12 January 2004 Monday 19 Ziqa'ad 1424 Towards a change in Saarc's vision The recently-concluded 12th Saarc summit has ended on a note of optimism, bordering on euphoria. While cynics will continue to doubt that the organisation can outgrow its adolescence any time soon ... Will economics replace politics? It appears a foregone conclusion that the regional economic integration in South Asia will lead to a bonanza for all, and is a sure-fire remedy for the economic ailments that has plagued the region. ... NSS rate-cut hits small savers Recent lowering of rates of return on the National Saving Schemes (NSS) - the 10th six-monthly downward revision since July 1999 - will force small savers to explore new areas of investment. ... Water crises and riparian rights Scholars and academicians at a recent national conference debated in Karachi the growing water problem from many dimensions but concluded that the core issue in the water crisis was that of raparian rights. ... Threat to food sovereignty As Pakistan faces wheat shortages of a magnitude that tend to create enough cause for alarm, in the wake of a sudden rise in flour prices and reports of hoarding in almost every province ... Safta: opportunity for businessmen The Islamabad Declaration issued by the 12th Saarc summit after three-days of deliberation voices its satisfaction with the progress of the South Asia Preferential Trade Agreement. ... Power sector restructuring: reforms or regression With the World Bank inroads and an understanding that Pakistan's then battered and under-assail power sector needed change in order to cater for the future needs of the country, specially when it faced perennial brown-outs ... Looking into China's development plan China has set the target for the average annual economic growth rate in the 10th Five-Year Plan period (001-005) at around seven per cent. Though slightly lower than the actual growth rate of the 9th Plan period which was 8.3 per cent. ... Need for a composite industrial policy The country lacks a comprehensive and composite industrial policy and recourse has been found in framing specific industry- related visions/policies ... Rising investment in telecom sector Our entry in deregulation era began in the late 80's when it was decided to switch over to privatization and free market economy. ... Copyright regime Intellectual property rights (IPRs) are the claims of persons over the creations of their mind, which give them the exclusive rights over their work for specific period. ... Trickle irrigation for Nara canal belt According to a United Nations report released a few days ahead of the third water forum held in Kyoto, Japan, world water reserves are drying up fast and booming population ... Wheat production scenario Wheat is a major staple food crop of Pakistan, and occupies nearly 38 per cent of the total cultivated area. However, in 56 years we imported the commodity for 46 years, despite having the largest irrigation system. ... Power of Bt-cotton to combat 'sundi' Cotton is an important cash crop. It is known as 'white gold'. It is grown on about 6.50 million acres this year as compared to 4.95 million acres in 2002-03. ... Saarc summit shots reverberate in stock market Stocks maintained their winning streak during the last week as investors continued to build up long positions almost on all counters, followed by the prediction of a sustained price flare- up in the weeks to come. ... Euro on way to breaking Rs73 barrier The rupee-dollar parity showed a stable trend in the local currency market this week. It did not fluctuate much in the inter-bank market after opening the week on a negative note on January 5 ... Rs8.3 billion mopped up from T-bills' auction On January 7, the State Bank of Pakistan sold Rs8.3 billion worth of six-month Treasury-bills, exceeding the target of Rs5 billion at a cut-off yield of 1.71 per cent ... Commodity markets remain sluggish Trading on Karachi wholesale commodity markets remained slow as leading commercial and brokerage houses did not make any fresh buying followed by the reports of a comfortable ready position. ...

© The DAWN Group of Newspapers, 2004