| 22 September 2004 | Wednesday | 06 Shaban 1425 |
Payment of pensions
Graffiti and cultural heritage
Denationalization controversy
'Marketable' disciplines
University teachers' promotion
Fixing manageable house rents
Muslim world and America
IDEAS-2004 exhibition
Nixon and Bush
Federal cabinet and minorities
DHA charges
Internet at airports
Muzaffargarh's problems
Insurance for bank lockers
Rote learning
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The prime minister's call "for steps to boost power" (Dawn, Sept 10), with instructions to Wapda "to ensure that power stations generate electricity to their optimum capacity" is good news and important for economic revival.
Efficiency is a must for enabling power stations to generate electricity to their optimum capacity and to control availability and costs of power generation. And without making power available at a controlled cost, an economic revival does not even have a chance.
However, all talk of power generation must underline the basic concept of energy conservation and efficiency. Emphasis must be placed on the fact that energy conservation is always more economical than generating additional power.
What are other developing countries with similar power shortages doing? It would be pertinent to study countries which, like Pakistan, have natural gas resources and rely on thermal power plants to meet electricity shortages.
Gas turbine inlet cooling technology is now used very widely to boost power generation and increase efficiency. There are many installations of this technology in Brazil and Argentina, with a big power plant project using gas turbine inlet cooling in Bolivia soon coming online (of course, there are hundreds of such installations in the US to ensure to efficiency and low power costs).
Wapda's combined cycle power stations at Kot Addu and Guddu can generate more power throughout summer. This can be done with higher efficiency and we can thus meet the dual challenge of boosting power and doing that at lower costs.
Unfortunately, most of our thermal power plants are obsolete and uneconomical, and we are wasting our precious fuel due to their low efficiency. It is important to plan conversion of these steam power stations to an efficient combined cycle operation by re powering them with gas turbines to get a 50 per cent increase in power without any increase in gas consumption.
If power stations such as Bin Qasim are repowered in stages according to load demands, the KESC will be able to solve its problems of power shortages and high costs. The prime minister's directive needs to be taken as a challenge by energy professionals.
AINUL ABEDIN
Karachi
Payment of pensions
Pensioners at 60 are senior citizens and deserve relief. Payment of pensions in time thus should be included in the relief package for the elderly recently announced by the prime minister.
All pension rules and regulations state that payment of pensions should not be held up for want of a no-demand certification and that the pension papers should be sent to the audit officer six months before the date of retirement. But these rules are being flouted by the bureaucracy in their entirety. There is, therefore, a need for their implementation to provide relief to pensioners.
I retired on March 3 this year as S.E., M&E Cell, PHED RWP. Pension papers complete in all respects were sent on Sept 10 last year but they have not yet been approved.
I am running from pillar to post without any relief and have spent on my illness the savings I had kept for a rainy day. Requests were made to the Punjab chief minister, the minister for PHED and the chief secretary but to no avail. No inquiry or DP is pending against me.
Immediate orders should be issued from the CM Secretariat that the rules in the case of retiring government servants be implemented and adhered to in letter and in spirit as under:
1. The competent authority should process and approve the pension papers of a retiring government servant and send them to the audit office six months before retirement, without stressing for an NDC as required under the rules.
2. If any recovery as a result of departmental proceedings of inquiry or DPs is established subsequently, it may be deducted from the pension.
3. Disposal of pension cases may be monitored monthly by the chairman, PAC/AG, to ensure timely relief to pensioners.
GHULAM RASUL JATALA
Lahore
Graffiti and cultural heritage
Having had the opportunity to visit many famous landmarks during my travels this past year, I can say that Lahore's Badshahi Mosque and Shahi Qila rival many of the world's top tourist attractions in their rich history and exquisite architecture.
Although I enjoyed my visit to the mosque and the fort, it was marred by an unsightly view of graffiti which have been written on the walls of both monuments.
I actually witnessed a man and his family vandalizing walls of the Badshahi Mosque by writing on them, and upon being approached by my cousin to stop, he continued writing and seemed angry that he had been disturbed.
It was shocking and saddening to see such incidents occur. Shouldn't Muslims know better than to write on the walls of a mosque? Even non-Muslim tourists have greater respect for our mosques than we do.
What shocked me even more was the lack of security and the complacent attitude of those who my cousin did manage to find to complain to, all of whom claimed that it was not there responsibility to stop such crimes.
While visiting the famous mosque in Cordoba, Spain, where the majority of visitors are non-Muslims, one cannot even imagine committing such a hideous crime. If one did, you can rest assured that one of the many security officers on guard would let that happen.
The government of Pakistan must take the initiative to better preserve and protect its cultural sites from ignorant people.
SAIMA AZIZ
Ottawa, Canada
Denationalization controversy
The controversy about the government's move to hand back St Joseph's and St Patrick's Colleges to the Catholic Board is unnecessary and meaningless. It is obvious that vested interests are resisting the move and, to win support for themselves, are bringing up extraneous issues to give strength to their argument. Justice demands that the college premises should be given back to their rightful owners from whom they were taken in 1972 without any compensation.
The present colleges - the students and the staff - can easily be shifted to one of the college buildings lying vacant in the city. How will this make college education more expensive, as the critics claim? I believe the Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association has also agreed to the same solution. Then why this rumpus?
Way back in the 80s when Ghaus Ali Shah was the chief minister of Sindh, I, as president of the Ex-Students' Association of the St Joseph's College, and some other office-bearers met him to request him to return the college to the Catholic Board.
He promised to look into the matter. And then teachers began agitating against it, as they are doing now, and the government decided to let the matter lie unsettled.
One of the teachers told me that she would not want to relinquish the security of service she enjoyed by virtue of the college being a government institution. It is time the teachers realized that if they work conscientiously, nobody will want to throw them out.
SHAHARBANO IQBAL
Karachi
'Marketable' disciplines
Punjab Governor Lt-Gen (retd) Khaled Maqbool has reportedly said at a meeting with the public sector university representatives that new marketable disciplines such as animal production and livestock should be selected for offering diploma courses. This approach ought to be welcomed, especially by the newly-established University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences in Lahore.
Recently, a conference on sustainable livestock production was held in Islamabad by the Pakistan Animal Husbandry Association. One of the resolutions adopted there called for the restitution of the abolished degree of BSc (Hons) in animal husbandry at the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, and for instituting a similar basic graduate degree at the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, in addition to initiating a diploma course in dairy science. These disciplines are required to man livestock and poultry production projects in the public and private sectors.
Unfortunately, the policies of the UVAS have not led to a parallelled development of education and research in animal health and production. No livestock experiment station worth mentioning has been set up on 800 acres of prime land allotted to the university near Pattoki on the National Highway.
It would be advisable for the university to introduce diploma courses in livestock production, as observed by the Punjab governor.
DR M. YAQOOB BHATTI
Lahore
University teachers' promotion
Doctors of Philosophy are promoted to higher grades in universities in accordance with the rules approved by the Higher Education Commission (HEC). Indeed, a PhD degree is a high qualification, but it is regrettable that every university does not have facilities to undertake PhD research.
Moreover, it is difficult to get a chance to go abroad for higher studies in view of the limited number of scholarships offered by the education ministry. To promote college teachers, the condition of higher education such as a PhD degree is not applied, and promotions are made on the basis of seniority.
I request HEC Chairman Dr Atta-ur-Rehman to look into this matter and set aside the condition of a PhD degree to promote a university teacher to a higher grade.
SHOUKAT ALI BHATTI
Assistant Professor, Institute of Pharmacy, University of Sindh, Jamshoro
Fixing manageable house rents
Just like many other exploited classes in our country, tenants of private residential homes too do not have any forum where they can get their grievances redressed, the foremost being the rapidly increasing house rents in major cities.
In Islamabad, house rents are increased by Rs500 on average every now and then. House owners are not the only ones to blame. Estate agents, especially those dealing in rentals, are too to be blamed, more so for their formula of calculating commissions both from the owner and from the prospective tenant. They charge a 15-day settled rent from both parties. Thus, the greater the rent, the greater will be their commission.
This is against the interest of the tenant who pays an equal commission to the agent. A better formula is proposed here in the interest of all tenants, with the expectation that it will be intimated to agents by tenants before asking them to search a house for them.
The formula proposes for the agent a fixed part and a variable part of the commission to be paid by the tenant. One fourth of a rent prevailing in any area should be treated as fixed commission.
To calculate the variable part of a commission, one fourth of the rent should be added to that rent, then this total's difference with the settled rent is calculated. Half of this difference is the variable part of the commission.
For example, Islamabad's F-8 sector has a general rent of Rs20,000 for an average house. Now for an agent, the commission from the tenant's side should be Rs5,000 (1/4th of Rs20,000) as fixed part of the commission.
To ascertain the variable part, Rs5,000 should be added to Rs20,000 to make it Rs25,000. Then its difference from the settled rent (depending upon how lower the agent bargains for the tenant), say it is Rs17,000, is found out, which in this case comes out to be Rs8,000. Now half of Rs8,000 is the variable part of the agent's commission.
The total commission for the agent is Rs9,000 (i.e., Rs5,000 fixed commission plus Rs4,000 variable commission) for finding a home for the tenant for a rent of Rs17,000. Please note that the lower the rent, the greater the commission for the agent will be since this will increase the variable part of it.
The above formula can safeguard the interests of tenants, who pay heavy commissions to agents who usually do nothing except recording names of house owners and accompanying house seekers in their transport to show them houses.
If house seekers in major cities are serious in starting a move to bring rentals down to manageable levels, they should inform their agents of this formula, otherwise they will be continuously exploited by their own payees.
JIBRAN KHALIL MALIK
Islamabad
Muslim world and America
Since invading Iraq last year, America has been threatening Syria for allowing Palestinian freedom fighters on its land, Iran for working on its nuclear programme and Sudan on the issue of Darfur.
In fact, since 1948, when the United States helped the Jews establish the state of Israel, they have been following a "blaming approach" towards Muslim countries, especially in the Middle East.
Under these circumstances, it would not be difficult to understand that such pressure tactics are meant to convert Muslim countries which have the potential to challenge western imperialism to 'moderate' countries. What disturbs one the most is that many Arab/Muslim countries are helping America achieve its sinister objectives.
Z.A. KAZMI
Karachi
IDEAS-2004 exhibition
Holding conferences and exhibitions is an important way of displaying a country's potential to the outside world. This also helps countries attract foreign investment and boost exports. Through these events, investors, both domestic and international, gain confidence.
The IDEAS-2004 exhibition brought Pakistanis' skills in producing high-tech arms to the notice of major production companies and investors from different countries.
The exhibition was attended by 43 delegations comprising experts and major exhibitors from 164 companies representing different countries, which were impressed by the quality of goods on display. This proves that we as a nation can produce high-tech goods, attract foreign investment and boost our exports through such events.
TARIQ MEHMOOD
Karachi
Nixon and Bush
Remember Nixon? That's the man who broke into an office in Washington, DC. Then the unlucky US president got impeached. Now we have Bush who broke into a country, Iraq, a place that offered no direct threat to the US. Thanks to the lacklustre Democrats, he may be headed back for another four years in the White House.
That's what a few decades and the 9/11 attacks have done to weaken America's political sense.
ISA DAUDPOTA
Islamabad
Federal cabinet and minorities
The biggest federal cabinet of Pakistan lacks representation of the Quaid-i-Azam's sacred trust, the minorities. Whether intentional or otherwise, the complexion of the cabinet may create a sense of deprivation among the minorities. Will its maker give some thought to its unpleasant impact on national integrity?
YOUSAF MASIH
Lahore
DHA charges
Through an announcement the Karachi DHA has imposed heavy "additional development charges" on open plots in Phase VII and Phase VIII. For Phase VIII these run into half a million rupees for a 500-sq yd plot.
In 1991-92 we paid increased development charges, and the DHA categorically stated in its letter that the charges were final and would not be taken again. Will someone take notice of this?
CHAUDHARY IQBAL HUSSAIN
Karachi
Internet at airports
In these incredible times of Internet connectivity at the global level, I am surprised to note that our airports do not even have simple wi-fi hot spots which are inexpensive.
These hot spots are very common the world over and enable anyone with a laptop equipped with a wireless local area network (LAN) to access the Internet at mega speed. But people at our airports have to go through limited and primitive computer points.
Wireless LANs are standard features in most of laptops nowadays and even pocket PCs have these features. The relevant authorities are urged to do the needful.
NAVEED MERCHANT
Karachi
Muzaffargarh's problems
We are thankful to the government for appointing the minister of state for communications from Muzaffargarh district. Muzaffargarh's problems include the long-postponed construction of a ring road, delay in the supply of Sui gas to Farid Colony and lack of fixed telephone lines.
Perhaps the minister is aware of the seriousness of these problems and may use his influence with the government to get them solved at an early date.
MUHAMMAD ALAM
Muzaffargarh
Insurance for bank lockers
The State Bank of Pakistan some time back asked banks to get their lockers insured. I propose that all banks should also ask their locker-holders to get their lockers insured for a sum equal to their belongings, so that in case of a fire or a robbery they can lay claims subject to their risk cover.
Banks can charge a nominal insurance premium to encourage locker-holders to get insurance cover.
M. USMAN
Karachi
Rote learning
Mr Muhammad Ilyas Khan has raised in his article "Not the best way to study for an exam" ("Education", Sept 19) an important issue of notes provided by college and university teachers as a simple and easy means of preparing for examinations.
I agree with the writer that these notes harm students' learning ability, but I think they do not affect the assessment or evaluation system. They in fact are a by product of our assessment system which demands rote learning. Who is responsible for promoting this culture, and who can change it?
Education policymakers are requested to change the system of assessment at the college and university levels.
SAIQA AZAM
Melbourne, Australia
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