March 13, 2006	Monday	Safar 12, 1427

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What’s happened to the commodity exchange? ALMOST three years after being licensed and several missed launch deadlines later, the National Commodity Exchange, an electronic commodities futures market, is still to begin operations....		Approaches to PSM privatization PAKISTAN Steel Mills — the country’s steel producing giant was drummed up to go under the hammer on March 10. The deadline passed without the event taking place....
Public sector projects moving sluggishly MORE than a quarter of projects included in the public sector development programme (PSDP) for fiscal 2006 are moving sluggishly. Poor project management and utilization rather than lack of funds, are the key causes....		Is livestock policy appropriately structured? A livestock policy had been on the cards for the better part of the current fiscal year. It had actually become public in a piecemeal manner through statements of officials and programmers....
Environmental hazards of pesticides ABOUT 25 million agricultural workers in developing countries suffer from pesticide poisoning each year that includes a significant number of women, says the World Health Organization (WHO)....		Disorientation in agriculture university THE University of Agriculture, Faisalabad the former College of Agriculture and Research Institute, Lyallpur is celebrating its centenary from 14 to 16 of this month....
Myths and realities about cane production Pakistan occupies an important position among cane producing countries. It ranks fifth in cane acreage and production, and 13th in sugar production. The area under cultivation increased up to 1994-95 and then levelled off....		Punjab to develop small hydroelectric projects THE government of Punjab has recently launched an ambitious programme for development of a network of small low head hydroelectric power projects on canals/barrages and streams/rivers....
Foreign investors eying copper reserves BLESSED with copper and gold deposits, district Chnagi in Balochistan is attracting interests of foreign investors. The Toronto-based Barrick Gold Corp has reportedly agreed to acquire 50 per cent of the...		Nai Gaj dam and the survival of Manchhar Lake THE ‘kachho’ belt spread over hundreds of kilometres of un-surveyed land in the jurisdiction of Johi, K N Shah and Mehar talukas is located in the western part of district Dadu....
Land for developers: Mumbai Letter THE Indian Supreme Court last week came out with a significant judgement, clearing the sale of land owned by textile mills in the city to developers, who plan to put up sprawling shopping malls, office towers and high-rises containing plush apartments....		Solving the public transport problem THE city government has reportedly signed an agreement with a foreign firm to construct a 24-km long ‘elevated expressway’ from Jinnah Bridge to Quaidabad at a cost of $225 million....
Avenues for earnings and the cost of living IN the recent days, three (related) pieces of news on the state of the country’s finances and strategies have been made public, albeit to much less fanfare than they deserve....		Snags in execution of housing policy ACUTE shortage of housing coupled with high land prices and ever-soaring cost of building materials continues to be a major social problem. Added to that the rising interest rates on loans...
Islamic modes of financing INTEREST is so extensively and deeply embedded in the modern economy that it has become a linch-pin of financial institutions and it seems difficult, if not impossible, to avoid it....		Pakistan on emerging markets’ list FINALLY, Pakistan has been included in emerging markets list where macro-economic and financial data of 27 countries is produced and published by The Economist, London every week....
India opens retail business to foreign firms THE Indian cabinet last month approved the opening up of the country’s retail and other sectors of the economy to foreign investment. There are approximately 40 million people and 11 million outlets in India’s retail sector....		Minerals in FATA THE geological surveys of 85 per cent of the tribal belt have revealed immense prospects of mineral exploration. In fact, there has been manifold increase in mineral production in FATA for the last few years....
Index crashes on negative news THE stocks experienced terribly bad trading last week as negative news followed in quick succession never letting the investors think of a suitable long-term planning for a falling market....		Rupee/dollar parity moves both ways THE rupee/dollar parity moved both ways this week. In the local currency market, the demand pressure on the rupee persisted but rising trend in overseas remittances and increased inflows of export proceeds did not allow the rupee to fall sharply....
State Bank pumps Rs10bn to ease liquidity crunch THE State Bank of Pakistan on March 9 pumped Rs10 billion into the inter-bank market to ease the liquidity crunch. The overnight rates however, continue to remain high at 8.9...		Market passes through a comfortable week Prices of essential items on the Karachi wholesale markets remained stable last week. The supply position was comfortable followed by the reports of steady arrivals from the upcountry trading centres....