| January 05, 2009 | Monday | Muharram 07, 1430 |
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Mirza Qaleech Baig Chair
Z.A. Bhutto remembered
Operating Haj flights
Demise of the newspaper?
Intellectual property rights
New Year but old problems
Sacking over luxury taste
It left me wondering if a similar criterion was adopted by our government, the ministries, upper and lower houses would certainly give a deserted look.
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
MR Governor, State Bank of Pakistan, I am writing this letter with reference to the global economic scenario and its aftereffects with special reference to Pakistan.
Pakistan has doubly been hit, both internationally and domestically. At the international level, intelligence reports suggest we are at the brink of being declared a failed state, for which all of us are equal contributors and fully responsible in our own area of operation.
On the domestic front, Pakistan is in trouble, politically, economically and religiously. I will not delve on the political and religious issues, but would only speak about the economic issue and that too on the banking sector, with special reference to the interest rates being offered by different banks to mobilise deposits.
This open letter is addressed to you as you are heading the supreme governing body which regulates the banking sector in Pakistan and have been empowered not only to supervise smooth operation of the banking sector, but also to check the weaknesses and highlight irregularities being committed by banks, and take necessary measures where needed. Copies of this letter has been endorsed to public sector enterprises, the corporate sector, autonomous bodies, financial institutions and newspapers, to make them aware of the financial crunch some of these banks are facing.
At present banks in Pakistan in order to overcome their liquidity position, and to give a facelift to their annual balance sheet, are doling exorbitant interest rates to their customers, going as high as 21 per cent and some offering interest in advance also.
A few of the banks are owned by stockbrokers. A recent example of funds being placed by the EOBI at an ill-advised place has resulted in a loss amounting to Rs7bn. Who is responsible?
My question to you is that despite your lowering the reserve ratio, the liquidity crunch continues, specially with the types of banks mentioned above. The industrial/manufacturing sector has almost come to a standstill; the bill for imports can hardly be footed, the foreign exchange reserves are fast depleting, the NPL in respect of consumer finances of the banking sector continues to bulge, the administrative costs of the banks have gone up.
How then can these banks afford to accommodate their customers by way of such high interest rates? One can only assume that something, somewhere is really fishy, and that State Bank is either on purpose looking the other way or is quite naïve. Why does the State Bank have to provide crutches to some of the banks to avert their inevitable collapse? It has once again moved ahead the deadline for minimum capital requirement. Why? Whose interest is being looked after?
If corrective measures are not immediately undertaken, it is feared that the looming crisis, once it explodes, will not be controllable. In the western world, they believe in doing things in a transparent manner, they do not hide or conceal things. For example, a bank which is in trouble — and everyone knows it — has been offered a massive bailout plan by the government. The bank itself is laying off about 50,000 employees.
Similar is the case with another whereas in our country we order government and public institutions to keep their funds in a particular bank to bail it out, and in case of failure the SBP comes to its rescue, such as in the case of Mehran Bank and the NDFC. Why, in the first place, were corrective measures not adopted?
Why don’t we call a spade a spade? We have to stand up and speak the truth. It is paradoxical that while internationally the interest rates are being lowered in order to keep the economy from going into recession, we are increasing the interest rates to stop inflation, which is an opportunity to the banks for unhealthy competition.
In conclusion, I would recommend the following to bring out some stability in the interest rates and bring us out from this morass: (1) peg the minimum and maximum interest rates say between five to 15 per cent, (2) make it compulsory for all banks to disclose their average deposits, segment-wise, in their annual financial statement, in order to assess the window dressing banks make at the year-end.
The SBP governor should remember:“It is the intellectual class and people sitting at responsible places that have failed Pakistan and not the common man, Taliban, infidels or the West.”
SAJJAD HAIDER
Karachi
AS reported in Dawn (Dec 17) the Board of Governors of the Qalich Baig Chair has decided to display the works of Shamsul Ulema Mirza Qaleech Baig, a literary giant Sindh has ever produced, at the Alama I. I. Kazi campus library of Sindh University.
The announcement bode well for the present generation, most of whom are unaware of a person whose contribution to the growth of the Sindhi language is second to none.
The BoG has also determined to conducted research on the literary contribution, scholars would be registered for MPhil and PhD work and documentaries will be developed on the life and contribution and to introduce Mirza Qaleech Baig to the younger generation.
The general impression that ‘chairs’ are established in universities solely to conduct research on the person in whose name the chair is established is misconceived. In the West a ‘chair’ is the most common form of endowments bestowed on a university through or by wealthy patron, association of alumni or any other social organisation.
This chair, although part of regular faculty of the university, is nevertheless conferred special status being provided only to the highest qualified authority available to that university and conferred special privileges, monetary and otherwise through endowment funds.
The tradition of an endowed chair dates back to 1502 when the mother of Henry VII, Lady Margaret of Richmond, established the Lady Margaret Professorship of Divinity at Oxford University. Later on, Henry VIII created chairs in Civil Law, Hebrew, Greek and Physics.
Private individuals soon started adopting this practice elsewhere as well and this establishment of chairs in the western universities is regarded an as institution itself.
Two hundred years after this establishment, the first endowed chair was established in America, the Hollis Professorship of Divinity, created in 1721 at Harvard. Both chairs are still endowed to this day. At present Harvard University alone has 10,800 separate endowments.
The endowed chairs offer many benefits to the donor, the honoured scholar and, most importantly, to students. An endowed chair offers an opportunity to achieve a more diverse curriculum specifically; awards are used to fund graduate assistants, research, equipment, travel for scholarly pursuits and other expenses related to the responsibilities of the position, such as innovations to teacher education.
Scholars who are chair-holders receive recognition for personal achievements in their fields and the satisfaction that the university supports research and teaching in their discipline.
In the West donors who generously endowed chairs know that they are not only ensuring academic excellence in teaching and research, but that theirs is truly a gift to the future of the university. Endowed chairs are living memorials, perpetuating the donor’s name and signifying a permanent commitment to quality education.
The chair, therefore, has to work as institution in itself to provide universities a breeding ground for research, indispensable for attainment of quality education. For realising this higher goal, continuous flow of endowments is required, for which involvement of well-to-do people is an indispensible condition. Periodical seminars held in the name of chair may be used to invite and motivate affluent business houses and philanthropists to come forward and make contribution so that the rationale of establishing chairs, i.e. attainment of national goal of higher learning, can be achieved.
ISHA M. KURESHI
Karachi
TODAY we pay rich homage to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (ZAB), founder of the Pakistan People’s Party and former prime minister, whose 81st birth anniversary is being observed throughout the country. ZAB had dedicated his life to the service of the nation and never bowed before any military or anti-democratic power. His death was a judicial murder.
Z. A. Bhutto was indeed a great leader of Pakistan, as well as of the Islamic world. He was a real diplomat and knew the art of international diplomacy. He boldly told the Muslim world about how to compete with the West.
He got over 90,000 Pakistanis released from the Indian custody. Today if Pakistan is atomic power, that’s only because of ZAB.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (January 5, 1928 - April 4, 1979) was a politician who served as president of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973 and as prime minister from 1973 to 1977. He was the founder of the Pakistan People’s Party, the largest and most influential political party to date.
His daughter, Benazir Bhutto, also served twice as prime minister. She was assassinated on Dec 27, 2007.
Z.A.Bhutto was educated at the University of California at Berkeley in the United States and University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. He was noted for his brilliance and wit.
Bhutto gave the country its first Constitution in 1973 which was acceptable to all political parties, which signed and endorsed it.
Further, as he built Pakistan, he laid the roadmap to turn the country into an atiomic and nuclear power. He also summoned the first Islamic summit and gathered all Muslim leaders at one platform.
In a short time ZAB brought about revolutionary reforms in the country which changed the face of Pakistan, and its people found stength and happiness in these developments.
ZAB gave the people the courage to stand up to the high and mighty and confront any dictator or oppressor. In a way he revolutionised the thinking of the people.
He was the architect of a new foreign policy which gave Pakistan a new identity among the comity of nations; Paskistan rose on the map of the world with strength and role.
No doubt we have not produced so far anyone to match his wisdom, vision, commitment and achievement, his daughter, the late Benazir Bhutto, was next only to him in her struggle for the rights of all the people of all the provinces of Pakistan.
He was executed in 1979 for authorising the murder of a political opponent, in a move done under the directives of Gen Ziaul Haq. Recently the prime minister in his first speech on the floor of the National Assembly called ZAB’s death a judicial murder. Previously the same remarks were passed by a former chief justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Naseem Hassan Shah, who said that one dictator assassinated Z. A. Bhutto.
ZAB was indeed a populist statesman and rightly called the Quaid-i-Awam. History will always remember this great leader who stood against the tides of dictatorship. His name remains engraved on the hearts of the downtrodden, and his voice is always recognised as the voice of the oppressed of Pakistan.
The need of the time is to implement the democratic philosophy of ZAB and Benazir Bhutto to solve the existing problems. The Bhuttos are gone but their legacy will continue for ever.
HUMERA ALWANI
MPA, Thatta
THIS is apropos of Gul Zaman Khan’s letter, ‘Haj flights fiasco’ (Dec 25, 2008). PIA Haj fares are finalised in coordination with the ministry of religious affairs.
This is done keeping in view the economics of the flight and one very essential element is that for both the journeys the flight operates empty one way.
In India, the government subsidises Haj pilgrimage by 50 per cent, from the cost of air fare to the entire package in the Holy Land. For this reason, Haj pilgrims from India are charged less than are our pilgrims.
This year, to facilitate Haj pilgrims, it was decided to deliver a 10-litre Zam Zam water can free of cost to Haj pilgrims on arrival in Pakistan at their respect destinations.
There have been instances where some of the Hajis could not receive their cans, as some of them got damaged during transportation to Pakistan. However, subsequently within 24 hours they were delivered Zam Zam water.
To avoid mishandling at Haj terminal in Jeddah, Haj pilgrims were required to report eight hours prior to their scheduled departure time.
However, despite PIA’s repeated requests, the Hajis took time to reach the airport, causing delay of initial flights.
Moreover, Haj flights of all airlines operating ex-Jeddah Haj terminal were delayed because of congestion at the terminal.
Air India suspended their post-Haj operation for three days because of the congestion at Haj terminals at Jeddah. However, PIA tried to minimise the delays as much as possible and the Haj pilgrims using the delayed flights were looked after in all aspects at their airport.
The Haj flight schedule is planned by the ministry of religious affairs in conjunction with PIA, which has to be followed strictly. Every effort is made to accommodate the pilgrims at the gateways closest to their destination.
However, due to operational reasons it was not possible to accommodate 1,534 out of 21,932 Hajis of Peshawar on direct flights, and hence they were transported via Karachi.
PIA would like to clarify that it does not earn any profit from Haj flights to the extent that even the operating costs are sometimes barely met.
For this massive operation, the airline has to readjust many of its flights from its high-yield routes, just to quote a few: downgradation of bigger aircraft from the UK to be able to deploy these on the Jeddah route, suspension of third weekly flight from New York, postponement of intended Barcelona operation and so on.
On the domestic sector, we also have to adjust many flight to cater for the Haj operation.
Transportation of Haj pilgrims to the Holy Land is a national obligation which the national carrier will continue doing so.
KHALID IFTIKHAR
Special assistant to the PIA
managing director, Karachi
THIS is apropos of Dr Syed Amir’s article, ‘Demise of the newspaper? (Dec 31).
While it is a fact that in the face of the present digital era, the circulation of traditional newspapers in some of the advanced countries has been witnessing a little decline, there seems no threat to the existence of newspaper, as has been apprehended by Dr Amir.
I had an opportunity to participate in a six-week institute on ‘digital journalism of tomorrow’ at the University of Florida’s College of Communication and Journalism in 2007, under the auspices of Fulbright Foundation. There were 18 scholars of media and journalism from all over the world in addition to our counterparts in the United States taking part in the institute.
This group of scholars visited Washington DC, New York, Miami and other important centres of journalism and the media in the United States. We held meetings with editorial boards of leading national and regional newspapers in addition to discussions with media academics in our host country. During our trip we also visited leading broadcasting houses and centres of digital journalism in the United States and discussed emerging trends in the media and journalism.
On several occasions, during our interaction with media professionals and academics, it was highlighted that the youth in the United States was getting lesser inclined to read newspapers. On the contrary, they preferred to acquire news and comments through one or the other source of digital communication.
But this was also pointed out that it was not for the first time that the newspaper had been exposed to a threat from a new medium of communication since its inception in modern form about four centuries back.
The first and the most formidable threat to newspaper appeared in the form of radio in the early 20th century. The new medium could communicate the news instantly, transcending the time-consuming process of text composition, printing and transportation required in case of the newspaper.
The popularity of the new medium was such that in a single year, from end 1921 to end 1922, the number of broadcasting stations in US alone increased from eight to 564. The pessimists almost wrote an obituary of the newspaper, believing that the newspaper would never be able to match with radio as a means of communication. But, they proved to be wrong. The newspaper came out of that competition with flying colours. The basic strategy adopted by newspapers was that it accorded more attention to its education function meaning explaining the significance of the news events, rather than just conveying the news. In other words, the newspaper strengthened its intellectual dimension, which was not available in the medium of radio.
The next challenge appeared in the form of television during the later part of the 20th century. This new medium attained unprecedented popularity amongst people. Close to almost nonexistence, television reached about nine of 10 homes in the US in just 15 years following the World War II. Again apprehensions were voiced about demise of the newspaper at the hands of television, but proving all such speculations wrong, it came out much stronger than before.
This new era of digital communication has also posed new challenges to the newspaper. But the printed word has its inherent strengths, which are not available in any other medium of mass communication. The circulation of some newspapers might have declined recently, but the fact remains that the intellectually mature persons everywhere in the world subscribe to newspapers as that is the only medium which sustains intellectual growth.
So, Dr Syed Amir should not worry about the extinction of newspaper, at least during the foreseeable future. On the contrary, we should expect to see even a stronger version of newspaper in the days to come on the basis of its past record.
DR MOHAMMAD ALI SHAIKH
Karachi
THERE was an advertisement by the Federal Investigation Agency and Intellectual Property Organisation (Jan 2) to create awareness about piracy.
It is a good step taken by these organisations to create awareness about a crime which many of us do not consider a crime.
But there is also need to understand the causes which force people to commit this crime of buying pirated goods.
Take an example of books published by international publisher which are too expensive for our local students to buy them.
Recently, I have bought two books of international editions which cost me Rs5,000 — a big amount for students to spend only on buying books, it also burdens the parents.
That’s why many students prefer to buy pirated books to save money.
The same is the case with expensive software. There could be many solutions to this problem for which I have a few suggestions:
— The government in collaboration with the publishers can subsidise those books which are too expensive but used extensively by students.
— The government should also encourage international publishers to open their regional offices in Pakistan and publish low-priced edition for Pakistani students.
— The government must also facilitate local publishers to collaborate with international publishers so that books of international publishers could be published locally, which will not only reduce the prices of books but also improve the local publishing industry.
Many Indian publishers are using this practice to provide cheap books to their populace.
— Universities should also motivate teachers to do research and write books so that dependence on foreign books should be reduced.
Beside these steps, the government must improve the education system and provide cheap and good quality books to students so that money does not stand in the way of quality education.
ADIL SALEEM
Lahore
WITH the rising sun of the New Year we see the problems of power and wheat shortages revived once again.
Throughout the country people have gathered to protest against loadshedding which has disrupted the lives of the people at large. Protests are being made just to give vent to the feelings of the people who are made to suffer not only in summers but now in winters too.
The worst part is that our already feeble economy is suffering a lot to bear the loss of power shortages.
Businesses are being badly affected by the continuous loadshedding and power outages. People who earn their incomes by working in workshops and other small businesses have nothing to do these days than to wait for the electricity to come.
With the shortage of petrol, use of generators is also becoming hard as even the petrol is not available to the people for use.
With all the above the routine life of the common man has also become miserable. People are not able to perform their daily chores.
Amidst all this tension, the only thing that we people can do is to save as much electricity as possible. A few practical steps that we all can take are:
— Replace all those bulbs and tubelights with ‘energy savers’. They really consume a lot less electricity.
— Never leave the TV, computer or any such thing on ‘standby’ mode. Even though they are on standby, they still consume electricity.
— Remember to turn off the lights whenever leaving the room or when not needed.
And as for the government, steps must be taken to complete and build more dams. Attention must also be paid to the utilisation of solar and wind energies to produce electricity rather than depending solely on water for electricity generation.
ARUJ MARIAM
Rawalpindi
N. ZUBAIRI
Karachi
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