Feburary, 2013 the European Economic Crisis

Jahangir World Times Published: Feburary, 2013

The European Economic Crisis and its Impact on World

US Ambassador Richard Olson Friday, February 01, 2013

A number of countries in Europe face serious financial crisis that has made it impossible for them to refinance their government debt. The debt crisis resulted from a number of complex factors such as the easy-credit conditions during the 2002-08 period which facilitated high-risk lending and borrowing practices, the –2007-2012 global financial crisis, the –2008-2012 global recession, international trade imbalances, the real estate bubbles, fiscal policy choices related to government revenues and expenses and globalization of finance. Another reason for the crisis is the approach used by nations to bail out troubled banking industries and private bond-holders. The result was the burdening of these economies with the private debts.

The debt crisis started in late 2009 as a result of the rising private and government debt. The interesting part of the crisis is the different causes which varied from country to country. Among them is the property bubble through which the banking system bailouts were transferred to sovereign debt. These bailout packages were the response of governments in these countries to boost the slowing of economies in the post-bubble era. The high public-sector wage and pension commitment were another cause which increased the government debt.

The situation in many debt-ridden countries worsened with a major political upheaval and the resultant change in eight out of 17 countries hit by the crisis. The crisis led to power shifts in Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Slovenia, Slovakia, and the Netherlands. Despite sovereign debt having risen substantially in only a few Eurozone countries, with the three most affected countries Greece, Ireland and Portugal collectively only accounting for 6% of the Eurozone's gross domestic product (GDP), it has become a perceived problem for the area as a whole, leading to speculation of further contagion of other European countries and a possible breakup of the Eurozone and slowing down of the world economy.

The response of some governments was on austerity measures such as higher taxes and lower expenses which contributed to social unrest. The economists did not favour these steps rather many of them advocate greater deficits for economies struggling to sail through debt crisis. The advice was especially for countries facing sharp rise in the budget deficits and sovereign debts. The main argument was the crisis of investors' confidence which fuelled the flight of capital from the debt- stricken countries to better performing economies.

In the mid-2012, due to implementation of structural reforms and successful fiscal measures in the countries at risk and various policy measures taken by European Union (EU) leaders, financial stability in the Eurozone has improved significantly and interest rates have steadily fallen. The contagion risk has also greatly diminished for other euro zone countries. As of October 2012 only three out of 17 Eurozone countries, namely Greece, Portugal and Cyprus still battled with long-term interest rates above 6 per cent. By the end of 2012, the debt crisis forced five out of 17 Eurozone countries to seek help from other nations. By the end of 2012, the debt crisis forced five out of 17 Eurozone countries to seek help from other nations. The countries like Greece facing debt crisis were among good performer economies in early mid- 2000s. The global financial crisis of the late 2000s, Greece was hit hard because of its shipping and tourism industries which were especially sensitive to business cycle. The government spent heavily to keep the economy running. It helped the economy but the country's debt increased accordingly. As the crisis intensified, the Greek government requested an initial loan of €45 billion in 2010 from the EU and International Money Fund (IMF) to cover its financial needs. In response, the stock markets worldwide declined along with the euro currency. The Greek government announced a series of austerity measures to secure a three-year €110 billion loan. The Greek public resented this with great anger leading to massive protests, riots and social unrest. Although austerity measures helped Greece manage primary deficit but as a side-effect it also increased the recessionary pressures and negative impact on economy.

In February 2012, an IMF official negotiating Greek austerity measures admitted that excessive spending cuts were harming Greece.

To control the situation, the IMF and other lenders agreed in 2012 to provide a second bailout package worth €130 billion, conditional on the implementation of another harsh austerity package. For the first time, the bailout deal also in cluded a debt-restructuring agreement with the private holders of Greek government bonds. It is the world's biggest debt-restructuring deal ever done, affecting some €206 billion of Greek government bonds.

In return, the Euro group agreed to lower interest rates and prolong debt maturities and to provide Greece with additional funds of around €10bn for a debt-buy-back programme. The latter allowed Greece to retire about half of the €62 billion in debt that Athens owes private creditors, thereby shaving roughly €20 billion of that debt. This should bring Greece's debt-to-GDP ratio down to 124% by 2020 and well below 110% two years later. Without agreement the debt-to-GDP ratio would have risen to 188% in 2013.

The Irish debt crisis was not based on government over-spending, but from the state guaranteeing the six main Irish-based banks who had financed a property bubble. In 2008, Finance Minister issued a two-year guarantee to banks' depositors and bond-holders. The guarantees were subsequently renewed for new deposits and bonds in a slightly different manner.

With Ireland's credit rating falling rapidly in the face of mounting estimates of the banking losses, guaranteed depositors and bondholders cashed in during 2009-10. With yields on Irish Government debt rising rapidly, the government negotiated bailout package of €67.5 billion in November 2010. Together with additional €17.5 billion coming from Ireland's own reserves and pensions, the government received €85 billion, of which up to €34 billion was to be used to support the country's ailing financial sector. In return the government agreed to reduce its budget deficit to below three percent by 2015. The Greek government announced a series of austerity measures to secure a three-year €110 billion loan. In July 2011 European leaders agreed to cut the interest rate that Ireland was paying on its bailout loan from around 6% to between 3.5% and 4% and to double the loan time to 15 years. The move was expected to save the country between 600 and 700 million Euros per year.

The outlook of the Irish economy is promising. According to the Centre for Economics and Business Research Ireland's export-led recovery will gradually pull its economy out of its trough. The improved economic outlook has helped Irish economy. The cost of 10-year government bonds has already fallen substantially since its record high at 12% in mid-July 2011. In July 2012, it was down at a sustainable 6.3% and it is expected to fall even further to a level of only 4% by 2015.

In July 2012, for the first time since September 2010, Ireland was able to return to the financial markets selling over €5 billion in long-term government debt with an interest rate of 5.9% for the five-year bonds and 6.1% for the eight-year bonds at sale.

When global crisis disrupted the markets and the world economy, together with the US credit crunch and the European debt crisis, Portugal was one of the most affected economies to succumb.

In the summer of 2010, 'Moodys Investors Service cut Portugal's sovereign bond rating, which led to increased pressure on Portuguese government bonds. In the first half of 2011, Portugal requested a €78 billion bailout package to stabilize its public finances. These measures were put in place as a direct result of decades-long governmental overspending and an over bureaucratised civil service. After the bailout was announced, the Portuguese government implement measures to improve the State's financial situation and the country started to be seen as moving on the right track.

Spain had a comparatively low debt level among advanced economies prior to the crisis. It is a public debt relative to GDP in 2010 was only 60%, more than 20 points less than Germany, France or the US and more than 60 points less than Italy, Ireland or Greece. Debt was largely avoided by the ballooning tax revenue from the housing bubble, which helped accommodate a decade of increased government spending without debt accumulation. When the bubble burst, Spain spent large amounts of money on bank bailouts.

The bank bailouts and the economic downturn increased the country's deficit and debt levels and led to a substantial downgrading of its credit rating. To build up trust in the financial markets, the government began to introduce austerity measures and it amended the Spanish Constitution in 2011 to require a balanced budget at both the national and regional level by 2020.

As one of the largest euro zone economies (larger than Greece, Portugal and Ireland combined) the condition of Spain’s economy is of particular concern to international observers. Under pressure from the United States, the IMF, other European countries and the European Commission the Spanish governments eventually succeeded in trimming the deficit from 11.2% of GDP in 2009 to an expected 5.4% in 2012.

According to the latest debt, sustainability analysis published by the European Commission in October 2012, the fiscal outlook for Spain, if assuming the country will stick to the fiscal consolidation path and targets outlined by the country’s current programme, will result in a debt-to- GDP ratio reaching its maximum at 110% in 2018 followed by a declining trend in subsequent years. With regard to the structural deficit, the same outlook promised it would gradually decline to comply with the maximum 0.5% level required by the Fiscal Compact in 2022/2027.

The writer can be approached at American University in the Emirates Dubai, UAE Dr Zafar Mueen Nasir The Crisis of Government isn't Over

The Islamists are fast losing their popularity, but their opponents are still too weak and divided to vote them out of office

US Ambassador Richard Olson Friday, February 01, 2013

In a new year's message Muhammad Badia, the Supreme Guide of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, advised his followers to temper resilience with magnanimity. “Be like the tree which, when battered by stones, drops its finest fruit,” he said.

His most prominent adherent, President Muhammad Morsi, has certainly proven resilient. Ignoring a tide of opposition that has swollen since he took office in June, Mr Morsi pushed through a controversial referendum in December to endorse a new constitution. Since then he has faced down challenges from Egypt's restless judges, braved serial resignations of advisers and ministers, and parried opponents by sponsoring a national dialogue that is actually being held just by Brothers and their allies. At elections next month for the lower house of parliament, the Brotherhood's party looks set to do well. In the interim, thanks to an election last year when only 10% voted, it controls the previously weak upper house, which the new constitution has helpfully turned into Egypt's sole if temporary legislature.

Yet Mr Morsi has shown little magnanimity. Instead of using his right to appoint a third of seats in the upper house to make it more diverse, he put in more yes-men. The Brotherhood's rowdy members have been allowed to beat up protesters outside the president's office. Its lawyers, legislators and allies in the media have launched increasingly sharp attacks on his critics. Egypt's public prosecutor, recently appointed by Mr Morsi over furious objections from his peers, has ordered a probe into a television satirist, Bassem Youssef, whom Islamist litigators accuse of insulting the president. His crime? Using as a prop a red, heart-shaped pillow with Mr Morsi's face pictured on it.

The Supreme Guide also called on the Brothers to struggle against “opportunists” whose goal is to “undermine the popular will” and to “foil the Islamist project”. Other darker mutterings are being heard in Islamist quarters. An article on a Brotherly website, for instance, hints of a conspiracy against Egypt's new order by Coptic Christians and Zionists, orchestrated by an American magnate, Sheldon Adelson.

The mood on Egypt's streets is bitter and polarised. The coming general election will be the seventh time since the revolution of January 25th, 2011, that Egyptians have been asked to queue for hours in national polls. In December's flawed and rushed referendum, fewer than a third of registered voters turned out. Richer and better-educated ones largely voted against Mr Morsi's constitution but the rural poor voted overwhelmingly in favour, upping the overall yes vote to 64%, enough to render futile the widespread claims of fraud. Mr Morsi pushed through a controversial referendum in December to endorse a new constitution. Since then he has faced down challenges from Egypt's restless judges, braved serial resignations of advisers and ministers, and parried opponents by sponsoring a national dialogue that is actually being held just by Brothers and their allies. Private opinion polls suggest that the Brotherhood, though still adept at mobilising its core of support, is increasingly mistrusted. Poverty and joblessness have increased since the revolution nearly two years ago. When Mr Morsi's cabinet clumsily unveiled but then retracted a set of tax increases in December, further delaying a long-awaited debt-relief deal with the IMF, a ratings agency downgraded Egypt onto a par with stricken Greece. Many hotels are empty. Three-quarters of the Nile cruise fleet was grounded over the Christmas high season. Foreign currency is drying up. The central bank has allowed the Egyptian pound to depreciate for the first time since the revolution. Inflation is set to gather pace. Egyptians are painfully aware that, to secure the IMF's proffered $4.8 billion loan, which could unlock a lot more foreign aid, severe austerity measures, including cuts in energy subsidies, must be imposed.

But Mr Morsi's troubles have yet to help his non-Islamist opponents. Despite efforts to forge a united front, secular liberals have failed to provide a convincing alternative or to create strong networks. But this could change. Some sense a coming reaction not only against the Brothers, whose image of piety and competence has been tarnished, but against the Islamist trend in general. Yet few expect this to happen in time to affect next month's election.

The Brothers may be more worried by a challenge from their right. In the general election a year ago, puritan Salafist parties got a quarter of the seats. The country’s most charismatic Salafist politician, Hazem Abu Ismail, has announced an alliance with a group of senior figures in the largest Salafist party, who recently resigned en masse in protest against its doctrinal rigidity. With his folksy charm putting the dour Mr Morsi in the shade, and with the Brothers blamed for failing to fix things, the Hazemoon, as Mr Abu Ismail’s rowdy enthusiasts have been dubbed, may prove to be the next—and no less alarming—wave of Egypt’s future. JWT Desk

The Pak-Afghan Relations A post-2014 scenario

The Pak-Afghan relations have been on a thorny road since Pakistan’s establishment in 1947.

US Ambassador Richard Olson Friday, February 01, 2013

Pakistan and Afghanistan are now led by pragmatic leaders who focus on domestic economic growth and political stability. But it is unclear whether this harmony in national goals and principles can override the long-standing mutual suspicions and overcome a cacophony of contradictory domestic interests. Despite intensifying the Pakistan-Afghanistan political consultations and the active US role in the region, fears about trust deficit and state-sponsored terrorist intrusions still persist particularly between the two national security establishments. Their reluctance for economic and security cooperation to boost trade and discourage cross-border terrorism lags far behind the two nations' political slogan words “brotherly countries” and “strategic neighbours”.

Notwithstanding the tremendous long-term potential, the promises of bilateral trade and investment cooperation in the oil and gas sectors (with especial reference to the Caspian Sea oil), small industries, banking, education and even transportation still remain unfulfilled. Internationally, Pakistan and Afghanistan are in a mood to reverse their Cold War strategic roles. A rising Kabul intensifies its regional proactive diplomacy aimed at curtailing negative role by the neighbouring countries inside its borders. And, on the other hand, a retrenched Pakistan pursues a minimalist- passively reactive policy in Afghanistan to counter Indian designs in its background.

The Pak-Afghan relations have been on a thorny road since Pakistan's establishment in 1947. They oscillated from the 1950s, '60s and '70s bitter ideological split and cross-border hostilities to Pakistan's active role during the Soviet invasion in Afghanistan during 1979-1988 and in the 1990s. During the post-2001 period, they enjoyed normal state-to-state relations though not for long. They avoided war but had profound disagreements including the Durand line border. Both countries, led by a new generation of Westernised pragmatic leaders, now focus on their domestic economic growth, political stability, secure borders and cross-border terrorism. Although they strive for a docile relationship between the two countries, they shy away from more aggressive goals of rebuilding trust between the two erstwhile untrustworthy countries. It's a negation to a friendly neighbourly relationship.

The strategic neighbourhood is designed to tilt to one another's shoulders in global affairs to avoid war or a proxy war and develop together in harmony. They often support the frequently-stated principles of counterterrorism policies, cooperation to counter terrorism, state sovereignty, non- interference in domestic affairs and a joint strategy to eliminate terrorism in the region. Islamabad and Kabul are both part of the US-led international coalition fighting against global terrorism, separatism and religious extremism. However, beyond this they do not share common political, military, national security and economic interests. Every next week, the top leadership of the two countries pronounces hostile statements and blames each other for interference in internal affairs respectively. Geographically neighbours, Pakistan and Afghanistan are strategically policy-wise far apart. Both have totally failed to stand together against their common enemy – Al-Qaeda.

Though Osama Bin Laden is dead, and Al-Qaeda's backbone is fractured, many Afghans fear that once the West leaves them alone, their country will plunge into a civil war. Will their powerful neighbours, including Pakistan, continue their interference in the landlocked Afghanistan or agree to a stability pact and non-interference? Al-Qaeda is still present here and its allies in Afghanistan and Pakistan are working with full force. Take the case of the TTP (Tehrik-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan). Their modus operandi is just like Al-Qaeda and they are doing utmost damage to the state. Nobody knows for sure as to how they will react to the US pullout from Afghanistan. Their future policies will be more focused in the aftermath of the Arab movements. A rising Kabul intensifies its regional proactive diplomacy aimed at curtailing negative role by the neighbouring countries inside its borders. Stabilising Afghanistan and Pakistan and ensuring that Al-Qaeda plays no role in either country has become even more vital in the aftermath of the Arab revolutions (nicknamed Arab Spring). The Arab Spring has offered a chance to the Muslim World for faster economic progress, democracy, literacy and stability. However, the unleashed extremists from Afghanistan and Pakistan can destabilise the Middle East and destroy changes there. Thus the Arab Spring compounded by the US withdrawal from the region has resulted in new transformations of peace-building with the adversaries.

The withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan depends on making peace with the Taliban. This would leave a self-sustaining Afghan government and army to take over the responsibilities of security, governance and development in the post-2014 Afghanistan. However, regional security is essential if Afghanistan is to survive. Unfortunately, peace talks between the Taliban and the US have not been contributed by Pakistan. Islamabad has always been in the hub of the Afghan affairs.

No-one can deny the fact that Pakistan was the frontline ally of the West during the Soviet invasion in Afghanistan. Similarly, Pakistan provided vital logistical and intelligence support to the US and its NATO allies during their attack on Afghanistan in 2001. Now peace talks sans Pakistan between the vital stakeholders (Taliban and the US in Doha), the natural phenomenon of a successful diplomacy will not work. It goes without saying that Pakistan is an important country in the peace- building process concerning Afghanistan. So ignoring such an important country will be tantamount to a fragile peace in Afghanistan.

With the US-NATO withdrawal in 2014, a friendly relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan becomes a prerequisite of a successful strategy for the entire region. The truth is that the West can no longer afford to fight in Afghanistan. According to a public poll, 70% Europeans oppose the Afghan war. The number of people, in the US, opposed to war is around 60 per cent. Between year 2001 and 2010, the US spent a total of $444 billion in Afghanistan, including $25 billion each for economic development and Afghan security forces.

If economic costs and not major successes on the battlefield determine the endgame in Afghanistan, it will be extremely harmful and might result in a fragile peace. In that case a fragile peace in Afghanistan will directly affect Pakistan and its people.

Precisely, Afghan President Hamid Karzai seems to have lost trust not only of a large number of Afghans but also the international community. He has failed to improve governance, tackle corruption or carry out free and fair election. He is at the loggerheads with the Pakistani administration. President Karzai normally blames Pakistan for his bad governance and militancy in his country. His faulty counterterrorism policies hit back. But he blames Pakistan for his failure. He appears to be wrapped in contradictions and enigmas. If there is to be an effective transition toward self government, then a clear-headed visionary Afghan leadership is needed. Such leadership will look at the future while keeping cordial and friendly relations with the neighbours including Pakistan.

As the endgame approaches, intense competition has developed among Afghanistan's neighbours including Iran, Pakistan, China, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. These countries have a long and bloody record of monumental interference in Afghanistan. In case of fragile peace in Afghanistan in the post-2014 era, they would probably be preparing for moving in once again, recruiting their proxies among the Afghan warlords and spending money and exerting influence in the country. Afghanistan cannot be stable unless its neighbours like India, Russia, and Saudi Arabia agree on non-interference. Regional diplomacy is the need of the hour for a longer and lasting peace for Pakistan and Afghanistan alike. The Arab Spring has offered a chance to the Muslim World for faster economic progress, democracy, literacy and stability. The region is beset with crises that are getting worse, but there is still time before 2014 to rectify the situation. Negotiations with the Taliban are indeed important. However, this must not take place in bits and pieces. The US is conducting talks with the Taliban in Doha; whereas the Karzai government holds talks with the Taliban in Paris. This is a dichotomy in a fragmented policy of the US. A coherent and integrated negotiation policy of the US-Afghanistan-Pakistan is direly needed to deal with the Taliban jointly and effectively.

The US policy and strategy have not been shared with its allies. It must clarify what relationship it wants to have with Afghanistan, Pakistan and the wider region after its withdrawal in 2014. The US must stop surprises for Afghanistan and Pakistan. A policy and strategy known to its allies will be more comprehensive, effective and pragmatic. This will further make Pakistan and Afghanistan sit together to contain the common enemy -- the terrorists. As long as strategic in interests of the US, Afghanistan and Pakistan are in conflict, peace in the region will not be possible.

After comprehensive negotiations, Pakistan and Afghanistan need to launch a stability-operation in the two countries. It must be creative and share capabilities. Trade and commercial agreements are possible only after peace and security in the region. Once stability is established, oil and gas projects of the Caspian Sea will shower fortune upon the region.

Pakistan and Afghanistan must support each other if the process of political reconciliation is to remain on track. It will result in a peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan which will be a guarantee for the entire region. The alternative is that the entire region falls into the abyss.

The writer teaches at the Department of International Relations, the University of Peshawar. [email protected] Dr Syed Hussain Shaheed Soherwordi

Still Bloody

Though violence has dipped since June 2012, Iraqis are still a sad and fearful bunch

US Ambassador Richard Olson Friday, February 01, 2013

On the last day of 2012, a year after the last American troops left Iraq, ending nearly nine years of military occupation, at least 36 Iraqis perished in a wave of bombings and shootings across the country that targeted policemen, government officials and ordinary people of varied sects. According to Iraq Body Count (IBC), a meticulous mainly American and British monitoring group, the overall toll in deaths of civilians due to political violence last year was 4,471, slightly more than the year before. On average, there were 18 bombings and 53 violent deaths a week. Iraq is hardly a country at peace.

Yet the monthly toll in 2012 fell steadily and markedly after June. The violence was also increasingly concentrated in a few areas: 43% of the deaths counted by the IBC were in two of the country's 18 provinces, Baghdad and Nineveh, which abuts Syria and has Mosul at its hub. The rest of the country may be more peaceful than at any time since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. Iraq's main oil-producing areas, in the south, are generally free of trouble, with exports boosted to 2.8m barrels a day, the highest rate for three decades.

Yet few Iraqis are celebrating. That extra money has yet to improve public services or to raise family incomes appreciably. The underlying violence still amounts to what the IBC terms “an entrenched conflict”. Worse, the factors that feed the strife are still at play. In particular, Nuri al- Maliki, the tough Shia Muslim who has been prime minister since 2006, shows increasingly authoritarian, sectarian and democracy-sapping tendencies, ruthlessly ousting or outmanoeuvring rivals, and using underhand methods to impose his will. He is widely viewed as a would-be dictator, tolerant of corruption, reliant on the backing of Iran and willing cynically to stir up strife between Iraq's minority of Sunni Arabs and its Shia majority, or with Iraq's fiercely autonomous Kurds in the north, to maintain his grip on power in Baghdad.

A recent wave of protests across the mainly Sunni areas to the north and west of Baghdad, including strikes and sit-ins, has sharpened sectarian strife. Sunnis were particularly outraged last month when the bodyguards of the Sunni finance minister, Rafi al-Issawi, were arrested.

That provoked memories of a similar episode a year ago, when Mr Maliki's men jailed, tortured and sentenced to death the guards of the vice-president, Tareq al-Hashemi, another leading Sunni, accusing them of being part of a death-squad that was targeting Shias. Mr Hashemi fled to the Iraqi Kurds' capital, Erbil, and now resides in Turkey. He was later sentenced to death in absentia. A serious illness that has recently befallen Iraq's mainly ceremonial president, Jalal Talabani, a Kurd who has sometimes acted effectively as a mediator above the sectarian fray, has further jangled Iraqi nerves. A recent wave of protests across the mainly Sunni areas to the north and west of Baghdad, including strikes and sit-ins, has sharpened sectarian strife. Sunnis were particularly outraged last month when the bodyguards of the Sunni finance minister, Rafi al-Issawi, were arrested. Sunni grievances go deep. Long dominant until Saddam Hussein's fall (he was executed in 2006) and having suffered the brunt of violence during America's occupation, Iraq's Sunni Arabs reckon they are now deliberately marginalised. Addressing a crowd in the town of Ramadi, west of Baghdad, Mr Issawi complained that Sunnis were being “ghettoised”. Districts where they still predominate in Baghdad had, he said, been turned into “giant prisons ringed by concrete blocks.”

The civil war next door in Syria, with its increasingly bitter sectarian flavour, has not helped. While Iraqi Sunni groups, including some tied to al-Qaeda, lend arms and fighters to Syria's rebels, Mr Maliki's government quietly aids Bashar Assad's embattled regime. Sunni Iraqi insurgents who once attacked Americans are targeting Iraqi Shias and people connected to Mr Maliki's government. The recent Sunni protests have also gained sympathy from Muqtada al-Sadr, a fiery Shia cleric whose powerful popular movement has grown increasingly critical of Mr Maliki.

Perhaps in an effort to win backing across the Arab sectarian chasm, Mr Maliki has been raising the stakes with the Kurds, who claim areas, including the city of Kirkuk, that have large non-Kurdish populations. The oil ministry in Baghdad fiercely opposes the increasingly successful efforts of the Kurds to persuade foreign companies to exploit oil in their own region.

Iraq is still a violent mess. Its democracy, imposed by the Americans, looks fragile. And the prospect of real harmony between the three main ethnic and sectarian components—Arab Shias, Arab Sunnis and Kurds—looks as distant as ever. JWT Desk

‘The future of Pakistan lies in holding free, fair and transparent election.' Up, close and intimate with Mr Richard Olson US Ambassador to Pakistan

US Ambassador Richard Olson Friday, February 01, 2013

Profile

Mr Richard Olson was sworn in as Ambassador to Pakistan on September 24, 2012. Previously, he served as the Coordinating Director for Development and Economic Affairs at U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, from 2011 to 2012. Ambassador Olson also served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from 2008 to 2011. He is a member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Minister Counselor. He graduated from Brown University in 1981, receiving an A.B. in Law and Society (Honors) and History. Mr Olson has been awarded the Presidential Distinguished Service Award, the Secretary of State's Award for Public Outreach, the State Department's Superior Honor Award (three times), and the Secretary of Defense's Exceptional Civilian Service Award (for his service in Iraq). Mr Olson joined the U.S. Department of State in 1982. He has served in Mexico, Uganda, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, the UAE (where he served both in Abu Dhabi and Dubai) and in Najaf, Iraq. He was also Deputy Chief of Mission at the United States Mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). His Washington assignments include: State Department Operations Center (twice), NATO Desk, the Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs (twice, including as Director), and the Office of Iraqi Affairs, including as Director.

Jahangir's World Times (JWT) approached His Excellency Richard Olson, the United States' Ambassador to Pakistan, for an exclusive interview. The following are excerpts: JWT: Excellency, Dr Tahirul Qadri led a ‘Long March’ to Islamabad at a time when Pakistan is looking forward to have a first-ever democratic transition. How would you comment on the present situation?

RO: We are looking forward to transition of power from one civilian authority to another civilian authority through a free and fair election. We are happy that the issue of ‘Long March’ was settled in a peaceful manner. The people also enjoyed the right to get assembled freely. The future of Pakistan lies in holding free, fair and transparent election. The people of Pakistan are to decide the future of their country through an election process. We are encouraged that the ‘Long March’ remained peaceful. We do not support any individual or any particular political party. We did not support Dr Tahirul Qadri. We only support democracy in Pakistan.

JWT: There is tension between Pakistan and India on the Line of Control (LoC). How do you feel about this region?

RO: We feel quite encouraged to note that ceasefire on the Line of Control is maintaining now. It is imperative for both Pakistan and India to work together to prevent incidents of violation of ceasefire on the Line of Control.

JWT: President Barack Obama has taken oath as President of the United States for his second term. Will his administration follow the same policy, or rethinking, back in Washington?

RO: The policy of the United States towards Pakistan will continue on the same lines as it has been in the past. We want to build up a strong partnership with Pakistan based on the common appreciation of our mutual interests and mutual respect. President Obama has a long-time vision for our relation with Pakistan.

JWT: When you talk of the continuity of the US policy, does that mean a continuity of the drone strikes?

RO: It is not a secret that there are many challenges in our relationship, especially in year 2011 onwards. I think there is a sense of partnership, a new sense of engagement since last summer. There have been high-level contacts between the two sides. Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has been to Washington and President Zardari to New York. We also held meetings with different working groups, and they have been talking of cooperation in energy, education, economy and financial sectors. Our relationship is on a much more productive side. Our relationship is to take forward and put the relationship on solid levels. Whether it is a talk of drones or anything else, the broader question is of countering terrorism and extremism. Pakistan and the United States share the common objectives with regard to countering extremism. This is a part of our bilateral dialogue and we discuss many issues as how to move forward.

JWT: Following the Salala incident, the two countries held intensive talks. Do you think there are still some points of divergence?

RO: What is important is to identify the common interests between the two countries. We want to work together for economic partnership, solution to the energy problem etc. We have been cooperating in refurbishing the major energy sources. Through refurbishing, we are proud of having added 400MW of electricity last year to the national grid here. JWT: We know the strategic dialogue is back on track and different working groups have been holding meetings. But certain promises made to Pakistan by the US still remain to be fulfilled. For instance, the aid promised under the Kerry Lugar Berman (KLB) law has not yet been given. Though this arrangement is under the US law, the inflow is not being maintained. Don’t you think it’s a slowdown policy?

RO: I don’t think it is a question of a slowdown. It is quite difficult to get assistance programme up in running in a short order. We are now reaching a level of maturity on the programme under the KLB law. That’s true that money is involved and we have not been able to do that as yet. However, we are working on it as to how to allow funds and spend them to fulfil our commitments that we have made in the past. I would say that you would see over the next six months various projects coming up in line under the KLB programme.

JWT: The Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (RoZs) was another major promise made by the United States. What is the progress on setting up the RoZs?

RO: The RoZs proved difficult to get support in the United States. What we want to do is to work in future towards a market access generally. There is always more market access available, especially for Pakistan’s textile producers. One of the things to do is to make Pakistan businessmen and entrepreneurs aware of the opportunities they can avail under the generalized market access in the United States.

JWT: How about the military assistance? Is it still suspended?

RO: We have very active dialogue with respect to security assistance. It is not a topic that I want to make comments on publicly because the subject is very sensitive. But I can say that we have engagements on this front and we do have an assistance programme going on.

JWT: With the pullout time-frame nearing, how is the perception in Washington in the post- withdrawal scenario? Your Excellency has also served in Afghanistan. May we know whether you are optimistic, or share pessimism about the future of Afghanistan?

RO: I am optimistic on the arrangements which have been put in place in regard to Afghanistan. I’ll not call or categorise it as a withdrawal. What is happening in the aftermath of December 2014 is a final transfer of security authorities from the ISAF to the Afghan security forces. We actually do not plan to disengage from Pakistan or with Pakistan. One of the important things that have driven the US policy for the last several years is the appreciation of what happened in 1989-90.

JWT: There are lot of apprehensions around that the US might ditch once again and abandon this region without appropriate settlement in Afghanistan?

RO: I wanted to talk about this. The US policy towards Afghanistan has been very conscious of this aspect. Both in Afghanistan and in the region, we have taken some concrete measures to address these issues. First, we have a strategic partnership with Afghanistan which regulates our relationship in the coming decade of transformation i.e. 2014 to 2024. The Bonn and Tokyo conferences pledged to provide funding to Afghanistan in the transition period. The Afghans have to determine their own political programme for transition as election is to be held in April 2014. So the situation today is very different from the one in 1990. In addition, we are in the process of negotiating a bilateral security agreement which will establish parameters under which the US forces might be able to stay after 2014, if so invited.

JWT: It means the US is just handing over security to the Afghan forces, but it would continue to be staying over inside Afghanistan?

RO: We are not interested in permanent bases in Afghanistan. Our only consideration is that there is a security assistance programme for Afghanistan in the post-2014. It will be a very limited set-up and mission. And for that too, the decision has to be made by Afghans and the US president. I do not want to prejudge. We are discussing the potential framework for such a presence. I think the overarching point is to be engaged extensively in a slightly different manner in the post-2014 scenario.

JWT: With reconciliation process inside Afghanistan, the United States wanted to hold a dialogue with the Haqqani Group. The US held the dialogue in Qatar but did not release the Taliban from Gitmo. Is there any clarity in Washington as to this very issue?

RO: With respect to the reconciliation, we welcome the recent visit by Afghan High Peace Council to Pakistan. It is a good omen that the two sides are talking and building confidence. What I would say on a broader perspective is that Pakistan is a part of the solution in Afghanistan. On the question of reconciliation, we welcome the role and effort made by Pakistan. With respect to the Haqqani network, our position is well known and we have concerns on the Haqqani network. We want to work together with the Pakistan government to continue to squeeze the Haqqani network. We see the Haqqani network as a threat to all as well as to the transition in 2014 and beyond. JWT Desk

Line of Vulnerability

The latest flare-up of tensions along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir is a reminder of the accident-prone nature of Pakistan-India relations in a strategic environment unaltered by improvement in trade and political ties.

US Ambassador Richard Olson Friday, February 01, 2013

The border hostilities witnessed last week are inherent in the unresolved status of bilateral disputes. This makes the LoC susceptible to advantage seeking by one or both sides.

Despite trading accusations in the past several days, both countries have shown mutual interest in defusing the present tensions to keep the process of normalisation on track. Even so questions have been raised about whether the existing arrangements are adequate for escalation control or need to be strengthened by more formal and robust mechanisms? If cross-LoC clashes a few weeks ago had their genesis in India's construction of new bunkers that are barred by a 2005 agreement that followed the 2003 ceasefire, how can similar violence be averted in the future?

Recalling the sequence of events so far will help to answer these questions. Let us therefore consider the known facts about the incidents of January 6, 8 and 10 and the developments that led up to them.

The Pakistani version of how it all started focuses on the attempt by the Indian army around three months ago to build new observation posts around the village of Charonda in the Haji Pir sector.

Here it is important to recall the joint statement agreed between the two countries in 2005. This followed the LoC ceasefire agreed at the prime ministerial-level in 2003. In the August 8, 2005 joint statement issued after the second round of expert-level talks, both countries agreed not to “develop any new posts and defence works along the LoC.” This commitment was reaffirmed in subsequent joint statements. When efforts to build new posts were made or suspected in the past, border flag meetings were sought to resolve the matter.

This time around when Pakistan's military authorities detected new constructions being built near the LoC, they asked for the customary flag meeting to address the issue. The directors general of Military Operations from both countries also spoke twice on the hotline. When Pakistan's objection to the construction work was conveyed it was met by the Indian insistence that this was routine maintenance of old fortifications and not a ceasefire violation. During October warnings over a loudspeaker by Pakistani troops in the area also yielded no results. Thereafter the construction became the cause of exchange of fire between the two. An action-reaction cycle followed. Mortar fire led to Indian claims of civilian casualties in the village. Then followed a cross-border Indian attack on the Pakistani position at Sawan Patra from where the firing is said to have come. While exchange of fire across the LoC is not unusual, crossing the Line is relatively rare and represents an escalatory step regarded by both sides as a serious ceasefire violation. The Indian incursion within 30 metres of the Pakistani post was repulsed.

The raiding party was chased away but the January 6 clash claimed the life of a Pakistani soldier and left another wounded. India insists that maintenance-related work on present posts should include upgrade of the LoC fence. Islamabad finds this Pakistan's account was supported by a report in The Hindu of January 10. According to the newspaper, the Indian army's bunker construction sparked the spiral of cross-border violence – the worst since the ceasefire went into effect. When India's Defence Ministry sought to refute the report, the paper insisted that the official denial in fact accepted key elements of its story including the construction around Charonda, which triggered the clashes.

The day after the Indian attack, on January 7, Pakistan's DG, MO spoke on the hotline with his Indian counterpart to lodge a complaint about the “unacceptable” provocation. A day later, Pakistani troops were accused by Indian officials of conducting a cross-border raid in another sector, at Hotspring, allegedly killing two soldiers, one of whom was said to have been beheaded.

On the morning of January 9, the two DGs spoke again. This time the Indian official protested and demanded that Pakistan 'return' the head of the Indian soldier. Pakistan's military and Foreign Ministry spokesmen denied this incident took place and described it as an Indian fabrication to divert attention from the first incident and instead malign Pakistan. Tellingly an Indian army statement of January 8, attributed to a spokesman of the Northern Command, made no reference to any mutilation of soldiers' bodies, only to a fire-fight in which two soldiers died.

Meanwhile as much of the Indian media whipped up a frenzy Pakistan's media remained muted in its response. When opposition parties assailed the Congress government for its “weak response” more hawkish statements emerged from India's political and military leaders. It didn't stop there. On January 10, at Hotspring in Azad Kashmir, sniper fire from Indian troops claimed the life of a Pakistani soldier. In the two capitals, high commissioners were summoned, protests lodged and demands made for investigation into the disputed incidents. Islamabad's offer to hold an independent inquiry of ceasefire violations by the United Nations Observers Group for India and Pakistan (UNOGIP) was rebuffed by Delhi, to no-one's surprise. India has never allowed UNMOGIP to operate on its side of the LoC and since 1972 also refused to report complaints to the observer group. Border tensions are likely to subside in the days ahead. But the fragility of the LoC in the fraught context of a festering dispute will persist. And in the absence of any accommodation over Kashmir, the 2003 ceasefire will continue to serve as a way of maintaining a tenuous peace in a heavily militarised and volatile region. Can this process be sustained if contentious issues remain unaddressed while movement is made on 'softer' issues? The ceasefire has by and large held since 2003 despite periodic exchanges of fire and occasional skirmishes. It was also observed during the most serious escalation in tensions in recent years that followed the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. After 2008, Indian authorities frequently acknowledged that the cross-LoC “infiltration” had substantially declined. But complaints of ceasefire breaches have been increasing. These mutual complaints were most recently reiterated during the expert-level talks on military CBMs in Delhi on December 28, 2012.

If the ceasefire is not to become a hostage to incidents like the recent ones, triggered by contention over new constructions, it would make sense to formalise the agreement on non-construction of new posts along the LoC. Last week's hostilities illustrate that this mutual commitment can be undermined by disagreements over whether constructions are within the barred range.

The 2005 undertaking on non-construction of posts has been under discussion in the expert-level talks since 2006. It also figured in the last round in December 2012. Discussion has been aimed at evolving a framework agreement by establishing clear parameters for non-construction of defence posts. But progress has been glacial. No consensus has emerged on the proposed elements for such an agreement. Pakistan wants the posts to be barred within 500 metres on either side of the LoC. Discussion has also ranged over specifying the limits of maintenance work for existing posts. India insists that maintenance-related work on present posts should include upgrade of the LoC fence. Islamabad finds this unacceptable.

Reconciling these differences to conclude a comprehensive Confidence Building Measure (CBM) might help strengthen the ceasefire’s operation. Chances of future contention can also be minimised if this incorporates an explicit mechanism for a dispute resolution. This will not eliminate the incidents that become flashpoints for border clashes but it would address an aspect of an easily inflamed situation.

A more fundamental question is raised about the future of the normalisation process. Can this process be sustained if contentious issues remain unaddressed while movement is made on ‘softer’ issues?

Ultimately durable détente depends as much on the two countries’ ability to overcome their divergences as on pursuing areas of convergence. Unless meaningful steps are taken to improve the security climate and resolve disputes, the normalisation process will be at risk of relapsing into tensions. Until this broader context evolves, the LoC will continue to signify more vulnerability than stability.

The writer is a special adviser to the Jang Group/Geo and a former envoy to the US and the UK. Dr Maleeha Lodhi General Kayani's Russia Visit: A Paradigm Shift

The Soviet failure in Afghanistan due to Pakistan's active support for the Afghan Jihad kept both the states locked in a state of continuous hostility, with the result that their relations were far from being normal for a long time.

US Ambassador Richard Olson Friday, February 01, 2013

In the inter-state relations, politics has made national interests dominant all other considerations. The same was true about the China-U.S. rapprochement in 1972, the U.S.-USSR détente during the Cold War when the U.S. and Russia came closer to each other. So the same is true about Pakistan's warming up to the Russian Federation. Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani's recent visit to Russia has been breeding high expectations in various circles and many have already begun to interpret it as a paradigm shift that would give a new boost to relations of both the countries. Many events indicate a thrust to this shift in the modes of thinking in both the countries like the recent visit of Director General (DG) Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt. Gen. Zaheerul Islam to Russia in which he held extensive talks with his Russian counterpart Mikhail Fradkov. The talks were termed 'fruitful' by experts.

And there was a very important visit of COAS General Kayani in October 2012, his secound to Russia , the first being in year 2009. They were more of a sequel of visits by the air chief and also byPresident Asif Zardari, who visited Russia in May 2012.

Notwithstanding the present cuddling up of relations, there exists a history of hostility between both the countries. This featured Pakistan's joining of the capitalist bloc in response to invitations from both the U.S. and Russia. Then it was Pakistan's entering into the anti-communist alliances like SEATO and CENTO. This marked the beginning of the worsening of relations. Then there occurred the event of shooting down of a U2 spy plane by the Soviet Union, which had flown from Peshawar Air Base (Pakistan) in 1960. It was purported to be spying over the Soviet Union for the United States. Then, there came a bitter event of disintegration of East Pakistan in which the Soviet Union had openly backed the Indian Army to attack Pakistan. Lastly, the Soviet failure in Afghanistan due to Pakistan's active support for the Afghan Jihad kept both the states locked in a state of continuous hostility, with the result that their relations were far from being normal for a long time. As in international politics the 'love and hate' relationships are not permanent and such things are subservient to the clearly-defined national interests. Or, it can be put in this way that the real politic of today's politics has forced yesterday's foes to become allies of today. Such is the case with thaw in relations between Pakistan and Russia. There are some geostrategic interests of both the countries which can be fulfilled if they work in concurrence with each other. This détente between them may yield positive fruits on economic and social fronts, but that appears to be guided by strategic considerations. First, both of them have stakes in the Afghan endgame; both are neighbours and stakeholders in Afghanistan. Both want an Afghanistan free from the U.S. bases in future, especially in the wake of the U.S.-Afghanistan strategic partnership agreement. This will allow and ensure presence of U.S. troops and security contractors in Afghanistan beyond 2014 -- a scenario hardly acceptable to both Russia and Pakistan.

Secondly, the issues of distrust have now doubled with Vladimir Putin's becoming President of Russia on May 7, 2012. Mr Putin, who previously served as president from year 2000 to 2008, did not have smooth experience with the Bush Administration because he supported the U.S. military action against Taliban in 2001. He went a step forward in appeasing the U.S. by supporting the deployment of the U.S. military units into Central Asia. He stressed better ties with NATO. When Bush decided to withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, Putin did not show reaction which apparently meant a kind of silent acceptance of the decision. But this time around he had taken over as the president, giving a thought that the U.S. had not responded in a manner it should have to his overtures. These issues would have certainly drawn Russia diplomatically closer to Pakistan.

Thirdly, if the alliance works, then Russia may respond positively by wishing India to stop fomenting unrest in Balochistan. Pakistan may respond by eliminating camps of the Central Asian militants living in tribal areas and the border lands. Russia has also shown its readiness to fund and provide technical assistance for the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project. Fourthly, given Pakistan's historically troubled relationship with the U.S. and the recent plunge in relations, it is seriously thinking of diversifying its relations with world powers. The U.S. does not prove to be a reliable source in military hardware for Pakistan, with China not being able to satisfy the military needs of Pakistan. So Pakistan has an urge to seek military hardware from Russia.

Fifthly, India is warming up to the U.S. and the latter is helping it in its nuclear technology and weaponry along with carrying out joint military exercises in Rajasthan. Last year a Russian commander, Alexander Postinov, on his visit to Pakistan discussed the possibility of holding joint military exercises and exchange of trainers and trainees.

They had strategic concerns which brought them closer. Aside from it, this alliance is likely to get on well with the economic front as well. Moscow has shown its willingness in connection with the modernization and sophistication of Pakistan Steel Mills, by increasing its capacity from 1.1 to 1.5 million tons and then up to 3 million tons. In the coming years, Russia intends to invest US$500 in Pakistan Steel Mills. Russia has also shown its readiness to fund and provide technical assistance for the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project. Now, it is up to the Pakistan government that it awards this contract to Russia's oil and gas company Gazprom. These relations will promote and cement ties in the education and science sectors too.

Pakistani students can benefit from Russian universities if scholarships are awarded to them. Also, Pakistan can benefit from the Russian experience in space technology.

As discussed earlier Pakistan stands a good chance of getting Russian military hardware. The sale of Russia-made planes, like MI series, was stopped to Pakistan because of the Indian influence. However, the recent thaw in relations may offer some chances on that front. The Pakistan army aviation uses mostly Russia-made MI-17 helicopters. It may also be able to enjoy an upgrade status with help from Russia. As such the Russian source can probably be a better option and alternative for Pakistan especially in view of the U.S. sanctions with regard to the F16 planes. The JF17 thunder-fighter jet production that Pakistan does jointly with China at the Kamra Aeronautical Complex is powered by Russian engines; and Pakistan and China seek to export the JF17 thunder- fighter jets.

Precisely, Pakistan has become tired of its arm-twisting by the U.S. Yet it hopes that the cushion in diplomacy this relationship is likely to incur to Pakistan will help soften the U.S. attitude towards Pakistan. Some quarters opine that the U.S. will be alarmed after this development and will also enter into lucrative deals that it has stuck with India. But this view still remains hazy.

Lastly, involving much of the expectations by this unison is something unrealistic. India still features prime in Russia’s strategic calculations. The trade of military hardware between the both is stupendous, and India is the biggest buyer of Russian arms, jet fighters, tanks, submarines and warships from Russia. Quite recently a nuclear-powered submarine, which is capable of going into deep waters and staying there, has been provided to India by Russia. The presumption that Russia will sacrifice its six-decade relations with India and sell most sophisticated weapons to Pakistan is something unrealistic. But this recent thaw at least suggests that things have started moving in the positive direction. Murad Kassi

Convergence and Divergence in Pak-US Relations

This article aims at underscoring the matters of understanding and the issues of miscellaneous opinion and policies between Pakistan and the US over the distinctive national and international contexts that directly link the two parties' interests and spell out causes of survival of interaction between them during crucial times of 'pull-and-push'.

US Ambassador Richard Olson Friday, February 01, 2013

The history of relations between Pakistan and the United States (US) has by and large moved a roller coaster profile, owing to multiple and complex dimensions. This multi-dimensional relation with two diverse approaches of co-dependency and trust deficit involves the two countries in converging and diverging bilateral relations.

However, this relationship is mutually valuable for both the countries and mostly dependent on the meeting-points with reference to the main issues. Yet the sole superpower status of the US and the significant position of Pakistan, as a political and strategic hub of South Asia, raise sudden and strong outbursts in this relation.

Starting with the story of relations by the post-9/11 era, we can make a list of converging and diverging interests in this complicated two-pronged affair. After September 9/11, Pakistan engaged with the US in its war on terror taking a U-turn on its Afghan policy. This engagement was a coordinated move towards a union and uniformity regardless of this question that who was a decision-maker on Pakistan's side and what could be the far-reaching upshot of that decision. For the State Department, it was imperative to involve Pakistan in this game because of its geostrategic and diplomatic relationships with Afghanistan. For Pakistan, in the words of then Chief Executive of Pakistan Gen. Pervaiz Musharraf, it was essential to support the US to survive its territorial integrity as being an economically weak country -- Pakistan -- could not bear any assault or economic sanctions. Besides it was a time for Pakistan to flop all the Indian propagandas against Pakistan's Kashmir agenda, the nukes and the attempts to tarnish Pakistan's image in the international community as a terrorist country.

This post-9/11 Pak-US 'marriage of convenience' started with the mutual promises and pledges, but shortly after that both the parties found each other standing at different platforms. The trust-deficit phase started on both ends over various issues with the result that the war on terror did not end in a year. As expected and estimated by Pakistan, the US alleged that the Pakistan administration and intelligence agencies were involved in the dual policymaking efforts to satisfy both the parties (the US and the Taliban). The US became suspicious about the officially-authorised use of the invested amount in Pakistan for this war, whereas the Pakistani administration expressed its dissatisfaction over the economic support from the US, and ultimately the fact that Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan by the US forces was a strong point to underpin the US suspicions about the sympathisers of al-Qaeda among the people of Pakistan, the intelligence agencies and even at the government level. Despite the fact that Pakistan has prompted its effort to thwart the nuclear proliferation, the States Department still remains suspicious about the success of Pakistan's effort in this connection. Additionally, the other one-key clash with the US as a result of this prolonged struggle against terrorism is the issue of the drone strikes in FATA, which is a matter of serious concern for the Pakistani civilians more than the administration. The Government of Pakistan denied at the outset any role of CIA in Pakistan, but later when the number of strikes and the resultant causalities escalated the government started condemning them publicly.

However, the secret deal between Pakistan and the US regarding the drone attacks was reported by a US paper, The Washington Post, on 4 October 2008. The Washington Post reported that there was a secret deal between US and Pakistan for allowing these drone attacks. This statement was discarded by the then foreign minister of Pakistan. In response to such statements, Pakistan requested the US to give them control over drones and provide them required technical training and assistance. But the US rejected this request for fear of leakage of information about the militant targets. Conceivably, the US does not want to multiply its troubles as it is already concerned about the previous issue concerning Pakistan's reliability of the nuclear command and control system. It fears the extremist groups' control over nukes in case of any radical takeover. This fear spilled over with the revelation of the 'AQ Khan network' with 'proof' of the nuclear proliferation activities. Rejecting all the US concerns, as to its nuclear assets that they may fall in the hands of the extremists, Pakistan claims a robust command and control system. Despite the fact that Pakistan has prompted its effort to thwart the nuclear proliferation, the States Department still remains suspicious about the success of Pakistan's effort in this connection.

The list of divergences in the interests of Pakistan and the US extends to other issues also. The US keeps a comprehensive and institutionalised relationship with India, covering broad fields such as economic relations, political dialogues and the military exchanges. The US appreciates India's active democracy and economic and technological expansion and aims at using her as a counterweight to China.

China's containment policy, under which the US intends to clout the economic and political development of the People's Republic of China to make it a divided and fragile state to keep on its hegemony in Asia, is a main contending issue between the US and Pakistan. With regard to this policy, the bordering countries of China are on the US list to be played as counterweight. Following this objective, the US prioritises diplomatic, economic and military relations with these counties. The main proponents of this US policy are Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, South Korea, Japan, India and Vietnam. Pakistan being a strategic partner of China is out of this US 'grand design' for Asia. It is neither willing nor capable of joining this long-term US plan. The US appreciates India's active democracy and economic and technological expansion and aims at using her as a counterweight to China. Similar to the China containment policy, the US keeps a deliberate strategy of action against Iran as well. The affair of US resentment against Iran contains three subjects in particular including Iran's nuclear enrichment policy, the issue concerning protection of the US bases in Afghanistan as well as the Gulf, and any expected aggression by Iran against Israel. These issues upset the Pak-US dealings because Pakistan's friendship with Iran is unique in a sense of close historical, cultural, religious and strategic attachment. Pakistan cannot support the anti-Iran policies of the United States.

The US resistance to the Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline project, which is in Pakistan's national interest, is also a known issue. The Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline plan has been strongly opposed by the US. However, this pipeline is crucially advantageous for Pakistan to deliver natural gas from Iran to Pakistan. In January 2010, the US forced Pakistan to quit this project and offered her a new project for liquefied natural gas terminal and importing electricity from Tajikistan and Afghanistan to Pakistan. When Pakistan did not abandon the project, using another source by means of Saudi Arabia, the US made an endeavour against this project. It was reported that Saudi Arabia offered an alternate project to Pakistan that included a cash loan and oil facility in case of cancelling the prolific gas pipeline project with Iran. But, according to the Pakistani administration: “Islamabad will not give in to the US pressures to mothball the project and will finish the huge pipeline project at any cost and that the project was in line with the country's national interest.”

Despite these facts, it is also an undeniable reality that the Pakistan-US relations eventually depend on the convergence of their national interests. Both in short and long term, providing each other mutual beneficial opportunities in several fields such as the future of Afghanistan, peace and stability in South Asia and deterring the threat of terrorism.

The US depends on Pakistan for its NATO supply routes to Afghanistan. Although there are other networks for the transport supply, they are very expensive. Moreover, it needs to focus on Pakistan for carrying on the reconciliation process with the Taliban in Afghanistan for peace and stability of Pakistan and the region in the post-transition period. In addition, Pakistan is worried about the Indian presence and activities in Afghanistan. They believe that the Indian interests in Afghanistan are beyond economic and political spheres centered against the interests of Pakistan.

Even then both the countries keep a number of possibilities for compromise within the configuration of their status and standard. Being a superpower, both economically and militarily, the US helps Pakistan in bilateral, economic, commercial, technological and academic fields, whereas Pakistan remains an important country due to its strategic location, nukes and maybe a moderate Islam policy.

The writer is an Assistant Professor At the Department of International Relations, University of Sindh, Jamshoro. Email: [email protected] Ishrat Abbasi

Our ‘Greek Tragedy’

The situation in Pakistan is no different. We too witnessed the Athenian scene being enacted in our capital with a lot of political ferment and frenzy.

US Ambassador Richard Olson Friday, February 01, 2013

On a day in 399 BC, philosopher Socrates stood before a jury of 500 of his fellow-Athenians accused of “refusing to recognize the gods recognized by the state” and of “corrupting the youth”. If found guilty; his penalty could be death. The trial took place in the heart of the city with the jurors seated on wooden benches surrounded by a crowd of spectators. After hearing the arguments by both Socrates and his accusers, instead of deliberating on the merits of the case -- as was required under the Athenian law -- the jury by a vote of 280 to 220 promptly gave a 'guilty' verdict and sentenced him to death.

The Athenian law prescribed death by drinking a cup of poison. Socrates who was 70 years old and well-respected by Athenians as their benefactor was to be his own executioner. He was taken to the nearby jail where his sentence was to be carried out. Plato, the most famous student of Socrates, was not present at his mentor's death but knew those who were there. He describes the scene through the narrative voice of a fictional character, Phaedo. The dialogue takes place in Socrates' prison cell where he awaits his execution.

Socrates is visited there by his friend Crito who had made arrangements to smuggle him out of prison to the safety of exile. But Socrates declined Crito's offer to escape. The man who was to administer the poison brought the cup full of hemlock mix to him and asked him to drink it. Phaedo's account goes on: “Up to this moment most of us were able with some decency to hold back our tears, but when we saw him drinking the poison to the last drop, we could restrain ourselves no longer.

“In spite of myself, tears came in floods so I covered my face and wept -- not for him but at my own misfortune at losing such a man as my friend. Crito, even before me rose and went out when he could check his tears no longer. Apollodorus was already steadily weeping, and by drying his eyes, crying again and sobbing. He affected everyone present except for Socrates himself who said, 'you are strange fellows; what is wrong with you?' These words made us ashamed, and we stopped crying.”

As the chill sensation got to his waist, Socrates uncovered his head and said his last words: “Crito, we owe a rooster to Asclepius. Do pay it. Don't forget.” “Of course,” said Crito. “Do you want to say anything else? There was no reply to this question, but after a while he gave a slight stir, and the attendant uncovered him and examined his eyes. Then Crito saw that he was dead, he closed his mouth and eyelids. This was the end of our friend, the best, wisest and most upright man of any that I have ever known.”

Socrates who joined eternity lived nearly 2,400 years ago during the time of Athenian transition from the height of glory to its abject decline after its defeat by Sparta in the Peloponnesian War. While democratic Athens, the strongest city-state in Greece prior to the war's beginning, found itself devastated and reduced to complete subservience and anarchy, oligarchic Sparta emerged as the leading power of Greece. The economic costs of the war were felt all across Greece; poverty became widespread in the Peloponnese and Athens never regained its pre-war prosperity.

The Athenian public was totally disillusioned with the then prevailing 'democracy' with gross inadequacies of governance, morality and law and order. They were fed up with their corrupt rulers. Socrates understood their pain and anguish. Claiming loyalty to his state, he challenged the course of Athenian politics and society. He praised better governed Sparta, the archrival to Athens, and blamed his own state's corrupt politics in various dialogues. One of Socrates' purported offences to the ruling hierarchy was his position as a social and moral critic. He spoke out against them and against their corrupt practices in the name of 'democracy'. The economic costs of the war were felt all across Greece; poverty became widespread in the Peloponnese and Athens never regained its pre-war prosperity. During the last years of Socrates' life, Athens was in continual flux due to political and economic upheaval. Democracy was overthrown by a junta known as the Thirty Tyrants who ruled for about a year before the Athenian democracy returned to power at which point it declared a status quo-driven 'amnesty' for all recent events. It was the then NRO that Socrates challenged. Rather than accepting what he perceived as opportunistic power-based immorality within his state, Socrates questioned the collective notion of “might makes right” that was so rampant in his state. He believed the state was more important than the rotten Athenian politics. He spoke the truth and challenged the status quo.

More than two millennia after his death, Socrates is as relevant as ever. The Greeks are already nostalgic of him. They have come to despise their present leaders, mistrust their media and resent the stern teachings of Brussels bureaucrats. Now they are turning to the same wise man for help: the same Athenian who doled out self-help tips while railing against the hypocrisies of society and the state – and whose lessons live on more than 2,400 years after his death.

The situation in Pakistan is no different. We too witnessed the Athenian scene being enacted in our capital with a lot of political ferment and frenzy.

Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri was no Socrates. But, like Socrates, he behaved as what Plato had described his esteemed mentor a 'gadfly' of the state who irritated the Athenian men of status quo by invoking issues of justice, law and goodness. Dr Qadri too irritated the men and perhaps a few heavily-coated and painted women of status quo in Pakistan. He had challenged the rotten system in which the same feudalised and elitist oligarchy consisting of different men at different times under different political flags had kept the nation hostage with or without military collusion since independence. Rather than accepting what he perceived as opportunistic power-based immorality within his state, Socrates questioned the collective notion of “might makes right” that was so rampant in his state. Whatever his personal motives or political ambitions, he did storm Pakistan's citadel of political 'power and greed' giving a loud wake-up call to the people that sounded death knell to the country's deeply-entrenched status-quo-driven feudal, tribal and elitist power structure. He spoke the truth calling for a change that the people had been waiting for too long. They joined him in throngs because they were sick and tired of the system that had given them nothing but hardships and miseries. They trusted him because he did not belong to the exclusive club of Pakistan's privileged political 'fraternity.'

To be part of this 'fraternity', one must be very ante-thesis of the criteria laid down in Articles 62 and 63 that Qadri had demanded to be implemented in letter and spirit. He rattled the political ranks by showing to the politicians their true face in the mirror. No wonder, there was so much of political rumpus. How dared he challenge the domain to which nobody, not even the successive military dictators, could ever bring about a change? Qadri's crime was no different from that of Socrates. He had to be punished.

No sooner did Qadri give his last ultimatum shooting heartbeats and pulse rates up, the 'jury' arrived. Curtains in Qadri's bulletproof ‘container’ were drawn and the trial lasted just for a couple of hours. The verdict was unanimous. Qadri shall be admitted into the ignominious ‘fraternity’ that he had vowed to topple. He willingly accepted to be his own executioner and joined the exclusive club, forging a new configuration of political power. Unlike the real Greek tragedy, all in the ‘container’ were seen happy, gleefully embracing each other. The hostage crowd returned home with no change in sight. There could not be a more comic end to our ‘Greek tragedy.’

The writer is a former foreign secretary Shamshad Ahmad The writer is a former foreign secretary.

Change On Islamabad’s ‘million-man march’ Mother of all questions…!

How did Imran Khan manage to gather such a large crowd on October 30, 2012? How did Dr Tahirul Qadri manage to gather such a large crowd on December 23, 2012? And, how did Dr Tahirul Qadri manage to keep tens of thousands for four wintry nights in the open?

US Ambassador Richard Olson Friday, February 01, 2013

The mother of all questions? Islamabad's 'million-man march' can be broken down into two: the leader and the followers. A lot has been said about the leader but not much about the followers. The mother of all questions is: Why did tens of thousands of Pakistanis spend four nights under freezing open skies of Islamabad? How did Imran Khan manage to gather such a large crowd on October 30, 2012? How did Dr Tahirul Qadri manage to gather such a large crowd on December 23, 2012? And, how did Dr Tahirul Qadri manage to keep tens of thousands for four wintry nights in the open? In each one of the above cases my focus is not on the leader but the tens of thousands of Pakistanis who undertook the effort to be present in those gatherings.

Why was there a Tahrir Square? Yes, Hosni Mubarak was a dictator for 30 long years. But why wasn't there a Tahrir Square in Singapore? After all, Lee Kuan Yew was a dictator who lasted 31 long years. Why wasn't there a Tahrir Square in Malaysia? After all, Mahathir Mohamad, although elected via five consecutive rather controversial elections, ruled as a dictator for 22 long years. Answer: A Tahrir Square takes place only in states where there is a huge gap between the priorities of the rulers and the needs of the ruled (whether the rulers are elected or not is irrelevant). Why did tens of thousands of Pakistanis spend four nights under freezing open skies of Islamabad? How did Imran Khan manage to gather such a large crowd on October 30? How did Dr Tahirul Qadri manage to gather such a large crowd on December 23? Answer: Pakistanis yearn for a change. A political doctrine under which the prime minister can divert Rs50 billion from other developmental projects to his own discretionary fund needs to be changed. After 65 years of experimenting with different models of governance there now is a consensus on democracy as the model of governance. But an electoral doctrine under which a federal minister can keep 51 vehicles for his personal use needs to be changed. A political doctrine under which the prime minister can divert Rs50 billion from other developmental projects to his own discretionary fund needs to be changed. And, an economic doctrine under which PIA loses Rs70 million a day, every day of the year, needs to be changed.

Just ask any Pakistani, between Khyber and Karachi, these six questions: Is Pakistan heading in the right direction? Would the assemblies that will be formed after Election 2013 be any different from past assemblies? Do we as a nation want to continue with a political doctrine that allows a minister in the federal cabinet to keep 51 official vehicles for his use? Do we as a nation want to continue with an electoral doctrine that allows the prime minister to divert Rs50 billion from development projects to his discretionary fund just before a general election? Do we as a nation want an economic doctrine that allows PIA to lose Rs70 million a day, every day of the year? Do we want an electoral doctrine that allows the chief minister of Balochistan to disburse Rs300 million to each MPA just before elections?

Why can't the ruling class read the writing on the wall? Lo and behold, we can amend the constitution in a day then why can’t we have electoral reforms before the elections that are still months away?

The writer is a columnist based in Islamabad. Email: [email protected]. Twitter: @saleemfarrukh Dr Farrukh Saleem

PPP’s 5-year Regime The Best Revenge!

'Jiay Bhutto', 'doctrine of victimhood', and above all 'democracy is the best revenge' with a theory of political rapprochement as followed by Pakistan People's Party (PPP) top leadership Panch Ka Tola (the gang of five): the PPP, PML-N, PML-Q, MQM and ANP (and of course a 'friendly opposition') lay exposed as those at the helm of affairs stay put.

US Ambassador Richard Olson Friday, February 01, 2013

With governments in Islamabad, Sindh, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), they are cracking jokes at a funeral while they weigh the government's five-year feats. Whatever the excuse, if any, one doubts -- whatever they boast of the five years of democracy -- corruption tops the list plus the most-discussed and moaned power crisis being faced by the country.

National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Admiral (retd) Fasih Bukhari's latest disclosure that Pakistan loses up to Rs 8 billion a day in corruption has exceeded even the otherwise massive corruption figures by Transparency International Pakistan (TIP), which sees Rs 8,500 billion corruption during the first four years of the PPP tenure led by (sacked) prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani. Yet the per-day-corruption of Rs 8 billion as pointed out by the NAB chairman means corruption for Rs 2.9 trillion in one year and Rs 14.5 trillion in five years. The oil mafia, agriculture cartel and tax-evasion/theft are the major culprits.

This disclosure by the NAB chairman presents a far dismal picture compared to the one given by the TIP in respect of the mounting corruption in Pakistan. The TIP has pointed out that Pakistan lost more than Rs 8,500 billion (Rs 8.5 trillion or $94 billion) in corruption, tax-evasion and bad governance during the PPP government's four-year tenure. But these figures were strongly contested by the PPP government and its leaders. The TIP had pointed out corruption of Rs 390 billion in 2008, Rs 450 billion in 2009, Rs 825 billion in 2010 and Rs 1,100 billion in 2011 under the present government. The total corruption from these identified cases is Rs 2,765 billion.

In addition, according to the TIP, the minister for finance has confirmed corruption in the FBR of over Rs 500 billion per year, which makes the total Rs 2,000 billion. The Auditor General of Pakistan pointed out Rs 315 billion corruption in 2010; the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) recovered Rs 115 billion in 30 months till 2011; the circular debt is Rs 190 billion; the KESC was given Rs 55 billion illegal benefits per annum since 2008; the state-owned enterprises like PSO, PIA, Pakistan Steel, Railways, SSGC, SNGC are devouring Rs 150-300 billion per annum; the tax to the GDP ratio in 2008 was 11%, which came down in 2011 to 9.1% instead of registering an increase.

Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani's tenure has been perceived worldwide as the most corrupt backed by plunderers of the national wealth who were protected, rewarded and even offered key positions instead of being tried and imprisoned. It was due to the government's bad repute that even during times of natural disasters like devastating floods 29 countries refused cash help to the PPP's government.

In the context of the PPP's corruption cases like the rental power projects, the Ogra scam, the Ephedrine quota and the smuggling issue, the running of PIA like a 'mom and dad store', the Haj scam, the Pakistan Steel plunder, bungling in Pakistan Railways, to name a few, the five-year performance of the government is far from satisfactory. The government's term remained marked with controversies and failures, which contributed towards a weak federation. The PPP-led government did only one thing very well; it resorted to every petty tactic to prolong its rule. The TIP has pointed out that Pakistan lost more than Rs 8,500 billion (Rs 8.5 trillion or $94 billion) in corruption, tax-evasion and bad governance during the PPP government's four-year tenure. In doing so, the government borrowed a mammoth more than $20 billion from international lending agencies. The external debt burden was over $46 billion in June 2008, and as of September 2012 it soared to $66.24 billion, higher by 46 per cent when the PPP-led coalition government came into power in the Centre. Where did this $20 billion go? No betterment of the people and no big project executed, rather the bulk of the foreign borrowing was spent on government's expenditures.

Indeed, the government's expenditures are of non-development nature. The PPP-led coalition government's current expenditure graph also portrays the extravagant trend. The current expenditure amounted to Rs 1649.2 billion during fiscal 2008-2009. The volume of the current expenditure was Rs 2314.8 billion in fiscal 2011-12, whereas the government estimates current expenditures to the tune of Rs 2767 billion during fiscal 2012-2013.

Likewise, a similar precedence is set in the government's borrowing from the banking sector. A hefty Rs 4845.4 billion of the domestic debt is accrued during the tenure so far. The portfolio of domestic debt is Rs 8120.1 billion as on September 2012 up by 148 per cent when the PPP was not in power. The domestic debt was Rs 3274.7 billion in June 2008. The government is now minting money from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). The repercussions in the days to come will be more horrifying than what experts think. One reflection of this bad practice is the dwindling rupee value against the US dollar.

Now, the PPP-led power forces face a Herculean task of a $5 billion payback to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The foreign exchange reserves were $11.40 billion in June 2008. It was $12.43 billion in 2009, $16.75 billion in 2010, $18.24 billion in 2011 and $15.28 billion in 2012. The forex were $13.558 billion as on January 4 this year. The reserves will sink drastically once the payment to the IMF is made. The new bailout package with the international lending agency is less likely as the government is nearing completion of its five-year term in less than two months' time.

The military regime of General Pervez Musharraf bequeathed the power crises as all and sundry in the government bemoaned and cried hoarse. The Musharraf saga continues even now because six to 18 hours of prolonged incessant load-shedding has paralysed economic activities in Pakistan. The worst-affected is the Punjab. Many believe since the PPP has not its government in the province, it is punishing the people. For the last five years the Punjab has been the centre of agitation by the general public over lack of electricity. Whether it is Multan, Faisalabad or Lahore the people took to the streets against the menace of load-shedding frequently during summer every year. The government failed in overcoming the circular debt. The government owes Rs 445.7 billion to oil and gas companies and Independent Power Producers (IPPs). The government owes Rs 290 billion to the IPPs, Rs 24.2 billion to PSO, Rs 29 billion to gas companies and Rs 76.9 billion to Wapda for hydel generation. The private sector is the biggest defaulter that owes Rs 197.3 billion to the federal government, followed by Sindh with Rs 55 billion, Punjab Rs 7 billion, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Rs 20 billion and Balochistan owes Rs 3.7 billion.

The federal government's different departments have not paid their electricity dues to the tune of Rs 13.8 billion. The AJK government owes Rs 16.4 billion, the federally-administered tribal areas Rs 25.3 billion and the Karachi Electricity Supply Company (KESC) owe Rs 59.3 billion to the federal government. Yet hardly any concrete measure has been as regards the clearing of the circular debt or the recovering of dues from the provinces and other departments. Around Rs 2 trillion have been spent on the power sector subsidies in the first half of current fiscal. The rates of electricity and gas have been tripled so taxes on their consumption, but the government failed in making a single significant achievement. CNG is sold for Rs 67 a kilo in now. To remember, it was just Rs 37 back in 2008; petrol was around 63 rupees a litre compared to Rs 103 in 2013. Diesel is also costlier -- sold for Rs 94.34 as against Rs 44.13 per litre in 2008, whereas the LPG rate was Rs 53 per kilo as against the current rate of over Rs 150 a kilo.

The government figures claim to have curtailed inflation. The food inflation was 17.60 per cent in fiscal 2007-2008. It dropped to 11 per cent in fiscal 2011-2012 and further sunk to 7.30 per cent during the first half of the current fiscal. General inflation dropped to 8.30 per cent in July- December 2012 from 12 per cent in 2008. However, items in inflation baskets and price fluctuation do not meet reality checks. The loose interest-rate regime does not necessitate lower inflation. Either it is general inflation, food inflation or the core inflation. The price of high-quality flour was Rs 16 per kilo in 2008 as compared to Rs 44 a kilo. Rice was sold at Rs 90 a kilo in 2008 as against Rs 120 now. The price of one kilo sugar is now Rs 55 in comparison with Rs 25 a kilo in 2008. The economic wizards need to probe the lower food inflation claim by the government.

External Debt

June 2008 $46.16bn June 2009 $52.33bn June 2010 $57.36bn June 2011 $61.84bn Dec 2011 $61.13bn Sept 2012 $66.24bn

Domestic Debt

June 2008 Rs 3274.7bn June 2009 Rs 3860.6bn June 2010 Rs 4894.6bn June 2011 Rs 6231.3bn Feb 2012 Rs 7215.3bn Sept 2012 Rs 8120.1bn

Current expenditure

2008-09 1649.2bn 2009-10 1699bn 2010-11 2295bn 2011-12 2314.8bn 2012-13 2767bn Asad Kaleem

Challenges to Pakistan's Security

US Ambassador Richard Olson Friday, February 01, 2013

The international security scenario has long been under transformation due to major shifts in political, economic and strategic interests of states. In a contemporary era, incidents of 9/11 resulted in drastic changes in the security-related perceptions, concerns, policies and mechanisms of states across the globe. Among other regions, the South Asian security scenario has also undergone major changes during the last decade. In Pakistan, the internal security issues rose to a dangerous level and, hence, assumed greater prominence than external security threats.

The South Asian region has always been under the influence of extra-regional powers. The interplay of their strategic and economic interests considerably marred bilateral relations between states in South Asia, particularly Pakistan and India, hence posing challenges to regional security. At the regional level, taking conventional (external) security threats to Pakistan into consideration, its eastern neighbour India has long been regarded as a potential threat in view of the critical equation the two countries have experienced during the past six decades. And Pakistan's western border remains porous and vulnerable to violence.

A certain level of deterrence has been maintained with India. However, with the changing regional security scenario, especially in wake of war against terrorism in Afghanistan, the Pakistan-India equation turned even more severe increasing the vulnerability of the deterrence. Despite the composite dialogue and other peace overtures, a number of territorial and other issues remain unsettled between the two countries that continue to pose threats to security. Moreover, there is always a possibility of conflict escalation in the wake of periodic firing incidents across the Line of Control (LoC).

Considering internal security threats; perceptions and understanding on the “most grievous” of the existing threats differ among different security and strategic analysts. The existing internal security threats may include sectarian violence, ethnic divide (including movements in Balochistan), small arms proliferation and above all terrorism. The opinion of a number of political analysts varies with regard to which problem is the most serious and which should be addressed first. Pakistan is a pluralistic society; however, internal problems and external influences wrecked the very fabric of its society. As Pakistan faces the severe fallout of the war against terrorism in its western neighbour, its internal security deteriorates gradually.

The legacy of partition, economic and political instability, fragile democracy, feudal trends, corruption, illiteracy, unemployment, radicalization and polarization of Pakistani society, extremism and intolerance may be regarded as the root-causes of internal security problems; the external factors considerably manipulated the internal problems of Pakistan. As a consequence, the internal security situation is extremely fragile as Pakistan faces grave internal security threats, especially terrorism. There has been an unprecedented increase in terror incidents in Pakistan during the last decade, which in turn posed multifaceted challenges to the counterterrorism strategy.

The US-led war against terrorism in Afghanistan deteriorated regional security. Pakistan now faces another challenge of dealing with drone attacks inside its territory. On the other hand, India has increased its influence in Afghanistan seeking a greater role in regional politics, following the announced withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan in 2014. Thus, Pakistan faces a greater challenge of dealing with security threats, in one form or the other, emanating from the ever- changing regional scenario and also to balance its equations with regional players.

Although China has proved to be Pakistan's trusted strategic ally in supporting its security apparatus and mechanism in order to deal with existing security threats. Of late, there has been a paradigm shift in its policies towards Pakistan. The China-India rapprochement paved the way for an economic alliance in some groupings as well.

Undoubtedly, Pakistan is faced with enormous and diverse challenges in the wake of internal security problems and the government has yet to devise an effective internal security policy. Lately, the Pakistan Army regarded internal security threats as “sub-conventional threats” and stated in a new military doctrine: “the ongoing activities of Taliban militants in the restive tribal regions and unabated terrorist attacks on government installations in major cities are posing a real threat to Pakistan's security.”

However, Director General for Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Asim Saleem Bajwa categorically said: “The Army prepares for all forms of threats. Sub-conventional threat is a reality and is a part of a threat matrix faced by our country. But it doesn't mean that the conventional threat has receded.” To some people, the statement may appear a paradigm shift in our military strategy; the conventional threats would remain as the key concern to the army.

The internal security is regarded as of paramount importance to every country. Pakistan has been under severe criticism by other countries and international agencies over the deteriorating internal security situation and is viewed as “unsafe” by a number of countries. It has also been criticised as “exporter of terrorism”.

To allay all the misperceptions and allegations Pakistan faced over the years it needs to adopt a comprehensive strategy that encompasses all relevant sections of the state and society. As Pakistan’s general election nears, the new government would be required to work for internal security. And for a stable and prosperous Pakistan, internal security is imperative. Although external and internal security threats in Pakistan are tied together, they are required to be dealt with by separate strategies.

*Nabiha Gul is a researcher and analyst on international affairs and a visiting faculty member at the Department of International Relations, University of Karachi. Nabiha Gul Bane or Boon? Investigation for Fair Trial Bill, 2012

US Ambassador Richard Olson Friday, February 01, 2013

Everyone has an opinion to offer on the newly-passed law styled as the Investigation for Fair Trial Act, 2012 (IFT). Some call it intrusive because it is designed to circumvent the right to privacy as envisioned in Article 14 of the Constitution of Pakistan; others think that it is symbolic of the fact that the country is united against terrorism and that with the passage of the bill into the law, more convictions will be recorded against terrorists. From a practitioner's viewpoint, both views are way off the mark. The reality and practice in vogue belie both.

The first and the foremost is the point that intelligence agencies are already using 'interception' and 'surveillance' and have never really bothered to subject themselves to any formal oversight mechanism involving judiciary. Those, indeed, allude to legal provisions which were heretofore absent. This may be considered a step forward, but a careful reading of the law shows that, in fact, it is a case of 'one step forward and two steps back'. The law as it has been passed provides for two types of warrants: one, a judicial warrant issued by a judge (under Section 11 of IFT) and two, an interim warrant issued by the executive head (under Section 14 of IFT). The interim warrant can be issued for seven days in cases of urgency and has to be put for approval to a judge. In our criminal justice system, issuing warrants has been a judicial function and through IFT, the judicial power will be exercised by executive, which might run against Article 175 of the Constitution. A convenient ruse to defeat the law is that an interim warrant is issued for five to six days (less than seven) and then withdrawn and, later on, re-issued.

Precisely, the law has not successfully transformed the extant practice of informal regime of 'interception' or 'surveillance' to formal regime. In reality, a dual formally informal mechanism has been provided, which will ultimately provide a legal cover to illegal practices. Secondly, the law is utterly abstract. The concept of 'applicant' (and not of Investigation Officer) has been introduced. The 'applicant' has been defined in Section 3 in very wide terms and it includes organizations, which are a product of executive orders and not of statutes. For example, no law authorizes constitution of 'Field Intelligence Unit', yet it has been included in the 'applicant' category. Likewise, Section 18 provides for serving of the warrant on the 'service provider' through 'Designated Agency or Board' and none else. Without any notification of a Designated Agency, the process cannot be served and executed. Besides, the provision provides a cushion to already overly- protected 'service providers' to ward off any legal order provided through any other process. For example, Section 94 of the Criminal Procedure Code 1898 authorizes a court or a police officer to make the documents or other things available by anyone when required and necessary for the purpose of investigation. But the law has not anticipated how the situation will be dealt with. The law as it has been passed provides for two types of warrants: one, a judicial warrant issued by a judge (under Section 11 of IFT) and two, an interim warrant issued by the executive head (under Section 14 of IFT). Thirdly, the law does not contribute towards obtaining lawful convictions. The IFT was introduced in the wake of acquittal of terrorists wanted in the high-profile terrorism cases and it is expected that it will address the legal snags affecting prosecutions. The expectation is not very well-placed for an obvious reason that in many such cases no electronic evidence was produced. Had it been produced and admitted, it would have always been open to rebuttal. The only step forward in IFT is that the 'expert' who retrieves the electronic evidence has been brought at par with an expert under Section 510 of Criminal Procedure Code. But still a smart lawyer may manage to bring the expert to courtroom for cross-examination on the grounds of necessity and for the sake of justice. The expert can only guarantee the integrity of electronic evidence, but the whole case of prosecution must be corroborated by electronic evidence. In reality, the 'agencies' arrest terrorists and hand them to police to prosecute them. The information, trust and evidence gaps between the two organizations result in failed prosecutions.

Fourthly, the IFT is very narrow in its application. It only provides for issuance of warrants of 'interception' or 'surveillance' in a very limited number of cases that are registered under specific laws, which are outlined in a schedule to IFT. These laws do not include Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010, National Accountability Bureau Ordinance, 1999 and some important offences of Pakistan Penal Code, 1860. The narrow application implies limited use of the law. The laws outlined in the schedule also focus primarily on external security and military perspectives. The internal security dimension, which focuses on protection of life and property of a citizen and which serves as a conduit between law-enforcement and military operation is clearly missing. In other words, the linkage between crime and terrorism is absent. Crime and terrorism are inexorably linked with each other. Its exclusion culminates into a faltered strategy and an inchoate law. Fifthly, Section 23 of IFT is the reminder of the fact that the law is not to strengthen the primary law-enforcement agency i.e. police. As always, police will be chipped in at a later stage only to result in gaps of information, trust and evidence. Section 23(1) calls for reproduction here: The only step forward in IFT is that the ‘expert’ who retrieves the electronic evidence has been brought at par with an expert under Section 510 of Criminal Procedure Code. “Registration of a case: The evidence including the data, information, and material collected or received pursuant to the warrant shall be examined by the officer authorized by the applicant in this behalf and if he is able to form an opinion, that the same discloses elements of commission, harbouring, abetting or conspiring or attempting to commit any schedule offence, he may immediately cause registration of an FIR and in that event he shall hand over the evidence including material, information, and data to the concerned investigation officer so that it forms part of the record for the purpose of investigation and prosecution.”

The problem with 'handing over' is too serious and is obvious. It has been the root-cause of many acquittals in high-profile terrorism cases, which has brought embarrassment to law-enforcement agencies in Pakistan. If anyone is considered competent enough to get the warrant issued for 'interception' or 'surveillance', then why he is not ready to face the court and be himself the investigator in the case. Authority must be coupled with responsibility. Anyone wishing to enjoy the authority should do so with reciprocal responsibility. The duality of the system also exposes citizens to breach their right to privacy.

Finally, the Statement of Objects and Reasons spells out that the IFT is primarily a law on 'preventive' side. The statement reads in its fourth recital: “Whereas, in Pakistan, the laws and the criminal justice system are not tailored for or geared towards pre-empting and preventing acts of crime or terror, and the act of crime or terror has to actually occur for registration of an FIR and thereafter the police take cognizance. It is expected that the law would provide a legal framework for agencies to lawfully conduct the surveillance of an individual who is likely to or suspected of engaging in preparation to conduct an act of crime or terror.”

Instead of empowering police with legal powers on preventive side, the IFT is an attempt to formalize the role of agencies in investigations. Under the scheme of adjudication in criminal cases, any evidence collected prior to the registration of an FIR is not given due heed at trial and though the judges consider it, they seldom accord value to such evidence. Thus it has criminal jurisprudence and a due process of constitutional obligation (under Article 10-A) of the Constitution has developed that it is likely that IFT will not prove itself to be a boon for the rule of law. Kamran Adil

The Pak-India Thaw and LoC Tension

The peace process was still bleeding from the wounds of the Mumbai terror attacks that violation of ceasefire on the LoC has put a serious question mark on the future of the on-going peace process between the two countries.

US Ambassador Richard Olson Friday, February 01, 2013

The incidents across the Line of Control (LoC) in early January have exposed the vulnerability of the so-called irreversibility of the peace process between Pakistan and India. The peace process was still bleeding from the wounds of the Mumbai terror attacks that violation of ceasefire on the LoC has put a serious question mark on the future of the on-going peace process between the two countries. The peoples of the two countries in particular and the world in general are worried about the events still to unfold in future. It was at midnight between January 5 and 6 that the Indian Army attacked inside the LoC on the AJK side, killing one Pakistani soldier and wounding another. The Indian side came up with a heinous allegation against the Pakistan Army of beheading and mutilating bodies of two Indian soldiers. Pakistan however denied the charge. The Indian Army once again violated ceasefire across the LoC and killed another soldier, Mohy-ud-Din.

The blame game once again got ignited and the two sides indulged in the infamous practice of summoning each other's diplomats. The entire goodwill, if any, generated through the resumption of the dialogue process brought back to square through unnecessary statements and irresponsible media hype. The motivated hype

Before the current LoC flare-up, Delhi was abuzz with protests in their 'red zone' on the rape incident and media was absolutely focused on the scope and the intensity of the protest. The incidents at the LoC provided a diversion and the Indian media started indulging in an unnecessary hype. The story of 'decapitation' and 'mutilation' of the Indian soldiers bodies lured renowned anchors of the TV channel in India to divert and provide to their viewers a new spice, the Pakistan- bashing as usual. The enraged Indian Army Chief, General Bikram Singh, duly informed the media of ordering Indian soldiers to remain on the offensive. The foreign minister of Pakistan labelled Indians of war-mongering, while she was in the United States. While the soldiers were violating the sanctity of the ceasefire and the media was creating hypes, the quest for peace (Aman ki Asha) was desperately hovering around inside the cage of the Pakistan-India traditional hatred. Pakistan has not left the path of sanity and Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has proposed the foreign minister-level talks between the two countries for de-escalating the situation. Pakistan's perspective

From the very first incident of the ceasefire violation by the Indian side, Pakistan followed the course prescribed and practised through the established mechanisms of handling such situations. The Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) of Pakistan Army spoke to his Indian counterpart and asked for halt to the recurrence of such incidents. The Indian side obviously refused to accept such a gesture wherein they were 'accused' of killing a Pakistani soldier. Then the Indian side came up with a story of their soldiers being 'mutilated' and 'decapitated'. Before India could sell its story abroad, the Indians started contradicting each other. The LoC is on high mountains which are snow-covered and far beyond the approach of common citizens. The allegations and the counter-allegations emanate from the two respective armies. The army-fed information prompted the two governments to summon each other's diplomats. The media was lured to create hype on the basis of information from the same source. An independent investigation into the two opposing claims seemed imperative. And that is why Pakistan officially proposed an impartial investigation through the United Nations Military Observer Group for India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP). For obvious reasons, India refused to accept the suggestion. India is now questioning the mandate of UNMOGIP and its relevance to the LoC crisis. India thinks “the role of the United Nations Military Observers Group in India Pakistan (UNMOGIP), which monitors the ceasefire along the Line of Control in the disputed Kashmir, has been overtaken by the 1972 bilateral Simla agreement”. To India, the UNMOGIP had been put in place to supervise the ceasefire line as a result of the 1949 Karachi agreement. That ceasefire line no longer existed. The new one was established on 17 December 1971 and followed by an agreement between the two countries in 1972, which provided for settlement of these disputes by peaceful means through bilateral negotiations. The agreement also resulted in conversion of the ceasefire line into the line of control. The Indian side believes that the ceasefire line had thus overtaken by the LoC and, therefore, the UNMOGIP remains invalid. On the top of the impediments to bilateral trade lies the decades-old mistrust between the two countries. On the other side, Pakistan believes that “No bilateral agreement between India and Pakistan has overtaken or affected the role or legality of the 42-member observer group called UNMOGIP and the Group's mandate remained “fully valid, relevant and operative.” The Pakistan perspective remains vindicated because of the fact that both India and Pakistan are hosting the UNMOGIP.

Pakistan has not left the path of sanity and Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has proposed the foreign minister-level talks between the two countries for de-escalating the situation. The Indians have not rejected the offer.

International response

The world's major capitals have sharply reacted to the deteriorating situation along the LoC and have been demanding immediate de-escalation. Washington, London, Paris, Berlin etc reacted sharply and urged for restraint shown from the two sides. The United States in particular has been prompt in urging the two countries to show respect for ceasefire. Knowledgeable sources believe that with the rising tensions across the LoC, US Ambassador to Islamabad Richard Olson discussed at length with his host authorities and similarly the US Ambassador to New Delhi.

Nancy J. Powell discussed with her host authorities the need to de-escalate on the LoC. Calling upon the two countries to de-escalate, the United States has consistently been asking the two countries to get engaged themselves, thereby ruling out any chances of mediation. The Indian side never likes outsiders to mediate between Pakistan and India and the US might not like to jeopardise its new found friendship with India. Implications on the Pak-India relations

The incidents across the Line of Control have certainly created a 'pause' in bilateral relations. Implementation of the new visa agreement notwithstanding, the trade normalisation is suffering suffocation. The first victim of the LoC incidents is cancellation of Pakistan's Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim's visit to India. Mr Fahim was invited by his Indian counterpart Anand Sharma to attend the Global Partnership Summit, to be held in late January at Agra. Pakistan has already conveyed its willingness to attend the summit. Their meeting along with two commerce secretaries would have provided an opportunity to move forward, even if by an inch.

The other pending issue of the grant of the Most-Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India could have once again been discussed. Pakistan announced and repeatedly assured India and the international community to grant the MFN status by December 31, 2012 but it could not come up to the promise. Officially, it is stated that the consultation process within the stakeholders is not yet completed. But insiders believe that the agriculturist lobby in the country is vehemently opposing any such decision. The farming community believes that given the high price of inputs and scarcity of water as well as power, the agriculture products of Pakistan cannot compete with the Indians in terms of the pricing mechanism. Similarly, the automobile manufacturing sector is not feeling at ease and then is the discomfort of textile and other sectors.

The issue of the Non-Tariff Barriers hampering growth of Pakistan's exports to India is another major irritation. Pakistan has consistently been calling upon India to remove its non-tariff barriers. The general perception in Pakistan has been that despite the grant of an MFN status to Pakistan by India, the bilateral trade has been in favour of India. Now India, for its part, has agreed to examine its non-tariff barriers. To promote trade both tariff and non-tariff barriers (NTBs) need to be reduced/removed. The two governments established a Working Group (WG) specifically dedicated to address and resolve the clearly identified sector-specific barriers to trade. The WG comprised technical experts and representatives of regulatory bodies directly concerned with the clearly identified barriers.

The two countries have travelled a long to agree on normalisation. However, some serious issues still remain unresolved. On the top of the impediments to bilateral trade lies the decade-old mistrust between the two countries. The mistrust emanating basically from the inability of the two countries in resolving the disputes like Kashmir and others has never let creation of a cooperative atmosphere between the two countries. In order to build up confidence, dispel misunderstandings and allay any misapprehensions, it is essential that governments in both the countries support the business communities in promotion of a bilateral trade. The European Union (EU) and ASEAN are examples of the successful trade diplomacy for peace and development. The two countries must learn to control odd incidents like violation of the ceasefire across the Line of Control. Shaukat Piracha

Endgame in Afghanistan Implications and Way forward

The withdrawal of US forces has special significance for South Asia in general and Pakistan in particular. This article looks at issues from different angles with a logical and prudent solution which, if implemented, would ensure peace and security in the region.

US Ambassador Richard Olson Friday, February 01, 2013

The attack on World Trade Center in September 2001 prompted a bloody era of war, which engulfed both Afghanistan and Pakistan, continued for over a decade. It is however set to end in December 2014 after the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan by the US and NATO. The hunt- journey of Osama Bin Laden that began from the mountains of Tora Bora ended in his assassination during the Abbottabad operation in May 2011.

The withdrawal of US forces has special significance for South Asia in general and Pakistan in particular. America’s Pak-Afghan policy 2009 was meant to destroy, dismantle and defeat the al- Qaeda but it failed, and now America appears to be trying its face-saving. First, we must distinguish between the al-Qaeda and Taliban (Islamic fundamentalists). Al-Qaeda is a global Islamic militant organization formed by OBL (Osama Bin Laden) in 1988-89 with origin traceable to the post- Soviet war in Afghanistan. The Taliban is a local outfit and its main clout is within Afghanistan and the western border of Pakistan. Al-Qaeda, at present, stands weakened in Afghanistan but the Taliban are still a formidable force to wrestle with. According to Economist magazine, the Taliban power is on the rise and the US government needs to accommodate them if they want peace in Afghanistan.

To have a clear picture of the Afghan scenario, it is better to mention the main players in this endgame and their concerns. The primary stakeholders are the Karzai government, the Afghan Taliban, America and Pakistan and, secondary, the stakeholders: India, Russia, Iran and the Afghan warlords. The Karzai government demands the Taliban surrender weapons, denounce the al-Qaeda and accept the writ of the Afghan government. On the other hand, the Afghan Taliban want their removal from terrorists’ list, release of prisoners and immediate withdrawal of the US troops from Afghanistan. America desires peaceful and pro-American government and an honourable exit from Afghanistan, whereas Pakistan wants peaceful and pro-Pakistan government in Afghanistan with negligible interference by India. America’s Pak-Afghan policy 2009 was meant to destroy, dismantle and defeat the al-Qaeda but it failed, and now America appears to be trying its face-saving. Without addressing the concerns of key players, the Afghanistan conundrum can never be solved. It must be kept in mind by America that alone it cannot settle the Afghanistan issue. Back in 1989, when the Russians left Afghanistan, it propped up a pro-Soviet regime of Dr Najeebullah and provided it financial help, but he was killed in 1993 and hence the country went to civil war. So America must realize that it has to include all the stakeholders to develop a peace map.

The recent incidents show that America has finally accepted that it has to take a back seat in dealing with the Taliban because its ‘kill and talk’ policy simply does not work. The failure of talks in Qatar corroborates the fact. The Afghanistan Peace Council has devised a roadmap for peace 2015 which underlines that the Taliban will eventually surrender and may be allowed to rule over their majority areas.

Critics suggest that the Taliban may not surrender and will probably wait for America to leave so they can capture the whole of Afghanistan. This is a flawed narrative as described by Cyril Almeida in an English-language daily. He was right in pointing out that the Taliban insurgency is not like the erstwhile Mujahideen’s Jihad during the Soviet war. The Pashtuns consist of only 40-45 per cent of the Afghan population and only 30,000-35,000 of them are Taliban. Any peace initiative that has the backing of the national and regional parties is bound to succeed. In the eyes of the British Ambassador to Kabul, one of the reasons for failure of the Karzai government is the constitution by the French and forcibly implemented by Americans.

The question arises: will peace plans or initiatives enforced by foreign powers continue to fail? First of all, three circles of negotiations are required. The first one is the intra-Afghan circle, and it will include all the stakeholders in Afghanistan i.e. Pashtun, non-Pashtun (Tajik, Uzbek and Hazara) and the current government. The aim of these negotiations should be to address the concerns of the non- state actors and develop a roadmap ensuring peace and stability in the region.

The second is the regional circle, and it will include Pakistan, India, Russia and China. Pakistan has major concerns with regard to the Indian clout in Afghanistan. India has now won the mining contracts in Afghanistan and is currently investing around 5 billion dollars annually. Quite naturally, Russia and China want peace in Afghanistan because of the spread of war in the southern Russia and support for the East Turkestan movement in China. All these regional players should sit together and chalk out a strategy in which they need to accept that the only solution of long-lasting peace in Afghanistan is to let the Afghan people decide their future.

Pakistan must give up its clichéd stance of “strategic depth”. And India must not try to increase its military clout under the garb of training the Afghan police. Russia and China must support the Afghan government economically. The third is the international circle, and it will include America and its allies like Pakistan.

Economist estimates that an amount of 4 billion dollars is required annually to run the government and that the international stakeholders should provide financial help to the Afghan government. Moreover America should announce that it has no intention of staying in Afghanistan beyond December 2014 so the Taliban can also join the peace process. Even if some force has to be maintained, it should be under the umbrella of the United Nations. Once these circles develop a strategy, only then all these players should sit together and chalk out a plan acceptable to all these circles. Peace in Afghanistan is beneficial for all not just the people of Afghanistan but also those in South Asia and all over the world.

Pakistan needs to understand that it already has 3 million Afghan refugees and if a civil war starts there, more refugees will across over the border. Pakistan has lost 40,000 people and 3500 soldiers in the name of war on terror and it is still fighting militancy on its soil. If there is peace in Afghanistan, at least one front would be closed and only then Pakistan can concentrate on eliminating menace of terrorism from its frontier regions. Therefore, the idea of “strategic depth” should be given up. The distinction between good and bad Taliban should be eliminated. Those militants who kill Americans across the border are as bad as those who kill innocent people in cities in Pakistan. If we condone violence in one area, the same violence will erupt with more force in our area. True to the saying Sun Tzu by “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.” Dr Zeshan Hanif, PAS

2012 Year of Subtle Transformation

As we usher in 2013, some of the key events of 2012 will be remembered, in all probability, not exactly because of what happened, but because of the subtle transforming events that sowed the seeds for some of the more significant transformations of our times.

US Ambassador Richard Olson Friday, February 01, 2013

The most important events were not those that will find place in record books, but those which have a potential to lead to such significant events in future.

Whether it was a rising sectarian violence in Syria or the US exit from Afghanistan, it put the world on crucial crossroads from where unforeseen directions can open up. The most important developments were in the most developed world as economic vows seem to have no end, and politics repeatedly threatened to take over.

January

Suicide bomber kills 53 and injures 130 in Basra, Iraq Notices issued to President Asif Zardari, Gen Kayani, Gen Pasha and former PM Nawaz Sharif in the Memo scandal Former army chief arrested in ouster bid of Islamic government in Turkey Double Shah sentenced to 14 years' in jail, confiscation of property and fine Supreme Court rejects PM's intra court appeal Pir Pagaro died in London Defence Secretary removed by prime minister Arfa Karim, the youngest IT wizard, died Supreme Court issues notice to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani Babar Awan's law practice licence suspended Pakistan beat England in first test Substandard PIC medicines kill 108 Senate's consensus (resolution) on registration of a case against Gen Musharraf 173 killed, 1,000 injured in stampede during football match in Egypt 260 die of government bombing in Syria: China and Russia veto resolution Arbab Ghulam Rahim elected PML-Like-minded president Charge-sheet against PM Gilani, denies charges National Assembly consensus on 20th Amend Pakistan agrees to reopen NATO supply Pakistani movie 'Saving Face' wins Oscar Award

February

6.9 magnitude quake hits near the central Philippines with 43 confirmed deaths At least 73 people killed in the Egyptian football riots in Port Said Tens of thousands stranded by floods in New South Wales and Queensland (Australia) Queen Elizabeth II marks her 60th anniversary of becoming Britain's monarch. She turned 86 on April 21, but on February 6 marked the 60th anniversary since her ascension to the throne. The UK unemployment rate reaches 17 year high of 8.4% Syrian army kills 100 civilians in artillery shelling of Homs and Hama A series of bomb attacks across 12 Iraqi cities kill 60 and injures 200 World Health Organization removes India from the list of polio endemic countries

March

Tropical Storm Irina kills 65 in Madagascar Toyota recalls 700,000 vehicles over safety concerns 110 people were killed and 63 missing after a ferry collided with an oil-tanker near Dhaka, Bangladesh Indian batsman Siachen Tendulkar became first cricketer to score 100 international centuries African Union suspends Mali's membership following a coup Russian President Vladimir Putin wins Russian presidential election amid allegations of voter fraud Marvi Memon joined Muslim League-N PML-N and the Like-minded consensus on election alliance Pakistan tests Hatf-2 successfully PPP's Waheeda Shah disqualified for beating a polling staff female member Punjab Government announced reforms package for women rights Nayyer Bokhari and Sabir Baloch elected Chairman, Deputy of Senate TV artiste Tahira Bokhari died Ishaq Dar took charge as Opposition Leader in Senate Bangladesh beat India in Asia Cup Javed Hashmi joined Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) Pakistan beat BD and becomes Asian Champion Liaqat Jatoi joins PML-N Pakistani student Musa Feroze wins World Competition of Mathematics

April

America charge-sheets Khalid Sheikh, four others, fixes head-money for Hafiz Saeed 124, including three officers of the Pakistan Army and 11 civilians, buried under iceberg at Siachen Pakistani scientist Khalil Qureshi released Five federal ministers and six ministers of state took oath Accounts of Raja Pervez Ashraf, Liaqat Jatoi and Shaukat Tareen frozen Parliament suspends Lord Nazir's Labour Party membership Bhoja Airlines plane crashes in Islamabad, killing 27 on board Supreme Court convicted PM Yousaf Raza Gilani in contempt of court case; the sentence lasted just 30 seconds. Joyce Banda became President of Malawi Prime Minister of Greece Lucas Papademos resigned and called an election for May 6 The unfinished World Trade Center overtook the Empire State building to become the tallest building in New York An overloaded ferry capsized in the Brahmaputra River (India), killing 103 people

May

The Socialist Party member elected president of France Pakistan tests Hatf-9 successfully Asamul Haq wins Escorial Open Tennis title China and Russia sign $15 billion dollar trade deal

June Pakistan tests Cruise missile Raad Increase in the federal budget, salaries and 20% raise in pensions announced Interior Minister Rehman Malik's Senate membership suspended for dual citizenship Legendary singer Mehdi Hasan died Riaz Malik's scandal surfaced on a private TV channel Country-wide demos against load-shedding claim many lives Saudi Prince Naif died PPP leader Fozia Wahab expired Supreme Court disqualified PM Gilani, NA membership also cancelled Arrest warrants for Riaz Malik, son, 5 others for illegal land occupation Cricketer Salman Butt released from British jail Raja Pervez Ashraf became Prime Min ister of Pakistan Muhammad Morsi elected Egypt's prime minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi became Pakistan's first vice prime minister

July

US apologises to Pakistan over the Salala incident NA, Senate pass contempt-of-court bill Parliamentary Committee nominates Fakhruddin G Ibrahim as Pakistan's Chief Election Commissioner PML-N suspends Captain Safdar's party membership

August

Pakistan signs NATO supply agreement with US till 2015 New voter lists released US President Obama imposes new economic sanctions on Iran SC declares new contempt-of-court law as null and void Mongolia jails former president for four years for corruption Fiji's former prime minister jailed for one year for bungling Coup bid against government in Turkey; forced retirement of 40 general admirals Blackwater fined $500 million Riaz Malik charge-sheeted in land scam, denies charges US wins 104 medals in Olympics, China remains number 2 Attack on PAF's Kamra Airbase; nine terrorists were killed OIC suspended Syria's membership 100 dams for Balochistan approved

September

ANP, Functional, NPP desert Sindh government on Local Bodies Ordinance issue Rains, floods killed 194 in Pakistan Fire at factories; 30 killed in Lahore; burnt 289 alive in Karachi 43 dead in countrywide demos against blasphemous sketches Remote-control bomb killed a PAF van in Peshawar

October

Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf peace march to South Waziristan West Indies won Twenty Cup for the first time Prime minister removed in Libya Australia wins Women's T-Twenty World Cup Former president of Maldives Nasheed arrested Teenage schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai wounded in attack by Taliban, shifted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in England Dr Sher Afgan Niazi expired Indian film stars Saifullah Khan and Kareena Kapoor got married Pakistanis set world record of making a (national) flag Sandy (hurricane) devastation claimed 101 lives in America, causing $50b loss

November

Pakistan won Asian Kabaddi Tournament US court rejected Dr Afia's appeal, jailed her for 86 years Barack Obama won US election with 303 electoral votes Malala Day observed under auspices of the UN 20 killed in Rawalpindi suicide bomb attack on Muharram procession Ajmal Kasab hanged in India D8 countries ink $500b accord for mutual trade till 2018 The grave of veteran Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat exhumed

December

The threat of the world's end at the conclusion of a significant period (21st) in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar 15 killed in Taliban's suicide bombing attack at US military post in Jalalabad Muhammad Asif of Pakistan became World Champion of snooker Lahore High Court ordered building of Kala Dam Pakistan beat India, after eight long years, winning Kansi medal Indian court ordered release of Pakistani scientist Dr Khalil Chishti Billions of rupees embezzled in Pakistan's mega projects, , according to NAB chief SC summoned MQM leader Altaf Hussain in contempt-of-court case for January 7 27, including 20 schoolchildren, shot dead in US state of Connecticut JWT Editorial Board

A Brief History of Election in Pakistan

US Ambassador Richard Olson Friday, February 01, 2013

At the time of independence, Pakistan was without a constitution. The Government of India Act 1935, was adopted as its interim constitution. The Muslim and non-Muslim members of the pre- independence Assembly of India from areas comprising Pakistan formed its first Constituent (legislative) Assembly. The original members of the Constituent Assembly were 69. They were indirectly elected in 1946 by the provincial assemblies voting through a proportional representation system by means of a single transferable vote. The Members of the Provincial Assemblies were earlier elected on a restricted franchise basis in 1946. The Constituent Assembly (CA) created four seats for Bahawalpur, Khairpur, Balochistan and NWFP (now Khyber Pakhtunkhawa), which were nominated by the rulers. The six members of the CA were chosen by the provincial assemblies in 1949, and the number of members of CA was raised from 69 to 79 which included 31 lawyers, 27 landlords, nine businessmen and 12 liberal professionals. [Hassan Muhammad: General Election in Pakistan p. 3]

During 1947-1954 no direct election was held for the central legislature. However, direct elections to the provincial assemblies were held on the basis of adult franchise in 1951. In Punjab, 50 per cent of the electorate polled their votes. The Muslim League got 30 per cent votes polled and bagged 143 seats out of the total 197 seats.

The Muslim League could get only 10 seats in East Pakistan while the United Front got 223 seats and the National Congress 24 seats. Many Muslim League leaders had their election security forfeited. The elections to the Second Constituent Assembly were held on June 21, 1955. The Provincial Assembly members served as the Electoral College for the election to the Second Constituent Assembly.

The presidential election was held in 1960, in which 75,283 Basic Democracy (BD) members reposed trust in then President Field Marshal Ayub Khan. The referendum also gave him the mandate for making a constitution. The BD members elected the National Assembly in 1962. The total members were 156, including six women with 50 per cent representation each. In 1965, the presidential election was held again. Ayub Khan and Madr-e-Millat Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah contested this election. President Ayub used the state machinery and funds to buy votes of BD members. The election was rigged and Ayub Khan won by securing 49,700 votes as against 28,345 obtained by the Madr-e-Millat.

In the history of Pakistan, the first direct elections to the national and provincial assemblies were held in 1970. The intelligence agencies reported to General Yahya Khan that no party would get majority in parliament. Thus the result of the 1970 election surprised everyone. The people in East and West Pakistan frustrated the designs of Gen Yahya, who wanted to perpetuate his rule in view of a possible split mandate.

The Awami League in East Pakistan and the PPP in West Pakistan got the majority vote. The Awami League got 160, PPP 81, PML (Q) 9, PML (C) 7, NAP 6 and the JUI 7 seats in the National Assembly.

Almost 60 per cent of registered voters used their right to vote in this election. General Yahya Khan did not transfer power to Mujib-ur-Rehman and chose to opt for an army operation in East Pakistan in order to resolve the political issue. Dhaka fell to the Indian Army after the 1971 war with India. Gen Yahya was forced to hand over power to the PPP Chairman, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was a majority leader in West Pakistan.

Z. A. Bhutto was over-confident due to his popular revolutionary reform. He decided to hold a general election in March 1977, a year earlier of his constitutional term. The PPP once again got a two-third majority in the National Assembly and won 155 seats. The Pakistan National Alliance (PNA) could win only 36 seats. The opposition did not accept the result and started a movement against the PPP government which culminated in the martial law by General Zia-ul-Haq. General Zia held the election in 1985 on non-party basis. The Movement for Restoration of Democracy (MRD) – an alliance of 11 political parties - boycotted these elections. Many Muslim League leaders had their election security forfeited. The elections to the Second Constituent Assembly were held on June 21, 1955. After the death of General Zia-ul-Haq the election was held in October 1988 in which the PPP got 93 seats in the National Assembly, IJI 54 and the Independents 40 seats. Benazir Bhutto was elected as the first woman prime minister of Pakistan. She could rule only for 20 months when President Ghulam Ishaq Khan dismissed her government under Article 58/2-B of the Constitution. The election, which was held in 1990, was rigged. Some 140 million rupees were distributed among the candidates opposed to the PPP by the ISI. The IJI grabbed 106 seats of the National Assembly, whereas Pakistan Democratic Alliance (PDA) got only 44 seats. Mian Nawaz Sharif was elected the Prime Minister of Pakistan. He ruled the country till 18 July 1993 when his government was dismissed by President Ghulam Ishaq Khan.

New election was held in October 1993. Moeen Qureshi was named as a caretaker prime minister of Pakistan. PPP secured 89 seats of the National Assembly while PML got 73 seats. Benazir Bhutto formed government as the second woman prime minister. Her government was however dissolved by President Farooq Khan Leghari on November 5, 1996 under Article 58/2-B of the Constitution. New election was held on February 7, 1997. The PML, under Nawaz Sharif, got a heavy mandate by securing 137 seats. The PPP could win only 18 seats in the 1997 election. Mian Nawaz Sharif once again formed the government as prime minister. His government was sacked by Army Chief General Pervaiz Musharraf, who became the Chief Executive of Pakistan. General Musharraf held election in 2002 in which the king's party, PML (Q), secured 118 seats of the National Assembly. PPP got 81 seats, Muttahida Majlis-Amal (MMA) got 60 seats and PML-N only 18 seats. Mir Zafarullah Jamali was elected the prime minister. The PML-Q government completed its full term because General Musharraf remained President of Pakistan as well as Chief of the Army Staff (COAS).

The last election was held in February 2008 after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. As a result, the PPP emerged as the majority party and formed a coalition government first with the help of PML-N, MQM and JUI but the PML-N left the coalition. However, the PML-Q joined the government. And, now, the citizens of Pakistan are looking forward to the new election which is just around the corner.

The writer is a renowned columnist. Email: [email protected] Qayyum Nizami

The Winter of the World II

Through conscious efforts at the global level, the world can witness a flourishing spring after overcoming the present dreary winter. Indeed, mankind needs an unprecedented warmth and love to counter and then come out of this time of winter and bring about a spring of love and prosperity for people.

US Ambassador Richard Olson Friday, February 01, 2013

1. Introduction 2. Unprecedented crises faced by humanity a. Economic Woes b. Social crises c. Geopolitical tensions d. Environmental threats 3. Reasons of this winter a. Cold-bloodedness b. Nature being harsh c. Lack of justice d. Lack of religious and cultural harmony e. Ineffectiveness of UN f. Spirit of man is dying g. Population explosion and scarcity of resources 4. If winter comes, can spring be far behind? 5. World needs exhibition of warmth, compas sion and love a. Promoting compassion to restore peace in the world b. Love for humanity c. Love for nature 6. Conclusion

There is nothing permanent in this universe except change. Human history reveals that mankind has never experienced the same circumstances for long. It has always gone through good and bad times. But where the ebb and flow of life on Earth is fascinating to students of history, it also betrays the fact that what mankind is experiencing in a contemporary era is 'the winter of the world'. Despite all the progress made in the scientific and cultural fields, human beings continue to suffer like never before. In fact most of this suffering has been a result of this very scientific progress that human beings have been able to achieve.

Today, we face threats to our own existence like never before. We have been able to gather enough weapons to ensure destruction of life on earth. We produce food abundant enough to feed the entire population of earth twice but still millions of people die of hunger each year. Mankind has never before experienced sufferings like these at such a scale and the time we are living in seems the worst of all times. The miseries and sufferings endured by mankind are so overwhelming that chances of a way-out seem very bleak. There seems a little ray of hope to end this winter as human beings are the ones responsible for it. But if we analyze the present scene from a positive angle, the very process of nature presents a way-out for human beings.

Times have never remained the same. History of mankind is replete with tales of rise and fall of great civilizations. Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Arabs, and Indians, to name a few, prospered and reached the zenith of growth and progress. History also makes mention of great wars, famines, epidemics and natural disasters that wreaked havoc in the world. However, one hallmark of human history is that each time mankind has been able to regenerate after every calamity. But human race in the contemporary era is facing problems of such a scale as never witnessed before.

The greatest problem today relates to the economic woes of people. In spite of enormous growth of economies and unprecedented development in various sectors, what we observe is the gravest of all the problems -- poverty and hunger. Capitalism which is hailed as the best system to achieve maximum production and growth has also contributed to maximum poverty. What we witness today is the dangerously-sustained high level of unemployment due to chronic labour market imbalances in capitalist markets.

There is a fast widening gap between haves and have-nots, which not only produces chronic poverty and hunger but also provokes widespread public protests. This in turn stalls whatever economic activity is going on in the local markets and further aggravates the situation.

Globalization and a revolution in information and communication fields were hailed as significant measures in maximising the trade and business activities throughout the world. The World Trade Organization came as an international institution to ensure free trade and provision of cheap goods for all markets. However, it has received a severe backlash from societies all over the world.

A serious problem – termed by anthropologists as 'the mother of all problems' – is the exorbitant rise in world population. Human population which numbered less than one billion for nearly six millennia of civilized history has now jumped to more than seven billion in just three centuries. This rapid rise in growth rate has created problems of all sorts. The explosive population has probably reached the ceiling limit of world's capacity where more people die of hunger than from natural diseases. Social problems like unemployment, poverty and slums, insecurity and decay of social values and ethics are the problems that ensue from population explosion. The growing population explosion is a great challenge as well as a matter of great concern for world leaders.

This population explosion is also causing political tensions at regional as well as international level. Birth rates, unfortunately, are higher in those countries where there are not enough economic opportunities to absorb this additional number of people. Resultantly, hundreds of thousands of people each year try to migrate to areas where there are perceived economic opportunities. This uncontrolled migration causes problems for the source as well as destination societies. Materialism and individualism have eroded the basic social fabric of society and virtues like compassion, and spiritual and intellectual values have vanished from world. Despite all the progress in medical science and technological advance in diagnostic and curative fields, human beings continue to suffer from communicable and chronic diseases. Diseases, epidemics and pandemics take a heavy toll on human lives each year. Much of this failure is due to misdirected medical system with more focus on curative side and ignoring the preventive side.

The tale of human suffering does not end here. Mankind today is faced with geopolitical tensions across the world. Very often we see international disputes leading to armed conflicts inflicting losses on humanity reflecting failure of our diplomatic means. We have succeeded in inventing weapons of mass-destruction – nuclear, chemical, biological and radiological – with an unprecedented scale of destruction.

There are fragile states that threaten to destabilize regions as well as the world due to their own instability. Terrorism has emerged as the greatest threat of new millennium. This new and vague phenomenon has multiple dimensions and continues to divide the world into perpetrators and victims. So far, we have not been able to define this phenomenon.

Water crisis is another great trouble bothering the human be ings in the contemporary world. The fast depleting sources of fresh water have not only brought a question mark to the existence of many great societies, it has also become a source of regional and international conflicts over rights of its usage.

Moreover, various environmental threats have also created troubles for humanity. The world of today is confronted with a unique threat which had never before existed. Climate change due to rising greenhouse gas emissions is one such phenomenon. It reflects a danger for existence of life on Earth and also is a result of our failure to adapt our lifestyles to the need of time. We continue to spread pollution in this beautiful creation of God. Air, water, land – nothing has been spared from this excessive and irresponsible use of resources of earth. Furthermore, population explosion and rapid, uncontrolled urbanization have given rise to urban sprawl leading to problems in provision of civic facilities to citizens.

Nature has also been harsh as we see an unprecedented rise in frequency as well as intensity of extreme weather events like earthquakes, hurricanes, and floods. These natural calamities pose a great challenge to the modern world as well as human intellect. Climate change due to rising greenhouse gas emissions is one such phenomenon. The reasons of this 'winter of the world' are not unknown. It is the cold-bloodedness of human beings themselves that is largely responsible for such a state of affairs. We no more have any regard for fellow Homo sapiens or nature. We continue to exploit mother earth as well as other men ruthlessly for our benefits.

Lack of justice is the chief reason behind the sorrows and worries in this world. Our societies are being managed on the principle of 'might is right'. Whoever is powerful or wealthy becomes one of the 'more equals'.

Lack of religious and cultural harmony is another major reason of today's problems of the world. Mankind has seen bloody wars fought on religious questions but the intolerance and extremism on the question of religion or ethnicity that exists in our societies today is unmatched in history. Belonging to one religion or sect makes you an alien for those belonging to others. This intolerance is a major source of trouble for peace in the world.

Despite material progress and prosperity, the spirit of man is dying. Man's spirit endures his suffering but when the spirit is suffering, there seems little cure. Mankind is devoid of compassion and love for fellow-humans. Materialism and individualism have eroded the basic social fabric of society and virtues like compassion, and spiritual and intellectual values have vanished from world.

The population explosion and the resultant scarcity of resources is another reason for 'winter of the world'. The population growth to levels unimaginable few centuries back is largely responsible for poverty and hunger as well as pollution. The world population has crossed all ceilings that were estimated to be beyond the capacity threshold of the Earth and it continues to grow at alarming pace threatening the existence of life on earth.

Despite all odds, there is always a ray of hope for humanity as there is always a dawn to every night. A white tremendous daybreak waits behind every night. The responsibility lies with the intellectuals and leaders of the world to get together and chalk out a strategy to protect the world from growing violence, aggression and other problems.

We need to promote love for humanity as we no longer can afford the barbarism of hatred and disgust. Hatred breeds hatred and love begets love. We need to promote virtues of peaceful coexistence and love for humanity in order to defeat the evil forces of hatred and divide.

To conclude, the problems faced by mankind are tremendous and unmatched in history. Ironically, we are the ones responsible for most of the troubles confronting us today. But the magnitude of these crises is of such great scale that it is threatening the existence of life on earth. Mankind needs to respond to these challenges with unprecedented warmth and love for fellow-humans and nature as well as for future generations so we may pass them on to a world featuring spring of prosperity and love. Dr Waheed Asghar (CSP)

Pakistan is Rich in Natural Resources but Poor in their Management.

"Life without conservation of natural resources would be like a deaf listening to music or a blind enjoying dance performance.

US Ambassador Richard Olson Friday, February 01, 2013

Natural resources affect the life of a modern man, directly or indirectly. The impact is quite visible at consumer level, industry level and means of transportation and so on. No one can deny the fact that natural resources in its different manifestations are the ultimate driving force. Consumer using it to run their daily life, industry needs it to maintain its production line while transport industry is using it to serve the commuters. As a result, this heavy dependence gave birth to the problem of resource management in itself and today a resource rich country lay exposed to the problems at social, economic, political fronts.”

There is no denying the fact that Pakistan is one of the richest countries in terms of natural resources and its immense geo-strategic potential. But sadly, it is one of the poorest countries in terms of management also. The country's abundant wealth of resources including that of energy, agriculture, minerals, population, and geography needs no explanation, but unlike the developed countries, these have not been properly utilised due to poor management. This dismal situation is caused due to several flaws which have led to poor governance of country since its inception except some brief periods of economic prosperity. Prevalent political rivalry and instability, worsening law and order situation and rampant corruption have led to resource development impasse.

A broader overview of geographic position of Pakistan reveals that it is located in South Asia and has 650 miles of coastline on the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman. The west is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran. India is to the east and China in the far northeast. The country is strategically located between South Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East. Our country is bestowed with some of the best soil resources, for instance, natural gas, oil, hydro power potential, coal, iron, copper, salt, and limestone and so on. Our farmers produce wheat, cotton, rice, sugarcane, eggs, fruit and vegetables. We have large cattle farms which produce meat and milk in abundance. Primary industry includes textiles, food processing, pharmaceuticals, construction materials, fertilizer, and paper products. Major exports comprise textile products, rice, leather goods, sports goods, carpets, rugs, and chemicals. Pakistan imports petroleum, machinery, plastic, edible oil, iron, steel, tea, and paper.

Coal reserves are estimated at 175 billion tons. This would equate to 618 billion barrels of crude oil. When compared to oil reserves this is more than twice the amount of the top four countries. Natural gas production is at a high level in Pakistan. Estimated reserves are 885.3 billion cubic meters (as of January 2009). Gas fields are expected to last for another 20 years. The Sui gas field is the largest, accounting for 26% of Pakistan's gas production. Daily production is 19 million cubic meters a day. Under the barren mountains of Balochistan and hot sands of Sindh, there is unlimited amount of oil and gas reserves not touched yet. And still further, we have fertile lands of Punjab, ready to feed a population twice as big as we are now, the best irrigation system (waiting for more water reservoirs to enrich it), and the best quality cotton and rice. Balochistan is a mountainous desert area, consisting of 3.5 lakh sq. kms. It borders Iran, Afghanistan and its Southern Boundary is the Arabian Sea with strategically important port of Gwadar on the Makran Coast, commanding approach to the Strait of Hormuz. Its total population is 7.5 million. Balochistan occupies 43.6 percent of Pakistan's total area and is least populated. Gwadar is an important district of Balochistan, having 600 Kilometres long border. Until 1958, it had been a part of the State of Oman. On December 1958, Pakistan bought it with an amount of 550 million Rupees. It was suggested as a suitable site for port in 1964 and thus in 2002, the construction of the port was initiated with the help of China. The Gwadar Port, being the third largest port of the world, is situated at the doorway of the Persian Gulf (180 nautical miles from the Strait of Hormuz through which 40% of World's Oil passes) and at the largest trade route of the world. It is due to this fact that makes it geo-strategically more important to the world powers.

Rickodek, the part of Chagi (Tehsil of Balochistan), means “Hillock of Gold. Pakistan and International media has highlighted a new discussion on 'Rickodek'. It is the world's 4th largest deposit of gold and copper. It has been discovered that the mountains of Balochistan are filled up with much costly reservoirs of mineral. Nevertheless, it has also been proved that the gold and copper reserves of about $260 billion are buried under the Rickodek. But it is very unfortunate that Pakistan is dependent upon foreign companies for exploring, mining, surveying and refining of our natural wealth. Balochistan has been divided among Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. It has been overlooked since the times of the British Rulers. It is that part of Pakistan that consists of different linguistic and ethnic groups Pakistani leadership must focus on exploration of natural resources and their scientific management. Properly managed natural resources can play a vital role in national growth. Extensive geological survey is required to discover the resource potential. Planning and vision is needed to explore the untapped resources and effective strategy is essential to fully exploit the resources under use.

“Nature has given you everything: you have got unlimited resources. The foundations of your State have been laid, and it is now for you to build, and build as quickly and as well as you can. So go ahead and I wish you God speed.” Quaid-e-Azam, Muhammad Ali Jinnah (Message to the Nation on the occasion of the first Anniversary of Pakistan on 14th August, 1948)

Pakistan, despite its natural resources, is still a problem ridden, poverty prone, underdeveloped and third world country. Economy of Pakistan is in shambles. All our important industries that once served as important contributor to the national GDP have been closed down. Sugar, cement and shoe industry is on its downfall while textile industry is on the verge of disaster. Foreign investors are not ready to set up their businesses in Pakistan. They have their own set of problems which include painful and lengthy procedure of getting licenses and work permits in Pakistan, power crises, terrorism aggravate the crisis. Multinational Companies are reluctant to open their offices and franchises in Pakistan. More than 70 MNCs have already packed up their business in Pakistan. Economic prosperity, however, serves as a backbone for the overall progress of a nation. One thing is common in all developed nations, — they are economically sound. When citizens of a country are freed from the worries of earning a livelihood to sustain their lives, they divert their attention to more useful things. They focus on education, manage healthcare, develop technologies that make life easy and much more. Poor economic condition is the root cause of so many problems that exist in a society. Unfortunately, Pakistan's economic condition is pathetic. As if power crises, lack of foreign investment for the development of industrial zones, backward and out-dated technology were not enough, Pakistan's indulgence in war on terrorism served as a fatal blow to the already crumbling economic state. Moreover, Northern areas of Pakistan have been a place of great tourist attraction. The beautiful hills, the lush green valleys, shimmering lakes and flowing waterfalls brought many a tourist from all over the world to Pakistan. This contributed to foreign exchange. Tourism Industry was one of the booming industries of Pakistan. Besides attracting foreign exchange, it also provided employment to local people. In addition to that, tourist industry was a source of friendly relations with other countries. Nevertheless, war on terrorism has served as a serious blow to the tourism industry of Pakistan. Due to war on terror, local people of war-ridden areas are migrating to other areas of Pakistan. Country has seen the largest migration since its independence in 1947. These people have left their homes, businesses, possessions and property back home. This large influx of people and their rehabilitation is an economic burden on Pakistan. Unemployment was an ongoing problem for us and now the issue of providing employment to these migrants has become a matter of serious concern. This portion of population is contributing nothing worthwhile to the national exchequer, yet they have to be benefited from it. This unproductive lot of people is a growing economic burden for Pakistan.

70% population of Pakistan lives in villages. Most of them don't have access to adequate basic needs of life. They are struggling to make both ends meet. A large chunk of population lives below poverty line. They live in miserable conditions. Lack of proper food, clothing and shelter, poor sanitation, unsafe and sometimes contaminated drinking water are some of their many problems. Poverty itself gives rise to various other social problems. It deprives children of poor people to access education and healthcare. A sense of deprivation manifests itself in form of various crimes. That is why every now and then, we read crime stories in newspapers that are characterized by lower orders of society who adopt illegal means to get the financial prosperity which they cannot achieve otherwise.

In order to take maximum benefits from natural resources there is a need of technical education of people involved in resource exploitation and management. The technical education ensures that there is minimum wastage of the resources. Hence, such education should be made compulsory for the people in concerned areas of activity. On the other hand, the politicians, policy makers and all the stake holders must adopt a rational approach not to politicize natural resources. It should be prioritized as the vital national interest and dealt with as such.

It needs not to be emphasised that Pakistan is not poor but poor management of its natural resources has made it so. The enormous natural resources of all kinds like energy, minerals, agriculture, and manpower could have made this country a wealthy economy. Thus, the daunting challenge of poor management of natural resources direly needs to be addressed not only to overcome the perils caused due to it but also to achieve economic self sufficiency and prosperity of the nation. By surpassing this challenge, Pakistan is destined to have prominent place in the world as a stable, growing and prosperous nation.

“We should have a State in which we could live and breathe as free men and which we could develop according to our own lights and culture and where principles of Islamic social justice could find free play.” Quaid-e-Azam, Muhammad Ali Jinnah Dr Quratul Ain Malik (CSP)

India and Pakistan: Continued Conflict or Cooperation?

By Stanley Wolpert, Berkeley Year 2010 University of California Press PP. 126, Price Rs 1,695.

US Ambassador Richard Olson Friday, February 01, 2013

In India and Pakistan: Continued Conflict or Cooperation? Stanley Wolpert, an expert on modern political history of Pakistan and India, sets out to explore the reasons which explain the continuing conflicts between the two countries. The task is great with a complex web of historical, political and religious narratives that are at the base of the conflict relationship between the two neighbours.

While the main focus of the book is the Kashmir issue, the author also brings to fore the contemporary domestic political scenario of the two countries. Wolpert persuasively argues that no issue other than the conflict over Kashmir 'has proved more deadly, costly or intractable' in the entire South Asia.

Wolpert jumps into the deep sea of the subcontinent's history to trace the Kashmir conflict. Since 1148, when it was first mentioned in a historical text, Kashmir had remained a peaceful valley. Ashoka Maurya ruled the Indian subcontinent (269-232 B.C.E.) and founded the capital, Srinagar. Since that time, the valley had remained a symbol of peace, harmony and tranquillity. In the 8th century, Hinduism entered the vale via its most powerful Hindu monarch, Lalitaditya. The 11th century witnessed the advent of Islam through the conquest of Mahmud of Ghazni. The natives of the valley had the liberty to practise their religion as there was no religious discrimination under any of its many rulers.

The Afghan invaders brought pain and misery to the people and they were compelled to appeal to the Sikh Maharaja of Punjab, Ranjit Singh, to come to Srinagar to save them. He proved little better than his precursors and thus began the sorry saga of an inept and divisive leadership that continues to plague the Kashmiri people to this day.

The year 1947 was a milestone in the world's history as two new states - Pakistan and India - emerged on the world map. The beautiful and peaceful valley turned into a 'valley of blood' when Lord Mountbatten left the destiny of 4 million Kashmiris to the personal choice of Maharaja Hari Singh. The Maharaja wanted to keep Jammu and Kashmir independent but this was not acceptable to both socialist Nehru's India and Mr Jinnah's Pakistan'. October 1947 witnessed the Jallianwala incident of Kashmir when the Hindu landlords opened fire on Muslim peasants who had refused to pay land taxes. This incident became the immediate cause for India and Pakistan to send their troops into the valley. Wolpert persuasively argues that no issue other than the conflict over Kashmir 'has proved more deadly, costly or intractable' in entire South Asia. In January 1948, India took this case to the UN Security Council accusing Pakistan of aggression and called for immediate and effective measures to put pressure on Pakistan. Pakistan's position was that it entered the valley to protect the Muslim population there and it would withdraw its forces if India pulled back its entire forces from the valley.

On 14 March 1950, the Security Council passed a resolution for a plebiscite in Kashmir and Sir Owen Dixen was appointed as plebiscite mediator. He proposed a possible solution to resolve the Kashmir conflict by dividing it into the Muslim majority Vale of Kashmir and its Hindu-Buddhist majorities in Jammu and Ladakh. Later on, the Security Council sent more administers for a UN plebiscite but India's leadership turned a deaf ear to such proposals and the ultimate results were that both sides deployed more troops and heavy artillery close to the ceasefire line and often exchanged heavy fire across the UN ceasefire line. Wolpert has criticised the leadership of both India and Pakistan for their short-sighted policies and parochial nationalistic approach.

On 7 July 2009, President Asif Zardari admitted that prior to the incident of 9/11 Pakistan was involved in training militants to use as proxies against India in Kashmir. India, on the other hand, has been involved in human rights violations and suppression of demands by Kashmiris for independence.

The author throws considerable light on domestic political upheavals of both countries since partition. He looks at a wide array of efforts on both sides for establishing peace and cooperation between the two countries. He argues that while Pakistan has witnessed three dictatorial regimes which have weakened its democratic institutions, India has seen the rise of Hindu nationalist parties and leaders such as Narindra Modi who have sought to widen the Hindu-Muslim divide and capitalize upon it.

'Potential Solutions to the Kashmir Conflict' is perhaps the most important part of the book where Wolpert analyses the 'various entrenched sensitivities' associated with the issue on both sides. He says that 'the most realistic solution to the Kashmir conflict' is the acceptance of the Line of Control as the 'northern-most international border of India and Pakistan'. He argues that Pakistan has lost the moral ground to push for self-determination to Kashmir's Muslim majority by failing to 'sustain a freely-elected polity capable of protecting its own people'.

On the Indian side, the 'most troubling potential obstacle' to this 'realistic' solution would be the election of another BJP-led central government. Though Wolpert is emphatic about letting the Kashmiri people 'choose their own leaders in free and fair elections', he fails to point out that Kashmiris lack a unified stance on their proposed national destination. What is more important than India and Pakistan accepting a 'realistic' solution is the need for consensus among the Kashmiris about their future national and territorial status. Munazza Khan

Discrimination in, to and Through Education

The education system of a country carries paramount importance because its progress entirely depends on education. The better the education system, the more progress a nation will make.

US Ambassador Richard Olson Friday, February 01, 2013

The first Education Conference was held in 1947 as per the directives of the founder of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The Father of the Nation provided basic guidelines for future development of education, stressing such system which could match our history, culture and at the same time indoctrinate an appreciable sense of honour, integrity, responsibility and a true spirit of selfless service to our fellow-humans.

Many countries around the world have made their mark by dint of creating and allowing quality- education for citizens. Education, in fact, is the delivery of knowledge and a particular skill by a teacher to his or her students. Most importantly there are three things that a good teacher can supply to his students; and they are encouragement, enlightenment and inspiration. Though this delivery of knowledge takes place through the length and breadth of our beloved homeland at all educational institutions, yet that is not quite satisfactory and effective. According to a definition, an educated person is the one who can read a newspaper and write a simple letter in any language. Keeping in mind this definition, we can say that around 50 per cent of the population of Pakistan is literate but the reality is far from truth. The present education system is to blame for people's ignorance because this has failed to meet people's needs. The failure of education system in Pakistan is due to a number of reasons.

Pakistan's education system is divided and torn along many lines. There is a difference in language, there is a difference in curriculum, there is a difference in terms of what is offered in different geographical boundaries of Pakistan, and then there is a difference in class as well. English medium, Urdu medium, A and O Levels, Matric and FSc, religious, non-religious, private, public, elite, middle class and many more similar divisions exist there.

If discrimination is not fully exposed, it cannot be effectively opposed. That is to say, in Pakistan, the education system is not well-organized because it creates and encourages discrimination among people with different educational backgrounds. The courses thus offered in public schools are totally different from those of English-medium private schools. A student coming from a small village for further studies at a government school in a big city lags far behind in knowledge, confidence and personality development as compared to a student who enjoys the facility of studying at an expensive English-medium school which has a completely different course, when it comes to finding a good job. So, arguably, a public sector educational institution cannot guarantee students a really bright future. However competent an English-medium school student may be, the employer prefers a job-seeker only with an excellent educational background from some institution of repute. And that is how discrimination raises its head to permeate through the veins.

For that matter, American schools are on the top of the list as they offer the best possible facilities in this sector in Pakistan. Yet an insufficient number of institutions cater only to the elite, who can afford to pay huge amounts of money for the schooling of their children. In the second line, we see schools like the City School and the Beaconhouse School System on top of the list of private schools, offering quality-education but still the majority of people in Pakistan cannot afford too expensive schools in big cities. Then, we have cadet schools which in fact are fewer in number, yet they endeavour to provide quality education to the young lot in a bit systematic way. Mostly students attend government-run schools in our country. Every government claims that it would take special initiatives and measures in this very direction in order to ensure quality education but, sadly, hardly any change is witnessed ultimately because government policies are always tailored in air- conditioned rooms. And most of the time, the policymakers remain unaware of the fact as to what problems crop up ahead. Whether applicable or not, these policies barely prove any good to citizens when put into practice. Then we have the madressa education system. One finds to one's surprise a fairly large number of such madariss across Pakistan, where a large number of students get enrolled. In the Zia regime, the government supported them a lot and rather strengthened them to exploit for reasons best known to the regime. But, now, after the changing trends, new policies coupled with pressures from some superpowers one would only question the aim and objective of the type and quality of education they provide to students. Maybe the government should review and monitor the madressa education system so as to win tacit support of countries around the world to ensure a better future for all. Most importantly there are three things that a good teacher can supply to his students; and they are encouragement, enlightenment and inspiration. United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has invested over $682 million in Pakistan since year 2002 to reform education system. In 2009, the U.S. Congress approved a bill authorising $1.5 billion a year in non-military aid for next five years. While the bill does not earmark a specific amount for education, it is authorized to provide assistance in educational reform including programmes for development of modern, nationwide school curricula for public, private, and religious schools and support for oversight of educational institutions including religious schools. Some experts say that a large portion of development aid is spent on international consultants and overhead costs. It is a common belief that the Pakistani government, with its poor record of transparency and distribution of aid, will as usual prove an ineffective partner. Lack of coordination between the Centre and the local authorities responsible for implementing educational reform adds to the problem. According to a foreign affairs expert, the international donors must work in collaboration of their local partners to help them in initiatives and introduction of educational reform.

Our society, following the foreign artificial trends and alien culture blindly, attaches utmost importance to the English-medium schools in the private sector unreasonably. Hence, the education system is bent upon creating a yawning gap in the common man’s thinking rapidly. It is high time the government review the present syllabi especially in the public-sector schools deeply and sensibly so as to eliminate this discrimination forthwith with introduction of new courses in response to the demand and call of time. Furthermore, there should be complete harmony as far as the imparting of quality and purposeful education is concerned the motto being ‘we need one and a unified education system’. Hassaan Bin Zubair

Delhi Sinister: An Eye-Opener for Pakistan

The case of the Indian rape victim, Miss Jayoti Singh Pandey, is an eye-opener. This highly despicable and condemnable incident has raised serious questions about the political leadership, the structure of policing, the law and order situation, moral values and the place of women in society.

US Ambassador Richard Olson Friday, February 01, 2013

In democratic societies, human rights are discussed at length, morality is valued, and democracy is considered vital for survival. Media works as a watchdog, the leaders talk about equality, and the states make laws to protect citizens. The case of an Indian rape victim, Jayoti Singh Pandey, proves to be an eye-opener. The case of the Indian rape victim, Miss Jayoti Singh Pandey, is an eye-opener. This highly despicable and condemnable incident has raised serious questions about the political leadership, the structure of policing, the law and order situation, moral values and the place of women in society.

The media portrays a woman as a sex symbol. Fingers are also pointed at the legitimacy and authenticity of the so-called effort to provide secure environment for women to live and work. Repugnant levels of female foeticide, female illiteracy, child marriage, sexual and work-place harassment, domestic violence, threatening and intolerance against women are indeed very harsh realities that women face and if not addressed with seriousness will increase chaos and inequality in society.

Such abhorrent incidents are witnessed not in India only one finds, to one's dismay, many noticeable happenings of similar nature in our society also. This incident pointed to a deep-rooted misogyny and patriarchy which afflict our society, breeding structures, discourses and attitudes which condemn victims of sexual violence to a life of shame and silence. Misogyny and patriarchy are perpetuated and sustained by our collective participation. The patriarchal and male-chauvinistic discourses in our society are not limited to certain individuals. The government, society and media play a vital role in strengthening this deep-rooted solecism in the mentality of people that women are inferior; they are a threat to honour. So they should be controlled, dictated and commanded. We should all be blamed and the burden of accusations of rape, violence and harassment rests on our shoulders.

The role of governance in Pakistan is to protect women's rights. Unfortunately, the track record has not been very good. Many flaws can be identified in the legislation and implementation of laws. For instance, the Hadood Ordinance requires of a woman to produce at least three witnesses to prove that she has been raped. In villages, the perpetrators of such heinous crimes are influential landlords who can wield their power and pressure the local police in this connection. If someone dares to speak out against them, they do not desist even from abducting a member of the victim's family. This happens frequently because the law-enforcement agencies shy away from their due responsibility and duty. A majority of women remain unaware of their constitutional rights because they have no access to information or approach to those in authority. And, sadly, the government is least bothered to take satisfactory and appropriate measures to inform and educate working women as well as housewives about their rights. A young woman prefers to get beaten up brutally by her husband instead of reporting the abuse to police station.

We being part of this society rather strengthen this system of discrimination in one way or the other. We tend to demoralise the female members of our families by exhorting them to get back home before sunset. Even, very often, we monitor their movement with a certain amount of suspicion. Not only that we feel unduly concerned as to what they wear, how they talk and the manner in which they attract others' attention. Advising them against paying attention to those around them -- may it be their work-place, market or a public place -- or even looking at strangers. Most of the families particularly the lower-middle class train their daughters for acceptance of unconditional obedience of the family elders. Continuing with this undesirable attitude, we participate in perpetuating this discrimination when we tell young women that a virtuous woman's reputation is at stake each time she steps out of and hence warm them against blemishing their honour and dignity. Nevertheless, we ignore the domestic-abuse occurrences in our neighbourhood, because we do not want to poke our nose in someone's personal affairs. We are responsible for such remorseful actions when each time we ask a woman to make some inappropriate and unreasonable sacrifices for the dignity of her family. The patriarchal and male-chauvinistic discourses in our society are not limited to certain individuals. Arguably, we are to be blamed for this grave problem because we favour the idea that a woman usually invites harassment due to her 'provocative' dressing. We should also be held responsible when we want our sons to proceed for higher studies and choose to become doctors and engineers, while we prefer our daughters to become just good housewives. Moreover, we spurn and discourage outspoken and bold girls. We do gross injustice when we call routine sexual harassment just 'eve teasing', when we ignore another whistle, another remark and another threat. We unconsciously or unintentionally make it permissible for a man to ogle at a girl, to tease her, to pester her and to dominate over her generally.

Sometimes we commit this offence when we oppose women's participation in politics, believing that they are simply incapable of running the affairs of the country, when we think that religion does not allow them to come out of their homes to work with men. Then, we are to be blamed for failing to make laws against cruelties like wanni and sawara (the giving away of a woman to a rival party to settle a dispute. A swara exchange can be used to settle murder, adultery, kidnapping or another offence); and we vote for politicians who arrange to marry their daughters with the Holy Quran to save their property, when we do not seek consent of the girl before pushing her to marry a man they hardly know.

Women's rights non-government organisations (NGO) and the so-called feminists also create problems for the opposite sex in Pakistan. Without realizing the ground realities and women's problems they fight against 'modernization' and 'westernization'.

Besides the government and society, media is also responsible for promoting stereotype and hackneyed mindset against women when movies are made with a mindless script, sexism, untamed masculinity and victimised femininity.

I never met Jayoti. I don't know how she looked like, what her dreams were, and how she felt when she was victimised. But I know one thing. Her brutal death sheds light on countless other women who face sexual violence not only in India but also in Pakistan. We have to question our part somehow in the rape, culture, misogyny and patriarchy cases. It highlights resistance, protests, subversion and struggle by those who have challenged the aforementioned participations and of those who continue to do so.

The mere condemning of all such heinous and despicable crimes would not work. We need a broader cultural and mental shift to re-evaluate and elevate the status of womenfolk in society. Only such an approach would ensure their safety and protection at workplace and provide them equal opportunities in various walks of life. Aqdas Waheed Sandhila

‘The Harder you Work, the Luckier you are’

Amna Rafique, PAS, 51st CSS-2011

US Ambassador Richard Olson Friday, February 01, 2013

One needs to be careful to select right topic for essay and then understanding the requirements of examiner along with providing solid arguments.

Jahangir's World Times: Kindly tell us about your educational background and achievements in detail?

Amna Rafique: I have done Msc Mass Communication from National University of Modern Languages (NUML) Islamabad with distinction. I am a gold medalist. In fact, it was a shift from my previous course of studies, because I did F.sc (Pre-Medical) and B.sc with the subjects of Zoology, Botany and Chemistry. I started my professional career with United Nations Information Centre as a Communication Coordinator. I left the job after my success in CSS-2011 exam.

JWT: Was it your first attempt? If yes, then how did you secure this prestigious position, if it's otherwise, please share the experience of previous attempts?

AR: It was my second attempt. In 2008 after completing B.sc, I tried my luck in CSS exams. I didn't take those exams seriously. I scored 664 marks in written but failed in English Précis and Composition paper by three marks only, but I was satisfied with my overall performance. That result made me realise that I could do well if I had concentrated a little more on some weak areas of my studies. There was another factor. My studies were incomplete at that time so I decided to take admission in M.sc. During those two years, I fully concentrated on my studies. Then again I appeared in CSS exam after a gap of two years. With the blessings of Allah Almighty and prayers of my loved-ones, I stood succeeded that time.

JWT: What is so special in PAS and how it is better than other groups?

AR: PAS was always my dream. PAS is one of the most prestigious cadres of civil services, A PAS officer is known as general officer who can serve anywhere, owing to the fact that PAS has maximum horizontal and vertical mobility. It has maximum public interaction and you have the opportunity to work and control at federal, provincial and district level, due to these facts DMG attracts me the most.

JWT: How did you prepare for the CSS exams? AR: I made a certain strategy for the preparation. For English: Exploring the world of English and Wren & Martin's book of High School English Grammar. Pak Affairs: Trek to PAKISTAN, Ikram Rabbani's book also easy to understand For Current affairs: I never consulted a single book or source. I extracted the knowledge from newspapers, internet, magazines, discussions, talk shows. www.zemtv.com is a useful website because it contains archives of all talk shows.

JWT: What strategy one should adopt to get a prominent position among others?

AR: While attempting any paper, try to include jargons of that particular subject to give the examiner an impression that you have the sufficient knowledge of that subject. These tricks can give additional marks. You can always create difference through hard work, dedication, proper selection of subjects, using own mind instead of following others blindly, self-analysis, writing practice and assessing the things from the examination point of view.

JWT: Majority of candidates flunk in English Essay and English Composition paper. What precautions or steps will you suggest for these two crucial papers?

AR: For essay, you should spend 15to20 minutes for selecting the topic, it will save you from disaster, once you have selected the right topic, there will be no issue of time at least for managing your essay in 2.5 hours, and this is sufficient time for attempting essay. After selecting the topic, make outline, it should be logical, sequential, well-managed, self-speaking so that examiner don't find any difficulty in understanding it. From your outline, examiner will have an idea that you are able to pass the paper or not so be careful while writing outline, following points should be kept in mind.

1. Relevance of content with the topic 2. Language (sentences with correct grammar, so it is always preferred to write short sentences, as there will be a few chances of mistakes.) 3. Handwriting; should be neat and legible as paper's cosmetic value also has its own importance. 4. Argumentation 5. Additional/ Supplementary content including examples, verses, quotes, facts and figures if needed (particularly in factual essays), make your essay unique with these colours. 6. Introduction should be the best, as the examiner will judge your essay and make an impression in the very beginning, directly hit the topic without going into the irrelevant details. 7. Essay should be well-arranged, all the content should be presented in a sequence, for example background can't come prior to examples or solutions, coherence in the arrangement of facts is necessary. 8. In conclusion, don't introduce any new idea, justify the given content in conclusion by explaining in a few sentences. Try to create a unique impact among thousands of essays. Learning tricks and tips and then practising will give you more benefit, instead of making directionless efforts.

JWT: Seeking guidance prior to exam was an essential prerequisite of CSS, what sort of guidance is required for the fresh aspirants and how do you see the Jahangir's World Times (JWT) as far as guidance for CSS-exam is concerned?

AR: Guidance plays crucial role for CSS preparation, aspirants should remain in touch with the successful candidates as well as experienced CSPs so that they can have a productive discussion on various topics and aspects of this exam, CSS forum is another important source for getting useful information, I have a wonderful experience of using forum as it provides a platform to share your ideas which really help during exams and in interview as well, apart from that reading effective material for exams is essential, I would like to appreciate JWT in this regard because it is very useful for the aspirants from current affairs perspective and it is equally helpful in increasing the motivation level of aspirants by publishing inspirational success stories of those who have cleared this prestigious exam.

JWT: Anything interesting or surprising regarding the exams you would like to share with our readers.

AR: I want to share something very pleasant. I owe my success in CSS exam to my father. It was his desire and he used to stay with me in the examination centre from 9:00am to 5:00pm during all my exams. Every time I would come out of the hall, he was there with his optimistic face. I believe that parents’ prayers can do miracles.

Any Message

Success in CSS is a combination of various factors including hard work, dedication, consistency, luck and above all prayers of your parents. So keep all these ingredients with you. Some people have God-gifted talent and others achieve success in life through their own efforts so be among the satisfied souls by putting your best efforts for positive aims in life, best of luck! Waqas Iqbal

Vocabulary In News confounded: (adj.) confused, befuddled, perplexed

US Ambassador Richard Olson Friday, February 01, 2013 PPP is confounded after PML-N victory in by-polls. swansong: (n) a final performance or effort He has decided to make this tour his swansong. fester: (v) intensify, aggravate, blister Political interference has festered power woes in Pakistan. stalemate: (n) deadlock, standoff, impasse Syrian civil war came at a stalemate as Assad said that he won't go. adieu: (n) farewell, goodbye, valediction Tendulkar bids adieu to ODIs but keen on playing Test cricket. bête noire: (n) adversary, bugbear, trouble For Republicans, taxes have become a bête noire. exude: (v) display, exhibit, show Shahbaz Sharif's felicitation to the new Punjab governor exudes cordiality between them. sleuth: (n) detective, investigator, agent FIA sleuths examined blast site in Lahore. squabble: (n) argument, bickering, pettifoggery US averted fiscal cliff after months of nerve-racking squabbles. fracas: (n) disturbance, affray, melee, scuffle Doctors call strike after Gujranwala hospital fracas. obfuscated: (v) confused, caliginous, bewildered, complicated The obfuscated environment has led to sheer despondency amongst people. jaded: (adj.) exhausted, blasé, fatigued, worn-out Indian team looks jaded in second ODI against Pakistan. fleece: (v) steal, flim-flam, swindle, Transporters fleece the commuters due to closure of CNG. indelible: ineffaceable, inerasable, lasting, unforgettable Qazi Hussain Ahmed leaves indelible mark on JI politics. titular: (adj.) in name only, nominal, so-called Intervener says that Qaim Ali Shah is only a titular CM. bemoan: (v) bewail, deplore, lament Businessmen are bemoaning the socioeconomic deterioration of the country. sojourn: (n) temporary stay, stopover, layover Asif Zardari's recent stay in Karachi is his longest sojourn away from Presidency. teetotaller: (n) abstainer, abstinent, prohibitionist Teetotaler Pankaj Kapoor plays alcoholic in his film Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola. sag: (v) drop, decline, sink Oil prices sag before weekly energy report. tinderbox: (n) a potentially explosive place or situation China paper that set off protests is still a tinderbox. nascent: (adj.) emergent, budding, developing In Laos, nascent freedoms take step back. tot: (n) baby, child, offspring British Royal tot is due in July. chide: (v)criticize, lecture, admonish, berate, blame She chided him for not replying to her letters. confound: (v) astonish, bewilder, dumbfound, flabbergast, perplex The inflation figure confounded economic analysts. dangle: (v) droop, hang, suspend, swing, trail If you must carry a purse, hold it close and do not dangle it from your arm. gasp: (v) pant, puff, choke, catch your breath He gasped for air before being pulled under again.

Phrasal Verb rope in: to persuade to take part in some activity Inzamam was roped in as batting consultant by Pakistan Cricket Board.

Idioms rub salt into wounds: to make a bad experience even more painful The SC registrar refused to appear before PAC and to rub salt into the committee's wounds, he told media that PAC's act is unconstitutional. wipe the slate clean: make a fresh start, forget the past A Swiss court wiped the slate clean for a farmer, relieving him of a debt. in the offing: likely to happen or appear soon A code of ethics for journalists is in the offing. rule the roost: to be in charge; dominate Only politicians are to rule the roost in country says the President. hang in the balance: to be in doubt, undecided The fate of 16 complaints against suspected environmental polluters hangs in the balance. take flak: face strong criticism Both media and the NAB took turns to take flak in both houses of parliament sweep one off one's feet: to overwhelm someone What swept me off my feet was the way he looked after me when I was hospitalised. Muhammad Usman Butt

Queries of CSS Hopefuls

Q#1: How to answer the question asked about our personality traits in Interview?

US Ambassador Richard Olson Friday, February 01, 2013

Best: conscientious, trustworthy and self-reliant. Worst: intense, competitive, perfectionist. It is a common question in Interview especially with Psychologists' Panel. When they ask you to describe your three best and worst personality traits, watch out that interviewers are increasingly savvy about evasions of the second part of the question, so it's best to just face it directly. Find negative words that are double-sided — that can be flipped to be positive. For example, in the sample answer, “competitive” can mean “combative” and “aggressive,” but it can also mean “goal-oriented, diligent, and determined”. Likewise, “intense” can mean, on the one hand, “harsh” and “extreme,” and on the other, “passion- ate” and “powerful”. And “perfectionist” can mean “controlling” and “unyielding,” but also “meticulous, dedicated, and thorough”. A good rule of thumb is to choose positives that don't make you sound arrogant, and negatives that can be given a positive spin.

Q#2: How should I solve opinion based questions especially in Pakistan- and Current Affairs papers? The very reason for examiners' increasingly asking opinion-based questions, especially in these two papers, is due to the candidates' traditional way of attempting papers. Remember it is a competitive examination and everyone now reads good standard textbooks in addition to CSS specific ones available in market. Thus, when the source of information is same, examiner encourages originality of approach and in-depth analysis of issues asked. In such questions, you need to be specific in your argumentation. You should start your answer with an introductory paragraph giving your interpretation of the issue asked; briefly describing the course your argumentation would be following. Then you should prove your argument in a logical flow giving facts and quotes wherever relevant. In such questions, you are judged on the basis of your level of 'understanding', depth of knowledge and analysis of issues.

Q#3: Is it useful to give brief outline before the answers?

It is not required except in English Essay paper. However, a lot of candidates adopt this approach. It gives the examiner a ready reference of what arguments you would be developing in your answer. However, such outline doesn't carry any marks of its own.

Q#4: I feel CSS is a pressure exam so how I can control my nerves from the pressure of examination hall especially in the first two papers?

It is a common problem. Exam nerves – as this condition is called – are a combination of many factors. Fear of unknown is the most common one as it directly relates to your level of preparedness. Those candidates who have studied and practised well for exams tend to be more confident. Thus, best way to avoid it is to prepare well and be confident. Another reason of anxiety is the excessive use of caffeine-containing drinks such as coffee, tea, and coke. To calm your nerves, you need to reduce intake of these drinks a day before examination. Having a healthy breakfast keeps your tummy normal. Deep breathing is a useful technique to calm you. In the exam hall, you need to be focused on paper. Just believe in yourself and your preparation.

Q#5: I have my own opinion regarding National and International issues but, I am afraid that perhaps my opinion can annoy the interview panel?

Dear candidate, remember that the interviewing panel never has any prefixed opinion on questions asked, and any difference of opinion by the candidates would never be considered adversely. The panel is always impartial and is only interested in the response and views of the candidate. It is, therefore, advised that the candidates should not have any constraint on their minds.

The candidates are expected to give very frank, forthright, original, independent and well- considered answers particularly on controversial issues affecting our national policies. Bold and uninhibited views by the candidates are appreciated. Any generalised answer, very ordinary and rhetoric in content, without keeping the ground realities in mind, as well as lacking factual data, logic and rationale would obviously be unconvincing and consequently would not accrue any merit. However, having said that, you also need to keep it in mind that you have to prove your opinion with solid arguments. So whatever stance you take in interview, prepare yourself to defend it in front of the panel.

Q#6: Sir would you please recommend any book which can provide general guidance about CSS?

Best guide in this regard is the FPSC Guideline available at FPSC website www.fpsc.gov.pk/. A very useful book for beginners is ______by Adeel Niaz. Q#7: I have arts background so should I go for Psychology as optional because it is scoring?

Psychology seems the most favourite optional subject as we get a lot of questions of this subject are being asked by CSS Aspirants. In your case, it's a tough choice, rather a risky one. It depends how much time you can spare for this subject. You need to just go through the syllabus of Psychology and if you think you can understand it well, then go for it.

But do remember that it's your attempt, not the subject that would fetch you good or bad scores. Attempting Psychology doesn't guarantee any score of its own; you have to give it a thorough preparation. If you are unsure, leave this idea and concentrate on other subjects which you can prepare well. A good attempt in papers like Journalism, Sociology, British/Indo-Pak History, International Law, and Regional Languages ensures excellent marks to candidates each year.

Q#8: How I should introduce myself in the beginning of interview?

This introduction question is a vital stage of interview. It is said to be an ice-breaker for an interview by which the interviewer allows you to settle down and make yourself comfortable as you are answering the most expected question that every candidate has prepared the best. However, it has a lot more significance than merely being an ice-breaker. The basic introduction is a synopsis of your information that you have already provided in your CV, but it also presents you with an opportunity to add some effective techniques to your interview. So just give your full name and work portfolio, if any. Next you should give your educational profile and any additional courses or experiences of working. Also mention your interests if you have been a member of any association or part of any team or organisation. That'll be it. You need to practise it for 2-3 minutes. Your effective communication, right from the beginning helps you make a mark.

Q#9: Why Geography scores are not consistent?

Geography is a science subject and has traditionally been a favourite subject of successful candidates. Every year, most of the candidates who secure top 100 positions in CSS have Geography as their optional subject. However, many a candidates fail to secure good marks in this subject due to their faulty approach. First of all, they follow substandard books rather than the textbooks recommended for this subject. They do not give to-the-point answers as required in a science subject. They give unnecessarily lengthy answers with irrelevant material. More importantly, they fail to draw required diagrams and maps which could help attain good marks. JWT Desk

This Month in History February

Feb 1, 2003 - Sixteen minutes before it was scheduled to land, the Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart in flight over west Texas, killing all seven crew members.

US Ambassador Richard Olson Friday, February 01, 2013

The accident may have resulted from damage caused during liftoff when a piece of insulating foam from the external fuel tank broke off, piercing a hole in the shuttle's left wing that allowed hot gases to penetrate the wing upon re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. This was the second space shuttle lost in flight. In January 1986, Challenger exploded during liftoff.

Feb 2, 1882 - Irish novelist and poet James Joyce was born in Dublin, Ireland. His works include Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Ulysses, and Finegan's Wake.

Feb 2, 1990 - In South Africa, the 30-year-old ban on the African National Congress was lifted by President F.W. de Klerk, who also promised to free Nelson Mandela and remove restrictions on political opposition groups.

Feb 3, 1870 - The 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, guaranteeing the right of citizens to vote, regardless of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Feb 3, 1913 - The 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, granting Congress the authority to collect income taxes.

Feb 3, 1821 - The first female physician in the U.S., Elizabeth Blackwell was born near Bristol, England. As a girl, her family moved to New York State. She was awarded her MD by the Medical Institute of Geneva, New York, in 1849.

Feb 3, 1943 - An extraordinary act of heroism occurred in the icy waters off Greenland after the U.S. Army transport ship Dorchester was hit by a German torpedo and began to sink rapidly. When it became apparent there were not enough life jackets, four U.S. Army chaplains on board removed theirs, handed them to frightened young soldiers, and chose to go down with the ship while praying.

Feb 4, 1985 - Twenty countries in the United Nations signed a document entitled 'Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.'

Feb 5, 1917 - The new constitution of Mexico, allowing sweeping social changes, was adopted.

Feb 5, 1990 – The Kashmir Solidarity Day is observed on 5 February every year since 1990 in Pakistan as a day of protest against the Indian control of part of Kashmir. It is a national holiday in Pakistan.

Feb 6, 1788 - Massachusetts became the sixth state to ratify the new U.S. Constitution by a vote of 187 to 168. Feb 6, 1952 - King George VI of England died. Upon his death, his daughter Princess Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Her actual coronation took place on June 2, 1953.

Feb 7, 1795 - The 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, limiting the powers of the federal judiciary over the states by prohibiting federal lawsuits against individual states.

Feb 7, 1812 - British novelist Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth, England. He expressed social inequalities in his works including David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, and Nicholas Nickleby. In 1843, he wrote A Christmas Carol in just a few weeks, which is an enormously popular work even today.

Feb 8, 1910 - The Boy Scouts of America was founded by William Boyce in Washington, D.C., modelled after the British Boy Scouts.

Feb 9, 1943 - During World War II in the Pacific, the U.S. troops captured Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands after six months of battle, with 9,000 Japanese and 2,000 Americans killed.

Feb 10, 1942 - The first Medal of Honor during World War II was awarded to 2nd Lt. Alexander Nininger (posthumously) for heroism during the Battle of Bataan.

Febr 11, 1847 - American inventor Thomas Edison was born in Milan, Ohio. Throughout his lifetime he acquired over 1,200 patents including the incandescent bulb, phonograph and movie camera. Best known for his quote “Genius is one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration.”

Feb 11, 1929 - Italian dictator Benito Mussolini granted political independence to Vatican City and recognized the sovereignty of the Pope (Holy See) over the area, measuring about 110 acres.

Feb 11, 1990 - In South Africa, Nelson Mandela, at 71, was released from prison after serving 27 years in jail on charges of attempting to overthrow the apartheid government. In April 1994, he was elected president in the first all-race elections.

Feb 11, 2011 - In Egypt, President Hosni Mubarak resigned amid a massive protest calling for his ouster. Thousands of young Egyptians and others had protested non-stop for 18 days in Cairo, Alexandria and elsewhere. Mubarak had ruled Egypt for nearly 30 years, functioning as a virtual dictator.

Feb 12, 1809 - Abraham Lincoln, the 16th U.S. President, was born in Hardin County, Kentucky. He led the nation through the tumultuous Civil War, freed the slaves, composed the Gettysburg Address, and established Thanksgiving.

Feb 12, 1999 - The impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton in the U.S. Senate ended. With the whole world watching via television, Senators stood up one by one during the final roll call to vote 'guilty' or 'not guilty.'

Feb 13, 1945 - During World War II in Europe, British and American planes began massive bombing on Dresden, Germany. A four-day firestorm erupted that was visible for 200 miles and it engulfed the historic old city, killing an estimated 135,000 German civilians.

Feb 14 - Celebrated as (Saint) Valentine's Day around the world, now one of the most widely observed unofficial holidays in which romantic greeting cards and gifts are exchanged.

Feb 14, 1929 - The St. Valentine's Day massacre occurred in Chicago as seven members of the Bugs Moran gang were gunned down by five of Al Capone's mobsters posing as police.

Feb 15, 1564 - Astronomer and physicist Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was born in Pisa, Italy. He was the first astronomer to use a telescope and advanced the theory that the sun, not the earth, was the center of the solar system.

Feb 15, 1989 - Soviet Russia completed its military withdrawal from Afghanistan after nine years of unsuccessful involvement in the civil war between Muslim rebel groups and the Russian-backed Afghan government. Over 15,000 Russian soldiers had been killed in the fighting.

Feb 16, 1935 - Entertainer and politician Sonny Bono was born in Detroit, Michigan. Following a career as a popular singer, he became mayor of Palm Springs, California, and then became a Republican congressman, serving until his accidental death from a skiing mishap.

Feb 17, 1909 - Apache Chief Geronimo (1829-1909) died while in captivity at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He had led a small group of warriors on raids throughout Arizona and New Mexico. Caught once, he escaped. The U.S. Army then sent 5,000 men to recapture him.

Feb 18, 1892 - American politician Wendell Willkie was born in Elwood, Illinois. He was the Republican nominee for president in 1940, running against Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Feb 19, 1942 - Internment of Japanese Americans began after President Franklin Roosevelt issued an executive order requiring those living on the Pacific coast to report for relocation. Over 110,000 persons therefore shut down their businesses, sold off their property, quit school and moved inland to the relocation centers.

Feb 20, 1962 - Astronaut John Glenn became the first American launched into orbit. Traveling aboard the 'Friendship 7' spacecraft, Glenn reached an altitude of 162 miles (260kms) and completed three orbits in a flight lasting just under five hours.

Feb 21, 1965 - Former Black Muslim leader Malcolm X (1925-1965) was shot and killed while delivering a speech in a ballroom in New York City.

Feb 21, 1972 - President Richard Nixon arrived in China for historic meetings with Chairman Mao Tse-tung and Premier Chou En-lai.

Feb 22, 1732 - George Washington was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia. He served as commander of the Continental Army during the American Revolution and became the first U.S. President.

Feb 22, 1956 - In Montgomery, Alabama, 80 participants in the three-month-old bus boycott voluntarily gave themselves up for arrest after an ultimatum from white city leaders. Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks were among those arrested.

Feb 23, 1991 - In Desert Storm, the Allied ground offensive began after a devastating month-long air campaign targeting Iraqi troops in both Iraq and Kuwait.

Feb 24, 1867 - The House of Representatives voted to impeach President Andrew Johnson.

Feb 25, 1910 - Millicent Fenwick was born in New York City. She championed liberal causes, serving as a member of the U.N. General Assembly and as a U.S. Congresswoman.

Feb 26, 1848 - The Communist Manifesto pamphlet was published by two young socialists, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. It advocated the abolition of all private property and a system in which workers own all means of production, land, factories and machinery.

February 26, 1994 - Political foes of Russian President Boris Yeltsin were freed by a general amnesty granted by the new Russian Parliament.

February 27, 1950 - The 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, limiting the president to two terms or a maximum of ten years in office.

February 28, 1986 - Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme (1927-1986) was assassinated in Stockholm while exiting a movie theater with his wife.

February 28, 1994 - NATO conducted its first combat action in its 45 year history as four Bosnian Serb jets were shot down by American fighters in a no-fly zone. Numan Ahmed WORLD IN FOCUS

News From National & International Press Dec 2012- Jan 2013

US Ambassador Richard Olson Friday, February 01, 2013 National

Dec 13: The NAB chief, Admiral (retd) Fasih Bokhari, raised the estimate of the level of corruption in the country to Rs.13 billion a day or Rs.5 trillion a year dismissing government's reaction.

Dec 13: The ministry of food security conceded that poverty has been increasing in the country during the past four and a half years of the PPP-led coalition government.

Dec 14: Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf designated his son-in-law Raja Azeemul Haq as executive director of the World Bank.

Dec 14: The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) tribunal allowed the Balochistan government and Dr Samar Mubarakmand to carry out mining and smelting project in Reko Diq.

Dec 17: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) transferred Sindh Election Commissioner Sonu Khan Baloch to its central secretariat in Islamabad as the new director-general budget.

Dec 17: The UNDP and Federal Judicial Academy (FJA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding allowing the partnership to work in areas of infrastructure and IT support, policy engagement, capacity building and research and advocacy.

Dec 18: Five women vaccinators were killed and a couple of their male colleagues were injured in Karachi and Peshawar.

Dec 18: The European Union donated its 2012 Nobel peace prize cash, plus a one million-euro top- up, to thousands of children impacted by war in Syria, Colombia, Congo and Pakistan.

Dec 19: President Asif Ali Zardari signed “The Right to Free and Compulsory Education Bill- 2012”. Dec 19: Malala Yousufzai was declared runner-up as Time magazine named President Barack Obama as its 'person of the year' for the second time.

Dec 19: The World Health Organization suspended polio operations in Pakistan and called back their field workers due to security threats.

Dec 20: The National Assembly passed a bill to permit state interception of private communication mainly to track terrorists, after the government accepted 32 amendments proposed by the main opposition party.

Dec 20: The Supreme Court (SC) barred the acting chairman of Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra), Dr Abdul Jabbar, from holding office.

Dec 21: The Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) discovered gas reservoir of about 1.06 trillion cubic feet (TCF) from its well Zin SML-I, located in Dera Bugti, Balochistan.

Dec 21: President Asif Ali Zardari assented to Airports Security Force (Amendment) Bill 2012.

Dec 22: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) proposed a four-fold increase in election expenditure to Rs.6 million for a National Assembly seat and Rs.4m for that of a provincial assembly.

Dec 23: The World Meteorological Organisation of the United Nations unanimously re-elected Dr Qamar-uz-Zaman Chaudhry vice-president of WMO for Asian Region for four years.

Dec 24: President Asif Ali Zardari inaugurated a 50MW windmill project that generates energy from renewable sources, in Jhimpir near Thatta.

Dec 24: Pakistan officially recognised Kosovo as an independent state. Pakistan`s Ambassador to Turkey has been accredited to Kosovo as the country's envoy.

Dec 25: Pakistan International Airlines launched its Quetta-Kandahar service.

Dec 25: President Asif Ali Zardari decorated Sindh Governor Dr Ishrat-ul-Ebad with Nishan-i- Imtiaz, the highest civil award, in recognition of Dr Ebad's services in the field of public service as governor over the past 10 years.

Dec 25: Makhdoom Ahmad Mehmood took oath as 28th governor of Punjab.

Dec 25: A no-confidence motion against Speaker of the Balochistan Assembly, Mr Muhammad Aslam Bhootani, was adopted in the assembly. Dec 26: Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf approved comprehensive guidelines for streamlining the civil service.

Dec 26: Punjab got an independent nephrology department, the first in the province.

Dec 26: The Pakistan Railways and a private company signed an agreement to operate third passenger train, the Night Coach Express, between Punjab and Sindh capitals.

Dec 26: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government appointed Haroon Bilour, the son of assassinated senior minister Bashir Bilour, adviser to Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti on local government affairs.

Dec 27: Young Bilawal marked his entry into active politics at a large rally held to pay homage to his mother, Benazir Bhutto, on the fifth anniversary of her assassination.

Dec 28: Leader of the Pakistani Taliban Hakimullah Mehsud said he was willing to hold peace talks with the Pakistan government but would never lay down arms till implementation of Shariah in the country.

Dec 28: The Pakistani teenage activist Malala Yousufzai was named as The Times “Young Person of the Year”.

Dec 29: Data from 56 meteorological stations in Pakistan shows a sharp rise in temperature during the first decade of the 21st century, except the year 2005. Impacts included loss of vegetation, deforestation and irregular precipitation, says a study, part of the Synthesis Report 2012.

Dec 29: A refurbished plant for manufacture of small arms ammunition was commissioned at the Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) Wah Cantt.

Dec 30: Mir Mohammad Yusuf Badini of Pakistan People's Party was elected unopposed to a Senate seat.

Dec 30: Rotary Jo Goth, a model village for the worst flood-affected 150 families of District Thatta was inaugurated by Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, Speaker Sindh Assembly.

Dec 30: A book “Aik Ghazal” consisting of 30,000 verses and written by Pirzada Ashique Keranvi was launched. The book claimed to be a record-breaking longest poetic creation ever written in Urdu in form of Ghazal.

Dec 31: The government set another eight senior Taliban leaders free in two batches over the past few days.

Dec 31: The Balochistan Assembly elected Syed Matiullah Agha of JUI-F as speaker and Dr Fouzia Marri of BNP-Awami as the deputy speaker.

Dec 31: Shareeka, a Punjabi film produced by Syed Noor, was declared the movie of 2012 and won the 32nd Asian Awards.

Jan 01: The Supreme Court suspended its registrar's summoning by the Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly.

Jan 01: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet approved Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Policy and changed the composition of the shareholding in Business Train by increasing Pakistan Railways' share.

Jan 01: Byco's single point mooring (SPM) facility, set up on the coast of Arabian Sea at a distance of approximately 14km from the Byco's Mouza Kund site, was commissioned.

Jan 02: Ziauddin Yousafzai, the father of Malala Yousufzai, was appointed Pakistan's education attaché in Birmingham.

Jan 03: The Abbottabad Commission, tasked with revealing the circumstances surrounding the killing of Osama bin Laden in a US raid in 2011, presented its findings to Prime Minister.

Jan 03: Malala Yousufzai was chosen as the Herald's Person of the Year for 2012 for “championing the cause of girls' education.

Jan 03: The Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Transparency International Pakistan (TIP) to further strengthen its accountability mechanism.

Jan 04: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) appointed Sonu Khan Baloch as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Election Commissioner replacing KP Election Commissioner Tariq Qadri, who was made the Punjab Election Commissioner. The Punjab EC head, Mehboob Anwar, was made Sindh Election Commissioner.

Jan 05: The Punjab Institute of Language, Art and Culture launched a yearly cash award of Rs.100,000 for the best works on Punjabi language and literature after the name of renowned Punjabi scholar researcher, poet, writer and journalist Shafqat Tanvir Mirza.

Jan 06: A Pakistani soldier was killed and another injured in a gunfight between Indian and Pakistani troops in Kashmir, an incident that could heighten tensions between the neighbours.

Jan 06: Intense fog and chill broke 50-year record in plain areas of Punjab.

Jan 06: Former Chief Justice of Peshawar High Court (PHC) Muhammad Raza Khan was appointed adviser at the Federal Ombudsman's office.

Jan 07: The Supreme Court accepted MQM chief Altaf Hussain's apology in a contempt of court case.

Jan 07: Tehzeebun Nisa, an officer of AJK's management group, became the first woman deputy commissioner in Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) when she assumed the charge of her office.

Jan 09: Raja Azeemul Haq, Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf's son-in-law, assumed the charge as Alternate Executive Director of the World Bank.

Jan 09: Distinguished politician and activist Nilofar Bakhtiar was decorated, in India, with Happy Women Happy World Award 2012 for humanitarian services.

Jan 09: The 8th South Asian Free Media Conference 2013 – A South Asian Vision and Union: opening minds, opening borders, was held in Lahore on January 5-9, 2013.

Jan 09: The Safma re-elected Imtiaz Alam, editor of Quarterly South Asian Journal, as its Secretary General. Political Editor of Hindustan Times Vinod Sharma was chosen as President while Pakistani journalist Mehmal Sarfraz became Deputy Secretary General for the next term.

Jan 09: Pakistan proposed a UN probe into attacks across the Line of Control (LoC) over the past few days.

Jan 09: "Between Clay and Dust" by Pakistani author Musharraf Ali Farooqi was among five books shortlisted for Asia's most prestigious award, the $30,000 Man Asian Literary Prize.

Jan 10: Bomb and suicide attacks in Quetta and a powerful explosion in the Mingora town of Swat valley claimed the lives of at least 115 people and left 261 others injured.

Jan 10: The Awami National Party (ANP) nominated Minister for Information Mian Iftikhar Hussain as its parliamentary leader in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly.

Jan 10: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) imposed a fine of Rs.25 million on the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP), and restrained it from prohibiting training of non-ICAP accountancy students by their approved training organisations.

Jan 12: The Pak-Saudi Joint naval exercise Naseem Al Bahr commenced. This was the 10th exercise of this series and was held in Pakistani waters.

Jan 14: Balochistan Governor Zulfikar Ali Magsi took over as chief executive of Balochistan after a proclamation for imposition of governor's rule in the province was issued.

Jan 14: After the acceptance of their demands, the Hazara Shia community ended their protest and buried the bodies of their 86 loved ones killed in the twin bomb blasts.

Jan 14: The Pakistan army lodged a strong protest with the Indian military authorities over “continuous ceasefire violations” along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir.

Jan 14: The provincial government approved establishment of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Authority for Promotion of Regional Languages.

Jan 14: Shahrukh Jatoi, the main accused in the Shahzeb murder case, surrendered himself to the Pakistani Consulate General in Dubai. Jan 15: The Balochistan Assembly unanimously adopted two resolutions which rejected imposition of governor's rule in the province as an undemocratic move, demanded reversal and called for a judicial inquiry into the killing of Shia Hazaras in bomb blasts.

Jan 15: The Supreme Court directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to arrest Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and other persons, involved in Rental Power Projects (RPPs) scam.

Jan 15: Supreme Court (SC) constituted a two-member Media Accountability Commission headed by Justice (R) Nasir Aslam Zahid and comprising Javed Jabbar.

Jan 15: The Lahore High Court set aside appointment of chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority by declaring it illegal and ordered his immediate removal.

International

Dec 11: An international study revealed that Asian schoolchildren dominate in reading, math and science, coming in ahead of their peers in Europe and the US.

Dec 11: Soldiers arrested Mali`s prime minister and ordered him to resign.

Dec 13: Diango Cissoko swore in as the new interim prime minister of Mali.

Dec 13: European Union finance ministers brokered a deal to create a single bank supervisor with powers to close down lenders right across the eurozone.

Dec 14: At least 28 people, including 20 children, were killed when at least one shooter opened fire at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut.

Dec 14: China provided the United Nations with detailed claims to waters in the East China Sea.

Dec 14: Envoys in Dubai signed a new UN telecommunications treaty to endorse a greater government control of the internet. The US and more than 20 other countries refused to ratify the accord by the 193-nation International Telecommunications Union.

Dec 14: Indian and Pakistani home ministers signed an agreement to ease visa restrictions for travellers.

Dec 17: Venezuelans showed overwhelming support for Hugo Chavez’s United Socialist Party in elections for governors by selecting its candidates in almost all of the nation's 23 states.

Dec 17: World's scariest bridge, Titlis Cliff Walk, opened in Switzerland. It's a pedestrian walkway suspended 1,500ft above a glacier in the Swiss Alps and is the highest suspension bridge in Europe at 9,000ft above sea level.

Dec 17: Romanian President Traian Basescu reappointed Victor Ponta as prime minister, averting the risk of a political crisis in one of the European Union's newest states.

Dec 18: South African president Jacob Zuma scored a thumping victory in the ANC's leadership contest to lead Africa's largest economy until 2019.

Dec 18: Britain's Queen Elizabeth II attended her first-ever cabinet meeting to mark her diamond jubilee, the only monarch to do so since 1781.

Dec 18: A Pakistani origin House of Lords member, Lord Tariq Ahmad of Wimbledon, was made Lord in Waiting to the Queen Elizabeth II at her majesty The Queen's household. Mr Tariq will perform various duties of state, including the receiving of heads of states on behalf of her majesty.

Dec 19: South Korea elected Park Geun-Hye, daughter of the country's former military ruler, as its first female president.

Dec 19: Russia's lower house, State Duma, of parliament passed in a key second reading a bill banning Americans from adopting Russian orphans amid a huge outcry against the move.

Dec 20: Twenty-year-old Olivia Culpo, an American university student, became Miss Universe, bringing the crown back to the United States after a drought of more than a decade.

Dec 20: French President François Hollande acknowledged France’s `brutal` colonial rule over the Algerian people, as he sought to launch a new era in ties on a two-day visit.

Dec 20: Pope Benedict XVI signed a decree recognising the “heroic virtues” of late Pope Paul VI, putting him on the first step towards beatification and eventually sainthood.

Dec 20: India successfully test-fired an indigenously developed nuclear capable Prithvi-II missile with a strike range of 350km.

Dec 21: South Korean rapper Psy made social media history when his viral hit song, 'Gangnam Style', became the first video on YouTube to reach one billion views. Dec 22: Italy's head of state dissolved parliament and Prime Minister Mario Monti resigned.

Dec 24: Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich named Serhiy Arbuzov first deputy prime minister in the new government.

Dec 24: Russian President Vladimir Putin signed deals to sell 71 military helicopters and kits to build 42 fighter jets to India.

Dec 25: Egypt voters approved overwhelmingly a constitution drafted by President Mohamed Mursi's Islamist allies. The government also imposed currency restrictions to cope with an economic crisis worsened by weeks of unrest.

Dec 26: Russia's upper house of parliament unanimously backed a bill barring Americans from adopting Russian children.

Dec 26: Shinzo Abe was voted back into office as Japanese prime minister.

Dec 26: China launched services on the world's longest high-speed rail route, the 2,298-kilometre (1,425-mile) line between Beijing and Guangzhou. December 26 was chosen to commemorate the birth, in 1893, of late Chinese leader Mao Zedong.

Dec 28: South Korea nominated its trade minister, Taeho Bark, to succeed Pascal Lamy as director- general of the World Trade Organisation.

Dec 28: China launched commercial and public services across the Asia-Pacific region on its domestic satellite navigation network. The Beidou system is expected to provide global coverage by 2020.

Dec 29: President Barack Obama enacted a law to counter Iran's alleged influence in Latin America.

Dec 29: China passed a new law stipulating that family members should pay regular visit to their elderly relatives.

Dec 29: Saudi Arabia unveiled its largest-ever budget, boosting 2013 expenditure outlay to 820 billion riyals ($219 billion).

Dec 31: Iran test-fired a range of weapons during ongoing manoeuvres near the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranian-made air defence system Raad, or Thunder, was among the weapons tested. The Raad system fires missiles with a range of 50 kilometres, capable of hitting targets at 22,000 metres (75,000 feet).

Jan 01: The UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, Gabriela Knaul, appealed to the Sri Lankan government to 'reconsider' the impeachment of Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake.

Jan 01: The US Senate endorsed a plan to avert fiscal cliff and sent it to the House of Representatives with a strong bipartisan vote, making it difficult for the House to reject it. Eighty- nine of the 100 senators voted for the measure.

Jan 02: Iran shot down two US-made RQ-11 reconnaissance drones in the past 15 months, adding to a ScanEagle drone and RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft it already claims to have captured.

Jan 03: The Sri Lankan Supreme Court declared the impeachment of Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake as unconstitutional and null and void.

Jan 03: Gen. John R. Allen, the senior US commander in Afghanistan, submitted military option to the Pentagon that would keep 6,000 to 20,000 American troops in Afghanistan after 2014.

Jan 03: Turkey tied up a giant agreement with the United Arab Emirates for the development of coal fields in southern Turkey to generate electricity and ensure power for the fast-growing economy.

Jan 03: The US President Barack Obama signed the “fiscal cliff” deal into law, averting a financial crisis with global repercussions.

Jan 03: President Barack Obama signed a $633 billion defence bill that tightens penalties on Iran and strengthens security at diplomatic missions worldwide.

Jan 04: John Boehner won re-election as speaker of the House of Representatives and will again lead Republicans as they take on the White House over federal spending.

Jan 05: A monster bluefin tuna sold for a record-breaking $1.8 million, nearly three times the previous high set last year. The 222-kilogram fish, caught off Japan's northern city of Oma, fetched a winning bid of 155.4 million yen (about $1.8 million).

Jan 06: President Bashar al-Assad offered a roadmap to end Syria's conflict. The main Syrian opposition grouping, the National Coalition, immediately rejected the plan.

Jan 06: Venezuelan lawmakers re-elected a staunch ally of Hugo Chavez to head the National Assembly.

Jan 07: Algeria and Qatar signed nine accords, including for the construction of a steel plant, during a visit by Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.

Jan 07: US President Barack Obama nominated two controversial officials, Chuck Hagel and John Brennan, as secretary of defence and the CIA chief respectively for his second-term national security team.

Jan 07: India's chief justice ordered judges to set up special courts to fast-track trials for sex crimes after the outcry over a brutal gang-rape and murder.

Jan 07: Malta's president dissolved Parliament and set national elections for March 9.

Jan 07: A top aide to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was replaced as the head of Iran's state Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

Jan 09: Moviegoers in China spent 17 billion yuan ($2.7 billion) on tickets last year, turning the country into the second-largest film market in the world. United States is the world's largest movie market.

Jan 09: The European Union unveiled a new cybercrime centre (EC3) in The Hague. Jan 09: A US defence contractor, accused of helping torture prisoners at Iraq's infamous Abu Ghraib prison, paid former detainees more than $5 million to settle a law suit.

Jan 09: Britain's capital began year-long celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the world's oldest underground passenger railway.

Jan 09: The United States hinted at withdrawal of all its troops from Afghanistan by 2014 and also emphasised Pakistan's role in bringing stability to the war-ravaged country.

Jan 10: With his choice of Jacob J. Lew to be secretary of the President Barack Obama completed the transformation of his economic team.

Jan 10: The South Korean capital Seoul installed anti-suicide monitoring devices on bridges over the city's Han River.

Jan 11: US President Barack Obama said that it would be very hard to imagine stability and peace in the region if Pakistan and Afghanistan did not come to some agreement.

Jan 11: Saudi King Abdullah appointed women for the first time to a top advisory body, with decrees published marking a breakthrough.

Jan 13: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa sacked the country's first female Chief Justice Shirani Bandarnayake after ratifying her impeachment by parliament.

Jan 14: Suicides in the US military surged to a record 349 last year, far exceeding American combat deaths in Afghanistan.

Jan 14: The UAE and Argentina signed an agreement to cooperate in the field of peaceful nuclear energy.

Jan 14: Iran hostage drama “Argo” scored a sweet double victory at the Golden Globe awards, winning best movie drama, the night's top prize, and best director for Ben Affleck.

Jan 14: The governors of Madina and the restive Eastern Region of Saudi Arabia were removed.

Jan 14: Indian-origin politician Halimah Yacob became Singapore's first female Speaker of parliament.

Jan 14: Global warming has caused monthly records for heat to increase fivefold in frequency, according to a study by scientists in Germany and Spain.

Jan 15: Russia granted Bangladesh a $1 billion loan for weapons purchases and $500 million to help one of Asia's poorest countries build its first nuclear power plant.

Jan 15: Former Attorney general Mohan Peiris was sworn in as Sri Lanka's 44th chief Justice.

Jan 15: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that the business with Pakistan could not be as usual after the incidents at the Line of Control (LoC). India also changed its mind about the new visa regime, citing 'technical problems'.

Science & Technology Dec 17: A brain-removal tool used by ancient Egyptian embalmers was found wedged in the skull of a female mummy after embalmers left it there thousands of years ago.

Dec 19: The Ceti, one of our closest stars, is a good candidate for hosting an Earth-like planet, astronomers reported. Located a relatively close 12 light years away, the Sun-like star has five planets that orbit it in a balmy zone which gives the best chance for nurturing life.

Dec 28: Titan arum, also known as the “corpse flower”, is the world's smelliest and largest tropical flower.

Jan 01: Female humpbacks on the prowl prefer the largest males on the breeding ground, while smaller males gravitate towards smaller females – apparently so as “to run less risk of a big male coming over and beating you up”.

Jan 01: The human brain responds to music in different ways, depending on the listener's emotional reaction, among other things. Now researchers report that the same holds true for birds listening to bird song.

Jan 01: Adding to the current crop of health risks involved in space travel, new research suggests that it could be harmful for the brain because galactic cosmic radiation could cause Alzheimer's.

Jan 03: Our Milky Way galaxy is home to at least 100 billion alien planets, and possibly many more, a new study suggests.

Jan 08: The Milky Way contains at least 17 billion planets the size of Earth. Astronomers using NASA's Kepler spacecraft found that about 17 per cent of stars in our galaxy have a planet about the size of Earth in a close orbit.

Jan 08: A new study suggests that babies learn bits of their native languages even before they are born. A baby develops the ability to hear by about 30 weeks' gestation.

Jan 09: Lenovo is to release a 27-inch Windows 8 PC billed as a computer for multiple users.

Jan 09: An asteroid believed to pose a remote risk of colliding with Earth this century is 20 per cent bigger than previously thought. In a press release, the European Space Agency (ESA) said its Herschel deep-space telescope had scanned a space rock called 99942 Apophis as it headed towards its closest flyby with our planet in years.

Jan 09: 2012 was the warmest year on record in the contiguous United States, according to scientists with The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Jan 09: A smart TV, unveiled at the International Consumer Electronics Show, offers technologies that watch the viewer, in an effort to offer more relevant programming.

Jan 10: A new species of flying frog which can glide from tree to tree using its webbed hands and feet as parachutes has been discovered.

Jan 12: Astronomers have discovered the largest known structure in the universe, a clump of active galactic cores that stretches 4 billion light-years from end to end.

Jan 15: A batch of 1,000-year-old manuscripts from the mountainous northern reaches of Afghanistan has revealed previously unknown details about the cultural, economic and religious life of a Jewish society in a Persian part of the Muslim empire in the 11th century.

Jan 15: Adult sharks have sensitive receptors that can detect electric fields emitted by prey and predators. Now it turns out that at least in one species, their unborn offspring have the same powers.

Economy

Dec 14: The State Bank of Pakistan cut its policy interest rate by 50 basis points to 9.5 per cent bringing down the rate to a single digit for the first time in five years.

Dec 19: The Swiss banking giant UBS announced a record settlement with financial regulators in several countries, agreeing to a combined $1.5 billion in fines for its role in Libor.

Jan 03: Natural catastrophes including the US hurricane Sandy caused $160 billion worth of damage in 2012, the world`s leading reinsurer, Munich Re, estimated.

Jan 04: Thailand lost its status as the world's top rice exporter in 2012 overtaken by India and Vietnam.

Jan 04: Luxury German carmaker Mercedes Benz achieved record sales in 2012. About 1.3 million Mercedes Benz cars were purchased in 2012.

Jan 07: Pakistan Railways (PR) purchased 202 coaches of different types from China at a cost of above Rs.16 billion.

Jan 08: The State Bank of Pakistan allowed the Fauji Foundation to acquire majority shares of the Askari Bank.

Jan 08: US regulators have reached an $8.5 billion settlement with 10 major lenders to resolve claims of foreclosure abuses, including the use of flawed paperwork and bungled loan modifications that may have led to wrongful evictions.

Jan 11: Sindh achieved 96 per cent of the wheat sowing target obtaining the production level of 3.6 million tonnes for 2012-13 Rabi crop.

Jan 11: Japan's new government unveiled a $226.5 billion stimulus plan in the latest bid to boost the world's number three economy.

Jan 12: Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf inaugurated the Phase-1 of Al-Tuwairqi Steel Mills, having the annual production capacity of 1.28 million tonnes.

Jan 14: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) extended the jurisdiction of the Web Based Auto Clearance (WeBoC) software to off-port container terminals.

Jan 15: Stocks fell by over 500 points, the fourth time in its history, following arrest orders issued for the prime minister in a corruption case.

Sports

Dec 11: Serbia's Novak Djokovic beat Andy Murray to the International Tennis Federation's (ITF) annual men's World Champion award. Serena Williams of the US took the women's prize for a third time.

Dec 13: Pakistan lost the final of the Blind T20 World Cup to India by 29 runs in Bangalore.

Dec 16: Amir Khan, a British boxer of Pakistan origin defeated previously unbeaten American Carlos Molina in a light-welterweight showdown.

Dec 16: Chen Long won badminton's BWF Super series Finals by downing Chinese compatriot Du Pengyu.

Dec 16: Corinthians stunned Chelsea to win soccer's Club World Cup.

Dec 16: World super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham defended his WBO belt with a technical knock-out win over France's Mehdi Bouadla in Nuremberg.

Dec 16: Kenyan runners swept the titles in both men's and women's categories in the Fubon Taipei Marathon.

Dec 17: Pakistan won the second Deaf Asia Cup, crushing Sri Lanka by 92 runs in the final.

Dec 17: Sind Institute of Urology and Transplantation's (SIUT) athletes won six medals including one gold, three silver and two bronze in the 4th Middle East Transplant Games at Abu Dhabi.

Dec 17: England broke a 28-year-old jinx with a historic Test series win on Indian soil with a 2-1 verdict in their favour.

Dec 18: Pakistan handball team won the silver medal in the U-21 Asian Challenge Trophy in Kathmandu, Nepal.India won gold medal while Yemen clinched bronze.

Dec 18: Mohamed Bin Hammam, the former FIFA presidential candidate resigned from all his positions in football and has been given a life ban.

Dec 19: Australia Women won the Rose Bowl 3-1 with a seven-run victory in the final ODI against New Zealand Women.

Dec 22: The Malaysian heroine Nicol David extended her record of World Open titles to seven from eight finals.

Dec 22: Singapore lifted the AFF Suzuki Cup for a record fourth time with a win over Thailand.

Dec 23: Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar announced his retirement from One-Day International cricket after scoring a record breaking 49 centuries in the 50-over format.

Dec 26: President Asif Ali Zardari inaugurated the Shaheed Mohtarama Benazir Bhutto International Cricket Stadium in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh.

Dec 27: Pakistan won the Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament by beating India 5-4 in final.

Dec 27: Journalists from 26 news agencies chose three-time Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel as the European Sportsperson of the Year. Dec 27: Pakistan's new fast bowling sensation Mohammad Irfan is the tallest cricketer in the history with a height of seven feet and one inch.

Dec 28: India survived Pakistan skipper Mohammad Hafeez's scare in the second T20 International to level the series 1-1.

Dec 28: Wapda emerged victorious in the 32nd National Games, winning the Quaid-iAzam trophy. They grabbed 190 gold, 83 silver and 46 bronze medals. Pakistan Army had been winning the main trophy since the inception of the national gala in 1948.

Dec 31: Japan's Kohei Kono knocked out title-holder Tepparith Kokietgym of Thailand to win the World Boxing Association (WBA) super flyweight title.

Dec 31: Bangladesh shelved a planned cricket tour of Pakistan on safety grounds.

Jan 03: Nasir Jamshed's century helped Pakistan to trounce India in the second one-day international at the Eden Gardens and win the three-match series.

Jan 05: Serena Williams captured her 47th career title with a comprehensive victory in the Brisbane International final.

Jan 06: India won the thrilling third ODI, denying Pakistan a clean sweep.

Jan 06: Andy Murray defeated Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in the Brisbane International final.

Jan 06: Australia beat Sri Lanka in the third and final Test to sweep the series 3-0. In addition, Michael Hussey called it a day and announced the end of his Test career.

Jan 06: Spain secured a surprise victory in the Hopman Cup to win the mixed teams' event for the fourth time.

Jan 06: Austrian star Marcel Hirscher won his third World Cup slalom of the season setting a new World Cup record of nine successive podium finishes in both this discipline and the giant slalom.

Jan 07: Nicol David retained her World Series Squash Finals title defeating England's Laura Massaro. In the men's final, Egypt's Amr Shabana beat England's Nick Matthew.

Jan 08: Malik Amjad Ali Noon was reelected as president of the Punjab Squash Association.

Jan 08: Lionel Messi won an unprecedented fourth, consecutive, FIFA Ballon d`Or. Before it, Messi and former French star Michel Platini were only players to win three straight Ballon d'Or awards.

Jan 09: America's Dustin Johnson captured the PGA Tour's season-opener to win the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.

Jan 09: Qatari ace Nasser al-Attiya won his second successive stage in this year's Dakar Rally.

Jan 10: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) launched Pakistan Super League (PSL) in an effort to revive international cricket in the country. Jan 10: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) launched the logo of its Twenty20 Pakistan Super League (PSL).

Jan 12: Russia's Elena Vesnina won her first WTA title in the Hobart International final.

Jan 13: Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal swept four trophies in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)'s inaugural awards ceremony.

Jan 14: South Africa completed a series win over New Zealand after thumping them in the second Test. Muhammad Usman Butt

PMS GENERAL KNOWLEDGE PAPER 2012

1. Canton is a city in:

US Ambassador Richard Olson Friday, February 01, 2013

(a) China (b) South Korea (c) Thailand (d) Germany

2. Indonesia and Malaysia are separated by: (a) Inaccessible mountain (b) Malacca Strait (c) Gulf of Malaysia (d) None of these

3. Capital of Zimbabwe is (a) Lagos (b) Pretoria (c) Seoul (d) None of these 4. Myanmar is the new name of: (a) Burma (b) Ceylon (c) Cambodia (d) None of these

5. Morocco and Spain are separated by: (a) Pyrenees Hills (b) Strait of Gibraltar (c) Alps (d) River Rhine

6. The Apex elected body in Israel is called: (a) Congress (d) Knesset (c) Parliament (d) Shura

7. Communist Revolution in Russia took place in the month of: (a) June (b) March (c) October (d) November

8. Pulitzer is an American Award in the field of: (a) Letters and Journalism (b) Scuba (c) Sports (d) Music

9. The name of U.S Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan is (a) Richard Holbrooke (b) Leon Panetta (c) Marc Grossman (d) Robert Gates

10. De facto means: (a) Actual as a fact (b) Legal (c) Defective (d) Deficient

11. Carte Blanche means: (a) Wheel in the motion (b) A blank thing (c) Going by the rules (d) Full discretionary powers

12. Corrigendum means: (a) Things to be corrected (b) Agenda of the meeting (c) Study of some gender (d) Correspondence

13. Faux Pas means (a) A line person (b) Luck (c) False and incorrect step (d) Wisdom

14. Fifth column refers to (a) Long writing (b) Loyalty (c) Treachery (d) Hogo pillar

15. Pediatrics refers to: (a) Care of pregnant women (b) Care of old people (c) Care of bones and pink (d) Care of children

16. Pythagoras, geometrician belonged to: (a) Mesopetrrie (b) Greece (c) Syria (d) Italy

17. Asian Drama was written by: (a) Joseph Conrad (b) Gunner Myrdal (c) Thomas Pain (d) Jawahar Lal Nehru

18. Tolstoy was the author of famous novel (a) Idiot (b) Dark Continent (c) For whom the Bell Tolls (d) War and Peace

19. Which of the following ranks in the air force is higher' (a) Squadron Leader (b) Air Commdore (c) Wing Commander (d) Group Captain

20. The Headquarter of WTO is at: (a) Rome (b) Geneva (c) London (d) New York

21. International Court of Justice sits at: (a) Brussels (b) Geneva (c) London (d) Paris

22. Heat received by earth from the sun is known as (a) Insulation (b) Solar heat (c) Solar radiation (d) Thermal radiation

23. The cheapest source of electricity generation is: (a) Nuclear (b) Hydel (c) Solar (d) Thermal

24. Largest political agency in Pakistan tribal area in terms of area is: (a) Mohamand (b) South Waziristan (c) North Waziristan (d) Kurram

25. Lowari Pass connects: (a) Dir with Chitral (b) Kalam with Gilgit (c) Goram Chashma with Nooristan (d) Kaghan Valley with Chilas

27. Circumference of earth is around: (a) 217000 km (b) 70000 km (c) 40000 km (d) 50000 km

28. The deepest point in Pacific Ocean is: (a) Mariana Trench (b) Tonga Trench (c) Porto Rico Trench (d) Jave Trench

29. Mount Kilimanjaro is situated in: (a) Kenya (b) Uganda (c) Tanzania (d) South Africa

30. Suez Canal links the following seas (a) Red Sea with Mediterranean Sea (b) Mediterranean Sea with Adriatic Sea (c) Black Sea and Aegean Sea (d) Persian Gulf with Arabian Sea

31. Khojak Pass is located between (a) Quetta and D.I. Khan (b) Quetta and Chaman (c) Jamrud Landikotal (d) Sibbi and Machh

32. Nearest part of atmosphere to earth is called (a) Troposphere (b) Ionosphere (c) Mesosphere (d) Stratosphere

33. Colosseum, an amphitheatre, was built: (a) Nepalese (b) Rome (c) Milan (d) Athens

34. Special theory of relativity was proposed by: (a) Galilee (b) Robert Hook (c) Isaac Newton (d) Albert Einstein

35. Isaac Newton gave: (a) Law of Geometry (b) None of these (c) Law of Planetary Motion (d) Laws of Motion and Laws of Gravitation

36. “Composition of Alchemy" is written by: (a) Jabir Ibn Hayyan (b) Ibn Al-Haitham (c) Ibn Rushd (d) Nasir Al-Din

37. The book 'Al Qanun Fi Tib' is written by: (a) Al Baltani (b) Ibn Rushd (c) Al Biruni (d) Abu Ali Sina

38. Chile has a longest shore along: (a) Atlantic Sea (b) Black Sea (c) Pacific Sea (d) Mediterranean Sea

39. Growth Domestic Product in Pakistan is growing at the rate of: (a) 2.4% (b) 3.7% (c) 5.5% (d) 7% 40. Agriculture, the key sector in the Pakistan economy accounts for (a) 45% of G.D.P. (b) 51% of G.D.P. (c) 21% of G.D.P. (d) 28% of G.D.P.

41. The earth is more closer to Sun in: (a) January (b) June (c) July (d) September

42. Time required for a computer to locate and transfer data is called: (a) Basic Time (b) Starting time (c) Access Time (d) Analogue Time

43. A device which encodes character by mere depression of keys is known as (a) Keyboard (b) Mouse (c) Hard Drive (d) Printer

44. Mixture of two metals is called: (a) Mouse (b) Dispersion (c) Alloy (d) Hard Drive

45. The area inside a computer frame and auxiliary storage where data and instructions are stored is called: (a) Memory (b) Recorder (c) Hopper Interpreter (d) Hard Drive

46. An extremely small piece of silicon on which integrated circuits are implicated is called: (a) Feed (b) Hollerith Code (c) Chip (d) Card Reader

47. The time, taken by light to reach earth from the Sun is: (a) 10 minutes 20 seconds (b) 12 minutes 30 seconds (c) 4 minutes 30 seconds (d) 8 minutes 15 seconds

48. The shape of our milky way galaxy is: (a) Elliptic (b) Rectangular (c) Irregular (d) Spiral

49. The coldest planet of Solar System is (a) Pluto (b) Saturn (c) Mars (d) Jupiter

50. BIMAN is the airline of (a) Cambodia (b) Afghanistan (c) Bangladesh (d) Sri Lanka

51. 38th Parallel line is a boundary that lies between (a) Myanmar and Thailand (b) Thailand and Malaysia (c) South and North Korea (d) India and China

52. Oxygen by volume has presence in the atmosphere of about (a) 16% (b) 21% (c) 31% (d) 46%

53. The brightest planet in the solar system is (a) Venus (b) Saturn (c) Neptune (d) Mars

54. The planet with shortest day time is (a) Earth (b) Jupiter (c) Venus (d) Pluto

55. Insulin in human body is produced in (a) Pancreas (b) None of these (c) Liver (d) Kidney

56. Dynamite was discovered by: (a) Daimler (b) Alfred Nobel (c) Freud (d) Mosley

57. How far is Dead Sea below Mediterranean (a) 200 meters (b) 300 meters (c) 400 meters (d) 500 meters

58. Laws of Heredity were discovered by: (a) Darwin (b) Benjamin Franklin (c) Mendel (d) None of these

60. The longest river is located in: (a) Asia (b) Latin America (c) Africa (d) North America

61. The highest mountain peak, Mount Everest, has been named after Col George Everest who was (a) Commandant of 1st Mountain Infantry Unit (b) Surveyor General of India (c) A Commander of Goslcha Brigade (d) A Political Agent in NWFP

62. Christopher Columbus who discovered America was (a) Spanish (b) Italian (c) French (d) Dutch

63. The annual average flow of water in Indus River System is (a) 140 MAF (b) 111 MAF (c) 100 MAF (d) 99 MAF

64. The single biggest hydel power generating site is situated in (a) Brazil (b) United Slates (c) Indian (d) China

65. The US congress and Senate raised the debt limited of US Government by (a) $5000 billion (b) $1000 billion (c) $1500 billion (d) $2000 billion

66. IMF and World Bank were created through (a) Treaty of Versailles (b) Bretton Woods Agreement (c) Yaita Conference (d) New Deal

67. Moorish Kingdom of Granada (Spain) surrendered to Christians in the year: (a) 1455 (b) 1492 (c) 1528 (d) 1557

68. The President of Yugoslavia/Serbia who was indicated and tried by War Criminal Tribunal was: (a) Franjo Tudrnan (b) Radeoslav Bradjnin (c) Slobodan Miloševic (d) Ralko Melefic

69. Who was not the member of the1st Cabinet of Pakistan? (a) Jogindar Nath Mandal (b) Malik Ghulam Muhammad (c) Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar (d) Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy

70. President of Syria Bashar Al Asad is by faith a: (a) Alavi (b) Shia (c) Druze (d) Sunni

71. US President Barack Hussain Obama's father was (a) Nigerian (b) Egyptian (c) Kenyan (d) Indonesian

72. Blind Dolphins are found m (a) Nile River (b) Yangtze River (c) Ganges River (d) None of these

73. The Captain of Pakistan Cricket team which defeated England in the Oval in 1954 (a) Abdul Hafeez Kardar (b) Khan Muhammad (c) Fazal Mehmood (d) Hanif Muhammad

75. When Ayub Khan took over power in 1958, the Prime Minister of Pakistan was: (a) Malik Feroz Khan Noon (b) Muhammad Ali Bogra (c) Hussain Shaheed Suharwardy (d) None of these 76. The first International flight indentation by PIA was on (a) 7th June 1954 (b) 1st Feb1955 (c) 17th June 1961 (d) 25th May 1951

77. The present Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission is (a) Dr Ishrat Hussain (b) Dr Shahid Amjad (c) Nadeem ul Haq (d) Dr Akram Sheikh

78. The present Secretary General of UN is from, (a) Dr Ishrat Hussain (b) Dr Shahid Amjad (c) Australia (d) South Korea

79. The cash balance of the company is more than the cash balance of US: (a) Microsoft (b) Apple (c) Bethel (d) DunPont

80. After the conquest of Punjab, British constituted a three member Board of Administration for governing the Punjab. Indicate who was not the member among the following: (a) Charles Mansel (b) Bobert Montgomery (c) John Lawrence (d) Henry Lawrence

81. The father of Modern Science fiction is: (a) Aid Hurled (b) Maupassant (c) Bernard Russell (d) H. G. Wells

82. The office of District Magistrate was abolished through (a) Police Order 2002 (b) Amendment in Code of Criminal Procedure (c) Local Government Ordinance 2001 (d) 17th Amendment in the Constitution

83. Indian Railway started operation (a) 1813 (b) 1847 (c) 1853 (d) 1863

84. First International Olympic Games were held in Greece in 1896 in the month of (a) March (b) April (c) May (d) June

85. One who won grand Salam in tennis twice is (a) Roy Emerson (b) Leo Hod (c) Rod Laver (d) Jimmy Conners

86. Hanging gardens of Babylon were located in the modern day (a) Lebanon (b) Iraq (c) Syria (d) Jordon JWT Editorial Board How to Manage Energy Consumption in Offices and Workplaces

Energy consumption in offices and workplaces needs to be addressed on a large scale as lot of energy is consumed and wasted here. The use of excess energy contributes to the problems associated with dwindling fossil fuel reserves. Also, wasting energy reduces profitability.

US Ambassador Richard Olson Friday, February 01, 2013

The government support programmes in some countries on energy efficiency and management as well as carbon management have proved that most companies can reduce their energy costs by implementing maintenance and cost-effective measures, which help in managing energy consumption in offices and workplaces. The 5 steps and tips for effective management of energy consumption in offices and workplaces are: - 1. Commitment 2. Understand 3. Plan and Organize 4. Act 5. Control, Monitor & Review

Step 1. Commitment Energy must be used efficiently within the organization in order to keep carbon dioxide emissions to a minimum wherever possible. The organizational policy should include steps and effective measures towards the environment- the senior management must set an example by inculcating a sustainability drive in office premises and by adapting renewable energy and encouraging projects that make use of clean energy. This will definitely give rise to energy efficiency and improved management of energy consumption in offices and workplaces. A few of the employees within the organization must form a team and take up the responsibility to make other employees aware of the importance of energy efficiency and this team must get all the necessary co-operation needed by the senior management. This energy team must act as the firms eyes and ears for managing energy wastage; be responsible for reading the meters and checking the fuel bills; develop a weekly or monthly checklist of duties; and consider forming an “Energy Action Team” to report on progress and problems to stimulate further action.

The Key factors for commitment and efficient management of energy in offices and workplaces are: - Pressure for change (senior management commitment is essential) A clear shared vision (involvement of staff) Capacity for change (provide the resources: time & finance) Action (monitor performance & keep commu nication channels open)

Step 2. Understand “You can't manage what you don't measure” is especially true for management of energy in offices and workplaces. Meter readings at regular and frequent intervals are necessary to control the energy costs. Constant watch on the meter will enable: - Identification of exceptional consumption and quick attention to the causes Checking of utility invoices will ensure that the payment is done only for the amount of fuel that is consumed Comparison of current costs and performance with previous years Comparison of several sites, processes or buildings in the company with each other Assessing the seasonal pattern of consumption Making these comparisons will help set improvement targets and identify where the greatest scope for saving energy exists in business. How often you take meter readings will be determined by how much energy is used. As a general rule of thumb, meters should be read monthly if invoicing is quarterly and be read weekly if invoicing is monthly. Meter readings can be recorded on worksheets or on a computer spreadsheet. In either case consumption can then be displayed graphically, which is useful for detecting trends and giving warning of exceptional consumption. In short paying attention to the simplest activity helps in efficient management of energy consumption in offices and workplaces.

Step 3. Plan and Organize An energy policy statement must be introduced in every organization to raise the awareness among the staff and demonstrate the commitment of senior management towards management of energy consumption in office. A simple policy statement should set out the main objectives, together with the performance targets that need to be met to fulfill the objectives. Once objectives and targets have been agreed, action plans can be drawn up to drive the management plan forward and set down what needs to be done and when.

Step 4. Act A good way of managing energy consumption in office and finding energy waste is to conduct an initial energy walk-round. Ask key members of the staff to identify problems and opportunities, and ensure that they feel part of the assessment process. The pattern of energy use will vary throughout the day, so it is useful to vary the times of the walk-rounds, for example: When the cleaners are on duty At lunchtime At night or over weekends (if the meter readings indicate that there is unexpectedly high energy use during these periods) Whenever energy is being wasted because of lack of awareness, or procedures are being ignored, repair or maintenance work is needed to reduce energy costs, or there is a need for capital investment.

Step 5. Control, Monitor & Review Energy management should be a process of continuous control and improvement, not a one-off effort. Recording as well as monitoring systems must be set up to check whether targets are being met.

Monitoring and Targeting (M&T) has been shown to be an effective management tool in numerous companies and organizations But it should be kept up. Experience has shown that once companies stop monitoring their energy use on a regular basis, waste starts to occur – often at least 10% in a relatively short time. This is because problems arise (for example failed or wrongly set controls) and procedures change and the effect on energy consumption goes unnoticed or unexplained. Therefore, efficient management of energy consumption in offices and workplaces, with regular data collection, its review, monitoring and control will ensure that energy is not wasted and there is efficient energy use. Nabeel Niaz

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