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| July 16, 2008 | Wednesday | Rajab 12, 1429 |
CNG and captive consumers
Doping again in the limelight
Google’s dominant role
OTHER VOICES - European Press
CHIEF Minister of Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif, has once again trumped Islamabad when it comes to politics and symbolism. In a high profile visit to Quetta, Mr Sharif struck the right notes of reconciliation and rapprochement in Balochistan, a province with festering issues that the government at the centre has done little to address. No doubt that the serious crises of militancy, politics and the economy that the federal government is faced with would tax even the most efficient of administrations, but that is no excuse for putting the Balochistan issue on the backburner. On Sunday, a meeting of Balochistan’s provincial legislators decided to approach the federal government to resolve the issue of provincial autonomy, implement Balochistan’s constitutional quota in federal services and autonomous corporations, and recruit local youths in provincial forces. The demands are a testament to the centre’s current lack of interest in Balochistan. The release of Sardar Akhtar Mengal, president of his faction of the Balochistan National Party, and Shahzain Bugti, grandson of the late Nawab Akbar Bugti, were positive steps, but clearly more needs to be done.
Speaking to provincial legislators and bureaucrats in Quetta, Mr Sharif spoke of the key issue roiling the province: “Baloch are patriots as much as the people of other provinces in the country. We feel shame over the excesses which had been done with the Baloch in the past.” The fact is that many Baloch leaders do not accept that a long running military operation in the province is at an end. Brahamdagh Bugti, the fugitive guerrilla commander, speaking to the media from his hideout at the end of May, asked: “Why does the government talk of reconciliation when it is still engaged in a full-fledged operation against the Baloch people?” For its part the government insists that no operation has been conducted by troops in Balochistan since the start of this year and that any incidents involving the armed forces have been in self-defence. Perhaps most pertinent for reconciliation is the fact that the people of Balochistan have not been lost for good, as admitted by Brahamdagh Bugti: “Many Baloch are not part of the struggle but they don’t oppose us.” Peace will only be achieved if both sides act more decisively. But first a conducive atmosphere for talks must be created. Soon after assuming office, the PPP constituted a reconciliation committee and pledged to arrange an all parties conference on Balochistan ‘within 10 days’, but nothing of note has emerged as yet. Such foot-dragging is hardly conducive to building confidence amongst the Baloch people. On the Baloch side, the spate of targeted killings in recent months of law enforcement and government officials and settlers from Punjab must end. At least everyone can agree that Balochistan needs less violence and more practical politics.
THE committee formed by Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani to look into the CNG price fiasco has come up with some recommendations. The crisis was sparked by the announcement of an erroneous increase of Rs13 per kg on June 30 that was rectified 22 hours later by a statement that the increase was of Rs5.58. Finance Minister Syed Naveed Qamar, head of the committee, has endorsed the ministry of petroleum’s half- hearted attempt to explain away the folly as ‘human error and mistake in calculation’. The committee has on its part suggested that the prime minister should authorise the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) to regulate the CNG tariff to ensure a uniform price mechanism throughout the country. The fact is that it ought to have been Ogra-as the name itself suggests-which should have been the regulator of CNG prices. But Ogra has continued to distance itself from price determination on the plea that it lacks the mandate to fix ‘operational costs’ of stations — these costs being variable, with gas stations charging motorists anywhere between Rs43.90 and Rs51.25 per kg. Since CNG-fitted vehicle owners have to pay the exorbitantly high price. But is there no authority to bring to book those stations that are selling gas at such high prices with impunity?
The recommendations of the Naveed Qamar committee will now be handed over to the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet. But of what use is all that to the CNG consumers, if after almost two weeks of the price increase fiasco, gas stations continue to fleece consumers by demanding a pretty tidy sum over and above the justified price. On Thursday, the Sindh High Court directed the federal petroleum ministry, Ogra and CNG dealer associations to file comments on two petitions questioning overcharging by gas dealers. Ogra has meanwhile referred the matter to the Competition Commission (CCP), which has launched a probe to determine if CNG stations were ‘operating like a cartel’ for price fixing. Despite being burdened with too much work and inadequate funding, the CCP is expected to come up with a ruling that offers relief to harassed CNG consumers. This is essential if the principle of fair competition is to be observed to ensure that a market-based oligopolistic economy does not leave consumers at the mercy of profit-seeking industrialists. In a country where mechanisms that protect consumers are few it is the government’s responsibility to prevent cartels and monopolies — at least in trading of essential goods.
THE disclosure by the World Anti-Doping Agency of Mohammad Asif's positive test during the recently concluded Indian Premier League has once again shocked the nation. This, after all, is not the first time he has landed himself in such a nasty soup. Seen together with the two-year ban recommended last week by the Athletics Federation of Pakistan against two short-distance hurdlers for a similar offence, there can be little doubt about the prevalence of substance abuse in the national sporting fraternity. The two in question were to take part in the forthcoming Olympics against wild card entries after failing to qualify, like many others, through routine channels. They were not expected to set the scene alight anyway, but the faux pas so close to the event is surely a scar on the national image. Devoid of laurels and victories, the once thriving national sporting scene is already at a discomforting low for the last many years. Recourse to illegal performance-enhancement drugs is only adding insult to injury. There is apparently a lack of realisation among the players that the global anti-doping movement has gathered much momentum and there is almost no chance of escaping the random testing system that is now in place.
While individuals are certainly at fault for they are adults, associations managing the affairs of various sports cannot absolve themselves of responsibility either. Most of our sportspersons come from rural areas with nothing more than a rudimentary educational background. It is the responsibility of the associations that once a talent has been spotted, he should not just be groomed, but also educated about such issues and the possible w ays in which he might end up consuming banned substances without knowledge or intention. The plea taken by one of the athletes against whom a ban has been recommended proves the point; she had merely used some herbal medicine to take care of back pain. The case of Asif is a bit of an exception for he is proving himself to be a habitual offender, but it's time administrators started educating the naďve.
TEN years after it was founded in a Californian garage by Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Google has become the dominant player in the global online advertising market and one of the biggest multinational companies in the world.
Brin and Page return to the MediaGuardian 100 this year, having made way in last year’s list for their company’s chief executive, Eric Schmidt.
But if our 2007 panel thought the web giant’s founders had taken a less prominent role in the day-to-day running of the company, then this year’s judges said they were right back at the forefront of Google’s global activities. And elsewhere, Page even made it into the gossip columns with his wedding on Richard Branson’s Necker Island last year.
More significantly, the UK prime minister, Gordon Brown was among the guests praising the Silicon Valley giant at its UK conference in May.
Brin and Page’s creation dominates the UK online search market, with eight out of 10 searches through Google. The UK is its second most valuable territory behind the US, and with ad revenue of $2.6bn in 2007, it is on the verge of overtaking the UK TV station, ITV.
Google has extended its brand and moved beyond its search engine roots with the likes of Google Earth, Google Maps and Google Docs, offering spreadsheets and word processor tools that Microsoft customers have to pay for.
It owns the online video phenomenon YouTube, to which 10 hours of video are uploaded every minute, and bought the online advertising company DoubleClick last year for $3.1bn despite concerns that it would give the search firm unfair dominance.
Google has also moved into mobile internet with its mobile phone operating system Android, and has advanced into offline advertising in the US in TV, print and radio. But Brin and Page – who run the company with Schmidt as a triumvirate – have not had it all their own way.
It is a sign of Google’s success that search engine optimisation has become such a critical tool for anyone who publishes on the web. If you want to be seen, then you have to be seen on Google. While the search engine infuriates the media by sucking up online advertising, it does a crucial job for web publishers by referring people to their site.
—By Guardian staff in London
Ireland’s human rights and state neglect
Irish Examiner
IRELAND appears before the United Nations Human Rights Committee in Geneva today. A report was issued yesterday on human rights conditions in this country. It was compiled by the Irish Council on Civil Liberties (ICCL), the Free Legal Advice Centre, and the Irish Penal Reform Trust. The report is particularly critical of conditions in our prisons, especially overcrowding and poor sanitation. Occupancy of Irish jails currently runs at 122 per cent. It was ironic that the report was published the day the Taoiseach was in France celebrating Bastille Day, which commemorates the liberation of prisoners from the notorious Paris jail in the French Revolution. Ironically this was just days after the riot in Mountjoy jail. A spokesman for the ICCL declared on RTÉ yesterday that prisoners are essentially being housed in lavatories. Not only are the conditions unhealthy, they are also unsafe because prisoners are at risk of violence from other prisoners.
There is a responsibility of care on behalf of the state, which should ensure that prisoners are housed in safety. But prison authorities are frequently unable to provide that protection as so many in jail are mentally ill. We have been closing mental hospitals and releasing people back into the community. Much of the burden is being placed on families in dealing with mental illness, because proper support mechanisms have not been implemented.
Earlier this month a prison report disclosed that 65 per cent of female prisoners and 35 per cent of male prisoners have suffered from mental illness at some stage of their lives.
The issue of extraordinary rendition, whereby the United States has been kidnapping people and jailing them without due process, is again in the news, because this country has been cravenly facilitating the US at Shannon Airport without question. According to the report published yesterday, Shannon Airport was used to refuel a plane engaged in such extraordinary rendition. Henceforth all flights landing there should be subject to random inspections. The Americans like to portray their country as the land of the free, but their human rights record has some serious blemishes. They treated native Indians abominably and institutionalised slavery long after it was abandoned by the civilised world. We should not facilitate extraordinary rendition in any way. — (July 15)
