at PM House here on Wednesday. Prime Minister emphasised the need of taking all the stake- holders on board before See # 12 Page 11 PM urges speed on Accountability Bill Gilani acclaims Parliament's role Shujaat urges Sharif to bury hatchet ISLAMABAD: President Pakistan Muslim League-Q Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain has requested Pakistan Muslim League-N leadership to show flexibility for unification of different factions of Muslim League. Reliable sources informed See # 14 Page 11 Karachi, Thursday, November 4, 2010, Zul-Qa’dah 26, Price Rs12 Pages 12 Malik holds one-on-one meeting with Altaf See on Page 12 ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court (SC) has issued notices to federation, ministry of petroleum, OGDCL, and PPL and sought report from them till November 22 on the peti- tion filed by former JI chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad seeking stay against the government's move for purchasing its sold- out assets from British Petroleum at inflated rate as this process will inflict loss of $800 million to national kitty. Qazi Hussain Ahmad has See # 13 Page 11 SC seeks report on BP assets bid Govt intends to buy back assets Fed to buy $600bn in bonds WASHINGTON: The Federal Reserve launched a controver- sial new policy on Wednesday, committing to buy $600 billion more in government bonds by the middle of next year in an attempt to breathe new life into a struggling US economy. The decision, which takes the Fed into largely uncharted waters, is aimed at further lowering borrowing costs for con- sumers and businesses still suffering in the aftermath of the worst recession since the Great Depression. The US central bank said it would buy about $75 billion in longer-term Treasury bonds per month. It said it would regular- ly review the pace and size of the program and adjust it as need- ed depending on the path of the recovery. In its post-meeting statement, the Fed described the economy as "slow", and said employers remained reluctant to add to payrolls. It said meas- ures of inflation were "somewhat low." "Although the commit- tee anticipates a gradual return to higher levels of resource uti- lization in a context of price stability, progress towards its objec- tives has been disappointingly slow," the Fed said. -Reuters CDWP nods Rs272bn projects ISLAMABAD: The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) on Wednesday approved 27 projects costing Rs272 billion including foreign aid of Rs116 billion. The CDWP met here under the chairmanship of Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Dr Nadeem-ul Haque. The meeting was attended by representatives of sponsoring agencies, provincial govern- ments and special areas. Of the 27 projects, 13 proj- ects in infrastructure sector costing Rs107 billion, and 11 projects in social sector costing Rs35.5 billion were approved/ recommended by the CDWP. The CDWP recommended 17 projects costing Rs168 billion to Ecnec for consideration/ approval, each costing over Rs one billion. For conservation and aug- mentation of water resources and to strengthen existing bar- rages and canals, the CDWP recommended projects like "Water Conservation and See # 11 Page 11 Pak fiscal deficit target up at 4.7pc 6th tranche of loan linked to RGST: Shaikh
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International
Delhi can’t rein in Kashmiris: FO See on Page 12
Jul 31 verdict fortified democracy, says Aitzaz See on Page 12
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani addresing the
PPP Parliamentary Party meeting at PM House. -APP
WASHINGTON: ExuberantRepublican leaders promisedon Wednesday to exercise theirnew power in Congress to rollback key portions of PresidentBarack Obama's agenda, butObama said voters were tellingboth parties to work harder tofind consensus.
Republicans picked up atleast 60 House seats, far morethan the 39 they needed for amajority that would toppleDemocratic House SpeakerNancy Pelosi and putRepublicans in charge ofHouse committees. Manyraces remained too close tocall.
It is the biggest shift inpower since Democrats gained75 House seats in 1948, and itgives Republicans their largestHouse margin since 1928.
"It's pretty clear theAmerican people want a small-er, less costly and moreaccountable government,"John Boehner, in line tobecome the next House ofRepresentatives speaker, toldreporters.
"Our pledge is to listen to theAmerican people."
Voters anxious about thesluggish economy, and unhap-py with Obama's leadership,
punished Democrats in mid-term election, giving Housecontrol to Republicans andweakening the Democraticmajority in the Senate.
A notably subdued Obamatold a news conference in theWhite House that Americanswere frustrated and demandingsolutions, but he acknowl-edged it would be difficult tofind common ground.
"What Wednesday told us isthat no one party will be ableto dictate where we go fromhere, we must find commonground in order to makeprogress on some uncommonlydifficult challenges," he said.
Boehner and RepublicanSenate leader MitchMcConnell said voters hadgiven them a mandate to rollback some of the prime accom-plishments of congressionalDemocrats in the last twoyears, including healthcare andfinancial regulatory reforms.
But split government is morelikely to spark a legislativestalemate when the newCongress begins in January.
Senate Democrats can blockHouse initiatives, and Obama'sweakened hand will still holdthe veto pen.
Republican leaders showed See # 15 Page 11
Republicans rule HouseWe must find common ground to make progress, Obama urges Republicans
KARACHI: Saudi PrinceBandar bin Khalid bin FaisalWednesday wrote a letter toChief Justice of PakistanJustice Iftikhar MuhammadChaudhry alleging Pakistan'sreligious ministry of commit-ting huge corruption in provi-sion of residences to the Hujjajat Makkah.
The Saudi prince, in a letterto Chief Justice Chaudhry,accused the Federal ReligiousAffairs Ministry of funds'embezzlement.
He addressed the CJPdivulging that the Religious
Affairs Ministry rejected theSaudi offer pertaining to theresidences for the 35,000pilgrims costing just 1500riyals, which was just 2-kilometer away from Haramand committed for the lodg-ings costing 3400 to 3600riyals.
Chief Justice of SupremeCourt, Iftikhar MuhammadChaudhry while taking suomoto notice on the letter writ-ten to Chief Justice aboutalleged misuse in Hajj Affairssought reply from the Ministryof Religious Affairs with in 15
days.However, Ministry for
Religious Affairs denied theallegations.
Secretary Religious AffairsAgha Sarwar Qazilbash alsotermed the Saudi Prince's letterfake and called upon theForeign Ministry to confirm itsauthenticity.
Qazilbash said that the gov-ernment took Rs238,000which is 3600 riyal from eachpilgrim for Hajj expendituresand there was not irregularityin the whole process. -Agencies
Saudi Prince writes to CJon Pak hajj affairs’ scam
Prince Bandar says religious ministry involved
Religious Affairs Ministry denies allegations
ISLAMABAD: InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF) missionin the wake of devastatingfloods has enhanced Pakistan'sfiscal deficit target from 4 percent of the GDP to 4.7 per centof the GDP.
"Pakistan has so far received$7.4 billion from the IMF", asenior official of the ministryof finance.
He said that InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF) reviewmission which was likely toconclude its talks onNovember 4, but it has beenextended to November 6.
Highlighting the governem-
nt's economic governance poli-cy, he said that the governmentis committed to strengtheningthe national institutions of eco-nomic governance by promot-ing merit and inducting profes-sionals as heads of organisa-tions for good governance andcheck misuse of nationalresources of the country.
The government under theplan of "Strengthening of theNational Institution ofEconomic Governance" in theMinistry of Finance has recom-mended that heads of institu-tions like Public Sector
See # 8 Page 11
ISLAMABAD: Minister fortrade and industry Mir HazarKhan Bijarani said govern-ment is concerned over theincrease of sugar prices and itis taking steps to bring theprices down.
He also informed that sum-mary of the imports of secondhand vehicles has been sent tothe Economic CoordinationCommittee.
Responding to queries in NAduring Question Hour session,minister for trade and com-
merce Bijarani said govern-ment is trying to stabilise thehike in the price of sugar.
He also said that PakistanSteel has shown deficit of Rs39billion in the last two years.
He said that we have enoughcapacity to meet our sugarneeds till Dec 15, and the sugarmafia is creating this deficit, healso said that the utility storesare selling sugar on a controlrate of Rs55/kg while the gov-ernment is supplying sugar to
See # 10 Page 11
Govt steps in tocurb sugar price
Govt. to allow import of conditioned cars: Bijarani
ISLAMABAD: NationalAssembly on Wednesdaypassed the Amended Oil andGas Regulatory AuthorityOrdinance, 2002 with themajority votes of 75 to 50.
Minister in charge of theCabinet Secretariat,Nawabzada Ghazanfar Gulmoved the Bill further toamend the Oil and GasRegulatory AuthorityOrdinance, 2002 in theNational Assembly.
However, PML-N memberZahid Hamid raised objectionover clause-2 of the Bill andrequested to withdraw it.
Amendment in the Bill was ofsection 3, Ordinance XVII of
2002, in the Oil and GasRegulatory Ordinance, 2002(XVII of 2002), in section 3, forsub-section (4) the followingshall be substituted, namely:
"The Chairman shall be aneminent professional ofknown integrity and compe-tence with a minimum oftwenty years of related experi-ence in law, business, engi-neering, finance, accounting,economics, petroleum, tech-nology, public administrationor management".
Zahid Hamid rejected theamendment which was then putto vote, however 75 membersgave vote in favor of the amend-ment and 50 voted against it.
Thus the Bill was passedwith the majority.
Furthermore, Dr BabarAwan, Minister for Law,Justice and ParliamentaryAffairs introduced the Bill ofIslamabad Rent Restriction inthe National Assembly.
The minister presented aBill further to amend theIslamabad Rent RestrictionOrdinance, 2001 [TheIslamabad Rent Restriction(Amendment) Bill, 2010].
The Bill provides that everyagreement between landlordand tenant shall be presentedbefore controller for recordand all payments in connection
See # 7 Page 11
Amended OgraOrd passes NA
Bill further to amend Rent Restriction presented
MNAs submit motions over PoL prices hike
NDU, Vocational Education Bills deferred in NA
PSOsuspendssuppliesto KESC
KARACHI: Pakistan State Oil(PSO) suspended the supply offurnace oil to Karachi ElectricSupply Company (KESC) fordifferences on issues relatingpayment, media reportedWednesday.
According to the PSO officials,additional supply comprising250,000 tonnes of furnace oildaily to the KESC was slated tobegin Wednesay; however, thesupply is not being restored owingto the dissent from the Companyregarding the complete paymentof the furnace oil to the PSO.
According to the sources, thePSO was to supply the KESCwith furnace oil at gas price;while, the price difference wasto be paid by the FinanceMinistry.
It should be mentioned here See # 9 Page 11
ISLAMABAD: PrimeMinister Syed Yousuf RazaGilani has directed theMinistry of Law, Justice andParliamentary Affairs to expe-dite the drafting ofAccountability Bill for presen-tation before the Parliament.
He asked the Law and JusticeCommittee of NationalAssembly to hold frequentmeetings to finalise theAccountability Bill.
Prime Minister gave thesedirections at a meeting with
Federal Minister for Law, DrBabar Awan, Minister forLabour and Manpower SyedKhursheed Shah, Minister forInformation and Broadcasting,Qamar Zaman Kaira andChairperson NationalAssembly Committee on Lawand Justice, Begum NaseemAkhtar Chaudhry at PM Househere on Wednesday.
Prime Minister emphasisedthe need of taking all the stake-holders on board before
See # 12 Page 11
PM urges speed onAccountability Bill
Gilani acclaims Parliament's role
Shujaaturges Sharif
to bury hatchetISLAMABAD: PresidentPakistan Muslim League-QChaudhry Shujaat Hussain hasrequested Pakistan MuslimLeague-N leadership to showflexibility for unification ofdifferent factions of MuslimLeague.
ISLAMABAD: SupremeCourt (SC) has issued noticesto federation, ministry ofpetroleum, OGDCL, and PPLand sought report from themtill November 22 on the peti-tion filed by former JI chiefQazi Hussain Ahmad seeking
stay against the government'smove for purchasing its sold-out assets from BritishPetroleum at inflated rate asthis process will inflict loss of$800 million to national kitty.
Qazi Hussain Ahmad has See # 13 Page 11
SC seeks reporton BP assets bid
Govt intends to buy back assets
Fed to buy$600bn in bondsWASHINGTON: The Federal Reserve launched a controver-sial new policy on Wednesday, committing to buy $600 billionmore in government bonds by the middle of next year in anattempt to breathe new life into a struggling US economy.
The decision, which takes the Fed into largely unchartedwaters, is aimed at further lowering borrowing costs for con-sumers and businesses still suffering in the aftermath of theworst recession since the Great Depression.
The US central bank said it would buy about $75 billion inlonger-term Treasury bonds per month. It said it would regular-ly review the pace and size of the program and adjust it as need-ed depending on the path of the recovery. In its post-meetingstatement, the Fed described the economy as "slow", and saidemployers remained reluctant to add to payrolls. It said meas-ures of inflation were "somewhat low." "Although the commit-tee anticipates a gradual return to higher levels of resource uti-lization in a context of price stability, progress towards its objec-tives has been disappointingly slow," the Fed said. -Reuters
CDWP nodsRs272bnprojects
ISLAMABAD: The CentralDevelopment Working Party(CDWP) on Wednesdayapproved 27 projects costingRs272 billion including foreignaid of Rs116 billion.
The CDWP met here underthe chairmanship of DeputyChairman of PlanningCommission Dr Nadeem-ulHaque.
The meeting was attended byrepresentatives of sponsoringagencies, provincial govern-ments and special areas.
Of the 27 projects, 13 proj-ects in infrastructure sectorcosting Rs107 billion, and 11projects in social sector costingRs35.5 billion were approved/recommended by the CDWP.
The CDWP recommended 17projects costing Rs168 billionto Ecnec for consideration/approval, each costing over Rsone billion.
For conservation and aug-mentation of water resourcesand to strengthen existing bar-rages and canals, the CDWPrecommended projects like"Water Conservation and
See # 11 Page 11
Pak fiscal deficittarget up at 4.7pc
6th tranche of loan linked to RGST: Shaikh
2 Thursday, November 4, 2010
TV PROGRAMMES
THURSDAY
Time Programmes
7:00 News
8:00 News
9:05 Subah Savere Maya
ke Sath
11:00 News
12:00 News
13:10 Newsbeat (Rpt)
14:10 Tonight With
Jasmeen (Rpt)
15:00 News
16:00 News
17:30 Samaa Metro
18:00 News
18:30 Samaa Sports
19:30 Crime Scene
20:03 Newsbeat
21:00 News
22:03 Tonight With
Jasmeen
23:00 News
23:30 24
Staff Correspondent
PESHAWAR: Chief Minister KhyberPakhtunKhwa Ameer Haider KhanHoti appreciated the Malik SaadShaheed Sports Trust (MSSST) specialShaheed Safwat Ghayur EducationalScholarship to outstanding students ofGovernment Educational Institutionsfrom all over the Province.
The scholarship distribution ceremo-ny was held at Chief Minister Housethis morning which was attended bySenior Minister KPK Bashir AhmadBilour, Rahim Dad Khan, MinisterFinance KPK Engr MuhammadHumayun Khan, MinisterHidayatullah, IGP KPK & ActingChairman MSSST Fiaz Ahmad KhanToru, Acting US Consul-General KPKConstance C Arvis, Senior Journalist &personal Friend of Shaheed SafwatGhaur Ismail Khan, members ofMSSST Board of Trustee apart fromstudent and their family members.
Speaking on occasion Ameer HaiderKhan Hoti Chief Minister KPK who is
also Patron of the Trust, appreciate theefforts made by the trust in the fields ofSports so for and laud the Trust effortto encourage the outstanding studentsand promise for all out patronage to theTrust. The Chief Minister also increasethe scholarship amount from Rs25,000to Rs 100,000 as gesture of good well.
The Officiating Chairman of MSSSTand IGP KPK Fiaz Ahmad Khan Toruexplain the objectives of the MSSSTeducational activities and lauded theMSSST members' services in healthysocial, educational and sports activi-ties.
Amjad Aziz Malik Secretary MSSSTwelcomes the guests and explainsabout the activities and achievement ofthe Trust. He said that with in its limit-ed resources the Trust opened morethen 30-Sports Academies, Activelyparticipates in Relief work of recentfloods in the Provinces, Organize theMedical Camps and now we are award-ing these scholarship among thesebight students as our service to theNation.
KP CM lauds MSSST educational activities
KARACHI: PresidentAsif Ali Zardari hasapproved the establish-ment of Sindh Trust forregistering landless farm-ers and giving scholarshipsto their children and alsodecided to set up monitor-ing cell for supervising thedevelopmental projects.
A high-level meetingwas held with PresidentAsif Ali Zardari in thechair at Bilawal Househere Wednesday, whichdiscussed in detail aboutthe ongoing developmen-tal projects and rehabilita-tion of flood hit people.
President Asif AliZardari said that the flood
tax should be imposedafter consultation with allstakeholders.
Talking to the media per-sons after the meeting,PPP InformationSecretary, Fauzia Wahabsaid that the president haddirected regarding theimposition of flood tax andsoon a bill would be pre-sented in the House.
She further said thatunder the directions ofPresident, the services ofSuparco would be hired toconfirm the houses forflood tax.
Fauzia Wahab stated thatSindh Trust would be setup for registering the farm-
ers while scholarshipswould also be provided totheir children.
She was of the view thatthe houses destructed inthe torrent floods wouldalso be reconstructed,adding president directedto develop a website forZulfiqarabad.
Information Secretaryfurther informed that PPPhad no plan to makealliance with any party inthe local bodies act as allparties would contest elec-tions on their own platform.Regarding meeting ofPresident with the PML-F,she denied about comment-ing on the issue. -Online
President says yesto Sindh Trust
Staff ReporterKARACHI: Over 9,000 branches of com-mercial banks will start issuing fresh curren-cy notes to the general public for the forth-coming Eid-ul-Azha from Thursday (today).
For this purpose, the State Bank ofPakistan (SBP) Banking ServicesCorporation has made elaborate arrange-ments for the supply of adequate quanti-ty of fresh currency notes to commercialbanks depending upon their branch net-work. Each of the 16 field offices ofSBP-BSC shall provide fresh currencynotes to the designated branch of eachcommercial bank. These branches shallbe responsible for delivery of these notesin quantities commensurate to the size oftheir branch, as per plan pre-notified tothe concerned office of the SBP-BSC.
The branches of commercial banks willissue only one packet each of Rs5 and Rs10 per person from 4th November, 2010till the last working day before Eid-ul-Azha, 2010 on production of original com-puterised NIC along-with a photo copy ofit, for record to the visiting general pub-lic/account holders.
Branches, however, may also issue amaximum of five packets each of Rs 5and Rs10 denomination fresh notes totheir corporate clients on receipts ofrequest on the company's letter head dulysigned by the authorised representative.
With a view to redressing the grievancesof the general public, if any, in obtainingfresh currency notes from commercialbanks, the SBPBSC has established a HelpDesk to entertain complaints.
Banks to issuefresh notes on Eid
KARACHI: As part ofACCA continued effortsto develop excellence inprofessional accountingeducation and establishbest practices amongsttertiary accounting educa-tion providers, ACCAPakistan organised "Trainthe Trainer" workshop onWednesday.
Dr Afra Sajjad, Head ofEducation and PolicyDevelopment of ACCAPakistan and Fasi Zakawere the event facilitators.
The workshop partici-pants were faculty mem-bers of ACCA ApprovedLearning Partners andtuition providers inPakistan. The participantsappreciated ACCA's inno-vative efforts for enhancing
the capacity of professionalaccounting education fac-ulty. They were of the opin-ion that the workshop wasuseful and relevant to theirwork as it enabled them tolearn new teaching skillsand methods. They opinedthat the workshop has ener-gised them and they weremotivated to improvingstudents' exam perform-ance and professionalism.
Speaking at the event, DrAfra Sajjad, Head ofEducation and PolicyDevelopment of ACCAPakistan stated "Train theTrainer is manifestation ofACCA Pakistan commit-ment to faculty develop-ment of professionalaccounting educationtuition providers.-APP
ACCA holdsteacher training
workshopKARACHI: KCCI lead-ership, showing seriousconcern over law andorder situation, has sup-ported the demand fromvarious markets associa-tions of the city thatRangers be deputed at themarkets especially atmain commercial centres.
In a meeting with a del-egation of PakistanChemicals and DyesMerchants Association inhis office on Wednesday,President KarachiChamber of Commerceand Industry MuhammadSaeed Shafiq assuredthat he along with histeam of the Chamber'sofficials was engagedwith the Federal,Provincial and CityDistrict Government
Karachi for gettingresolved the problemsfacing the business com-munity in the city.
He agreed with thePCDMA delegation, ledits Chairman MuhammadHaroon Agar that law andorder problem in the citymainly at the markets andindustrial estates hasbecome very serious. Inthe pertaining environ-ment, it has become verydifficult to continue tradeand industrial activity.
'Bhatta mafia' hasbecome serious threat tothe business community,he added.
Senior Vice PresidentKCCI Talat Mahmood,Vice President KCCIJunaid Esmail Makda alsoattended the meeting.-APP
KCCI demandsmore securityfor markets
THURSDAY
Time Programmes
8:00 Chai Time (Rpt)
9:00 News
9:15 Pehla Sauda
10:00 News
10:15 Bazaar
11:00 News
11:05 Ghar Ka Kharch
12:00 News
12:15 Power Lunch
13:00 News
13:05 Islamabad Say (Rpt)
14:00 News
15:02 Akhri Sauda
15:30 Agri Business
16:15 Karobari Dunya
17:05 Ghar Ka Kharch
(Rpt)
18:05 Chai Time
19:00 News
19:05 Aap Ka Paisa
19:30 Mang Raha Hai
Pakistan
20:00 News
20:05 Islamabad Say
21:00 Pakistan Aaj Raat
22:00 News
22:05 Doosra Pehlu
23:00 News
23:05 Siyasat Mana Hai
0:00 News
SECPrevises feestructure
ISLAMABAD: TheSecurities and ExchangeCommission of Pakistan(SECP) has rationalisedthe fee structure payable tothe registrar and theCommission under thesixth schedule of theCompanies Ordinance,1984 vide its SRO996(I)/2010.
Through this notifica-tion, the SECP hasreduced the registrationfee for physical submis-sion of documents forincorporating a company,with nominal capital up toRs10 million.
The reduction in fee forincorporation of compa-nies with less capitalwould encourage the smalland medium enterprises toenter the documented cor-porate sector.
Previously, event-basedfees structure for filing ofdifferent returns wasimplemented. However, itwas observed that practicaldifficulties were faced as itwas complicated and com-plex.
Now, for simplificationin fees structure, a uniformrate for filing of all returnshas been applied exceptrelating to registration andmodification of mortgagesor charges.
This rationalisation infees structure is expected tostrengthen the process ofcorporatization and docu-mentation of the economy.
This initiative by theSECP has been taken afterconsultation with thestakeholders and is beingwidely appreciated bythem.
This decision has beenconsidered as a steptowards facilitating thecorporate sector, in viewof the prevailing econom-ic situation in the coun-try.-NNI
Wateenposts 20pcEBITDA
for 1Q FY11
KARACHI: WateenTelecom Limited hasrecently announced itsresults for the first quarterof 2010/11. It has postedrevenue of Rs1.9 billionwith Rs383 million positiveEarnings Before Interest,Taxes, Depreciation andAmortization (EBITDA)against a EBITDA loss ofRs110 million for the sameperiod last year, said ahandout issued here onWednesday.
Since the last quarter of2010, Wateen is continu-ously showing a positivetrend in terms of revenuesand profitability. Wateen iscapitalizing its uniquestrategic position as nation-wide optic fiber operator,system integrator, broad-band services provider andkey LDI operator all underone umbrella.-PR
Edu expoattracts
studentsISLAMABAD: Two-dayeducation expo 2010 byHR Consultants continuedto attract the attention ofthe students seeking guid-ance in securing admissionto foreign universities.
Representatives of theforeign universities includ-ing UK, Australia andCanada set up their stallswhere many students filledadmission forms and someappeared for interviews.
The students were givencomplete assistance foradmission to a foreign uni-versity and visa filing at therespective embassy or highcommission, said a visitorKiran. Complete visa filingand documentation wasassisted by HR after verify-ing educational records,financial background andmotivation of the studentsto study in foreign univer-sities, she said.-APP
Germanenvoyto visitSindhStaff Reporter
KARACHI: TheAmbassador of Germanyto Pakistan, Dr MichaelKoch, will visit Karachiand Thatta districts inSindh during this week.
During his stay inKarachi, the ambassadorwill meet and exchangeviews with Governmentofficials, representatives ofGerman and PakistaniNGOs working for floodrelief, as well asrepresentatives of civilsociety.
The Ambassador willgive a lecture on "Pak-German Relations -Potential & Prospects" atthe University of Karachi,in cooperation withDepartment ofInternational Relations.
KARACHI: A group photo shows Shahbaz Ali Malik, President, Lahore Chamberof Commerce and Industry, M Saleem Khan Tanoli, CEO, CEMS Pakistan and
others Industrialist at the 6th International Garment, Textile Machineryexhibition IGATEX 2010 at Expo Center.-Staff Photo
KARACHI: Khurram Mehboob, Head of Devices,Loyality and Affinity and Nauman Durrani,
Operator sales Manager, Nokia Pakistan handedover the brand new Nokia N8 to Salahuddin, the
first customer of Nokia N8 in Pakistan.-Staff Photo
KARACHI: Sindh Minister for Tourism Shazia Marri speaksduring a Sindh Assembly session.-APP
SBP holdsIslamic
bankingmoot
KARACHI: TheIslamabad InternationalIslamic University andDevelopment FinanceSupport Unit (DFSU) ofState Bank of Pakistanorganised a seminar titled"Islamic Banking andFinance in Pakistan:Issues, Challenges andWay Forward" that tookplace at the FaisalMosque CampusAuditorium.
Speakers at the seminarincluded Professor DrFateh Muhammad Malik,Rector InternationalIslamic University;Saleem Ullah, Director,SBP Islamic BankingDepartment and AhmedAli Siddiqui, EVP,Meezan Bank.-PR
IGI moneymarketrating
announcedStaff Reporter
KARACHI: JCR-VISCredit Rating CompanyLtd has assigned prelimi-nary fund stability ratingof AA+(f), Double A plus(f), to IGI Money MarketFund (IGI MMF), man-aged by IGI FundsLimited. IGI MMF waslaunched in May 2010 andis charging a managementfee of 0.80 per cent onannual net assets.
IGI MMF seeks to gen-erate competitive returnswith low risk portfolio. Itinvests in treasury bills,cash deposits, money mar-ket placements and gov-ernment securities. Allexposures in the fund aresubject to minimum ratingof "AA".
The assigned ratingtakes into account theinvestment policy andreflects the actual assetallocation of the fund. Therating reflects the highdegree of stability in NetAsset Value of IGI MMF.
Moreover, as a moneymarket fund, time to matu-rity of any asset held bythe fund is capped at sixmonths and weightedaverage time to maturityof net assets cannot exceed90 days. At the end-August 2010, short term T-bills represented 85 percent of net assets andremaining assets were heldwith AA rated institutions,signifying low credit risk.
Rs5-10 fresh bills for public from today
KARACHI: Delegation from Pakistan Chemical and Dyes Merchant Association(PCDMA) visits Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry headed by
Chairman Muhammad Haroon Agar to discuss the growing worst situationof Law and Order in Karachi.-Staff Photo
MUMBAI: The Indian rupeeretreated from its highest levelin two weeks on Wednesday asthe market was spilt on thepossibility of further quantita-tive easing in the United Stateswhile dollar demand fromimporters also weighed.
The partially convertiblerupee closed at 44.35/36 perdollar, after touching 44.24earlier, its strongest since Oct.19 and marginally above itsclose of 44.37/38 on Tuesday.
"There was lot of two-wayinterest today. The market isdivided on quantitative easingin the US There was good dol-lar selling by offshore playerswhile good onshore demandmainly from oil firms," saidAshtosh Raina, head of FXtrading at HDFC Bank.
Traders said rates hikes bythe central bank on Tuesday,though along expected lines,would help the rupee in themedium to longer term byhelping attract larger inflows.
Foreign funds have so far in
2010 purchased shares worth arecord $26.3 billion, in additionto last year's record $17.5 bil-lion. One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contractswere quoted at 44.50, weakerthan the onshore spot rate.
In the currency futures mar-ket, the most traded near-month dollar-rupee contractson the National StockExchange, MCX-SX andUnited Stock Exchange closedat 44.52, 44.52 and 44.5075respectively, with the totaltraded volume on the threeexchanges at a low $5 billion. -Reuters
Indian rupee retreatsfrom 2-week peak
3Thursday, November 4, 2010
Currency Rates
Karachi: The following are the London Inter-Bank Offered Rates (LIBOR).
British Members Association Interest Settlement Rates.
AT 11:00 LONDON TIME 03/11/2010
A USD GBP CAD EUR JPY
O/N 0.22563 0.55375 1.02667 0.58125 SN 0.09438
1WK 0.24828 0.55563 1.05500 0.69750 0.10688
2WK 0.25000 0.56000 1.07833 0.74250 0.11250
1MO 0.25375 0.56875 1.10750 0.80625 0.12688
2MO 0.26859 0.62750 1.15750 0.86813 0.15313
3MO 0.28594 0.73913 1.21167 0.99000 0.19625
4MO 0.33375 0.82350 1.27667 1.04750 0.28000
5MO 0.39500 0.92500 1.33167 1.13250 0.33688
6MO 0.44438 1.02750 1.40333 1.22813 0.39625
7MO 0.49225 1.10250 1.46167 1.27813 0.45750
8MO 0.54125 1.18475 1.54333 1.32563 0.50500
9MO 0.59313 1.26563 1.60833 1.37438 0.55375
10MO 0.64750 1.34250 1.68000 1.41875 0.58250
11MO 0.70281 1.41000 1.75833 1.46125 0.60938
12MO 0.76038 1.47913 1.84500 1.50563 0.63688
Countries Selling Buying BuyingTT & OD TT Clean OD/T.CHQ
The Reserve Bank of Australia n/a Nov 02 2010 4.75%
Major Central Banks Overview
Division of National Bank of Pakistan (NBP)KARACHI, November 03,2010 Treasury Management Division of National Bankof Pakistan (NBP) Monday issued the following Exchange rates:
Revaluation RatesTreasury Bills / PIBs / FIBs Holding Applicable for November 03, 2010
NEW YORK: The dollargained against the euro andyen on Wednesday on better-than-expected data on privatepayrolls and the service sector,though trading was in tightranges ahead of a FederalReserve decision that waswidely expected to further easemonetary policy.
The much anticipatedannouncement by the FederalOpen Market Committee later inthe session may push Treasurydebt yields lower and diminishthe appeal of some US assets.Analysts, however, said the neg-ative impact on the dollar maynot be all that significant, withmany convinced the Fed actionhas been pretty much priced inthe last few sessions.
"Seeing a strengthening dol-lar/yen we think could be anearly sign that the Fed is notgoing to be as aggressive as
some people were forecastingand that they're not going to do$500 billion," said GregSalvaggio, senior vice presidentfor capital markets at TempusConsulting in Washington.
"One would think if the Fed
was going to do $500 billionthis afternoon, you would seedollar/yen challenging 80 rightnow and euro/dollar in themid-$1.41 and gold about $40to $50 higher than where it isright now."
At midday the euro was 0.2per cent lower at $1.4011, heldin a $1.4000-50 range for
much of the session.The dollar rose 0.9 per cent
against the yen to 81.13, hit-ting a high of 81.51 and takingout options barriers at the80.50 level. The all-time lowof 79.95 yen was still in focus
as the market stayed sensitiveto the potential for freshJapanese intervention to stemthe yen's rise.
Gains in dollar/yen werehelped by US data showing a43,000 rise in private sector pay-rolls last month, a higher-than-expected reading for an index ofservices sector activity, and an
increase in factory orders. Sterling hit a nine-month
high of $1.6157 after stronger-than-expected UK servicessector activity data added tothe view that the Bank ofEngland may not implementmore QE any time soon.Sterling last traded up 0.2 percent at $1.6096.
Traders also said liquidityhad dried up since the start ofthe week, with one trader inLondon saying his turnover inthe past two days had been thelowest in five years.
In other currencies, theAustralian dollar fell 0.4 percent to US$0.9949, retreatingfrom a 28-year high above par-ity after weak building sectordata took some of the shine offthe currency. The Aussie hadrallied on Tuesday after theAustralian central bank raisedinterest rates. -Reuters
Dollar buoyed by robustUS data, but Fed looms
SHANGHAI: Spot yuan endedup on the dollar on Wednesdayas the People's Bank of China seta much stronger mid-point, sig-nalling Beijing may concede tothe United States to let the yuanstage another leg of appreciation.
The PBOC's stronger referencerate, from which the yuan canrise or fall 0.5 per cent in a day,comes ahead of a visit to Asia byUS President Barack Obama dur-ing which he is expected to pressChina to let the yuan appreciate,among other things.
Obama, who will have one-on-one talks with ChinesePresident Hu Jintao on Nov. 11at a Group of 20 summit inSeoul, has called on China toallow for a stronger yuan, whichUS officials say is kept artifi-cially low, hurting US jobs andcompetitiveness. China appearswilling to consider US positions.
The government is ready towork with other countries toachieve balanced economicgrowth and will seek to perfectits exchange rate system toincrease the flexibility of itsyuan currency, ChinesePresident Hu Jintao told theFrench daily Le Figaro in aninterview published on Monday.
China also typically grantsgoodwill gestures ahead of polit-ical events that boost pressure foryuan appreciation. Ahead of theprevious G20 summit in lateJune, the government abolished anearly two-year peg of the yuanto the dollar on June 19.
"We are optimistic that theyuan could rise to around 6.6against the dollar by lateNovember, in particular if theFed decides another quantitativeeasing that will weaken the dol-lar," said a dealer at a Europeanbank in Shanghai.
The yuan closed up at 6.6761versus the dollar from Tuesday'sclose of 6.6777 after the PBOCset the mid-point at 6.6818,much stronger than Tuesday's6.6925. It has now risen 2.25per cent since its depegging tothe dollar in mid-June.
Offshore, benchmark one-year dollar/yuan non-deliver-able forwards (NDFs) fell to amore than one-week low of6.4228 bid in late trade from6.4360 at Tuesday's close, withtheir implied 12-month yuanappreciation rising to 4.03 percent from Tuesday's 3.82 percent based on Wednesday'sPBOC fixing. -Reuters
Yuan up, may seemore appreciation
Swiss franc
gains vs $, euroZURICH: The Swiss franc edgedhigher against the euro and thedollar on Wednesday as marketsawaited a US Federal Reserveannouncement later in the day tooutline a stimulus package to sup-port the US recovery.
Trading was subdued andrecent volatility began to flattenahead of the widely expectedannouncement from the FederalOpen Market Committee to clar-ify a programme of large-scaleasset purchases to shore up theflagging US recovery.
"The Fed will keep its optionsopen while limiting the amountof money it is putting to work,that is priced in. There has beensome increased volatility in forexmarkets of late, but trading is set-tling down now," said UBS econ-omist Reto Huenerwadel.
The franc was 0.2 per centhigher against the euro com-pared to the New York close,trading at 1.3718 francs pereuro at 0802 GMT. The Swisscurrency was 0.1 per cent high-er against the dollar at 0.9775per dollar. -Reuters
LONDON: Sterling hit a nine-month high against the dollar androse on the euro on Wednesdayafter UK services PMI data wasbetter-than-expected and reducedthe prospects of more quantitativeeasing from the Bank of England.
UK services PMI index roseto 53.2 last month from 52.8 inSeptember, the highest readingsince June and confoundinganalysts' forecasts of a dip. The
pound was up 0.56 per centagainst the greenback at$1.6133 and climbed againstthe euro, paring losses fromTuesday's sell-off sparked bydisappointing activity growth inBritain's construction sector.
Sterling rose to as high as$1.6147, its highest since Jan.29 and breaking past resistanceat $1.6108, the peak struck onOct. 15. Traders said Asian cen-tral banks also bought pounds.
The euro was near a sessionlow on the pound, at 87.06
pence, down 0.4 per cent for theday, with traders citing sellingby real-money accounts.
The surprise improvement inthe services sector data isexpected to weaken the hand ofdoves within the Bank ofEngland's Monetary PolicyCommittee who have been call-ing for a second round of quan-titative easing in the UK.
"I think QE is off the table until
next year," said Michael Hewson,market analyst at CMC. "Therewas a sell-off after disappointingconstruction PMI but sterling isvery susceptible to data newsbecause of the bipolarity of theBank of England monetary com-mittee." The MPC begins a two-day meeting with the decision tobe announced on Thursday.Sticky inflation in UK means theBank of England is likely to keeppolicy on hold although there isstill an outside chance of morequantitative easing. -Reuters
Stg climbs on data,QE chances dim
SINGAPORE: EmergingAsian currencies were littlechanged on Wednesday, withdealers reluctant to take freshpositions ahead of a FederalReserve policy decision whichcould set the longer-term tonefor the ailing dollar.
Markets are widely expectingthe Fed to commit to buying atleast $500 billion in Treasuriesover five months in a bid to spurthe sluggish US economy,though much uncertaintyremains over the scope and paceof the asset purchases. A moreambitious shopping list couldput renewed pressure on thedollar and provide more fuel forsurging emerging market cur-rencies, while a more cautiousplan could offer the dollar some
respite. A Fed decision isexpected later in the day.
Further easing in US mone-tary policy could send evenmore speculative money flood-ing into higher-yielding assetsin Asia. Hong Kong, with itscurrency peg to the US dollarand ready access to China,could be a major recipient ofsuch "hot money".
Heavy capital inflows havealready pushed the Hong Kongdollar to 11-month highs inrecent sessions, adding to spec-ulation about how much longerthe currency will remain peggedto the US dollar. With optionsmarkets continuing to speculateon a possible depegging, andstrong foreign interest in HongKong stocks and property, the
Hong Kong dollar crept closerto 7.75 to the US dollar, thestronger end of its allowable7.75-7.85 trading range.
The Philippine peso againopened higher than what NDFsimplied, but traders said itmerely provided an opportunityto short the dollar at higher lev-els. The pairing quickly fell to42.555. Continued selling inter-est pushed the pair down to42.57. Dollar/won moved in amodest 1,108-1,111 range. Thepair opened on its high andquickly traded below 1,110before reportedly running intoBank of Korea bids at the lows.The pair stabilized around 1,109but tested 1,111 once more on amodest sell-off in the Australiandollar. -Reuters
Asian currencies
Steady as markets awaitFed, HKD up on peg jitters
SYDNEY/WELLINGTON: The Australianand New Zealand dollars fell from highs onWednesday as investors took profits and shiedaway from taking any bold bets ahead of amuch-anticipated US monetary policy meeting.
Surprisingly weak Australian buildingapprovals data gave investors another reason tosell and take profits from recent gains.
The Australian dollar slipped to $0.9968, from$1.0004 before the data was released. A convincingbreakthrough support between $0.9965-$0.9975could extend a drop to $0.9945 and $0.9913.
With much uncertainty around what theFederal Reserve might announce at 1815 GMT,traders were reluctant to buy or sell the currencyin a big way until the meeting is out of the way.
Some analysts warned investors from becom-ing too fixated on the $500 billion figure.
Sean Keane, managing director at Triple TConsulting, argued the Fed might instead prom-ise to buy $100 billion of bonds initially andreconsider future moves at future policy meet-ings to give itself room for flexibility.
If that happens, Keane said investors could bedisappointed as they might interpret the move aswithin expectations. That would help the USdollar to rebound, lift US government bondyields and trigger a pull-back in stocks and com-modities. That would spur the Australian andNew Zealand dollars to retreat as well.
Conversely, if the Fed offers to buy far morebonds than investors had expected, the US dol-lar would slide, while stocks, commodities andcommodity currencies would rally.
That could help the Australian dollar breakabove its 28-year high of $1.0025 to test$1.0236, the 161.8 Fibonacci projection of thecurrency's range this year.
The soft Australian dollar weighed on the NewZealand dollar , which traded at $0.7720 in anarrow range amid thin volumes. It had hit a 27-month high of $0.7742 overnight.
Analysts have put much of the kiwi's strengthof the past two weeks down to external factors,and the outcome of the Federal Reserve is seendictating its near-term course. -Reuters
Australian, NZ dollars ease;tense before Fed decision
Taiwan $ hits
27-month highTAIPEI: The Taiwan dollar hita 27-month closing high onWednesday as the US FederalReserve headed into a meetingthat is expected to decide mon-etary easing and flood Asiangrowth-linked markets.
Taiwan's currency ended at$30.65 per US dollar, itsstrongest final price since Aug.1, 2008, and compared withTuesday's close of T$30.709.
The rising Taiwan dollar overthe past 5-½ weeks reflectsinvestor optimism about awidely expected Fed decisionto buy at least $500 billion inTreasury debt over comingmonths to stoke dimming eco-nomic recovery.
Ambitious easing in theUnited States would boost cur-rencies in fast-growing, emerg-ing markets such as Taiwan, asinvestors seek higher returnsthan what developed marketsoffer.
The Taiwan dollar rose ashigh as T$30.375 onWednesday before the island'scentral bank sold it to controlmarket volatility.
Taiwan's central bank hasbought about $6 billion in USdollars since Sept. 27, accord-ing to an IFR Markets survey oftraders. -Reuters
FOMC in focus; open-ended approach key to dollar outlook
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Facinglenders
with heart Lately, Pakistan has been avoiding facing the
lender of the last resort namely IMF because itfailed to meet some of agreed conditions but atthe same time, as well, it’s wishfully expectingan early release of remaining two tranches.Cancellation of the meeting scheduled forTuesday also looked part of this strategy.However, the advisors forgot that last minutecancellation of a meeting of such strategicimportance reflects non-seriousness of thePakistani team.
If, in the least bit, the meeting with presidentwas a must, it should have been held earlierrather than asking the lenders to defer thescheduled meeting. President does have somecharismatic powers but it’s only facts that setthe tempo and shape the outcome of a meetingof such sort.
It has been repeatedly reiterated that if thegovernment can’t meet some conditions forwhatever reasons, it must convey it to thelender with courage rather than putting up lameexcuses later on.
Lenders are fully aware of the devastationscaused by the floods and should have beenwilling to condone the missing of some of thetargets but backing out from their commitmentof imposing new taxes and/or raising electrici-ty/gas tariffs was a bad reflection on the part ofeconomic managers.
All and sundry know that the present govern-ment has failed in containing its extravagan-zas and terming it a loan covenant is totallyincorrect and misleading. Lenders are onlydemanding containing budget deficit. Thiscould be done either by containing expensesor mobilising additional resources.Regretfully, it is the government which refus-es to contain extravaganzas but is alwaysready to impose new taxes.
It has also become a cliché owing to its repe-tition that rising intercorporate debt is the out-come of gross management rather than theauthorities' not recovering the full cost from theconsumers.
Unless transmission and distribution lossesare curtailed and recoveries of long outstandingreceivables realised any hike in tariff will failin improving cash flow of the utilities.
The IMF is fully cognisant of the fact thatPakistan just can't achieve the GDP growth tar-get and enhance revenue collection under theprevailing conditions. In such a scenario anyattempt to raise electricity and gas tariffs willprove counterproductive. Rising cost of doingbusiness is eroding competitiveness of the localmanufacturers and also rendering made-in-Pakistan products uncompetitive in the globalmarkets. Keeping interest rate high, in anattempt to contain inflation has also provedfutile.
It is true that the conditions are very difficultbut it is also a fact that political leaders and pol-icy planners are equally responsible for the cur-rent mess. However, very aptly, they try to passon the blame to multilateral lenders.
Burying head in the sand is a bird-brainedidea which is not going to change the reality.
4Thursday, November 4, 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
Rashed Abdullah displaysOriental perfumes on aglass table to late-night
shoppers in his small shop inMecca ready for what he hopeswill be a sales bonanza duringthis month's Hajj pilgrimage.
He is confident of attractingcustomers after fears of a swineflu outbreak kept many awaylast year.
"This year will be the best.There is really strong demand,"he said, standing behind anincense collection in one ofdozens souvenir shops aroundthe Grand Mosque in Mecca.
Business has picked up inIslam's holiest city sinceRamadan, the Islamic fastingmonth which fell in August andSeptember when many visitMecca.
The annual Hajj is one of theworld's biggest religious gather-
ings, bringing together millionsof pilgrims in Saudi Arabia, thebirthplace of Islam.
In 2009, the number of pil-grims fell to about 2.5 millionbut a record 4 million areexpected next week when theHajj begins.
"We wanted to come last yearbut friends advised us to post-pone so we came this year,"said Shaikh Habib, a pilgrimfrom India who came with fourmembers of his family.
While last year hotels hadtrouble filling rooms in Meccaand the nearby port city ofJeddah, where most arrive byair, this year hotels are almostentirely fully booked.
"People are really interestedand everyone is trying to makeup for last year ... things will bemuch better this year," saidWalid Abu Sabaa, head of the
tourism and hotels committee atthe Mecca chamber of com-merce.
Mecca governor Khalid al-Faisal said 1.5 millions foreignpilgrims had already arrived,Saudi daily al-Watan said onWednesday.
"Sales have been going well,many have arrived early," saidSalah al-Maqdad who sellsprayer beads and perfumes.
PILGRIM TOURISMJohn Sfakianakis, chief econ-
omist at Banque Saudi Fransi,said foreigners were forecast tospend 8 billion riyals ($2.1 bil-lion) during the Hajj , up from7.2 billion last year, whilelocals would spend 3.6 billionriyals versus 3.3 billion riyals.
"The multiplier effect fromthe Hajj season for the entireeconomy could surpass 35 bil-lion riyals this year alone," he
said, adding last year it was 31billion riyals.
Tourism GDP would surpass7.2 percent of non-oil GDP thisyear, up from 6.8 percent in2009, and 2.8 percent of overallGDP, up from 2.6 percent lastyear, he estimated.
Although revenues from pil-grims are small compared to themassive wealth of the kingdombecause of its oil and gasresources, it helps a sector thegovernment is developing.
Faced with a fast-rising popu-lation of 18 million Saudis, thegovernment needs to create jobsand developing tourism is onearea to do that.
"The main economic poten-tial for the Hajj is encouragingpilgrims to visit elsewhere inthe kingdom," said PaulGamble, head of research atSaudi bank Jadwa Investment
in Riyadh.So far pilgrim visas are limit-
ed to visit the two holy cities ofMecca and Medina but officialshave said they are working onplans to allow visits to touristsites as well.
"There are a variety of poten-tial tourists sites in and aroundthe Mecca region," Gamble said.
Even in the evening, thefloodlighted Grand Mosque --home to the Kaaba, the ancientcube-shaped shrine thatMuslims around the world facewhen they pray -- is packedwith worshippers, while dozensrest or picnic in the nearbystreets.
"We want to stay as long aspossible and we also want tosee Medina," said ShaikhHabib's brother Fairouz, afterperforming evening prayers inthe haram.-Reuters
Saudis hope to revivetourism during Hajj
For Benjamin Netanyahu,the view from CapitolHill seemingly couldn't
get much better.A US midterm election rout
by the Republicans, widelyseen in Israel as staunch allies,could give the Israeli leadereven more incentive to resistpressure from a weakened USPresident Barack Obama forconcessions in Middle Eastpeace negotiations.
Several Israeli politicalsources said on Wednesdaymembers of Netanyahu's innercircle were cheered by the blowdealt to a Democratic presidentwho is sharply at odds with theright-wing prime minister overJewish settlement in the occu-pied West Bank.
Palestinians, who broke offUS-brokered direct talks withIsrael in September afterNetanyahu refused to extend alimited building moratorium inWest Bank settlements, saidthey hoped Obama would staythe course in pursuing peace.
"There is no doubt that theoutcome of the election hasstrengthened tremendously thepro-Israeli elements in the USat large, in the House ofRepresentatives, in the Senateand throughout the politicalestablishment," said YoramEttinger, a former Israeli diplo-mat who served in the UnitedStates.
"This is going to constrainimmensely the manoeuvrabili-ty of the president, who is gen-erally pretty critical (even) neg-ative towards Israel. Whichwould require the president, inmy mind, to limit his pressureon Israel," he said.
But some political sourcessaid the US-educatedNetanyahu was taking a morecautious view of the impact ofTuesday's vote on Obama's for-eign policy and prospects for asecond term.
The sources said Netanyahuwas well aware that DemocratBill Clinton, who also tried toforge Israeli-Palestinian peace,
had rebounded from aRepublican sweep in a 1994midterm ballot and won re-elec-tion as president two years later.
PRESSUREUnder international pressure
to bend, Netanyahu is alsobelieved to be working on apossible resumption of the par-tial freeze of housing starts inWest Bank settlements inreturn for a package of securi-ty-related incentives fromWashington.
A new moratorium couldhelp Netanyahu avoid alienat-ing Obama further as bothIsrael and the United Statesexplore ways to deal with Iran'snuclear programme, which theWest believes is aimed at pro-ducing atomic weapons, anallegation Tehran denies.
Obama is widely expected,now that the election is over,to boost US diplomatic effortsto revive Israeli-Palestinianpeace talks.
Time could be running out:the Arab League, on Oct. 9,
gave the United States onemonth -- a period when the USelection campaign was at apeak -- to persuade Israel tohalt settlement construction orrisk the complete collapse ofthe negotiations.
Next week, Netanyahu willtake a personal reading of thepost-election scene during a 5-day visit to the United States,where he will address a USJewish conference and meetVice President Joe Biden to dis-cuss the stalled peace process.
The Israeli leader also plansto give a series of media inter-views and officials said he wastrying to arrange a meetingwith US Secretary of StateHillary Clinton. Obama will beon a trip to Asia at the time.
Yasser Abed Rabbo, aPalestinian peace negotiator,voiced confidence theRepublican victories wouldhave no bearing on the WhiteHouse's Middle East policy.
"The American interests inthe region do not change as a
result of midterm elections," hetold Voice of Palestine radio.
But George Giacaman, aPalestinian political scientist,said the Obama administrationhad already shown "greatweakness" in standing up toIsrael over settlements.
When the White House con-fronted Israel last year overplans for settlement expansionon land Palestinians want for astate, Republicans seized onthe dispute as a sign thatObama was weak on securityissues and unfairly pressuringon a trusted ally.
"Maybe there will be a periodof waiting to see if theAmerican administration plansto do some serious work butthere is a great feeling ofdespair and hopelessness,"Giacaman said.
In any case, he said, "we onlyhave one year left" beforeObama devotes his attention toa campaigning for re-electionin the 2012 presidential poll. -Reuters
Obama’s midterm loss couldbe Netanyahu MidEast win
Ehsan Mehmood Khan
Global Competitiveness Report2010-11 published by theWorld Economic Forum and
Pakistan's GC Index therein is a truemirror image of our standing in today'sglobalized economy. GlobalCompetitiveness is based on 12 pillarsfalling under three maincategories. Pakistan'sranking in all these fac-tors is appallingly low.Pakistan's overall rank-ing in GlobalCompetitiveness Indexis 123 amongst 139countries. To add toones' despair, Pakistanwas 101 out of 133countries last year and has dropped byvirtually 20 points this year. Other thanNepal and East Timor, those behindPakistan are all sub-Saharan countriesto include Madagascar, Malawi,Swaziland, Nigeria, Lesotho, Côted'Ivoire, Mozambique, Mali, BurkinaFaso, Mauritania, Zimbabwe, Burundi,Angola and Chad.
To correctly understand the contextof the GC Index, its relevance forPakistan it is important to viewPakistan's ranking in all 12 pillars. Inbasic requirements factor, Pakistan isranked 132 and in its four pillars, 112in institutions, 110 in infrastructure,133 in macroeconomic requirementsand 123 in health and primary educa-tion. In the realm of efficiencyenhancers, Pakistan is ranked 95 and inits six pillars 123 in higher educationand training, 91 in goods market effi-ciency, 131 in labor market efficiency,73 in financial market development,109 in technological readiness and 31in market size. It stands 76 in innova-tion and sophistication and in its twopillars, 79 in business sophisticationand 75 in innovation.
It may be observed that virtually allpillars are directly or indirectly linked
with the quality and competitiveness ofpeople, thus making a case for knowl-edge-based economy. It is also impor-tant to note that all these pillars havepolicy linkages and implications. Thereare two main issues that can be dis-cussed herein: our economic efficiencyand the economic priority.
The problem with Pakistan's econo-
my is that except for the decade of1960s, it has never been able to saltaway the juggernaut of our politicalopportunity structure. Claims andcounter-claims overshadow Pakistan'seconomic landscape. Often it is pro-claimed by the government thatPakistan is moving fast on the pathwayto become Asian Tiger. Soon (with thechange of the government), the Tigerhood claimsvanish, andit occurs thatthe nationaltreasury isempty andthat Pakistanis at theverge ofdefault.
It is notonly thePakistani polity that keeps its populacebudging between high hopes and deepdespondencies. Even the internationalfinancial institutions are often found onextreme poles. For instance, the WorldBank noted in September 2005 that"Pakistan was the top reformer in theregion and the number 10 reformerglobally - making it easier to start a
business..." Within a span of five years,the World Bank re-noted in July 2007that, "Addressing the shortcomings ofPakistan's economic management iscritical not only for restoring macro-economic stability but also for reduc-ing the likelihood of reversals leadingto another cycle of growth giving wayto stagnation."
The problemis not with thesize of eco-nomic "mass"of Pakistan.Primary issuesf a c i n gP a k i s t a n ' seconomy maybe summarizedas: growth
unpredictability because of ever-exist-ing political uncertainly; imprudentallocation of resources; total relianceon domestic borrowings and foreignloans to make for fiscal as well as cur-rent account deficit; inability to keeppace with the modern economic trends;and near indifference of the politicalleadership towards economy. Today,Pakistan's economic space is marred by
rent-seeking at macro-level, opportuni-ty-seizing at meso-level and acutedespair at micro level. A lot of waterhas flown over our heads. It is hightime that we start thinking in terms ofshort-term recovery, medium-term sta-bility and long-term sustainability ofour economy.
That said, we also need to seriously
revisit our economic priorities both as astate and society. As for now, thereseems to be no confusion that educa-tion is one of the last concerns of thestate. In my honest view, if we do notdo anything else and just invest in ourpeople, we can enhance our globalcompetitiveness times more than todayand can find a bright socio-economicfuture in the near term. It is ironic tonote that the nation whose tax revenue(to include both direct and indirecttaxes) is estimated to be Rupees 1778.7billion for FY 2010-11, has been allo-cated a peanut amount of Rupees 34.5billion for Education Affairs Service inthe annual budget. Thus, by means ofsimple mathematics, Pakistan's percapita education expenditure comes tovirtually Rupees 191; horrifyingindeed. Likewise, if we go down toexpenditures on higher and lower edu-cation separately, the situation is evenmore awful.
Education is one of the fundamentalhuman rights in today's world and aduty on every Muslim (both male andfemale). People of Pakistan have start-ed looking for extra-public educationaloutlets. Enrollment in private schools
has already reached 30per cent at primary level,23 per cent at secondarylevel and 64 per cent athigher secondary level.Yet, over 43 per centPakistanis are illiterateeven by our standards, letalone the standards ofglobal competitiveness.
Even under today'sappalling conditions,
Pakistan's is 26th largest economy ofthe world. If we are too poor to allocatean appropriate share from the nationalexchequer of this size on the luxury ofeducation, can we divert Rupees 90 bil-lion being spent on Benazir IncomeSupport Programme to education sec-tor? I leave this question for the readersto ponder upon!
Pakistan & GlobalCompetitiveness
It may be observed that virtuallyall pillars are directly or
indirectly linked with the quality andcompetitiveness of people, thus making
a case for knowledge-based economy“
Addressing the shortcomings ofPakistan's economic management is
critical not only for restoring macroeconomic stability but also for reducing
the likelihood of reversals leading to anothercycle of growth giving way to stagnation
“
FERTILISER000 tonnesUrea Offtake (Jan to July 10) 3,565Urea Offtake (July 10) 580Urea Price (Rs/50 kg) 879DAP Offtake (Jan to July 09) 374DAP Offtake (July 10) 49DAP Price (Rs/50 kg) 2,626
AUTOMOBILE ASSEMBLERPAK SUZUKI MOTORUnitsProduction (July 09 to June 10) 71,998
Sales (July 09 to June 10) 73,993
Production (July 10) 7,509
Sales (July 10) 4,503
INDUS MOTOR COProduction (July 09 to June 10) 50,557
Sales (July 09 to June 10) 50,823
Production (July 10) 5,162
Sales (July 10) 4,999
HONDA ATLAS CARProduction (July 09 to June 10) 13,500
Sales (July 09 to June 10) 14,120
Production (July 10) 1,560
Sales (July 10) 1,272
DEWAN FAROOQ MOTORSProduction (July 09 to June 10)1,218
Sales (July 09 to June 10) 1,371
Production (July 10) 41
Sales (July 10) 40
BANKING SECTORScheduled bank (Rs in mn)Deposit (August 20,10) 4,595,176
Advances (August 20,10) 3,304,533
Investments (August 20,10) 1,788,671
Spread (July 2010) 7.51%
OIL MARKETING CO(000 tons)MS (Jul 09 to June 10) 1,933
MS (July 10) 188
Kerosene (Jul 09 to June 10) 164
Kerosene (July 10) 15
JP (Jul 09 to June 10) 1,377
JP (July 10) 129
HSD (Jul 09 to June 10) 7,435
HSD (July 10) 664
LDO (Jul 09 to June 10) 75
LDO (July 10) 7
Fuel Oil (Jul 09 to June 10) 9,259
Fuel Oil (July 10) 869
Others (Jul 09 to June 10) 13
Others (July 10) 1
PRICES (Ex-Refinery) RsMS (1 Sep 10) 40.85
MS (1 Aug 10) 41.22
MS % Chg -0.90%
Kerosene (1 Sep 10) 47.14
Kerosene (1 Aug 10) 46.55
Kerosene % Chg 1.27%
JP-1 (1 Sep 10) 47.37
JP-1 (1 Aug 10) 46.78
JP-1 % Chg 1.26%
HSD (1 Sep 10) 50.61
HSD (1 Aug 10) 49.63
HSD % Chg 1.97%
LDO (1 Sep 10) 46.37
LDO (1 Aug 10) 45.29
LDO % Chg 2.38%
Fuel Oil (1 Sep 10) 39,932
Fuel Oil (1 Aug 10) 39,723
Sector Updates
Symbol Close Vol (mn)DGKC 26.77 9.59 LOTPTA 10.27 8.88 BOP 9.71 8.37 BAFL 9.78 7.06 ATRL 109.27 4.72
Symbol Close ChangeUPFL 1,090.00 41.82 BATA 615.41 29.30 NESTLE 2,000.00 20.00 RMPL 1,690.00 10.40 SAPT 98.45 4.25
Symbol Close ChangeFZTM 443.39 -23.33ULEVER 4,052.46 -17.53COLG 832.68 -14.32IDYM 234.50 -11.5SRVI 178.46 -9.23
Plus 130Minus 241Unchanged 27
Top 5 Volume Leaders
Major Losers
Major Gainers
KSE-100 Index
LSE-25 Index
ISE-10 Index
Active Issues
Thursday, November 4, 2010 5
Dhiyan
Market outlook is positive and may sustain at around 10,700 points levelin the coming days. There are chances of its touching 11,000-mark aftermid-November. Such a feat it would perform mainly due to higher inter-national oil prices, continued foreign interest, materialisation of foreigncommitments and improved political situation. Investors are thereforeadvised to continue their positions in oil stocks while fresh buying can bedone in 1st tier banks and some oil stocks. Market would be positive todayhowever profit-taking can be seen towards the end of the session.
Kashif Mustafa, NAMCO
Syed Faran Rizvi, Technical Analyst Invisor SecuritiesAgain market tested its 52-week high as a resistance level and fell towards10-day moving average .We are seeing major resistance for intraday tradingat 10,674 points level while closing above 10,700 points is the only way thatcan give strength to bulls. If the index fails to sustain at these levels then mar-ket is likely to see some technical correction which can send the index below10,500 levels. Therefore we recommend traders to sell and order stop loss at10,690 points level while they are advised to buy near 10,450 points in fer-tiliser and oil sectors. Today, the market will move both ways.
A MIX OF MOVEMENTS SEEN
Opening 10,681.87
Closing 10,617.65
Change 64.22
% Change 0.60
Turnover (mn) 106.16
Opening 3,320.55
Closing 3,303.38
Change 17.17
% Change 0.52
Turnover (mn) 7.62
Opening 2,711.91
Closing 2,692.52
Change 19.39
% Change 0.71
Turnover (mn) 0.30
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Company Period Div/Bon/Right PAT (Rs in mn) EPS(Rs)
I.B.L.Modaraba Yearly 3%(F)(D) 2.127 0.110
I.B.L.Modaraba 1st Qtr - 2.956 0.160
(Colony) Sarhad 1st Qtr - -4.568 -1.140
Wateen Telecom Ltd 1st Qtr - -317.270 -0.510
TRG Pakistan Ltd. 1st Qtr - -1.398 -0.004
TRG Pakistan Ltd.(Consolidated) 1st Qtr - 172.156 0.400
Nawaz Ali
KARACHI: As results’ seasonis almost over and no positivetriggers are in near sightKarachi Stock Exchange(KSE), after a heavy bull-run aday earlier, turned red onWednesday mainly due state-run institutions' profit-booking.
The benchmark KSE 100-Index fell by 64 points to closeat 10,617 points, KSE 30-Indexdropped 82 points to close at10,177 points and KSE AllShare Index went down by 44points to close at 7,388 points.
"Investors opted to bookprofits at inflated levels in theabsence of positive triggers",
said Jawad Khan, equity dealerat JS Global Capital.
Market managed to continuethe bullish activities during thefirst couple of hours of the ses-sion touching an intraday highof 10,759 points (+ve 77points) owing to offshoreinvestors' buying.
It should be noted that indexhad ended with a heavy gain of143 points on Tuesday.
But bulls failed to stay therefor long as profit-taking mainlyby a state-run institution athigher levels wiped off thegains. Analysts said that resultsseason that created some enthu-siasm has almost ended thusprofit were booked big time.
Secondly, investors stayedcautious over the outcome ofInternational Monetary Fund(IMF)'s meeting with govern-ment officials while accordingto experts expectations of anincrease in T-bill yields too hada negative impact on the mar-ket. Therefore index closed theday near its day's lowest levelof 10,613 points (-ive 68points)
Ahsan Mehanti, DirectorArif Habib Investments was ofthe view that expectation of arise in T-bill yields in SBP auc-tion today catalysed negativeactivities at KSE despite con-tinuous foreign interest in oil& gas, banking, and fertiliser
sectors.Meetings of government
officials with IMF would con-clude on Nov 6. These meet-ings are taking place to discussthe possible release of thesixth tranche of an $11 billionemergency loan agreed inNovember, 2008.
It should be noted that IMFhas expressed concern aboutslow implementation of energysector reforms and RevisedGeneral Sales Tax, officialssaid.
Despite a bearish ending; for-eigners' interest witnessedsome improvement as accord-ing to NCCPL data they did anet-buying of $4.18 million on
Wednesday while locals weremainly on the selling side asmutual funds and banks did anet-selling of $2.14 million and$1.82 million respectively.
Volumes were marginallylower as 106.1 million sharestraded in the overall market -- 2million shares less as comparedto a turnover of 108.1 millionshares a day earlier.
D.G.Khan Cement was thevolume leader of the sessionwith 9.59 million shares fol-lowed by Lotte Pakistan 8.88million and Bank of Punjabwith 8.37 million shares.
Out of total 398 active issues241 declined and 130 advancedwhile 27 did not change.
Institutional profiting robs KSE of recent gains
HONG KONG/SHANG-
HAI: Hong Kong shares
rose 2 per cent to strike
their highest levels in more
than two years on
Wednesday after a decisive
break of major chart resist-
ance caught traders off
guard and prompted a flurry
of short covering.
However, the Shanghai
Composite fell 0.5 per cent,
weighed down by a selloff
in small-cap stocks that had
outperformed in a rally
since early October.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng
index closed at 24,144.7, its
highest level since June
2008, to easily outperform
other Asian markets. The
MSCI Asia ex-Japan index
was up 0.8 per cent.
The Hang Seng jumped
higher after breaking
through 23,800, the 61.8
per cent retracement of the
market's fall during the
global financial crisis.
"The rally was quite fast
and triggered many stop
losses along the way," said
Alex Wong, director at
Ample Finance Group.
Banking shares, which
have the heaviest weighting
on the Hang Seng and have
seen renewed buying inter-
est, led the rally.
ICBC, the world's most
valuable lender, rose 4.5 per
cent. China Construction
Bank gained 2.7 per cent.
ICBC's chairman said in a
news conference in
Bangkok that the bank was
looking for acquisitions in
Southeast Asia as it looks to
broaden its regional foot-
print.
Fund flows into Asia have
ballooned in recent weeks
as speculation about the
size and duration of another
round of asset purchases by
the US Federal Reserve
gathered steam, weakening
the dollar and making
regional assets more attrac-
tive.
Property stocks advanced
in the afternoon session,
largely on short-covering,
but also on expectations of
more "hot money" flowing
into Hong Kong.
Sun Hung Kai Properties
closed 6.6 per cent higher
and was the top gainer on
the Hang Seng.
SHANGHAI SLIPS
In Shanghai, the main
stock index fell further
back from a six-month
closing high on Monday as
retail investors took some
profits.
An index of small-cap
companies fell 1.4 per cent,
underperforming the broad-
er market's decline.
However, the small-cap
index is up 13.7 per cent
this year, compared with a
7.5 per cent drop for the
Shanghai Composite.
A 14-per cent rally in the
Shanghai Composite index
since the start of October
has drawn new investors
into the market.
ChiNext, China's Nasdaq
style second board in
Shenzen, has fallen heavily
since Tuesday, after the end
of a lock-up period prompt-
ed swathes of investors to
shed stocks, which on aver-
age trade around 60 times
2010 earnings, almost triple
the 23 times for the
Shanghai market.-Reuters
HK at 28-mth high;small-caps hit China
LONDON: Britain's top shareindex closed lower onWednesday, with retailers weakas Next posted falling sales,while banks gained groundafter Lloyds Banking Grouppoached Santander UK's headas its new CEO.
Investors were reluctant totake big positions ahead of aFederal Reserve decision onfurther monetary policy easinglater on Wednesday. Marketsare pricing in a commitment tobuy at least $500 billion inTreasury debt over fivemonths.
The FTSE 100 ended 8.46points, or 0.2 per cent, lower at5,748.97, having risen 1.1 percent on Tuesday.
Retailers were out of favourafter Next Britain's No.2 fash-ion retailer, said consumers arefacing near double-digit pricerises for clothes next year, as itposted a slightly bigger-than-expected fall in third-quartersales at its shops. Its shares fell2.2 per cent.
Marks & Spencer shed 1.9
per cent, pressured as RBSrepeated its "sell" rating on thestock. Tesco, Wm MorrisonSupermarkets and J Sainsburydropped 0.6 to 1.8 per cent.
But the main focus was onthe United States, with manytraders feeling there are poten-tial downside risks from theFed decision, due at 1815GMT, particularly on the backof recent strength in the mar-kets.
"(Investors) are bracingthemselves for a decision onQE (quantitative easing) andare poised for a surprise num-ber," Yusuf Heusen, seniorsales trader at IG Index, said.
"There is a strong feelingthat there will be a "sell thenumber" effect given recentstrong gains, hence the slide inthe FTSE late this afternoon,"he said.
British aerospace electron-ics group Cobham slid 9.5 percent after a disappointing third-quarter update and downbeatoutlook hit by US contractdelays.-Reuters
FTSE ends lower
MUMBAI: The BSE Sensexclimbed for the third session infour on Wednesday, trackingfirm markets elsewhere aheadof an expected announcementby the Federal Reserve that itwill pump in more stimulus tonurse a US fragile recovery.
Financials topped the gainerslist, a day after the ReserveBank of India raised interestrates but said it was likely notto make further rate moves forthe next three months.
India's services sectorexpanded last month at a fasterrate than in September, bring-ing an end to a 3-month declinein the key business activityindex, a survey showed.
The 30-share BSE index gained0.59 per cent or 120.05 points to20,465.74 points, with 21 of itscomponents ending higher.
The Sensex is around 750points away from its all-timehigh seen in Januray 2008.
"I don't see much downsiderisk to the market," saidPrasanth Prabhakaran, presi-dent of retail broking at IIFL.
"The quarterly results werelargely in line. RBI's actionyesterday was also on expectedlines. Coal India money shouldreturn to the market now," hesaid.
Coal India's $3.5 billion ini-
tial share sale, which concludedlast month, generated orders ofaround $50 billion. The stockmakes its trading debut onThursday.
Net foreign fund investmentin Indian equities has totalled arecord $26.1 billion year todate, driving the benchmarkindex 17.2 per cent higher.
India, Thailand, andSingapore exchange tradedfunds posted the largest inflowsamong Asian markets inOctober, while China, HongKong, and Taiwan saw thelargest outflows, TrimTabs saidin a note on Tuesday.
The US-based research firmexpects foreign capital to con-tinue chasing emerging marketsequities against a backdrop ofan expected second tranche ofquantitative easing by the Fed.
India's banking sector indexrose as much as 1.3 per cent toan all-time high on Wednesday.
Top lender State Bank ofIndia rose 2.2 per cent whileleading private sector lendersICICI Bank and HDFC Bankgained 0.6 per cent and 0.2 percent respectively.
Vehicles maker Tata Motorsgained 2.7 per cent, continuingrecent momentum amid strongdemand for cars in India.
See # 17 Page 11
Indian shares riseahead of Fed move
KSE EOGMset for today
Staff ReporterKARACHI: An extra-ordinarygeneral meeting (EOGM) ofKarachi Stock Exchange (KSE)members will be held at thebourse today (Thursday) at4PM, it is learnt.
According to sources, themeeting's agenda is to amendarticles of the exchange in orderto make it mandatory for thefuture chairman to be a broker aswell for members think a
See # 18 Page 11
US stocks mid-day
Wall St slipson caution
ahead of FedNEW YORK: US Stockindexes ticked lower onWednesday as investors werecautious before the FederalReserve was expected toannounce it would buy bondsin a bid to bolster the econo-my's mild recovery.
The inverse correlationbetween stocks and the US dol-lar was evident, with swings inthe value of the greenbackaffecting equities.
The Fed statement, due at2:15 p.m. EDT, was likely tounveil the extent and length oftime of the purchases -- widelyseen to total some $500 billion.
Volatility was expected if theamount varied significantlyfrom market expectations. TheS&P 500 index has risen morethan 13 per cent sinceSeptember, helped by specula-tion of further Fed easing.
The Dow Jones industrialaverage (.DJI) dipped 15.06points, or 0.13 per cent, to11,173.66. The Standard &Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) fell2.66 points, or 0.22 per cent, to1,190.91. The NasdaqComposite Index (.IXIC) lost8.79 points, or 0.35 per cent, to2,524.73.
The CBOE Volatility index(.VIX), known as Wall Street's"fear gauge," rose 1 per centafter ending lower on Tuesdayfor the first time in more than aweek. The index usually movesinversely with the S&P 500,tracking option prices investorsare willing to pay as a protec-tion on the underlying stocks.
The S&P 500 has recentlybeen unable to break and holdabove its 200-week movingaverage, now slightly above1,193 and on a downwardslope.
Markets had factored in aRepublican takeover of theHouse of Representatives fol-lowing Tuesday's midtermelections, analysts said.Republicans also increasedtheir ranks in the Senate, possi-bly heralding a legislativestalemate when the newCongress begins work inJanuary.
The election turned out muchas expected, Setrakian said."That's why you're seeing amuted reaction, specifically inenergy and healthcare," he said.
See # 16 Page 11
Mostly up aheadof Fed’s QE decision
South East Asian stocks
European shares end lower on US Fed caution
DG FIA to visitKSE on 6th
Staff ReporterKARACHI: According to astatement issued hereWednesday Waseem Ahmed,Director General, FederalInvestigation Agency, will visitKarachi Stock Exchange (KSE)on Saturday, November 6, 2010.
The statement added thatAhmed will join in a luncheonmeeting with the management ofKSE and some of its senior mem-bers which would be followed byan informal interaction with allthe members the exchange.
During his visit he would dis-cuss issues pertaining to thecapital markets of Pakistan andits participants.
Thursday, November 4, 20106
Volume 106,159,288
Value 4,593,890,093
Trades 67,345
Advanced 130
Declined 241
Unchanged 27
Total 398
Current 7,388.87
High 7,486.71
Low 7,385.92
Change i44.53
Current 10,617.65
High 10,760.08
Low 10,610.09
Change i64.22
Current 10,177.49
High 10,337.68
Low 10,163.15
Change i82.40
Market KSE 100 Index All Share Index KSE 30 Index
Current 16,795.35
High 17,065.41
Low 16,762.75
Change i178.59
KMI 30 IndexSymbolsAlert ! Unusual Movements
Technical AnalysisFundamental Highlights
As on Dec 31, 2009
KASB Bank Limited
KASBB closed down -0.05 at 2.42. Volume was 352 per cent above aver-
age (trending) and Bollinger Bands were 65 per cent narrower than nor-
mal. The company's loss after taxation stood at Rs1.571 billion which
translates into a Loss Per Share of Rs2.20 for the nine months of current
calendar year (9MCY10).
KASBB is currently 31.8 per cent below its 200-day moving average and
is displaying a downward trend. Volatility is extremely low when compared
to the average volatility over the last 10 trading sessions. Volume indica-
tors reflect volume flowing into and out of KASBB at a relatively equal
pace. Trend forecasting oscillators are currently bearish on KASBB.
RSI (14-day) 47.71 Total Assets (Rs in mn) 59,223.06
MA (10-day) 2.44 Total Equity (Rs in mn) 4,958.87
MA (100-day) 2.83 Revenue (Rs in mn) 5,061.63
MA (200-day) 3.55 Interest Expense 5,490.40
1st Support 2.45 Loss after Taxation (4,227.75)
2nd Support 2.42 EPS 09 (Rs) (4.446)
1st Resistance 2.48 Book value / share (Rs) 5.22
2nd Resistance 2.48 PE 10 E (x) -
Pivot 2.45 PBV (x) 0.46
Technical AnalysisFundamental Highlights
As on Jun 30, 2009
GHNL closed up 0.43 at 5.33. Volume was 718 per cent above average
(trending) and Bollinger Bands were 7 per cent narrower than normal.
The company's profit after taxation stood at Rs16.028 million which
translates into an Earning Per Share of Rs0.36 for the 1st quarter of
current fiscal year (1QFY11).
GHNL is currently 3.5 per cent below its 200-day moving average and
is displaying an upward trend. Volatility is extremely high when com-
pared to the average volatility over the last 10 trading sessions. Volume
indicators reflect very strong flows of volume into GHNL (bullish). Trend
forecasting oscillators are currently bullish on GHNL.
RSI (14-day) 65.71 Total Assets (Rs in mn) 3,392.10
MA (10-day) 4.60 Total Equity (Rs in mn) 698.25
MA (100-day) 5.32 Revenue (Rs in mn) 2,053.96
MA (200-day) 5.53 Interest Expense 344.95
1st Support 5.03 Loss after Taxation (312.17)
2nd Support 4.71 EPS 09 (Rs) (6.937)
1st Resistance 5.62 Book value / share (Rs) 15.52
2nd Resistance 5.89 PE 10 E (x) 3.70
Pivot 5.30 PBV (x) 0.34
Ghandhara Nissan Limited
Technical AnalysisFundamental Highlights
As on Jun 30, 2009
TELE closed down -0.06 at 2.34. Volume was 94 per cent above average and
Bollinger Bands were 10 per cent narrower than normal. The company's prof-
it after taxation stood at Rs251.746 million which translates into an Earning
Per Share of Rs0.84 for the 1st quarter of current fiscal year (1QFY11).
TELE is currently 18.4 per cent below its 200-day moving average and is
displaying an upward trend. Volatility is relatively normal as compared to
the average volatility over the last 10 trading sessions. Volume indicators
reflect moderate flows of volume into TELE (mildly bullish). Trend fore-
casting oscillators are currently bullish on TELE.
RSI (14-day) 49.98 Total Assets (Rs in mn) 9,719.17
MA (10-day) 2.41 Total Equity (Rs in mn) 2,838.82
MA (100-day) 2.52 Revenue (Rs in mn) 3,791.47
MA (200-day) 2.88 Interest Expense 494.14
1st Support 2.27 Profit after Taxation 44.07
2nd Support 2.18 EPS 09 (Rs) 0.147
1st Resistance 2.49 Book value / share (Rs) 9.46
2nd Resistance 2.62 PE 10 E (x) 0.70
Pivot 2.40 PBV (x) 0.25
Telecard Limited
Technical AnalysisFundamental Highlights
As on Jun 30, 2009
DCL closed down -0.10 at 1.49. Volume was 3 per cent below average and
Bollinger Bands were 43 per cent narrower than normal. The company's loss
after taxation stood at Rs173.394 million which translates into a Loss Per
Share of Rs0.46 for the 1st quarter of current fiscal year (1QFY11).
DCL is currently 32.6 per cent below its 200-day moving average and is
displaying an upward trend. Volatility is relatively normal as compared to
the average volatility over the last 10 trading sessions. Volume indicators
reflect moderate flows of volume into DCL (mildly bullish). Trend forecast-
ing oscillators are currently bullish on DCL.
RSI (14-day) 45.66 Total Assets (Rs in mn) 21,596.72
MA (10-day) 1.56 Total Equity (Rs in mn) 4,222.04
MA (100-day) 1.65 Revenue (Rs in mn) 5,682.57
MA (200-day) 2.21 Interest Expense 463.19
1st Support 1.45 Loss after Taxation (163.21)
2nd Support 1.41 EPS 09 (Rs) (0.457)
1st Resistance 1.54 Book value / share (Rs) 11.81
2nd Resistance 1.59 PE 10 E (x) -
Pivot 1.50 PBV (x) 0.13
Dewan Cement Limited
OIL AND GAS
Performance of SR Oil and Gas Index
Open High Low Close Change % Change
1,365.77 1,379.37 1,347.74 1,353.23 -12.54 -0.92
Turnover Total cos Defaulter cos Listed cap Market cap 5-Day High
United Bank Ltd 62.83 55.30 54.45 57.40 58.65 56.55
WorldCall Tele 40.62 2.40 2.35 2.50 2.60 2.45
Company RSI 1st 2nd 1st 2nd Pivot
(14-day) Support Resistance
TECHNICAL LEVELS
Hinopak Motors Ltd. 04-Nov 12:00
Dewan Salman Fibre Limited 05-Nov 5:00
Nadeem Textile Mills Limited 06-Nov 6:30
Balochistan Glass Limited 08-Nov 4:00
Chenab Limited 08-Nov 10:00
Pakistan Premier Fund Limited 08-Nov 4:00
Shadman Cotton Mills Limited 08-Nov 6:30
The Pakistan General Insurance 08-Nov 10:00
BOARD MEETINGS
Company Date Time
Thursday, November 4, 2010 8
ISLAMABAD: UAE Ambassador, Ali Saif Sultan Al-Awani cuts ribbon to
inaugurate the Etihad Airlines sales office during a ceremony here.-PPI
KARACHI: PakistanInternational Airlines (PIA)registered a gross profit ofRs7.803 billion for the nine-month period endingSeptember 30, 2010.
According to a press releaseissued here, the 328th meetingof Pakistan InternationalAirlines (PIA) board of direc-tors was held at Multan underthe chair of Federal Ministerfor Defence & Chairman PIA,Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar.
As per details PIA raked in atotal revenue of Rs74.360 bil-lion, which was 16.3 percenthigher as compared to the sameperiod of 2009.
However, loss-before-tax wasRs 10.955 billion as comparedto Rs11.403 billion in the pre-ceding year.
In this regard, the engineeringbusiness contributed Rs0.78billion, showing a healthyincrease of 25% over the corre-sponding period last year.
The board noted that oilprices remained erratic duringthe period under review dip-ping to mid-seventies (US dol-lars), but oil prices have again
started to rise with a barrel ofcrude touching $ 80.01 inOctober 2010.
It emphasised that cost con-tainment needs to be pursuedon a priority for a turnaround tobecome a reality. To meet thechallenges of turning aroundPIA the Corporation hasembarked upon a comprehen-sive Business Plan giving itstrategic direction over the nextfive years.
A major component of thisplan is PIA's commitmenttowards reduction in costsincurred under various headssuch as human resources, fleetmaintenance, revenue enhance-ment, and yield improvementthrough route rationalization.
The board asked the principalstakeholders to come forwardand make their contribution interms of easing the inheriteddebt burden on theCorporation, provide a levelplaying field to the nationalflag carrier against regional andother international carriers,enabling an environment con-ducive to healthy competitionwhich in turn would enhance
service standards and improveoverall financial performanceof the Corporation.
It was informed that theCorporation managed to con-tain staff costs to levels lowerthan many competitors whilstat the same time it managed torecruit and retain some of thebest people as a critical part ofits long term objective of beinga world class airline meetingcustomer expectations throughexcellent services, on-time per-formance, innovative productsand absolute safety.
The board noted that directhajj flights to Jeddah fromMultan will provide comfortand convenience to intendingHajj pilgrims of Multan and sur-rounding areas like Khanewal,Lodhran, Pakpattan, Sahiwal,Vehari and Rahim Yar Khan.
The meeting was attendedby Captain Muhammad AijazHaroon, Managing DirectorPIA, Syed Naseer Ahmed,Malik Nazir Ahmed, JavedAkhtar, Lt Gen (Retd) SyedAthar Ali, Hussain Lawaiand Khawaja JalaluddinRoomi.-NNI
Nat’l airline earnsRs7.803bn in 9M
PIA 9MCY10 revenue up 16.3pc YoY
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan andCanada would cooperate in thefield of tourism as the formerwants its products promoted inthis region including NorthAmerican countries and the lat-ter is keen to explore diversecultures and scenic beauty ofthe South Asian country, whichis also home to world's ancientcivilisations, 8000er peaks andspectacular flora and fauna.
Federal Minister for Tourismheld meeting with DeputyMinister of Tourism of OntarioSteven Davidson and discussedvarious matters regarding coop-
eration of both countries in thefield of tourism.
The minister said this whileheading Pakistani delegation at2nd Single Country Exhibition inToronto, Canada held recently.
Pakistani and Canadian min-isters agreed to continue dia-logue through their missionsfor achieving common objec-tives in relevance to the tourismpromotion.
Canadian Minister for Citizenand Immigration Eric Houscaninaugurated the Exhibition."There is need to hold moresuch exhibitions in order to
enhance business relationsbetween Canada and Pakistan."
Atta-ur-Rahman appreciatedthe efforts of Federation ofPakistan Chamber ofCommerce and Industry to holdthis exhibition and the stepstaken for exploring new mar-kets for promotion of Pakistaniproducts.
The four-day gala primarilyaimed exploring new venuesfor the promotion of Pakistantourism in Canada and NorthAmerican Countries and toproject a soft image and tourist
See # 2 Page 11
Pakistan, Canada aimtouristry co-ventures
KARACHI: Emirates pro-duced a net profit of AED 3.4billion (US$ 925 million), forthe first six months of its cur-rent financial year ending 30thSeptember 2010. This repre-sents an outstanding 351.2 percent increase compared to AED752 million (US$ 205 million),for the same period in 2009.
"The results for the first halfof the financial year 2010-11 areincredibly robust, and reflectEmirates' success in growingcustomer demand, supported byinvestment in new aircraft,products and customer service.
We continue to invest ourprofits in growing the businessand our healthy financial posi-tion enables us to successfullymeet all of our financial com-mitments and raise financingfor future aircraft deliveries.
Our strong position today isreflective of our ability toadapt, returning us to a vigor-ous period of growth. With 62new state-of-the-art aircraftordered in the first half, we
remain well positioned to capi-talise on this growth," said HHSheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Chairman and ChiefExecutive, Emirates Airlineand Group.
Highlighting a positive shiftin the aviation sector, Emiratesairline has seen a markedincrease in passenger traffic,carrying 15.5 million passen-gers and recording a strong pas-senger seat factor at 81.2 percent, the highest ever for a firstsix month reporting period.Premium class seat factors havealso risen by 2.6 percentagepoints, reflecting an encourag-ing change in the global eco-nomic outlook.
Emirates SkyCargo has alsoseen a strong half year perform-ance across the network, post-ing an increase in revenue of48.4 per cent to AED 4.4 bil-lion. SkyCargo continues topost steady revenue growthcontributing around 17.8 percent of the airline's transportrevenue.-NNI
Emirates’6-monthearningsskyrocket
LONDON: The Virgin Atlanticairline blasted the rise inBritain's airport departure taxbeing introduced Monday,warning that many familieswould be priced out of a holi-day.
Virgin Atlantic said Fridaythat the Air Passenger Duty(APD) hikes would make holi-days "unaffordable for many",while other airlines are alsofuming and tourist destinationsfear a plunge in business.
The tax, imposed at the pointof purchase, is going up by 55per cent for the longest flights.
"Holidays are an essentialpart of our lives and are valuedeven more in these difficulteconomic times," said JulieSouthern, Virgin Atlantic'schief commercial officer.
"With passengers now beingasked to pay up to 10 timesmore tax since APD's introduc-tion, the annual family holidaywill become unaffordable formany.
"This absolutely has to be thelast time that the travelling pub-lic faces APD rises."
British Airways is also furi-ous. Chief executive WillieWalsh has called the tax "a dis-grace."
The APD has four levels:Band A for flights up to 2,000miles (3,200 kilometres); Band
B for up to 4,000 miles (6,450kilometres); Band C for up to6,000 miles (9,650 kilometres),and Band D for flights beyondthat.
In economy class, Band Apassengers face a nine per centrise from 11 pounds to 12pounds (19 dollars, 13.75euros); Band B a 33 per centhike from 45 pounds to 60pounds.
Band C passengers face a 50per cent rise from 50 pounds to75 pounds, while Band D cus-tomers face a 55 per cent risefrom 55 pounds to 85 pounds.
Premium class passengerspay double those amounts,meaning the APD on first classflights to Australia will be 170pounds.
Gareth Williams, chief execu-tive of flight comparison siteSkyscanner.net, suggested thehikes could lead long-haul trav-ellers to fly from airports else-where in Europe.
"In a recent survey we foundthat more than three-quarters ofour users would be willing tofly indirectly to save money,"he said.
"It could have serious reper-cussions for the long-haul UKaviation industry."
The government is consider-ing replacing APD with a per-plane tax.-APP
Virgin thrashesUK air tax hike
Cathay pilotsthreaten
labour actionHONG KONG: Pilots at HongKong's Cathay Pacific arethreatening to launch a work-to-rule labour campaign that maycause flight delays and cancel-lations during the busy holidayseason, a report said recently.
The campaign would see pilotsrefuse to work beyond theirscheduled shifts unless manage-ment agrees to a 30 per cent payraise over four years, the SouthChina Morning Post said.
The Hong Kong AircrewOfficers Association(HKAOA) will poll its 1,600members next week to gaugewhether they want to press onwith the action, the Post said.
A Cathay spokeswoman toldAFP the carrier was
See # 1 Page 11
Authoritiescancel travel
agent’s licenceISLAMABAD: Ministry ofTourism has cancelled thelicense of M/s Lasani Travel &Tours Operator and directing itto close its office and removethe board of the agency.
This decision has been takingafter the agency failed to meetthe rules and regulations set bythe government for operating intravel and tour industry.-APP
Etihad openssales office
in IslamabadStaff Reporter
KARACHI: Etihad Airways,the national airline of theUnited Arab Emirates, hasopened a new sales office inIslamabad to further strengthenits presence in the country.
The airline has four salesoffices in Pakistan, situated inKarachi, Lahore, Peshawar andIslamabad. The opening cere-mony of the office located inthe Islamabad Stock Exchangebuilding was held onNovember 1, 2010.
Speaking on this develop-ment, Daniel Barranger VicePresident of Global SalesEtihad Airways, said, "Thelaunch of our new sales officein Islamabad will allow us tosupport our growing customerbase in Pakistan."
"There is a growing demandfor Etihad flights fromIslamabad which has led us toupgrade our office to offerstate-of-the art facilities, pro-viding our customers witheverything to assist them inbooking flights or holidays toany of our destinations acrossour expanding network."
BOC Aviationorders 30
Airbus A320PARIS: Singapore-based air-craft leasing firm BOC aviationannounced on Wednesday it hadordered 30 Airbus A320 medi-um-range airliners for deliverybetween 2012 and 2014.
The company did not say howmuch it was paying, but theaverage price of the aircraft onJanuary 30 was about 80 milliondollars (57 million euros).
This would point to an overallcatalogue value of about 2.4 bil-lion dollars. A bulk order how-ever, would normally involve adiscount. "The current order istimely as the aviation industryhas returned to profitability andairlines are looking to addcapacity," Robert Martin, BOCAviation chief executive, said.
The company said it wouldshortly announce its decision onthe engines to be used in the air-craft. The latest order brings to128 the number of aircraft in theA320 family that the companyhas ordered, 80 of which havebeen delivered, it added.
"In the last three years, wesuccessfully doubled the size ofour fleet and have over 160 air-craft as of today." Martin said.
BOC Aviation is 100-per centowned by Bank of China.-APP
Lower gradePIA workershail revivalof facilities
KARACHI: The PIAEmployees Unity Front hashailed measures of Advisor toPrime Minister on PIA Affairs,Senator Faisal Raza Abidi forreviving facilities for lower gradeemployees of the airlines.
In a statement here, the ChiefOrganiser PIA Employees UnityFront, Khawaja Ehsan Taranisaid that revival of 'son quota'and residential facilities for lowergrade employees of the airlineswas a step in right direction.
He said that announcement ofhousing project, by the Advisorduring his visit to PIA head officewill help resolve the residentialproblems of lower grade employ-ees. He said that decision ofmaintaining seniority of employ-ees during their employmentperiod is a bold step which willprove beneficial for them.
The chief organiser extendedfull support to Senator FaisalRaza Abidi for taking keen inter-est in the welfare of employeesand requested him to monitorimplementation of these deci-sions, so that the workers wouldstart getting benefits of thesedecisions within shortest possibletime.-APP
ISLAMABAD: Chaudhry
Ahmed Mukhtar, Minister for
Defence has informed thge
Senate that there is a proposal
under consideration for pur-
chase of new aircrafts for
Pakistan International Airlines.
Responding queries in Senate
during the Question Hour, he
said that the decision would be
undertaken after its approval
from the Cabinet which is sub-
jected to the availability of funds.
He informed the House that
PIA has not made any increase
in domestic fares for its passen-
gers for last three years.
He said every commercial
organisation prices its products
according to the market condi-
tions and the decision to adjust
the fare are based purely on
commercial consideration.
The prime motive of each
such decision is to promote
traffic, maximise revenue and
the development of routes, he
maintained.
Ahmed Mukhtar while giving
details of the payment of salary
and allowances to Executive
Pilots said that Rs65.31 million
have been paid to them from
January to June 2010.
He informed the House
that PIA has at present only
one hotel contract with PC
Hotel Dubai for stay of its
air crew. -APP
Cabinet’s nod stands‘tween PIA, new planes
Mukthar answers questions in Senate
LONDON: Copper tumbledon Wednesday as the dollarrose on strong US economicdata ahead of a FederalReserve decision on furthermonetary policy easing toshore up the world's largesteconomy.
Aluminium touched a ses-sion high of $2,449 a tonne, itshighest since Oct. 14, against abackdrop of rising energy costsfor the power-intensive metal,an improved technical pictureand options-related short-cov-ering.
Benchmark copper on theLondon Metal Exchange endeddown at $8,320 a tonne from$8,435 at Tuesday's close. Themetal used in power and con-struction is within reach of$8,554, hit on Oct. 26 and itshighest since July 2008.
The dollar started its ascentafter news of an above-consen-sus jobs report from the privatesector in the United States.Momentum picked up afterdata showed the services sectorhad expanded at a higher-than-expected pace.
Markets are betting the UScentral bank will commit tobuy at least $500 billion in
Treasuries over five months. Astatement is due on Wednesdayat 1815 GMT.
The market is on Fed alert,said Andrey Kryuchenkov, an
analyst at VTB capital. "If (theFed) say $500 billion asexpected ... then you'll see apull-back to the bottom edge ofthe range. If it's any less thanthat, you'll see serious profit-taking."
Offsetting some of the nega-tive sentiment, new ordersreceived by US factories roseby more than the consensus inSeptember.
Aluminium closed at $2,417from Tuesday's $2,430.
The metal used in transportand packaging has been helpedover the past 12 to 18 monthsby the potential launch of alu-minium exchange-traded prod-ucts and financing deals, whichhave tied up about 70 per centof LME warehouse stocks.
Zinc ended at $2,405 pertonne from $2,453 on Tuesdayafter China said it would auc-tion 50,000 tonnes of zincingots from its state reserveson Nov. 9 Latest LME datashowed that zinc inventoriesfell by 75 tonnes, ending fivedays of builds that broughtstockpiles to near six-yearhighs above 630,000 tonnes.
Battery material lead closedat $2,435 a tonne from $2,485on Tuesday and stainless steelmetal nickel at $23,550 from$23,475 a tonne. Tin closed at$25,850 from Tuesday's$25,800. -Reuters
Copper sags as dollargains after US data
9Thursday, November 4, 2010
POLYPROPYLENE(PP) LINEAR LOW (LL)
Cash & Settlement 1245 1190
October (3rd Wednesday) 1160 1130
November (3rd Wednesday) 1170 1130
LONDON METAL EXCHANGE (PLASTIC)
LME Official Prices, US$ per tonne for November 02 2010
LME Official Prices, US$ per tonne for November 02 2010
ALUMINIUM ALUMINIUM COPPER LEAD NICKEL TIN ZINC NASAAC
LONDON: Oil pricesextended gains on Wednesdayto trade above $84 after USdata showed oil productinventories fell sharply lastweek, as the spotlightremained on a FederalReserve statement awaitedlater.
US crude for December was76 cents firmer at $84.66 abarrel by 1500 GMT, albeitoff a six-monthhigh of $85.04hit earlier onWe d n e s d a y.ICE Brent rose84 cents to$86.25 a barrel.
The EnergyI n f o r m a t i o nAgency's latestweekly data showed crude oilinventories rose more thanexpected last week whilegasoline stockpiles fell morethan forecast, giving supportto oil prices.
All eyes remained onFederal Reserve's FOMC pol-icy statement due at 1815GMT, which is expected to
detail plans for a fresh roundof monetary stimulus to spurfragile economic recovery.
Some oil analysts have cau-tioned the widely anticipatedquantitative easing announce-ment may have already beenlargely priced into markets.
"The risks are ratherskewed to disappointment,and could limit the upside inoil prices today,"
Commerzbank oil analystCarsten Fritsch said. "Theodds are that prices will easeafter the Fed announcementunless there is a big purchas-ing plan unveiled, as the baris quite high for expecta-tions."
"It could be a typical case ofbuy rumour, sell the fact,"
Credit Agricole CIB's globaloil analyst Christophe Barretsaid. "It's very possible youwill have some sell off inprices."
US crude inventories roseby a more-than-expected 1.95million barrels last week asrefinery utilization dropped,helping to reduce inventoriesof gasoline and distillate,according to a weekly report
from theE n e r g yI n f o r m a t i o nAdministrationon Wednesday.
A n a l y s t spolled byReuters hadexpected crudestocks to rise by
1.2 million barrels.Oil industry group
American Petroleum Institute,in its own weekly data reportreleased on Tuesday, saiddomestic crude stocks fell by4.1 million barrels, while dis-tillates fell 4.7 million barrelsand gasoline fell 3.2 millionbarrels. -Reuters
Oil extends gains afterEIA data, ahead of Fed
Europeanvegetableoil prices
ROTTERDAM: The follow-ing were the Wednesday'sRotterdam vegetable oil price'sat 22:00 PST.
SOYOIL: EU degummedeuro tonne fob exmillDec10/Jan11 863.00-8.00,Feb11/Apr11 865.00-11.00,May11/Jul11 870.00.
Note: Traded Volume reflects the trades from 06:00 pm of previous day to 06:00 pm of current day
Indian sugarsteadies
MUMBAI: India's spot sugarprices were almost steady onWednesday as support fromongoing festive demand wasoutweighed by higher prices,dealers said. Sugar had risenover three per cent in the pastfive sessions.
"Sugar prices have risen inthe past few sessions....somebuyers are not interested to buyat these prices," said a trader atVashi, a major trading centre.
Demand for sugar usually goesup ahead of Diwali, the Hindufestival of lights, which falls inthe first week of November. InKolhapur, a key market in top-producing Maharashtra state, themost traded S-variety fell 0.06per cent to 2,663.65 rupees($60.05) per 100 kg.
Market participants said theprices were also supported byUttar Pradesh government'sdecision to increase the stateadvisory price for sugarcane by40 rupees to 205 rupees.
India is likely to take a deci-sion on sugar exports after thesecond week of November, FarmMinister Sharad Pawar said. Hesaid the country is likely to pro-duce 25 million tonnes of sugarin 2010/11. -Reuters
MANAMA - BAHRAIN: Officials from the Directorate of Precious Metal & Gemstone
Testing check the authentication of a purchase by a visitor at the Jewellery Arabia
Exhibition, in the Bahrain capital of Manama. -Reuters
LONDON: Gold prices fellnearly 1 per cent in Europe onWednesday as the dollarfirmed against a currency bas-ket, with traders nervousahead of an announcement onmonetary policy from theFederal Reserve later in thesession.
Spot gold slipped to a low of$1,344.50 an ounce and wasbid at $1,346.70 an ounce at1459 GMT, against $1,357.00late in New York on Tuesday.US gold futures for Decemberdelivery eased $9.80 an ounce
to $1,347.10.A Reuters poll found on
Wednesday that most leadingeconomists expect the Fed tobuy between $80 billion and$100 billion worth of assetsper month under a new pro-gramme to bolster the strug-gling economy.
Macquarie analyst HaydenAtkins said the initial euphoriaover QE and its potentialimpact on gold had largelyworn off, and that while themetal may see some support ifthe policy meets expectations,a major lift is unlikely.
Elsewhere wholesale physi-cal gold demand in the world'sbiggest bullion consumerIndia was healthy as the coun-try's busiest gold-buying festi-
val, Dhanteras, got under way,with local demand helped bythe strong rupee.
Traders and retailers expectvolume to rise up to 20 percent despite near-record pricesas customers line up to makethe most of the auspicious fes-tival.
Holdings of the world'slargest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, New York'sSPDR Gold Trust, slipped onTuesday, however, by around1 tonne to 1,292.189 tonnes.ETFs issue securities backed
by physical stocks of metal.On the supply side of the
market, the Xinhua newsagency reported that Chinahad found a 100-tonne golddeposit in Inner Mongolia,worth about $5.25 billion.China is the world's biggestgold miner, and its numbertwo consumer.
Silver also fell to $24.44 anounce against $24.91, trackinggold. Holdings of the world'snumber one silver ETF, theiShares Silver Trust eased fur-ther from the record high theyhit last month on Tuesday.
Platinum was at $1,704.99an ounce against $1,708.50,while palladium was at$638.72 against $643. -Reuters
EU gold sheds nearly1pc as dollar firms
Sugar dips,
but holds near
30-year highLONDON: Raw sugar futureson ICE reversed early gains onWednesday and remained shyof Tuesday's 30-year high astraders eyed a forthcomingmeeting of the Federal Reserveand the prospect of more USmonetary easing.
ICE arabica coffee and cocoaalso fell as the dollar extendedgains versus the euro and yenafter a report showed the USservices sector expanded morethan expected in October.
Sugar remained underpinnedby low global inventories anduncertainty over the level ofexports from top producersBrazil and India.
ICE front-month March rawsugar futures erased early gainsand were down 0.26 cent to29.86 cents a lb at 1548 GMT,below Tuesday's 30-year highof 30.64 cents a lb.
London December whitesugar also reversed earliergains and was down $4.50 to$741.00 per tonne.
Arabica coffee futures onICE were lower, below a 13-year peak set in late October,while robusta coffee futures onLiffe drifted away from a two-year high established last week.
December arabica futuresstood 4.55 cent lower at $1.9700per lb, while January robustasfell $23 to $1,916 a tonne inmodest volume of 3,481 lots.Cocoa futures drifted down asdealers awaited further news onthe outcome of elections in topproducer Ivory Coast.
December cocoa on ICEeased $35 to $2,770 a tonnewhile March cocoa on Liffedipped 33 pounds to 1,861pounds a tonne. -Reuters
NEW YORK: US cottonfutures finished Tuesday at afresh all-time high on worriesover tight supplies and anovernight surge in China's cot-ton prices, analysts said.
Fiber contracts rallied toclose up the permitted dailymaximum of 5 cents for thesecond straight session asstrong demand from millscombined with speculation thatwith a large chunk of the US2010/11 cotton crop alreadysold, there will be a shortageby the spring.
"The demand is there," saidMike Stevens, an independentcotton analyst in Louisiana.Cotton is the best performingcommodity year to date, out-shining the record-setting goldmarket and wheat futures,which surged higher whenRussia's severe drought forcedMoscow to ban grain exports
in the summer.Cotton rose more than 20 per
cent in October and is up near-ly 85 per cent since the begin-ning of the rally in July. TheICE Futures US benchmarkDecember cottoncontract closedat $1.3426 perlb, a record sincethe US Civil Warera. Theexchange's dailylimit will expand to 6.00 centson Wednesday.
The pace of business thoughwas light. Volume traded stoodat 19,369 lots at 1922 GMT,about a third below the 30-dayaverage at 25,786 lots,Thomson Reuters preliminarydata showed.
Analysts estimate that 80 percent of the US cotton crop,which is forecast at 18.87 mil-lion (480-lb) bales, already has
been sold. They said mostother major producers, such asCentral Asia and Brazil, havesold their cotton as well.
In a daily note, theCommonwealth Bank of
Australia said: "Continuedstrong cotton prices in Chinaremain the most supportiveinfluence on global prices andthus far it appears that thehigher prices are yet to suffi-ciently ration demand."
Further support came frommarket talk that India mayclose off its fibre exports,potentially exacerbating analready tight global supply sit-uation. -Reuters
US cotton at freshhigh on supplies woes
Shanghai copper ends upBenchmark third-month
Shanghai copper closed up
0.7 per cent to 63,840 yuan,
while the discount for metal
on the Chinese market rose
to around 1,800 yuan.
Shanghai zinc was little
changed at 19,700 yuan.
KUALA LUMPUR: Prices ofpalm oil futures made littleheadway on Wednesday assome traders said supply con-cerns were overdone even asstrong monsoons hit certainestates in Malaysia.
A steadier US dollar alsokept palm oil from going past a27-month high hit the previousday as investors were cautiouson moving into commoditiesas a safeguard against inflationahead of a US Federal Reservepolicy decision later in the day.
Malaysia's benchmark Jan2011 crude palm oil futuresended 0.1 per cent lower at3,087 Malaysian ringgit($1,001) per tonne after briefly
revisiting the 3,106 ringgitlevel hit the day before.
"We are looking for morecues on the impact of the mon-soon weather on palm oil pro-duction," said a trader with aforeign commodities broker-age. "So far, floods are in thenorthern states of Malaysia,but if the monsoon comesdown strongly to the centraland southern states, we willhave to be careful as these arethe key growing areas."
Overall traded volume washeavy at 16,325 lots of 25tonnes each versus the usual10,000 lots. Traders said vol-umes may fall on Thursday,signalling some position-
squaring ahead of a long week-end holiday that starts onFriday.
The most active September2011 soyoil on China's DalianCommodity Exchange slipped0.3 per cent.
"Soyoil will hover at the highside on the support of firmercrude oil, which will maintainits upward trend in the shortterm," said Zhan Zhi Hong, avegetable oil analyst for ChinaMerchant Futures.
In Asian trade hours, US soy-oil for December deliverybarely moved as the dollar heldsteady ahead of the outcome ofthe US Federal Reserve's poli-cy meeting. -Reuters
Palm oil barelymoves ahead of Fed
NY cotton early-tradeThe benchmark December cotton contract rose
3.62 cents to trade at $1.3788 per lb by 1352GMT, having hit a new record high for the thirdstraight session at $1.392 per lb. The session lowwas $1.3452.
10Thursday, November 4, 2010
Octopus Paul II is pictured at the Sea LifeCentre in the German city of Oberhausen
Tsongapulls outof DavisCup final
PARIS: Jo-Wilfried Tsongahas pulled out of next month'sDavis Cup final against Serbiawith a knee injury, the Frenchnumber one said onWednesday.
"My tendon snapped onceagain in Montpellier," Tsongatold a press conference.
Tsonga said he will miss therest of the season, hence hasruled himself out of the Dec. 3-5 Davis Cup final in Belgrade.
Tsonga had also not takenpart in France's quarter andsemi-final wins over Spain andArgentina.
Captain Guy Forget is likelyto rely on Gael Monfils, whowon the Montpellier title lastweekend, and pick his secondsingles player from GillesSimon, Michael Llodra andRichard Gasquet.
Tsonga, the 2008 AustralianOpen runner-up whose careerhas been blighted by injuries,was also sidelined for threemonths after Wimbledon witha knee problem.
"I am dejected because theDavis Cup is a kid's dream. It'sthe biggest setback in mycareer along with having topull out of the OlympicGames," said Tsonga.
"The injury is less seriousthan last summer but the doc-tors told me to end my season.
"I could have taken anti-inflammatories but I don'tknow how I would haveendured the pain. It wouldhave been dishonest to myteam mates."-Reuters
New womensoccer coachtakes chargeISLAMABAD: PakistanFootball Federation (PFF)'sPresident Makhdoom SyedFaisal Saleh Hayat hasappointed former national menteam coach Tariq Lutfi (PIA)as Coach of the NationalWomen football team partici-pating in the SAFF WomenChampionship.
South Asian FootballFederation (SAFF) is organis-ing women football among itsmember nations fromDecember 3-13 at Bangladeshitown Cox's Bazar.
Tariq, first ever FIFACoaching Instructor fromSouth Asia, is currently man-ager of Pakistan InternationalAirlines (PIA) football teamthat is third in PakistanPremier Football League,behind WAPDA (44 pts) andPak Army (36) with 29 pointsand a game in hand.-APP
MILAN: The chinks in InterMilan's armour were exposedagain by Gareth Bale inTottenham Hotspur's 3-1Champions League win overthe holders as all three teamscapable of reaching the nextstage flopped on Tuesday.
Like Inter, 2009 winnersBarcelona only needed victoryto go through with two gamesto spare but drew 1-1 at FCCopenhagen in Group D toshow nothing can be taken forgranted in this season'senthralling competition.
Olympique Lyon's three-game winning streak andhopes of a quick passage to thefirst knockout round weredashed in a 4-3 defeat atBenfica in Group B, the latestin a series of European match-es with goals and passiongalore.
Manchester United were theonly group leaders who couldnot guarantee qualification this
week but they took a big leaptowards it thanks to DarrenFletcher, Gabriel Obertan andBebe netting in a 3-0 win atTurkey's Bursaspor.
Valencia beat Rangers 3-0 toleapfrog their opponents intosecond in Group C.
Bale made Europe sit up andtake notice with his hat-trick inthe 4-3 defeat at the San Sirotwo weeks ago and the Welshwinger added another few mil-lion to his transfer value asInter again failed to handle hispace.
"Definitely the team had agreat second half,"Tottenham's Italian goalkeeperCarlo Cudicini told Sky.
"Bale never stops, he justruns and runs. He has incredi-ble speed but very good tech-nique and this helps him put allright backs in trouble. Then hehas a formidable cross."
Rafael van der Vaart, sus-pended two weeks ago, sent
White Hart Lane mad with afirst-half goal after good workby Luca Modric but theDutchman was substituted atthe break with a nagginginjury.
Peter Crouch made sure itwas an unhappy return toEngland for his formerLiverpool manager RafaelBenitez when he slid in for thesecond on 61 minutes afterBale showed stunning acceler-ation to whip in the perfectcross.
Red-hot Samuel Eto'obagged his seventh goal of thegroup stage for injury-hit Interbut Roman Pavlyuchenko con-verted another Bale pass aminute from time as Tottenhamwent top on head-to-headrecord.
In the other group game,Dutch champions TwenteEnschede boosted their slighthopes of progressing with a 2-0win at Werder Bremen.-Reuters
Inter outwitted 3-1 by Spurs
NEW DELHI: The IndianPremier League revolutionisedcricket when it burst onto thescene in 2008 with a high-octane blend of internationalstar players, Twenty20 matchesand Bollywood glamour.
But the money-spinning tour-nament faces an uncertainfuture with some observerspredicting its fourth season,due to start in April, hangs inthe balance.
The event has been hit byallegations of massive corrup-tion, money-laundering and taxevasion, as well as secret dealsto hide teams' real owners andeven links to India's criminalunderworld.
Shashank Manohar, presidentof the Board of Control forCricket in India (BCCI), whichowns the league, said he wasdetermined the tournamentwould survive -- and thrive.
"The IPL is a very valuableproperty for us and it will notbe devalued," he vowed,adding that the next editionmay drop the cheerleaders and
late-night parties that charac-terised past matches.
"The focus will be on cricket,not what happens off the field,"he said.
Lalit Modi, the IPL's founder,was thrown out of the sport bythe BCCI in September overaccusations about his conduct.
The BCCI has registered acriminal case against him forthe misappropriation of 4.68billion rupees ($ 106 million)and he also faces a governmentprobe for financial irregulari-ties.
Modi, whose brash style per-sonified the IPL, fled India ear-lier this year -- and has consis-tently denied all the chargesagainst him.
He now lives in self-imposedexile in London, surrounded bybodyguards, as he claims hislife is in danger from Mumbai-based gangsters linked to ille-gal gambling.
Whatever Modi's fate, theIPL faces many obstacles as ithopes to make a fresh start in2011.-Agencies
Scandal-hit IPLfights for future
MELBOURNE: AngeloMathews and Lasith Malingaput on a one-day internationalrecord 132 runs for the ninthwicket to fire Sri Lanka to aremarkable one-wicket victoryover Australia on Wednesday.
The Sri Lankans, who werechasing 240 for victory, lookeddead and buried at 107 foreight before Mathews, whoended up with an unbeaten 77,and Malinga lit up theMelbourne night with somebatting pyrotechnics to claiman unlikely victory.
The partnership was finallybroken when Malinga was runout for 56 with the scores levelat 239, leaving 10th manMuttiah Muralitharan to hit thewinning boundary.
Australia have now not tastedvictory in nine matches in allforms of cricket going back toJuly and have the Ashes seriesagainst England looming at theend of the month.
It had looked like being leftarm spinner Xavier Doherty'snight as he took four wicketsand engineered a stunning runout on his debut to put the hostsin the driving seat. Mathewsand Malinga had other
thoughts, however, and theysprayed the ball around theMelbourne Cricket Groundwith abandon to exceed KapilDev and Syed Kirmani's ninthwicket stand of 126 for Indiaagainst Zimbabwe in 1983.
Sri Lankan paceman ThisaraPerera earlier took five for 46but Michael Hussey belied hisrecent form with an unbeaten71 as Australia rallied to 239-8.
The Australians, beaten byseven wickets in a Twenty20match against the Sri Lankansin Perth on Sunday, startedexpansively and were comfort-able at 85-1 until Perera claimedthree wickets in eight deliveries.
Acting skipper MichaelClarke (27) and wicketkeeperBrad Haddin (49) went tosuperb catches from KumarSangakkara and TillakaratneDilshan before CameronWhite was skittled for a gold-en duck. Doherty enjoyed hisown eight-delivery spell torival Perera's, first trappingMahela Jayawardene legbefore in his first over andhaving Chamara Silva caughtby Shane Watson and bowlingSangakkara in successive ballsin his second.-Reuters
Nightmarecontinues for
Australia
ISLAMABAD: PrimeMinister Syed Yousaf RazaGilani has said that theGovernment has prepared acomprehensive strategy fordevelopment of sports in thecountry.
He was speaking at a cere-mony held here Tuesday to dis-tribute cash awards amongwinners of different sportsevents including recently con-cluded Commonwealth
Games.The Prime Minister said a
record amount of 583 millionrupees was earmarked in lastyear's budget for 47 projectsfor construction of sportsgrounds, stadium and up gra-dation of sports facilities.Seven projects including estab-lishment of a Sports MedicineCentre within the premises ofPakistan Sports Complex inIslamabad were completed
during the last year. He said ahigh level meeting held inFebruary this year decided todouble the sports budget forthe next year.
Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani saida Task Force, headed byMinister for Sports, has beenconstituted to prepare recom-mendations and plan of actionfor improving sports facilitiesand promoting sports activitiesat different level.-APP
Gilani asks forexpertise in sports
KARACHI: The PakistanCricket Board (PCB) has sus-pended the central contracts ofSalman Butt, MohammadAmir and Mohammad Asifwhile they are being inves-tigated for alleged spot-fix-ing during the recent tour toEngland.
A senior PCB officialsaid the contracts were sus-pended in line with theInternational CricketCouncil's (ICC) anti-cor-ruption code.
Butt and Amir's appealsagainst indefinite suspensionswere rejected by the ICC lastweek.
"Their contracts were activeuntil the appeal hearing butonce their initial appeals were
rejected under the ICC code wecan't keep them on contracts,"the PCB's Zakir Khan said.
PCB legal advisor TafazzulRizvi said the contracts weresuspended because the playerswere not eligible to play forPakistan.
'We only give contracts to
players who can play forPakistan. Until their cases aredecided... they can't get any
benefits from the board interms of contracts," hesaid.
The PCB pays a month-ly salary of about 250,000rupees ($3,000) to playersin the top grade, whichincluded the suspendedtrio. Rizvi said the boardhad stopped paying testcaptain Butt and pacebowlers Amir and Asif.
Amir's lawyer ShahidKarim told Reuters that underthe ICC code of conduct thesport's governing body had todecide by December 2 whetherto remove or retain the suspen-sions on the players.-Reuters
PCB suspends contractsof banned trio
MELBOURNE: Sri Lanka's Muralitharan and Mathews celebrate as Australia’s captain Clarke looks on duringtheir One Day International cricket match.-Reuters
InjuredAkmal indoubt fornext ODI
DUBAI: Pakistan batsmanUmar Akmal has sustainedankle injury during the prac-tice session prior to the thirdOne-Day International inDubai that ended his hopes oftaking part in the match.
Akmal twisted his anklewhile playing volleyball dur-ing the training session andwas lined up to replaceMisbahul Haq but his last-minute injury forced his omis-sion and the team manage-ment, instead, handed a returnto the opener Imran Farhat.
"To avoid an aggravation ofhis injury, the team manage-ment decided to leave himout," a Pakistan Cricket Board(PCB) spokesperson toldmedia. "He was sent for anMRI scan on his ankle andwe're still waiting for thereports. His future will bedecided after we receive thereports."-Agencies
LONDON: Tottenham Hotspur’s Pavlyuchenko scores a goal against Inter Milan duringtheir Champions League soccer match at White Hart Lane.-Reuters
n Sri Lanka beat Australia by 1 wicketn Record ninth wicket stand for SLn Mathews, Malinga stage stunning comeback
Ntini leavesa lasting
legacy: SmithJOHANNESBURG: SouthAfrica captain Graeme Smithpaid tribute to Makhaya Ntiniafter the fast bowler announcedhis retirement from interna-tional cricket on Tuesday.
"I am so proud of his achieve-ments, his records speak forthemselves and he leavesbehind a lasting legacy formany to aspire to," Smith toldreporters after his team beatPakistan by two runs in a one-day international in Dubai.
"He has been a pioneer foryoungsters and has representedevery South African while hedonned a Proteas jersey.Makhaya epitomised what theProteas stood for and has beena great servant to the game,"added Smith.
"I am most grateful to havebeen part of his career and suc-cesses and wish him all the bestwith his life after internationalcricket."
Smith said Ntini, who cap-tured 390 wickets in 101 testsand another 266 victims in 173one-dayers, was always goodfor team morale.
"He brought so much energyand laughter to the team, notforgetting that he is one of thefittest players I know, and as acaptain it was always a pleas-ure to be able to call on him,"said the opening batsman.
Ntini is to carry on playingdomestic cricket and will alsohelp to develop a new genera-tion of players through his workwith a cricket academy.-Online
11Thursday, November 4, 2010
International & ContinuationFed, ECB
should await2012 to
normaliserates-OECD
PARIS: Central banks in theUnited States and the eurozone should only return mon-etary policy to more normalsettings in 2012 due to weakeconomic growth, the OECDsaid on Wednesday.
The United States and the16-country euro area shouldwait even longer to normaliseinterest rates if growth turnedout weaker than expected,the OECD said in a set ofpolicy recommendations.
"Because of weak growth inthe U.S. and euro area, andprovided that inflation expec-tations remain well anchored,the normalisation of interestrates should only proceed inearnest from the first half of2012, at a pace that allowsmonetary policy to remainaccommodating," said astatement published by theOrganisation for EconomicCo-operation andDevelopment.
Turning to Japan, theOECD said in its recommen-dations that if the countryremained mired in deflationthen "rates could remain atcurrent low levels throughout2011 and 2012, and furtherexceptional easing should beimplemented to give stimulusto the economy."
Japan cut interest rates vir-tually to zero last month.
"The immediate challengefor the monetary authoritiesis to get the timing for theexit from exceptional stimu-lus right," OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria told anews conference hours beforethe U.S. Federal Reserve wasexpected to announce plansto buy billions dollars moreof government bonds withnew money in a bid to revivea struggling economy.-Reuters
Bangladesheconomy
may grow byup to 6.3 pct
DHAKA: Bangladesh's econo-my might grow by up to 6.3 percent in the fiscal year to end June2011, a senior official of theWorld Bank said on Wednesday,less than the government's targetof 6.7 per cent.
Bangladesh's economy grew by5.8 per cent in the fiscal year toend June 2010.
"Anumber of risks like a severeenergy crisis, declining remit-tances, fragile global recoveryand instability in the internationalcurrency market may have deepimpact in achieving economicgrowth in the current fiscal year,"said Ellen Goldstein, countrydirector of the World Bank inBangladesh.
"Resurgence in commodity,particularly oil and food pricevolatility is also another key fac-tor for the economy," she said at abriefing.
Zahid Hussain, the WorldBank's senior economist inDhaka, said in recent monthsinflation has fluctuated between 7to 9 per cent due to volatility infood prices.
"Relevant international foodprices and domestic productionwill have a strong bearing on foodinflation in the near future," hesaid at the same briefing, addingthat expending private credit mayhave stimulated demand.
Despite a number of risksGoldstein said that there wasroom to achieve revenue targets,with export growth reboundingand letters of credit for invest-ment and production relatedimports rising.
Exports rose by about 30 percent in the first quarter of the cur-rent financial year, while theimport of capital machinery andindustrial raw materials rose bysome 49 per cent and 44 per centrespectively.
Private sector credit grew some25 per cent and revenue growthwas more than 25 per cent in thefirst quarter of the current fiscalyear, Goldstein said.-Reuters
CONTINUATION
NEW YORK: The US econ-omy appeared to be back onthe recovery track, datashowed on Wednesday, evenas the Federal Reserve waspoised to take new emer-gency action to boost growth.
The US services sectorgrew for a 10th straightmonth in October while com-panies added payrolls thatmonth after cutting them inSeptember.
Separate data showed neworders received by US facto-ries rose more than expectedin September and postedtheir largest gain in eightmonths.
The data comes a day afterthe Republican Party wonenough seats to regain con-trol of the House ofRepresentatives in an elec-tion seen by many as a voteon Democratic PresidentBarack Obama's handling ofthe economy.
Polls showed high unem-ployment was among voters'top concerns.
US private employersadded 43,000 jobs inOctober, more than twice asmany as expected, accordingto payrolls processor ADPEmployer Services, whichdeveloped the report withMacroeconomic AdvisersLLC.
September's job losses wererevised to 2,000 from the39,000 originally reported.
The economy is "showingsigns of stability, and whatwe're hoping to see is someincremental improvement,"said Jeff Kleintop, chief mar-ket strategist at LPLFinancial in Boston.
"The employment data sug-gests Friday's report might bebetter than expected, andthat's really important. This
election was about jobs, andwe may actually be startingto get them."
Economists expect the gov-ernment's closely watchedOctober payrolls report, dueon Friday, to show the labormarket still recovering onlyslowly from the recession.
The election, which alsoresulted in Democrats retain-ing control of the US Senate,has raised the prospect ofgridlock and reduced chancesof further economic stimulusfrom Congress, beyond thepossible extension of tax cuts.
Wednesday's reports are thelatest of a series of stronger-than-expected data on the USeconomy, includingMonday's report showingsurprisingly strong growthlast month in the US manu-facturing sector, and the lastbits of data before this after-noon's Fed announcement.
The Fed is expected toannounce it will inject moremoney into the economythrough bond purchases,despite the recent promisingsigns on the economy.
"It looks to me likeemployment is improvingslowly but still is weak on themanufacturing side. The mar-ket's concern about therecovery will remain and theFed later today may look atthis as still a sign they needto ease further on monetarypolicy," said Subodh Kumar,chief investment strategist atSubodh Kumar andAssociates in Toronto.
US stocks were lower atmidday, while the dollarextended gains versus theeuro and yen. US 30-yearTreasury debt traded a pointhigher in price.
Economists polled byReuters expect Friday's pay-
rolls report to show overallemployment increased inOctober but the jobless rateheld steady at an elevated 9.6per cent.
The US services sector hadits 10th straight month ofexpansion, a report from theInstitute for SupplyManagement showed. Its non-manufacturing index rose to54.3 from 53.2 in September,above the 53.5 median fore-cast of 69 economists.
For September, theCommerce Department saidorders for manufacturedgoods increased 2.1 per centafter being flat in August.
Separate data onWednesday showed the num-ber of planned layoffs at USfirms rose slightly inOctober, but the overall paceof downsizing for the year isdown 62 per cent from lastyear, a report said onWednesday.
Employers announced37,986 planned job cuts inOctober, up 2.2 per cent from37,151 cuts in September,according to the report fromconsultants Challenger, Gray& Christmas, Inc.
High unemployment hasalso been a problem for thehousing market. Other datashowed US mortgage appli-cations for home refinancingloans dropped for a thirdstraight week even as interestrates held near-record lows.
The Mortgage BankersAssociation said its seasonal-ly adjusted index of mort-gage applications, whichincludes purchase and refi-nance loans, decreased 5.0per cent for the week endedOct. 29. The four-week mov-ing average, which smoothesthe volatile weekly figures,was up 0.1 per cent.-Reuters
Data points toUS economy
resuming recovery LONDON: Growth in Britishservice sector activity unex-pectedly quickened in October,a survey showed onWednesday, reinforcing theview the Bank of England willopt against pumping any morestimulus into the economy fornow. The headline businessactivity index in theMarkit/CIPS PMI index rose to53.2 last month from 52.8 inSeptember, the highest readingsince June and confoundingforecasts for a dip to 52.5.
The figures were the latest in arun of unexpectedly firm eco-nomic data that analysts saidindicated the recovery was on arelatively firm footing, and dent-ed already waning market specu-lation that the BoE might expandits quantitative easing pro-gramme as early as this week.
Gilt prices fell and the poundrose to a 9-month high against thedollar as investors scaled backtheir bets on the chance of anymonetary easing from the BoEwhen its two-day meeting con-cludes at 1200 GMT on Thursday.
"It reaffirms what we alreadyknew: there's absolutely noneed for the BoE at this stage toengage in any further quantita-tive easing and they're verymuch on hold for the foresee-able future," said Peter Dixon,economist at Commerzbank.
The services PMI data cameafter an unexpectedly robustsurvey of manufacturing activi-ty and weaker construction andjobs PMI data this week, but onbalance suggest Britain's econ-omy made a solid start to thefinal quarter of this year.
Markit said its compositePMI index rose to 53.6 inOctober from 53.2, below itspre-recession average, butnonetheless indicating that therisk of a double-dip recessionhad receded.
And BoE policymakers arealso likely to be concerned bynews of growing inflation pres-sures in the services sector,
with firms ramping up theirprices at the fastest pace in twoyears in response to increases inenergy and wage costs.
However, there is a risk of aslowdown further down theline, as the survey showed com-panies cut jobs and expecta-tions for the year ahead fellback towards their June low onworries about the impact ofgovernment spending cuts.
The improvement inOctober's survey was led by arise in new business, althoughthe expectations index fell a fullpoint and the employment indexslipped back below the 50-levelthat separates expansion fromcontraction as firms braced fortough conditions ahead.
And it also showed that com-panies remain cautious aboutthe outlook and want to see howthe 80 billion pounds ($129 bil-lion) of spending cuts laid outby the government last monthwill affect people's spendingdecisions, with the businessexpectations index down a fullpoint from 66.2 in September.
"On both output and neworders measures, rates ofexpansion remain soft com-pared to long-run averages, ascompanies continue to digestthe true effects on the economyof the coalition government'sComprehensive SpendingReview," said Paul Smith, sen-ior economist at Markit.
Finance minister GeorgeOsborne's ComprehensiveSpending Review detailedplans to slash departmentalbudgets by around 19 per centas the government seeks toeliminate a budget deficit ofaround 11 per cent of GDP overthe next four years. Privatecompanies who have govern-ment contracts are likely to behit hard, while deep cuts to wel-fare spending along with a 2.5per centage point rise in value-added tax from January willsqueeze household budgets.-Reuters
Firm services PMIreinforces bets
BoE to stand pat
"disappointed" by the possible campaign, adding that it wouldtrigger "undue anxiety" among employees during continuing paynegotiations. Joh Findlay, the union's general secretary, told thePost that Cathay pilots had been given just one pay raise in thepast eight years -- in 2008 -- and that pilot salaries lag those atother international airlines.-Agencies
Continued from page 8No #1
destinations of the country. Pakistan Tourism's stand at theExhibition was tastefully decorated with large posters, bannersdepicting Pakistan's natural beauty, unique architecture and won-derful cultural heritage, which were appreciated by every visitorto the exhibition. The documentaries on tourist attractions ofPakistan were also shown on plasma screen. The main attractionfor the ladies visitors were mehndi, bangles, and dry fruit.Pakistan tourism delegation remained busy in holding meetingswith their Canadian counterparts, trade professionals, tour opera-tors, travel agents and media.-APP
Continued from page 8No #2
Senior officials of Suparco, Alternate Energy DevelopmentBoard (AEDB) and UNDP gave detailed presentation about thework done by their organisations in the sector.
Earlier, CEO, EDB Aitzaz Niazi in his welcome address assuredthe private sector that Board will provide all assistance to them forindigenisation of manufacturing of wind mills parts in the coun-try.He added that 40 per cent local vendors have the capabilitiesto make progress in this direction according to estimates made bythe Board. -APP
Continued from page 12No #3
DPO Dera Ghazi Khan said security system of the border linehas been tightened and people will be allowed to cross borderafter strict checking, in this connection computerised system hasbeen set for fingers prints of the people.
He said, people of KPK would allow entry in Punjab throughDera Ghazi Khan but after taking complete record about travelers.
He said patrolling through boats has been started on riversbanks, in this connection, he added links road between KPK andPunjab have been blocked for traffic while large number of policeforce has been deployed on links road. -Online
Continued from page 12No #4
PML-Q president further added that Sharif brothers could beforgiven if they visit Gujrat. -Online
Continued from page 12No #5
He said how can we face the people in this situation and untilthe problems of people are solved till than nothing can happen.
Waseem Akhtar pointed out that Opposition did not raise thepublic issues in last two and half years such as flour, sugar andother problems confronting the masses and only political pointscoring is being done in Assembly. He said MQM has decided toboycott the NA proceeding until government decreases the petro-leum and daily use commodities prices. -Online
Continued from page 12No #6
with tenancy shall be made through cross cheques or withproper receipt or acknowledgment. However, parties candecide to increase or not to increase the rent by agreement inwriting.
Parliamentarians submitted several adjournment motions inthe National Assembly in order to seek permission to hold adebate on the issue of raise in the prices of petroleum productsand inflation in the country. The members who submitted theiradjournment motions included Shakir Bashir Awan, NelsonAzeem, Abid Sher Ali, Marvi Memon and others.The mem-bers objected the government for increasing the prices of
Continued from page 1No #7
Procurement Regulator Authority (PSPRA), Federal PublicService Commission (FPSC), Federal Board of Revenue(FBR), Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS), Accountant Generalof Pakistan Revenue (AGPR) and State own enterprises likePIA, Pakistan Railways etc should be appointed on merit andthey should be allowed to work and complete their giventenure without any political pressure, a senior official of theministry of finance told APP. He said that besides appointingthe heads of these institutions as professionals, governmentunder the pay and pension commission report has also recom-mended that the employees of these organisations should begiven salaries at par with the private sector employees.
The senior official of the ministry of finance further saidthat government under the national governance plan andunder its austerity drive approved by the Cabinet decided tofreeze allocated funds for the financial year 2010-11 to thelevel of the allocations of 2009-10 except for defence anddebt servicing.Replying to a question, he said that govern-ment is likely to table the Reformed General Sales Tax(RGST) during the current session of parliament andexpressed the hope that it would be implemented from nextyear.However, he said that GST on services according to newNFC award is the right of the provinces and the governmentwould take all provinces into confidence before imposing theRGST. -APP
Continued from page 1No #8
that the Ministry asked the PSO to provide the Company with250,000 tonnes of furnace oil daily at gas price in a bid to over-come the power crisis in the metropolis.
Continued from page 1No #9
open market at Rs62/kg and the custom duty of 25 per cent onthe import of sugar has also been lifted. Referring to PakistanSteel, the minister informed that after Rs39 billion losses to theentity government is trying to bail it out and make it a profitableinstitution. To a question, he said two fertiliser plants had been setup in the country during the last two years from which one hasbecome operational at Sadiqabad in Punjab while the other atDherki in Sindh will go into production by December this year.
These plants, he said will produce over 2.9 million tons fertiliz-er of various varieties.On this occasion minister for culture PirAftab Shah Gillani said that unlike Pakistan India does not showPakistani films in their cinemas, and only those films whose pro-duction houses are elsewhere are shown in our cinemas and thedecision to show these films was only taken in order to save thecinema houses since there are no quality films being made in ourcountry and so far Rs29 millions have been received as permis-sion fee. -Agencies
Continued from page 1No #10
finalising the Accountability Bill. He said that Pakistan Peoples Party believes in across-the-board and transparent accountability. He added that there should be no discrimination inthe process of accountability. Furthermore, Prime Minister Gilani again made it clear thatpresent Parliament is the best, adding he highly acclaimed the procedure of legislation donein free fair and transparent manner. Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly, PrimeMinister Gilani opined that he welcomes the unanimous passing of constitutional amend-ments by the Parliament.
Prime Minister Gilani said that he would also welcome every proposal aimed at solution ofproblems in the Parliament. He said that he respects Opposition but we need to resolve prob-lems of the country in a positive manner.Prime Minister Gilani further said that parliament isa free body, adding that only it has got the authority to rewrite or amend the constitutionbesides legislation. -Agencies
Continued from page 1No #12
filed the petition through advocate Husnain Ibrahim Kazmi under article 184 (3).A 3-member bench of SC comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad
Chaudhry, Justice Tariq Parvez Pervez and Justice Ghulam Rabbani took up the case for hearingWednesday. Qazi Hussain Ahmad while diverting the attention of court to this possible fraud hadtaken the plea government wanted to again purchase at higher cost from British Petroleum the assetsit had sold out to the latter at lower cost.This act would cause loss of 800 million dollars to nationalexchequer. Government on the other hand is borrowing the money to purchase these assets.He prayedthe court to direct DG Petroleum and OGDCL to explain as to why they have felt need to purchasethe assets at higher rate.The government earlier sold out these assets at lower rates to BritishPetroleum and now it wants to purchase again these sold-out assets at higher cost, he added. -Online
Continued from page 1No #13
Online that Chaudhry Shujaat met with Senator Ishaq Dar in the chamber of Opposition leader inSenate Wasim Sajjad here Wednesday and discussed issue related to unification of different factionsof Muslim League. Shujaat said Muslim League could establish governments in provinces as well asin federation if all factions became united. Mian Nawaz Sharif should show flexibility, he said, addingthird force is taking benefit of differences between PML-N and Q.He also went on to say that QuaidPML-N Mian Nawaz Sharif should think about the bright future of Muslim League by forgetting thepast.Expressing his views over contact between PML-Q and PPP, Chaudhry Shujaat made it clear thatit was informal meeting and had no political agenda.During the meeting, Senator Ishaq Dar expressedreservation over meeting between Babar Awan and Central PML-Q Chaudhry Pervez Elahi. -Online
Continued from page 1No #14
little inclination to compromise with Obama and Democrats. "We're determined to stop theagenda Americans have rejected and to turn the ship around," McConnell said. "We'll workwith the administration when they agree with the people and confront them when they don't."
Boehner said the sweeping healthcare overhaul passed by Democrats in March would ruin themedical system and bankrupt the country. "That means we have to do everything we can to try torepeal this bill and replace it with common sense reforms to bring down the cost of healthcare."
"The people in the heartland, I think it is safe to say, are fearful. They are angry. And theyare feeling very strongly that the folks in Washington -- in both political parties -- don't justseem to get it," Jim Slattery, a former Democratic representative from Kansas, said at a newsconference. -Reuters
Continued from page 1No #15
Those sectors were seen as vulnerable to more regulation under a Democratic-controlledCongress. Also, a private report showed US private employers added more jobs than expect-ed in October.-Reuters
Continued from page 5No #16
GAIL (India) erased early losses and eked out a 0.1 per cent gain as the state-run gas transportersaid its September quarter net profit increased by 30 per cent.
Advancing shares led declining ones in a ratio of 1.3:1 in the broader market, on robust volume of520 million shares. The 50-share NSE index closed 0.7 per cent higher at 6,160.50.-Reuters
Continued from page 5No #17
Productivity Enhancement through High EfficiencyIrrigated Systems" at a revised cost of Rs18 billion and"dredging of 2 lakes, 14 canals and dredging of River Indusat 3 barrages" costing Rs34.4 billion to the Ecnec forapproval. To overcome the power shortage in the country, theproject "Combined Cycle Power Plant by Installation of320MW gas turbines & 120MW steam units at Faisalabad"
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petroleum products and said that the raise ultimately effectsthe increase in the prices of essential commodities.TheParliamentarians were of the view that OGRA raised theprices of petroleum products without any justification anddemanded to revert the decision in order to save poor massesfrom its negative effects.Two bills pertaining to NationalDefence University (NDU) and Vocational Education trainingwere deferred in the National Assembly on Wednesday for fur-ther consultation.
costing over Rs15 billion with the assistance of UAE was recommended by the CDWP toEcnec for approval.To promote science and information technology projects like NTC -National Security Network, ITU costing Rs 13 billion and "National Electronic Complex"costing over Rs9 billion was recommended to the ECNEC for approval. -APP
broker-chairman would have a better command on the market affairs. It should be noted that the issue of a broker-chairman arose after the present Chairman Zubyr
Soomro expressed reservations on Margin Trading System (MTS) which was approved by KSE'sboard of directors.
Printed & Published by Amir Abbas Ashary at DRC Printing Press for Data Research Communication (PVT) LTD, 111-C, Jami Commercial Phase VII, DHA Karachi.
LONDON: Interior Minister Senator A Rehman Malik offering Fateha after condoling with MQM Chief Altaf Hussain
for the late MQM Leader Dr Imran Farooq.-APP
RAWALPINDI: General DavidPetraeus, Commander InternationalSecurity Assistance Force (ISAF)called on Chief of Army Staff,General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani atGeneral Headquarters onWednesday.
According to military sources, vis-iting dignitary remained with him forsome time and discussed the mattersof professional interests.
General David Petraeus,Commander International SecurityAssistance Force (ISAF) assured themilitary leadership that it will keepon supporting Pakistan besides tak-ing it into confidence on matters ofmutual interest for harmony andpeace in Afghanistan.
He said that without the sheercooperation of Pakistan, US couldn'twin the war against terrorism at anycost, sources said.
General David Petraeus,Commander International SecurityAssistance Force (ISAF) highlyacclaimed the services and sacrificesof Armed Forces of Pakistan termingthem invincible adding we will makesure to enhance Intelligence SharingNetwork between each other so thatextremism and terrorism could beeliminated tooth and nail.
General David H Petraeus alsotook in confidence COAS GeneralKayani on new operations againstTaliban in various areas of NorthAfghanistan. -Online
US says no winin WoT sans Pak
General Petraeus calls on General Kayani
KABUL: US State Department hasawarded a contract worth more thanhalf a billion dollars to expand itsembassy in the Afghan capital Kabul,a project it says will create hundredsof jobs and reflect its dedication toAfghanistan.
The $511 million contract wasawarded to US construction firmCaddell Construction, Inc by the USDepartment of State OverseasBuilding Operations to build an addi-tion to the chancery and expand per-manent housing, the US embassy inKabul said.
The contract will create more than1500 local jobs and inject around $200million dollars into the Afghan economythrough employment, purchase of mate-rials, transportation and the lease ofproperty, it said.
Wednesday's announcement drawscomparisons with US behaviour inIraq, where it unveiled plans for amassive new embassy in Baghdad in2007, also seen as a step meant tosymbolise its transition from an occu-pying power to an ally of a sovereigngovernment.
United States announced a civilian
"surge" last year to accompany aninflux of troops to Afghanistan but thenumber of military personnel far out-numbers State Department officials.
In December, President BarackObama ordered an extra 30,000 U.S.troops to Afghanistan, the last ofwhich arrived over the summer, bring-ing the total number of U.S. troopsthere to around 100,000. Other nationscontribute about another 50,000troops.
Washington has tried to placate thoseconcerns in recent months by saying thehandover will be gradual and that itdoes not intend to abandonAfghanistan.
US embassy in Kabul is already asprawling complex in a prominent partof the city that dwarfs other diplomat-ic missions. Heavily fortified, theembassy also has a private road link-ing it to the Nato headquarters andPresident Hamid Karzai's palace.
Based in Montgomery, Alabama,Caddell Construction, Inc has carriedout many contracts for the UnitedStates government and military, build-ing several embassies, consulates,courthouses and prisons. -Reuters
USA to expandKabul embassy
$500mn contract awarded
ISLAMABAD: Realising theneed of renewable energy inview of the acute energy crisisin the country, EngineeringDevelopment Board (EDB)convened a meeting of theexisting and potential manufac-turers of wind mills hereWednesday.
The meeting was basicallyaimed at assessing their capa-bilities and assistance requiredfor local manufacturing ofmachinery and parts of windmills to develop wind powergeneration in the country. The
meeting was chaired by AitzazNiazi, CEO EDB.
The meeting was informedthat 50kMW electricity can begenerated at cost of 5cents/KWH from 1046km coastfrom Karachi to Hyderabadhaving optimal wind for powergeneration. The cost can bereduced to 3 cents through localmanufacturing of wind mills.
It was considered that a greatopportunity exists for the localengineering industry for indi-genising the manufacturing ofwind mills on account of its
requisite capabilities of existingfacilities and joint ventures andconsortia for which they don'thave the capabilities.
The meeting reviewed localmanufacturing status of windturbine components and parts.
It identified areas of assis-tance in technical, business, tar-iff and policy segmentsrequired by local companies. Itdecided to organise an interna-tional workshop to explorelocal potential of wind turbinemanufacturing in Pakistan.
See # 3 Page 11
Windmills can easepower woes: EDB
EDB to assist indigenous manufacturing of wind turbine
ISLAMABAD: Foreign OfficeWednesday condemning theongoing killing of innocentKashmiris at the hands ofIndian security forces said NewDelhi would not be able to sup-press the aspirations ofKashmiris for long.
Talking to APP, ForeignOffice spokesman Abdul Basitsaid for decades India had beentelling Kashmiris and the inter-national community that it waswilling to find a political solu-tion to the Kashmir issue.
"Nevertheless, it neverdemonstrated the sincerity of
purpose with concrete steps.Instead, it resorted to brazenuse of force to stifle the voiceof Kashmiris," he said. India,however, cannot mislead theworld forever, the Spokesmanadded.
The spokesman said it wasincumbent upon the interna-tional community to take strongnotice of Indian atrocities andhelp resolve the Kashmir dis-pute in accordance with aspira-tions of Kashmiris.
He said the world conscienceshould rise above mundaneconsiderations and respond to
the serious human rights situa-tion in Indian held Kashmir.
The spokesman emphasisedthat the international commu-nity, especially the major pow-ers should not look the otherway, giving India "carteblanche" to continue killinginnocent Kashmiris in blatantviolation of UN Charter andUniversal Declaration ofHuman Rights.
The Spokesman added that ajust settlement of the Kashmirdispute was also a 'sine quanon' for viable peace in SouthAsia. -APP
Delhi can’t reinin Kashmiris: FO
India should not be given 'carte blanche' on Kashmir
ISLAMABAD: Prominentlawyer leader of PakistanPeoples Party Aitzaz Ahsansaid Wednesday that July 31,2009 decision of the SupremeCourt has strengtheneddemocracy and the parlia-ment and blocked the waysfor future military interven-tions for toppling electedgovernments.
He was speaking at a semi-nar organised by the NationalPress Club to observeNovember 3 as Black Day,the day when former dictatorGeneral Pervez Musharrafdeclared emergency in 2007.
Aitzaz Ahsan said that gov-ernment should appreciatethe decision of the SupremeCourt as now nobody coulddare to subvert democracyand violate the Constitution.
"This decision automatical-ly revoked earlier decision ofthe Supreme Court in ZafarAli Shah case in which itallows the dictator to amendthe constitution".
"This decision in factstrengthened the parliamentand political system," headded.
He said independent judici-ary guarantees supremacy of
the parliament and rule oflaw in the country.
Aitzaz further said that irre-sistible force led by lawyers,political workers, civil soci-eties and people from allwalks of life compelledPervaiz Musharraf to come tonegotiation table and quitpower.
He said after March 9,2009, General (R) Musharraftargeted both judiciary andPakistan Peoples Party asboth stood formidable in theway of dictator and chal-lenged his unconstitutionalstep. -APP
Jul 31 verdict fortifieddemocracy, says Aitzaz
POL prices hike
MQM walksout from NAISLAMABAD: MuttahidaQaumi Movement (MQM)boycotted and walked out fromNational Assembly session inprotest against price hike ofpetroleum products, inflationand load shedding in Karachion Wednesday.
Talking on point of order inNA session, MP of MQMWaseem Akhtar criticised thegovernment and opposition andsaid that the industries of Karachiare closing, students are facingproblems due to the load-shed-ding and people are committingsuicides because of the highprices of daily use commodities.
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No need for mid-term
polls: ShujaatISLAMABAD: PresidentPakistan Muslim League-QChaudhry Shujaat HussainWednesday again made it clearthat there is no need at all formid-term elections in the country.
While talking to a private TVchannel, Chaudhry Shujaat wasof the view that country is pass-ing through critical phase andin these circumstances mid-term elections could be danger-ous for the country, urging gov-ernment should complete itstenure of 5 years.
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KP-Punjabbordersealed
DERA GHAZI KHAN: Dueto possible army offensive inNorth Waziristan and possibleterrorism acts duringMoharram-ul Haram the borderbetween Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has been sealed.
According to media reports,Kashif Kanju DPO Dera GhaziKhan told that, the border linebetween Punjab and KPK hasbeen sealed in the areas of DeraGhazi Khan for stopping theentry of terrorists in Punjab andSindh during Moharram ulHiram.
See # 4 Page 11
TTP top-gunarrested in Khi
KARACHI: The CriminalInvestigation Department(CID) Police here onWednesday arrested Yousufalias Qari, a commander ofbanned Tehreek-e-TalibanPakistan (TTP), police said.
The CID police had conduct-ed a search operation inMominabad area of Karachi.
During search operation policehas arrested the TTP commanderYousuf alias Qari and recoveredarms and ammunitions.
Senior Superintendent ofPolice (SSP) Omar Shahid saidthat Yousuf heads the militarywing of Fazalullah group andhe was involved in various ter-ror attacks. -NNI