25 April 2005	Monday	15 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1426

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Draft law on private, public partnership THE Punjab government has drafted a law which lays down statutory framework and procedures for formalizing the participation of the private sector in building infrastructure in the province. The law...		Removing barriers in trade THE three-day visit of President Pervez Musharraf to New Delhi and his frank talk with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have paved the way to normal full scale trade relations between...
Mapping out plans for growth and investment WITH the economy well into the last quarter of the fiscal year, financial forecasters have homed in on growth, inflation, and investment numbers. The government has said GDP growth will top...		Stocks under fire as COT controversy rages all week long STOCKS received fresh massive battering as the standoff on the COT continued until mid-week. Although late reports of extension generated a good bit of short-covering in the leading oil shares, the...
Rupee maintains stability in market THE Pak Rupee maintained its overnight stability in the inter-bank market on the first day of the week at Rs59.43 and Rs.59.45 for buying and selling respectively. Towards the close of...		SBP mops up Rs10.4 billion from money market THE State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) mopped up Rs10.4 billion from the money market at its open market operation on April 19. It did this at 5.49 per cent...
Supply position improves at wholesale markets PRICES of most essential items on the Karachi wholesale commodity markets remained stable as supply position showed a considerable....		Warehouse fires continue to ruin cotton INCIDENTS of fires in commercial markets in various cities destroying goods have been increasing of late. Fire in a market of Rawaplindi in which goods worth about Rs30 million were damaged...
Disease destroying mango trees THE present mango disease that has devastated many mango trees first in the Punjab and recently in Sindh, is visually identifiable by slowly yellowing and wilting leaves in scattered areas. And,...		Saving cotton from the pink bollworm THE cotton crop is hit by many pests but pink bollworm is its worst enemy which not only causes loss to crop but also affects the lint quality. The economic loss...
Encouraging private investment in farming THE contribution of agriculture, currently at 23.5 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP), can be increased with active coordination of public and private sectors. The need is to give...		The car explosion — boon or bane? THANKS to the blind submission to the market orthodoxy, the production, consumption and sales of automobiles have received extraordinary boost. According to...
Using ERP to boost efficiency NOT long ago, physical resources or assets were more focused than human resources but, of late, it has been established that human resource, a moving force behind other assets, is no...		Developing sustainable buildings HUMAN beings spent 22-hours a day in the built environment and yet little attention is paid for ensuring that the buildings are free of pollution, are sustainable and environment-friendly. The United...
Rs600bn freight corridor: Letter from Mumbai THE announcement last week by Indian Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav to launch a dedicated Rs600 billion freight corridor could not have come at a more appropriate time. For, just a...		Poverty and official policies ACCORDING to the “poverty reduction strategy paper” prepared by the government, 30.6 per cent of the population was poor in 1998-99. The poverty level, however, increased to 32.1 per cent in...
Dumping on world agricultural markets SINCE the WTO’s inception, widespread agricultural dumping by global agribusiness companies based in the United States and the European Union has wreaked havoc on global agricultural markets...		The sugar dilemma A STUDY was undertaken in 2003-04 to determine the competitiveness of sugarcane production in NWFP with special reference to the official policies whether they helped or discriminated against the...
Restructuring customs tariff THE Central Board of Revenue (CBR) is making yet another attempt to restructure and reform the Pakistan Customs Tariff (PCT). CBR proposals pertain to (i) reduction of maximum and minimum tariff...		Why India should not get MFN status KASHMIR is an essential part of our identity and in an important sense, is linked to our survival as a lower-riparian autonomous entity. However, maintaining our claim on Kashmir has not...