| August 10, 2008 | Sunday | Sha’aban 7, 1429 |
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Identity of language
Illegal use of authority
Dead mountaineers
Over 100 businessmen fear bankruptcy
Taliban in Muzaffargarh
Impeachment possibility?
I, being neither the government nor the member of intelligentsia, was not afraid. I knew it would happen. The Taliban have a great advantage. They can preach their kind of Islam and their message of rebellion (you know the rebellion is their cherished pastime) to the 65 per cent uneducated and ignorant population of this country and can have that much following in due course of time.
Readers are requested to restrict their comments to a maximum of 400 words. We reserve the right to edit letters for reasons of clarity and space. Letters, including those by e-mail, should carry the complete postal address of the sender. The views expressed in these columns do not necessarily reflect the views of the newspaper.—Editor
WITHOUT power, progress is not possible. Electricity plays a vital role in our economic development. Main sources of our energy comes from oil, gas, hydel and nuclear technologies.
After the discovery of Thar coal deposits, it has become imperative to have a coal policy suitable for electric power generation. The Sindh Coal Authority (SCA) came into existence through an Act passed by the Sindh Assembly in 1993.
It was a vision of the late Benazir Bhutto who had taken the initiative as regards Thar coal and Keti Bunder projects at that time. According to the Sindh Coal Act 1993, the SCA’s main aim was exploration, development, mining, processing, utilisation, research for maximum utilisation of resources to meet the increasing demand of energy to promote industrialisation, but after the dissolution of her second government in 1996 these projects were closed.
Other coal deposits of significance in Sindh are located at Sonda (Jhurruk) estimated at 7.12 billion tons; at Lakhra (Dadu) having 1.33 billion tons and at Badin having 0.061 billion tons. Thar coal deposits are worth $8 trillion and if converted into energy, its value comes to $25 trillion.
It can generate 100,000 MW of electricity for 300 years. These reserves are equivalent to at least 850 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas, these are about 30 times higher than Pakistan’s proven gas reserves of 28 TCF.
Recent studies have also confirmed that 185 billion tons of coal deposits in Sindh are second only to 247 billion tons reserves in the US and much higher than 157 and 115 billion tons reserves of Russia and China, respectively.
Thar coal reserves are equivalent to at least 400 billion barrels of oil, i.e. equivalent to oil reserves of Saudi Arabia and Iran together. One estimate puts our coal energy at 576 billion barrels of oil, which is equivalent to combined oil reserves of the three largest producers.
If only two per cent of the coal reserves at Thar gets utilised, we could generate 20,000 MW of electricity for 40 years.
To generate electricity with the existing Thar coal reserves, it will require an investment of $2 billion, which will amount to only one-fourth of the estimated cost of Kalabagh dam construction.
The Sindh government has strong reservations about the establishment of the Thar Coal Authority (TCA), and says it is tantamount to taking control of the province’s natural resources.
A simple notification cannot render null and void the Sindh Coal Act 1993, which was passed by the Sindh Assembly, the only forum that has the right to amend it.
The Sindh government has rejected the move, calling it ultra vires and interference in provincial affairs.
The chief minister has also made it clear that the already available Sindh Coal Authority will not be abolished. Only the Sindh government is empowered to establish any authority or forum on the coal business.
AS I perceive, the centre’s only role in the context of the Thar Coal reserves is that of a facilitator and not as a main player. According to the Constitution, minerals are purely a provincial subject and no federal government can issue a notification to abolish a provincial law.
The government also plans to establish a Rs600 million institute for training in mechanised mining with foreign help. The provincial government has also allocated Rs360 million for preparing the feasibility for developing coal reserves in Thar and Sonda.
If we start utilising coal, granite and other resources of Thar, we would be able to fulfil our promises as per our party manifesto. Being a legislator we would not allow anyone to usurp the rights of Sindh.
HUMERA ALWANI
MPA, Thatta
A LANGUAGE is a presentation of signs depicting human activities. It can’t be restricted to a certain area or a group of people. Social contacts enrich a language. It evolves with the passage of time. It is synthesised and purified when mature, delicate and sophisticated emotions are presented through literature, fine arts and music.
It gets lucid when it has contacts with other languages. Generally, only that language flourishes which becomes the language of the communication of economic activities. Economic benefits attract people to adopt that language. For example, Persian was the language of the rulers in the subcontinent. If the natives wanted to get jobs, they had to learn Persian. Arabic was important as the religious language. At a large scale when Persian, Arabic and other native languages came into contact, a new language, Urdu, emerged. But the shape of Persian or Arabic did not change. Similarly, English was the language of the British. When the British became the rulers, the job seekers had to learn English.
We argued in the struggle for freedom that we are a nation and Urdu is our language. We got our point proved but English remained the language of the ruling classes. Here, the question of mixing the words of English with Urdu or other native languages is not important, rather important is the fact whether it is being done as part of evolution (‘In defence of Minglish’, an article by Dr Tariq Rahman, July 24) or misuse of a language as part of fashion or identity crisis.
To make the difference clear, let us see some arguments. If we look into the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, we can find out the hell of such words which are not of British English and they are so commonly used as English words that no common man can think that these words are not of English origin.
For example, the words tete-a-tete, cases, resume, curriculum vita, banquet, boutique, e.g. and i.e. are from French, North American English, Latin, etc. Most of the terms in chemistry, biology are of Latin origin. The word ‘guru’ or ‘pundit’ is commonly used in English. This is the evolution of language.
Using English words in our native language is considered a status symbol, and shows we are not proud of our own language. I am not against English but trying to argue that whatever language may be spoken must be used as a pure language.
If you are speaking Punjabi, Balochi, Sindhi, Pashtu, Urdu or any other local language, speak it with full confidence that it is a sign of identity. Try to use only those words in English which have no alternatives in our languages, especially the terms related science and technology. This will enrich our language.
ABDUL QAYYUM
Sialkot
I WOULD like to draw the attention of the PTA, PTCL, CPLC and all SIM provider companies towards a serious problem which I have been facing for the last many months that may be the result of high accessibility and illegal use of authority by some unknown persons.
I and my family members have been receiving SMS messages containing threats from some unknown persons who use different mobile numbers. Some such numbers were: 0345-3757824, 0322-6196202, 0322-8702697. Strangely, these people every time use new SIMs.
To my great surprise, they got opened all blocked SIMs which were once in my name and used those to harass me and my family. However, I got blocked all such SIMs once again with the help of companies concerned.
Our ordeal did not end here. A few weeks ago I was shocked to learn that my mobile number 0332- 8512384 was being used illegally by the same people for harassing my friends. This was despite the fact that my SIM was with me and was active. I have no knowledge how some unknown persons are able to do so.
Nevertheless, to avoid any further illegal use of my SIM, I immediately (June 10) got my SIM blocked. But again there was no respite from harassment. My friends and I continued receiving calls. What is surprising is that the mobile company still clams the SIM has been blocked since June 10.
Moreover, my residence PTCL number is also being bugged by the same people who let us know about what we have been talking about and to whom.
I once again request the PTA, PTCL, CPLC and all SIM companies to look into the matter and do the needful.
IMRAN KHAN
Karachi
THE recent deaths of 11 mountaineers on K2 trying to climb the second highest and most dangerous peak in the world has been very sad. These mountaineers belonged to South Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, Serbia, Italy, the United States and France.
One of the dead was a Pakistani high altitude porter, Jehan Beg, who was trying to rescue Serbian climber Dren Mandic who was the first one to slip in the bottleneck. Peter Hillary, son of Everest pioneer Sir Edmund Hillary, was among those who survived.
It will be fitting if Pakistan announced a day of mourning to honour these brave people who died. This will also be in a pursuit to bring courageous people to Pakistan’s northern areas year after year.
TAUQIR GHANI
Irvine, USA
APROPOS of the news report, ‘Over 100 businessmen fear bankruptcy’(July 20), I would like to say that the report brings to the fore two serious issues: first, the incorrect use of derivatives and, second, risks in over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives, the type these ‘100 businessmen’ entered into with the banks, versus exchange-traded derivatives (ETD).
The report does not specifically mention the type of derivatives which were entered into by the ‘100 businessmen’ but one can assume with a degree of certainty that these were a certain type of swaps.
In a swap, which represents a series of forward transactions, the counterparties agree to buy and sell a stream of cash flows on a notional principal amount over a predetermined length of time.
The cash flows exchanged in a swap can be based on fixed or floating interest rates and on the same or different currencies. In the case of a ‘plain vanilla’ (the most basic type) interest rate swap, a fixed interest rate (plus a spread) is paid in return for receiving a floating rate. Interest rate swaps involve only the exchange of interest payments, while currency swaps also entail the exchange of principal amounts.
Second, the contracts under discussion, entered into by the ‘100 businessmen’, are termed OTC derivatives contracts which in essence means that these contracts were negotiated bilaterally (directly between the two parties) and thus escaped the standard institutional requirements, which are imposed on ETD’s, such as margining, daily mark-to-market at marks determined through transparent mechanisms, and clearing and settlement by a central counterparty clearinghouse.
All derivative exchanges or clearing companies follow what is called a ‘central counterparty’ business model which has evolved and has been perfected over the last century. History has shown us that a derivatives exchange or a derivatives clearing company, which follows this model, has never defaulted and market participants are fully protected from counterparty defaults.
Your article suggests that a number of textile companies, whose principle business is to produce yarn or cloth for export, ended up taking naked (uncovered) positions in currencies, or to put it another way, naively assumed that the rupee would maintain its stability against other currencies.
So, in essence, these borrowers of foreign currency took on huge amounts of risk by speculating in currencies, as opposed to producing yarn or cloth for export, being their core business.
This is a classic example of incorrect use of derivatives and this role reversal is no different which led to the bankruptcy of Orange County and Barings Bank Plc., both in 1994.
Would this have happened if the same textile companies had entered into foreign exchange ETD’s settled in rupees at the SBP rate and interest rate ETD’s at NCEL, a national level all electronic derivatives exchange, which has already applied for permission for listing of such contracts? The answer is a simple ‘No’.
For ETD’s, market price is transparent (often published in real time by the exchange, based on all the current bids and offers placed on that particular contract at any one time). Complications arise with OTC derivatives as trading is bilateral and handled manually, making it difficult to automatically broadcast prices.
In particular with OTC contracts, there is no central exchange to collate and disseminate prices, daily mark-to-market open positions, impose position limits to control excessive speculation and a central counterparty clearinghouse to manage counterparty risks.
Last, had these derivatives (or variations thereof) been listed at NCEL, it would have presented these ‘100 businessmen’ with the opportunity to offset their positions, as is the inherent nature of ETDs, and thus been saved from sending an SOS to the banking regulator when the situation turned against them.
Furthermore, with ETDs being marked-to-market daily, these ‘100 businessmen’ would have been forewarned of the building up of the risk bubble, as the viability of each position is evaluated on a daily basis, thus leading to the savvy businessman taking preventative action well before the bubble burst.
ASSIM JANG
Managing Director
National Commodity
Exchange Limited
Karachi
So it is no surprise that they have emerged in Muzaffargarh. Tomorrow they may surface in Nawabshah or Khuzdar or even Mianwali. What they are demanding in Muzaffargarh is reminiscent of student militia of Lal Masjid and the ‘burqa-clad’ girl students wielding batons — harassing Islamabad residents, destroying music and CD shops, kidnapping policemen, stoning vehicles, burning government property and turning the mosque into a battlefield by using illegal weapons.
What happened to Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa? I think they are asking for the same kind of operation. I have a message for the government, intelligentsia and those who believe in democracy, justice, tolerance and coexistence: “If you do not, with weapons and techniques as effective as their own, attack them before they do, they will destroy you.”
A PAKISTANI
Karachi
IS impeachment possible? Unforunately no. Article 47 of the Constitution on which the entire coalition government opposed to President Pervez Musharraf is relying would not help to impeach him, let alone remove him.
Article 47 has two parts. The first part deals with the removal of the president. He can be removed: (a) if he becomes physically incapacitated, and/or (b) if he becomes mentally instable to perform his presidential duties. He is neither.
The other part of the article can impeach him. He can be impeached: (a) if he has violated the Constitution; and/or (b) if he is involved in gross misconduct. Again, he has done neither. Those who believe that impeachment would logically or automatically result in his removal are sadly mistaken.
The whole chargesheet is not covered by the Constitution. President Musharraf’s vote of confidence from previous national assembly was enough; not addressing the parliament cannot be the basis of impeachment or removal. The worsening of the economic situation is not a tenable charge; he is not responsible alone. There was a finance ministry with its minister and advisers in place.
Mr Musharraf was the one who brought seven-point agenda to uplift the country, especially the economy. He was responsible for filling up the treasury — it had $1.5 billion when he came and it stood at $15 billion when the present government was installed. Today it is at $10 billion. Who is spirally down the economy now? I am afraid the move to impeach or oust him might boomerang.
M.K. NAQVI
Karachi
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