| 01 April 2004 | Thursday | 10 Safar 1425 |
Nadra's receipts
A sidelined bowler
Operation in tribal areas
Booms never last
Pakistan Resolution
Music: keeping the record straight
No award for nurses
Information
Sheikh Yassin
Bush's vision
OGDC's working
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This refers to Mr Shahid Javed Burki's opinion column "Getting globally connected" (March 23). While it was a very positive and encouraging article, I believe it missed the following important elements critical to setting up an outsourcing industry and then fuelling its growth.
1. The fundamental idea in the article was wage arbitrage. However, the first movers are always looking for people who make up the top of the talent pool. It is important for a new initiative because processes, training and experience are not there and have to be acquired faster than in an established industry or discipline. The top talent in programming costs around $6,000 annually for Pakistan based on a May 2002 Computerworld report citing MetaGroup, a leading analyst firm. Compare that to the average talent pool in India, which is experienced in outsourcing and their cost is also around $6,000. A safer bet would be to go with average but experienced talent for outsourcing and back office operations.
The foundation of outsourcing back office operations lies on the fact that the back office is automated and therefore can be carried out from a distance. The back office operations mentioned in the article like CAD, X-ray analysis, testing drugs, tax returns and call centres are all viable back office operations candidates for outsourcing but need two sets of skills in order to be carried out successfully and cheaply.
One of these skills comes from the academia like medicine, accounting, etc., and the other skill relates to the automation of this process in real world. In the US, most of these functions are now carried out through computers and fully automated processes.
The knowledge of these computer systems and their automated processes is essential for anyone to take over the work load. Unlike India, the local industry in Pakistan doesn't have an outstanding track record of automation or adopting technology for their businesses and therefore the experienced staff are not used to computers and software in disciplines like taxation, accounting, managing a drug test, X-ray and financial analysis.
3. Indian educational institutes were producing quality graduates long before outsourcing became a phenomenon. Their top engineers, scientists, doctors and MBAs were getting consumed by the local business that was increasingly getting automated and therefore they are ready to carry out similar operations for the US.
4. Pakistan is facing a dual problem in entering the outsourcing market. One is the lack of experience of automated industry in our talent pool even though the academia is doing its best but there is only so much that they can do. The other is that unless we provide significant cost factors or value adds to the traditional outsourcing that India is carrying out, we cannot entice a corporation to consider Pakistan over India.
5. Research in these technology and business areas is something that Mr Burki did not mention. One of the reasons for India's leading status in the outsourcing business is research collaboration with leading US enterprises and universities. But again, the research in an academic setting is only fuelled by the needs of the local business consumption and therefore our education institutions cannot do anything unless the business asks for it and funds it.
Outsourcing is dependent on availability of cheaper talent (this "talent" means knowledge of technology, theory and application). Government support, infrastructure and academia have reached a point where they cannot move any further in producing the required talent that can compete on a global scale against likes of India, Russia, or Philippines because of the maturity of local business in those countries.
Our industry needs to stand up to adopting technology resulting in competitive advantage and innovative products for themselves and providing the required talent pool in the country for breaking into the lucrative outsourcing business.
NAUMAN SHEIKH
Mequon, WI., USA
Nadra's receipts
The government has been repeatedly warning people to get computerized national identity cards (CNICs), otherwise they will not be able to cast their votes, open new bank accounts, carry out financial transactions, get a passport, etc.
But all of a sudden the State Bank of Pakistan and the Zarai Taraqiati Bank have decided to accept Nadra's receipt or "undertaking" for opening of bank accounts, loan disbursement, etc. The Election Commission of Pakistan, going one step ahead, declared the old ID card a valid document for the local government elections.
Such decisions by other government departments are in complete contradiction of the official decision by the government/ministry of interior regarding the invalidity of the old ID cards for the above-mentioned procedures. This does not come as much of a surprise, however, since this corresponds to our national psyche of not abiding by state law.
I have seen hundreds of thousands of citizens standing in long queues in the scorching sun at different Nadra offices, just to avoid any possible inconvenience by not having a CNIC, but now it seems that the whole exercise of declaring the old ID cards invalid, and projecting this through print and electronic media on a mass scale was a futile exercise, really, and those who paid no heed to it are not likely to be affected by it at all.
I am afraid that making an allowance for the old ID cards will once again make Nadra's receipt or "undertaking" open to corruption, to the advantage of illegal immigrants.
One also wonders if the State Bank, the Zarai Taraqiati Bank and the Election Commission fall somewhat above the government's jurisdiction and operate according to their own separate rules and regulations.
SYED HARIS HUSSAIN
Karachi
A sidelined bowler
I would like to endorse Mr Ahmed Ali Memon's (March 28) view that former captain and pacer Waqar Younis deserves a place in the Test side. Waqar Younis has a wonderful record in international cricket and is still better than some of the young fast bowlers in the national cricket team.
The way Shabbir Ahmed has bowled throughout the one-day series, except for the Peshawar ODI, shows that he is an inexperienced bowler who needs constant guidance during the course of a match as he tends to lose his rhythm when he gets hit for a few. The presence of Younis will help him develop his temperament.
Records speak for themselves and Younis is the only bowler in any form of cricket who has taken over 70 per cent of his wickets without the help of fielders (bowled or lbw).
This is an astonishing achievement and the fact that he has an aggregate of over 700 Test and ODI wickets is no mean feat either. This kind of effort requires a certain type of cricketing brain which helps a bowler identify how a batsman is moving during the course of his shot.
Waqar Younis has been blessed with this kind of aptitude, and although his lack of pace over the years has affected his bowling, he is still fit enough to contribute meaningfully towards development of these young fast bowlers.
I trust the selectors will reassess their Test team selection, keeping in view the way the Pakistani bowlers bowled on the first day of the Multan Test and also the fact that Abdur Razzaq has become more of a batsman. Hence his medium pacers are ineffective and no captain can contain a batting line-up such as India's with primarily four specialist bowlers.
ZULFIQAR AHMED
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Operation in tribal areas
Whatever the compulsions, President Musharraf should be given credit for ordering punitive action against criminals sheltering in the tribal belt of the NWFP and Balochistan.
If the US government has nudged us into this direction, more power to them, and it is hoped that they will continue to use their influence in making our government move towards a more progressive and civilized Pakistan.
For too long the so-called tribal belt has been allowed the freedom of total lawlessness under misguided foreign and defence policies, both having been dismal failures. However, the main players are still loathe to alter the status quo even as they grudgingly execute a turnabout. Today most of the voices being raised against the army action are of mullahs and tribal maliks.
They have enjoyed unchallenged control over their people, by keeping them backward and unlettered. Women are mere chattel who do most of the physical labour, and are treated as possessions to be dealt with at will. It is quite common for a 70-year-old to claim a bride largely into her teens.
Most of the tribal belt has remained without the benefit of any social or industrial development, yet the maliks, sardars and mullahs have accumulated fabulous wealth.
I can recall when our currency notes were demonetized, truckloads of money were sent in from those areas. The source of this wealth is every kind of conceivable contraband and illicit trade controlled by these so- called elders, and readily supported by government officialdom who get their cut.
President Musharraf owes it to the nation to stay the course and deal firmly with all those who are against an enlightened and progressive Pakistan.
JAVED KHAN
Haripur Hazara
Booms never last
Currently, there is an economic boom of sorts in Pakistan. The banks are loaded with cash. All over Lahore one sees large advertisements of banks inviting people to take loans for house building, cars and other consumer goods. This is a dangerous trend.
Historically, the bad thing about booms is that they never last. They don't lead to sustained economic growth and they seldom make a healthy cultural impact on society. The riches get spent and the boom ends. Most borrowers then default, resulting in bankruptcies.
Spain frittered away the gold and silver it looted from the new world 400 years ago on a binge of high living that weakened the empire. Visit Brazil's jungle town of Manaus and the only reminder of the Amazon rubber boom is the old opera house where Cruso once sang. Drive through the Nevada desert from Reno to Las Vegas; ghost towns stand in silent testimony to an era when silver was king.
I strongly urge upon the financial managers of Pakistan to move with the greatest of caution during this period, otherwise the financial future may not be as bright as the present mirage makes it look like.
WG-CDR (retd) SYED M. AHMAD
Lahore
Pakistan Resolution
This is in response to Mr Kuldip Nayar's article "Ball in India's court" (March 20). He has again raised the matter of the Pakistan Resolution, stressing upon the phrase 'independent states'. The phrase, according to him, came in handy to the people of former East Pakistan during their separation activities.
Notwithstanding the missing phrase in the resolution, the subsequent statement made by the founder of Pakistan, quoted by Professor Stanley Wolpert in Jinnah of Pakistan (page 185, fourth impression 1998) should not have escaped the notice of Mr Nayar.
I quote: 'Pakistan was not explicitly mentioned; nor was it clear from the language of the resolution whether a single Muslim state of both "Zones" had been envisioned or two separate "autonomous" independent states, one in the Northwest, the other in the Eastern (Bangladesh) Zone.
Sher-i-Bengal Fazlul Haq at least appears to have had the latter in mind when he drafted the resolution and read it aloud. But Jinnah was the leader; and when asked by the reporters if this resolution meant one, or more than one, Muslim nation, his unequivocal answer sealed the fate of Bengal's Muslim majority. India's newspaper headlines the next day pronounced the Lahore resolution, a single "Pakistan Resolution" and so it remained.'
Mr Nayar may also be reminded of Prime Minister Vajpayee's statement at Minar-i-Pakistan during his bus yatra accepting the birth of Pakistan as a state without any reservations.
Ms Sheikh Hasina must have read or learnt about Jinnah's speech at Dhaka during which he is said to have stated that Urdu and Urdu alone would be the official language of Pakistan.
He might have spoken these words to bring cohesion, harmony and unity, and not to trigger feelings of separation, or lay the foundation of Bangladesh. Ms Hasina seems to have misconceived the positive approach of the Quaid.
Again, Premier Nehru declared Hindi as India's national language. But still India is a compact nation of many states, and besides, Urdu and Hindi as the principal languages, more than a hundred languages are spoken there.
Suggesting a common official language for the two wings of Pakistan cannot be misconstrued as a reason to break away on the grounds of politics, and other factors that are now a part of history.
Now when India and Pakistan are moving closer to each other, recreating misprinted ghost stories shall not serve any positive purpose and instead retard the peace process.
GHEEWALA A.G.M.
Karachi
Music: keeping the record straight
In a private TV channel's weekly music programme Gai gi duniya geet mere (March 21), compere Annu Kapoor distorted the musical history of the subcontinent while commenting on the song Jis din se piya dil le gaye, the popular composition by the late Khawaja Khurshid Anwar in raga Mian Ki Todi for the film Intezar. He observed that an identical composition (with almost the same lyrics) was made by Amir Khusru, the 13th-century Sufi poet and musician.
In his remarks lay the contradiction of his claim. The raga Mian Ki Todi, as all other ragas with which the suffix 'Mian' is attached, was invented by Mian Tansen, one of the nine jewels in the court of Emperor Akbar.
This goes to prove that raga Mian Ki Todi was the result of the creative ingenuity of the legendary dhrupad singer Tansen during the reign of Akbar (1556-1605). Earlier, no raga with the suffix 'Mian' existed in the melodic lexicon of the subcontinent.
How come Amir Khusro, as claimed by Annu Kapoor, invented a raga 300 years before the birth of Mian Tansen?
SAEED MALIK
Lahore
No award for nurses
Nursing is a neglected profession in our country. It is not treated with the kind of respect its pivotal place in the national health system demands. Much of the squalor and indifferent state in which we find our hospitals today is due to this policy flaw.
I watched the investiture ceremony of national awards by the president on Pakistan Day. It was depressing to note that not a single nurse from the entire country could qualify for the lowest of these awards.
I am sure at the time the president was conferring these awards on the fortunate luminaries, quite a few nurses were busy comforting someone in pain saving the life of a bread-winner, an only son, a mother in labour. But human life is so cheap here that saving it is of no consequence.
In ranking also the nursing profession is discriminated against. The highest they can reach is grade 20. This is certainly not the way to encourage the youth to come into this profession. I request the policymakers to give it a thought.
CLARA PASHA
Former principal, Nursing College, Islamabad
Information
The utility of identity cards will increase if they carry vital information like blood group and contact phone numbers/ address(es) of the holder. In addition to ID cards, driving licences must also have these essential details.
S. UNWAN HASAN
Karachi
Sheikh Yassin
As expected, the US did not criticize the assassination of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.America and Israel are both involved in conspiracies against Muslim states. With this heinous act of Israel, suicide attacks would instead increase and even Ariel Sharon, the murderer of thousands of Palestinians, could be a target.
America generally blames Muslim countries for terrorism and providing shelter to terrorists, but in fact it is the US and Israel which are involved in terrorism of the worst type. This should be stopped immediately or else the world would be embroiled in a major conflict causing much destruction.
AHMAD NOUMAN HASAN
Lahore
Bush's vision
President Bush's vision and strategy seem too labyrinthian to fathom. What is transparent is that he is unwittingly pushing the whole world to the edge of disaster. He has a number of irons in the fire. Many issues bedevil his presidency:
Suicide attacks, galloping military expenditure, budget deficit, Iraq and Afghanistan, anti-American sentiment, internal conflicts, a collapsing economy, Osama bin Ladin, Al Qaeda, interest rates, non-proliferation, etc.
However the canker facing the Bush administration is lacerating terrorism, which is increasing across the globe, and underscoring the president's failure. Even the allocation of 40 billion dollars could not clean the Augean stables of terror and keep Bush on a high pedestal.
Suicide attacks are the strongest barrier and a direct outcome of Bush's vision. So he will be confronting a red signal in this connection in the coming elections. Another monstrous terror is the huge budget deficit, and it is nowexceeding the figure of $600 billion.
These unimaginable dangers could even dethrone him. Because of heavy taxation, he is facing the music from the man in the street. What could further undercut his political career is the escalating defence budget: upto $480 billion.
Although the US executive machinery is sedulously working to give the green signal to Bush, the American public has had a bitter taste of him. Elections could change the social, economic and above all the political scenario of the US.
M. MASOOD-UL-HASNAIN
Kharian
OGDC's working
This refers to the letter by Mr Abdul Saeed Khan Ghori under the headline "OGDC's working" (February 1). Mr Ghori is "shocked" and complains that his address has been incorrectly recorded by the official registrar.
The application form for the offer of shares of Oil and Gas Development Company Limited very clearly instructs applicants, as follows: "4. Full name(s) and address (es) must be written in block letters. Please also indicate Mr/Mrs/ Miss before the name(s)".
Responsible adherence to instructions promotes accuracy, smooth working of the company and good service to the shareholders. Regrettably, Mr Ghori seems to think otherwise. While he has written his name in block letters, he has not used block letters in writing his address. Moreover, the address is not written very legibly, and several members of our staff have deciphered it in the form it has been recorded by us.
MOHSIN RAJAB ALI
Senior Manager, OGDC, Karachi
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