News Updates

Friday, August 29, news 2014 updates

Office # 05, Ground Floor, Arshad Mansion, Near Chowk A.G Office, Nabha Road Lahore. Ph. 042-37350473 Cell # 0300-8848226 NEWS OF Mail to: [email protected], [email protected] THE DAY PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 NEWS HEADLINES Top Stories ...... 5 To parliament's chagrin, army mediates ...... 5 FIR registered against Prime Minister, CM, 19 others ...... 7 Criticality of situation leads to another Prime Minister-CoAS meeting in three days ...... 8 Nawaz holds consultations with close aides ...... 9 Government still seeking to resolve impasse through talks: Saad ...... 9 Constitution Avenue: Supreme Court hints at invoking Article 190 ...... 10 Shahbaz won't resign, insists Sanaullah ...... 11 Lodging FIR positive development: Khursheed...... 11 PAT moves LHC for fresh elections ...... 11 Situation at Constitution Avenue: FBR unable to hold meetings with stakeholders ...... 12 THE RUPEE: slight fall ...... 12 Transmission line: NTDC allowed to raise Rs 17 billion from local banks ...... 14 US moves prisoners from Afghanistan to Pakistan, Yemen ...... 15 Pakistan receives $371.4 million under CSF ...... 15 Date of filing returns extended ...... 16 EU removes ban on PIA cargo shipments ...... 16 Army recovers Professor Ajmal...... 16 Two journalists among three killed in Quetta ...... 17 Petition against Prime Minister dismissed ...... 17 Afghan election result delayed again despite US pressure ...... 18 WEF unveils 'crowdsourcing' push on how to run the Web ...... 18 Modi pledges 75 million new bank accounts by 2015 ...... 19 Erdogan sworn in as Turkey president, opposition walks out ...... 20 43 UN peacekeepers seized in Syrian Golan Heights: UN ...... 20 KSE continues retreat ...... 21 LSE index declines by 39.49 points ...... 22 ISE index improves by 10.48 points ...... 23 Company News: Pakistan ...... 24 Emerging middle-class brought TGIF back: Donald MacQueen, Regional Director of Asia Pacific ...... 24 SCB's profit before tax grows by Rs 7.3 billion in first half CY14 ...... 27 Business and Economy: Pakistan ...... 28 Pakistan receives $371.4 million under CSF ...... 28

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Forex reserves decline by $344 million ...... 28 Mauritius invites Pakistani businessmen ...... 29 PDWP approves 31 projects worth Rs 16.929 billion ...... 29 'LCCI to enhance interaction with policymakers' ...... 30 PTI, PAT sit-ins: Business community seeks participants to return successfully ...... 31 'Broghul festival to serve as milestone for uplift of Chitral' ...... 32 TDCP approves Punjab Youth Tourism Wing ...... 33 Activity at Karachi and Qasim ports ...... 33 EU removes ban on PIA cargo shipments ...... 34 Saudi Airlines resumes operation from Peshawar ...... 35 PIA's pre-Hajj operation begins...... 35 EBM to support MAP Convention as founding partner ...... 36 Boeing, US embassy voice concern at likely withdrawal of contract ...... 37 Taxation: Pakistan ...... 39 Situation at Constitution Avenue: FBR unable to hold meetings with stakeholders ...... 39 Tax evasion by fabric importers: Customs dillydallying to issue show-cause notices ...... 39 54 Sindh Excise, Taxation inspectors promoted ...... 40 Taxation: World ...... 42 Sweden election favourites eye more taxes on rich ...... 42 Cotton and Textiles: Pakistan ...... 44 Prices up slightly after fresh rains in Punjab ...... 44 Low seed cotton arrivals increase lint prices ...... 45 Agriculture and Allied: Pakistan ...... 47 September sowing: growers advised to select sugarcane variety ...... 47 Daily trading report of PMEX ...... 47 Steps discussed to enhance meat export ...... 48 Chicken meat prices fall ...... 48 Development of Mubarak Village: fishermen seek probe into closure of project ...... 49 Fuel and Energy: Pakistan ...... 50 Transmission line: NTDC allowed to raise Rs 17 billion from local banks ...... 50 PPL reports EPS growth of 23 percent YoY ...... 51 Rs 14 billion lost annually due to UfG losses, Senate body told ...... 51 Prime Minister praises team 14 power projects approved by China ...... 52 40 percent of power generation depends on imported RFO: Hubco chief ...... 53 Banking & Finance ...... 55

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Pak forex figure $ 13.58106bn ...... 55 Markets ...... 56 ISE-10 index stays Bullish ...... 56 BR Research: All ...... 57 Message in a bottle ...... 57 Silk Bank: back in green! ...... 58 Kapco resilient on higher gas supply ...... 59 K-Electric - a stupendous FY14 ...... 61 SCB: fine, very fine ...... 62 Summit shows signs of improvement ...... 63 Crime News...... 65 13 Afghan nationals held in Quetta ...... 65 Peshawar Police seize suspected chemical ...... 65 Kohat: 2 held for smuggling relief ...... 65 Gang of criminals busted in Islamabad ...... 65 2 thieves arrested in Lahore ...... 66 In the line of duty: Journalist Irshad Mastoi, reporter shot dead ...... 66 Miscellaneous News ...... 68 Missed deadline: Failing to address glitches, govt extends deadline ...... 68 Power generators: HUBCO puts coal-conversion plan on hold ...... 69 Clearance: PIA resumes cargo shipment to EU ...... 71 Textile and readymade garments: Gross disbursement in 1HCY14 clocks in at Rs1.7t ...... 72 Corporate results: Standard Chartered posts Rs7.3b profit ...... 73 Teamwork: ‘Entrepreneurs need encouragement’ ...... 74 ITCN Asia 2014: Pakistan’s 3G transition slow but gradual ...... 74 MoU signed between Pakistan, Philippines ...... 76 Trade policies: ‘Pakistan will benefit from regional markets’...... 77 Inching closer: Model Town FIR finally registered ...... 78 Saving democracy: PM requests army chief to mediate, act as guarantor ...... 80 Slide: Foreign reserves down 3.9% ...... 82 OPEN MARKET FOREX RATES ...... 83 INTER BANK RATES ...... 84 Bullion Rates (Gold Prices) in Pakistan Rupee (PKR) ...... 85

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Top Stories To parliament's chagrin, army mediates

August 29, 2014

ZULFIQAR AHMAD, FAZAL SHER & WAQAR LILLAH

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI chief Imran Khan has said that he sticks to his party's pressing demand for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's resignation despite an assurance by chief of army staff (CoAS) General Raheel Sharif that army would play the role of a 'mediator and guarantor' to ensure an impartial probe into alleged poll rigging through a judicial commission.

-- Army chief mediates on PM's request, meets Imran, Qadri separately.

-- Imran says army has offered to ensure fairness of judicial inquiry into vote rigging allegations but he still sticks to his demand for PM's scalp.

-- Nawaz accused of undercutting the power of parliament by asking army to play a mediator's role.

-- A 'soft coup' is said to have already taken place but the question is when it will harden.

Talking to his supporters and media persons after his meeting with CoAS late Thursday night at GHQ Rawalpindi, Imran said he called on General Raheel Sharif on latter's request as government had sought army's support to act as a mediator/guarantor to end the ongoing political impasse.

"I want to make it crystal clear that without resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, there will be no independent probe into May 2013 general election rigging....so our first demand is resignation of Nawaz Sharif and there is no second opinion about it," he said about his one-on- one meeting with General Raheel.

"I've told General Raheel that the government has distributed a huge sum of cash among journalists and lawyers. We know that Rs 25 million was distributed among different media persons while a similar amount was stolen from the residence of Lahore High Court (LHC) bar president." He asked: "How did this lawyer get money?"

Imran said he had told the CoAS that without Nawaz's resignation there could be no independent investigation, adding he had expressed his concerns to the army chief and told him "we have shown flexibility to the extend he [Nawaz] remains party leader but he should step down till completion if an independent investigation into rigging."

"If the government accepts our demand for resignation by tomorrow (today) afternoon, we will celebrate here otherwise we will announce tomorrow our further course of action of how to expand our protests to other," he declared.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Pakistan Army finally stepped in to defuse the lingering political crisis on Thursday after Imran Khan and Tahir-ul-Qadri shut all doors of negotiations on the government, sticking to their pressing demand of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's resignation.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan and Dr Tahirul Qadri of Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) in their separate addresses to the protesters declared that Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) General Raheel Sharif has offered to play his role as a mediator for finding an amicable solution to the issue within 24 hours.

The army jumped into the fray after a meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif saw no light at the end of tunnel when both the parties announced that they would continue their anti- government sit-ins till the acceptance of their demands. A day ago, Qadri warned of a bloodbath mentally preparing his shroud-clad supporters to be ready for 'martyrdom' if government did not accept their charter of demands. He came out from his shipping container with a message: "General Raheel Sharif just telephoned me and has sought 24 hours to resolve the issue solely on his own guarantee".

"I leave this up to you now whether or not you are ready to accept the military's offer or not. We've to wait for 24 hours and if they [army] can find a solution which we think is according to our demands, or else will decide our future course of action," Qadri sought the opinion of his supporters, to which they agreed.

"Those who dubbed the army as men with slingshots have now pleaded army chief General Raheel Sharif to become a mediator...all this happened under pressure from you people," Qadri declared while referring to PML-N-army love-hate relations in the past. He said that army chief has offered PTI and PAT to prepare a package of our demands by becoming 'mediator and guarantor' and sought 24 hours, adding this has happened for the first time in country's history that any army chief has become a guarantor to resolve any political issue.

PTI chairman Imran Khan, speaking shortly after Qadri's address, echoed his remarks, saying he has deferred the announcements of some highly important steps for 24 hours on the request of General Raheel Sharif who has offered to play a mediator's role to end the crisis.

He reiterated that he would not accept any other formula unless the people involved in election rigging are brought to book. Before leaving the sit-in camp for talks with the army high-ups, Imran told his supporters to remain steadfast and assured them he would not budge from his pressing demands.

Imran left for a crucial meeting with General Raheel Sharif in his bullet-proof vehicle, driven by his party secretary general Jehangir Khan Tareen, saying: "Whether we will get a good new tomorrow or will proceed with our anti-government campaign as the government is now in a walled-street".

Later, chief military spokesman Major General Asim Bajwa confirmed through his verified tweet, "Army Chief will meet PTI chairman Imran Khan and chairman PAT Allama Tahirul Qadri tonight (Thursday)". After an hour, through another tweet, he said 'CoAS General Raheel Sharif's meeting with PTI chairman Imran Khan begins in Rawalpindi.' The major anti- government protest staged by PTI and PAT entered 14th day on Thursday.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 A large number of people some armed with sticks reached at sit-in camp of PTI while PAT supporters have already camped in front of parliament house inside the so-called red zone for the last several days. There were reports in the evening that protesters might storm the prime minister house situated hardly a few yards from sit-in camps after the talks between government, PTI and PAT run into snags.

A large number of security personnel were put on high alert, the entry points of Parliament House, Prime Minister House, Secretariat and Supreme Court buildings were sealed off to keep the crowd away in case of any attempt to enter the important government buildings. Besides police, rangers and army jawans were deployed in three layers to protect the government installations. As the government has already invoked Article 245 of the constitution, the army jawans were seen guarding the buildings.

Quoting the Wall Street Journal adds: "If Nawaz Sharif survives, for the rest of his term, he will be a ceremonial prime minister-the world will not take him seriously," said Ayesha Siddiqa, an analyst based in Islamabad. "A soft coup has already taken place. The question is whether it will harden."

August 29, 2014

M RAFIQUE GORAYA

Punjab Police on Thursday registered an FIR of murder case against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif, his son Hamza Shahbaz, Federal Ministers for Defence Khawaja Asif, Federal Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting and Law Pervaiz Rashid and 15 other top government officials in the Lahore killings.

It may be recalled that on June 17, at least 11 supporters of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) were killed and over 100 people were injured in a police crackdown in Lahore's Model Town. A police spokesman said here on Thursday that the First Information Report (FIR) of Model Town 'bloodbath' has been registered with the Faisal Town Lahore Police Station under sections 302/324/506/148/149/427/395/109. The number of the FIR is 696/14, dated 28.08.2014

The spokesman said that an FIR has been registered on the complaint of Director Administration Minhajul Quran Jawad Hamid. The spokesman did not disclose the names of the accused against whom FIR has been registered. However, the PAT leader Dr Tahirul Qadri has rejected the FIR, saying the case has not been registered under the sections of anti-terrorism act. PAT allies Pakistan Muslim League (Q) leaders have described the FIR as a fraud with the families of victims as it has not been registered under the sections of anti-terrorism Act.

AFP adds from Islamabad: Authorities in Pakistan on Thursday filed a murder case naming the

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 prime minister and 20 others as suspects, officials said, in a bid to defuse a fortnight of anti- government protests. Thousands of protesters led by populist cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri and politician Imran Khan have camped outside the parliament building in Islamabad to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Qadri has also demanded police bring murder charges against the Sharifs over the killing of at least 10 of his followers in clashes with police in Lahore. A statement from the prime minister's office on Thursday said orders had been given to register a case. "Federal government has decided to authorise registration of model town First Information Report (FIR) as per complaint of the aggrieved," the statement said. A senior police official requesting anonymity said the report named 21 people including Sharif and his brother Shahbaz Sharif, the chief minister of Punjab province. "After this speech Dr Qadri will have no control over the protesters and they will be allowed to leave," Qadri spokesman Shahid Mursaleen said in a statement. It was not immediately clear whether Qadri was calling off the protest, though a source close to his camp said he may be planning to return to Lahore.

August 29, 2014

ZAHEER ABBASI & WASIM IQBAL

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif met on Thursday to break the deadlock with a view to resolving the ongoing grave political crisis. Sources said that in an unscheduled one-to-one meeting army again sent a message to the government as well as protesters to resolve the issue through a dialogue in the best national interest.

The meeting between Prime Minister and Chief of Army Staff was held several hours before the final call of 'Inqilab' by Dr Tahirul Qadari and the scheduled evening meeting of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan. The second meeting in last three days is being viewed as very important.

They reportedly decided that the use of force would not be even the last option and General Sharif was of the view that the army must not be dragged into any kind of confrontation with masses. He underscored the need for resolving the political impasse through a political dialogue in the best national interest. Meanwhile, army troops deployed on key locations in the federal capital under the Article 245 of Constitution were put on high alert on Thursday. Five companies of the army have been deployed in various parts of Islamabad to secure the offices of the Supreme Court, Parliament House, Presidency and Prime Minister House, foreign missions, the Foreign Office and other important installations. The government offices located in the Red Zone could not be vacated by 12 noon. Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) chief Chaudhry Shujaat on Thursday said that the meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Army Chief Raheel Sharif is a routine matter. He said the government has to accept the marchers' demands now.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014

INP adds: According to a spokesman for the PM House, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the army chief agreed to take all necessary measures to restore talks with the protesting parties with a view to ending the political impasse.

They also agreed for the resolution of issues in the best interest of the country at the earliest. The premier reportedly took the CoAS into confidence over the government delegation's meeting with Dr Tahirul Qadri. According to sources, it was agreed that all the issues will be resolved through talks. According to sources, the prime minister said no illegal and unconstitutional demand of the protesting parties will be accepted by the government.

August 29, 2014

MUHAMMAD SALEEM

Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, who arrived here Thursday to attend the funeral of father of his son-in-law Captain Muhammad Safdar (Retd), also held an informal meeting with his close aides and legal experts on the current situation and expressed resolve to defend the case pertaining to Model Town incident in the court of law, it is learnt. Sources claimed that the meeting was held at the Raiwind residence of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

It was attended among others by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and legal experts. It may be noted that the First Information Report (FIR) about the Model Town incident which left 11 people dead and over 80 injured has been registered against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and 20 others. The FIR has been registered in Faisal Town Police Station. The prime minister reportedly briefed the participants about his recent meeting with the Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif.

August 29, 2014

Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique has said that the government is still seeking to resolve the political impasse through a dialogue. Addressing media persons along with Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and Information Minister Perveez Rasheed in front of the Parliament House on Thursday, he said the government has accepted five demands of PTI but Imran Khan is not ready to withdraw his demand of the Prime Minister's resignation, "which is not acceptable".

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 He said that both Imran and Qadri should resolve issues through Parliament. He said despite having a fundamental right to file an appeal against the judgement of the Lahore High Court for registration of an FIR against the prime minister and other cabinet members, "the government has decided not to go for another appeal which shows its desire to resolve the issues through peaceful means."

The Minister said the government has decided to get register an FIR in the Model Town tragedy in accordance with the orders of a Sessions Court. The Minister also appealed Qadri not to instigate his supporters. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said the government is still showing patience and will not fulfil the desire of the protesting leaders to do politics on dead bodies. He said the government will still show restrain even the two parties pursue a course of confrontation.

August 29, 2014

KHUDAYAR MOHLA

The Supreme Court on Thursday hinted at invoking Article 190 of the Constitution if its directives to ensure free movement on the Constitution Avenue are not complied with. The Article 190 states, "All executive and judicial authorities throughout Pakistan shall act in aid of the Supreme Court". A four-judge bench of Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk resumed the hearing of identical petitions filed by Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), all the provincial High Court Bar Association and Islamabad District Bar Association against sit-ins on the Constitution Avenue.

The bench categorically observed that it has shown restrain to issue a final verdict in the matter even petitioners had prayed to get Constitution Avenue vacated. The bench asked the counsel for both the protesting political parties to ensure the free movement of vehicles on Constitution Avenue after consultations with their clients and submit a report in the apex court's Registrar office by Friday (today).

From the outset of the proceedings, the apex court's Registrar submitted a report in pursuance of court's orders on current situation regarding the mobility on the Constitution Avenue saying that not even a single lane of the Avenue had been vacated. The court said about the legal justification behind the protests on Constitution Avenue, as these have caused inconvenience to residents and commuters.

The PAT counsel, Barrister Ali Zafar, pleaded that the history of Pakistan provides many references to popular protests; he also referred to a movement for restoration of judges in 2009. To which, Justice Khawaja asked whether the PAT counsel could satisfy the court that every issue would be resolved through protests in future.

However, the PAT counsel assured the bench that he would try to convince his client to vacate

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 one side of the Constitution Avenue. Issuing directives to the counsel for the PAT and the PTI to submit a report in the Registrar office on August 29 after ensuring free movement of vehicles on Constitution Avenue, the bench adjourned the hearing of this matter till September 01.

August 29, 2014

Former Punjab law minister Rana Sanaullah Thursday insisted that the chief minister Shahbaz Sharif would not resign. "I can assure you that Shahbaz Sharif will not resign," Sanaullah told a private television channel. The former law minister claimed that Qadri wants a bloodshed in the federal capital to accomplish his 'ill-motivated ambitions.'

August 29, 2014

Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah said Thursday that registration of an FIR against people involved in the Model Town tragedy is a positive development. Talking to media persons here, Khursheed Shah said "The PPP will strongly oppose every step beyond constitution." The opposition leader said that the issue is not about the protection of prime minister but of the constitution. He also urged PAT leader Tahirul Qadri to show flexibility.

August 29, 2014

Pakistan Awami Tehreek on Thursday approached the Lahore High Court seeking dissolution of national and provincial assemblies. The petitioner, vice-president PAT Punjab Chapter Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan, submitted that the majority of the members were involved in corruption therefore they did not qualify according to Article 62 and 63 of the constitution. He therefore prayed to the court to dissolve the national and provincial assemblies. He also prayed to the court to direct the Election Commission to hold fresh elections.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Situation at Constitution Avenue: FBR unable to hold meetings with stakeholders

August 29, 2014

SOHAIL SARFRAZ

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Headquarters situated at Constitution Avenue is not in a position to have any meeting with the stakeholders like business community, tax practitioners and other government departments for the last over two weeks as protesters of the sit-ins of Azadi and Inqilab marches of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) are occupying the Avenue.

Sources told Business Recorder here on Thursday that the FBR had received different requests of meetings with the tax authorities, but the same cannot be convened creating immense problems for the aggrieved taxpayers, federations, chambers, chartered accountants and lawyers.

The problems of the taxpayers have increased manifold, as people cannot visit the Board office to give their presentations or remove their day to day grievances concerning the regional tax offices. However, the FBR officials are promptly responding to the telephonic requests of the people to give them as much relief as they can. At present, visitors are unable to reach the FBR House and average visitors to FBR have come down to one or two persons per day. Despite regular attendance of tax authorities at the Board, visitors remained unable to reach the FBR headquarters now days. Chairman FBR Tariq Bajwa and FBR Senior Member Inland Revenue Shahid Hussain Asad are performing their routine official duties on daily basis.

On the other hand, the tax authorities have voluntarily visited Lahore and Karachi to meet stakeholders facilitating taxpayers. On Friday (August 28), FBR Chairman Tariq Bajwa is expected to visit Large Taxpayer Unit (LTU) Islamabad to review revenue collection.

August 29, 2014

The rupee could not maintain its upward journey against the dollar on the interbank market on Thursday, dealers said. The rupee dropped by 15-paisa against the dollar for buying at Rs 102.35 and it also lost 10-paisa for selling at Rs 102.40, they said.

INTERBANK MARKET RATES: OPEN MARKET RATES: The rupee sustained its value in terms of the dollar for buying and selling at Rs 101.70 and Rs 101.90, while it shed 25-paisa in relation to the euro for buying and selling at Rs 133.75 and Rs 134.00, they said.

In the fourth Asian trade, the euro inched higher and held above a one-year low versus the dollar, getting some respite as feverish speculation of an imminent round of easing by the European Central

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Bank cooled. Sources told Reuters on Wednesday that the ECB is unlikely to take new policy action next week unless inflation figures on Friday show the euro zone sinking significantly towards deflation.

The dollar was trading against the Indian rupee at Rs 60.41, the greenback was at 3.1460 in terms of the Malaysian ringgit and the US currency was at 6.1428 versus the Chinese yuan. Interbank buy/sell rates for the taka against the dollar on Thursday: 77.40-77.41 (previous 77.40-77.41). Call Money Rates: 05.50-06.75 percent (previous 05.50-06.75 percent). ======Open Bid Rs.101.70 Open Offer Rs.101.90 ======Interbank Closing Rates: Interbank Closing Rates For Dollar on Thursday. ======Bid Rate Rs.102.35 Offer Rate Rs.102.40 ======RUPEE IN LAHORE: The Pak rupee failed to maintain rising trend and was declined by 75-paisa against the greenback on the local currency market on Thursday.

According to the currency dealers, the dollar resumed trading on a healthy sign and kept on rising following fresh demand. The dollar was jumped to Rs 102.00 and Rs 102.25 on buying and selling side against Rs 101.25 and Rs 101.50 of Wednesday, respectively, the dealers said.

Likewise, the rupee could not sustain and was depreciated against the pound sterling. The pound was purchased and sold at Rs 168.00 and Rs 168.25 compared with day earlier closing of Rs 166.25 and Rs 166.50, respectively, they added.

RUPEE IN ISLAMABAD AND RAWALPINDI: The rupee-dollar parity remained unchanged on the open currency markets of Islamabad and Rawalpindi here on Thursday.

The dollar opened at Rs 102.00 (buying) and Rs 102.10 (selling) against last rate. It did not observe further change in the second session and closed at Rs 102.00 (buying) and Rs 102.10 (selling).

Pound Sterling opened at Rs 168 (buying) and Rs 168.10 (selling) against same overnight value. It did not observe further change in the evening session and closed at Rs 168 (buying) and Rs 168.10 (selling).

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Transmission line: NTDC allowed to raise Rs 17 billion from local banks

August 29, 2014

MUSHTAQ GHUMMAN

Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet has allowed National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) to raise Rs 17 billion from local banks for laying a transmission line to transfer power from 969 MW Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Project, official sources told Business Recorder. Giving the background, sources said a transmission scheme for evacuation of power from Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower project was approved by Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) on August 28, 2013 at a total cost of Rs 22.582 billion.

According to the approved PC-I, the work was awarded to Chinese contractor on buyer's credit by Managing Director NTDC on September 12, 2013. But Board of Directors (BoD) NTDCL in its 78th meeting held on January 03, 2014 resolved unanimously not to ratify the orders of MD NTDCL due to some procedural lapses as per PPRA rules. However, the management of NTDC approved plan 'B' for implementation of the subject project.

The sources stated that as per Prime Minister's directives, the first unit of 969 MW Neelum Jhelum HPP would be operative by December, 2015 for which NTDCL has to complete the priority portion of transmission line on or before September 30, 2015 for evacuation of power from the above said hydro power project.

In order to execute the plan 'B' on a fast-track basis, revised PC-I amounting to Rs 21.697 billion including FEC Rs 11.272 billion (@PKR 99.65/US$) is under process of approval from the competent forum. Bids have also been processed and are under evaluation according to given time lines.

"Water and Power Ministry is of the view that as no funding is available from any financing agency, NTDC has decided to implement the project through its own resources. For this purpose, local banks have been approached who have shown their willingness to provide funding for the subject project to the tune of Rs 17 billion against sovereign guarantee," the sources added.

The sources further stated the Ministry of Water and Power also requested the ECC to allow issuance of GoP guarantee to the banks once the finance arrangements made by NTDC were approved by the Finance Division. Ministry of Water and Power has been directed to get clearance of terms and conditions of the financing arrangements from the Finance Ministry.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 US moves prisoners from Afghanistan to Pakistan, Yemen

August 29, 2014

The United States has moved 11 new prisoners out of a military prison near the Afghan capital, the Pentagon said on Wednesday, as the Obama administration seeks to shut down a controversial detainee program in Afghanistan ahead of its troop withdrawal. Nine prisoners were repatriated to Pakistan last week from the Parwan detention center, located on a military base near Kabul, said Lieutenant Colonel Myles Caggins III, a US military spokesman.

Another two prisoners were sent to Yemen this week, Caggins added. The prisoners were handed to the governments of their home countries. The Obama administration has been quietly moving prisoners out of the secretive prison as the United States and its Nato allies wind down their long military mission in Afghanistan.

All US troops are set to leave Afghanistan, in the grips of a political crisis following a disputed presidential election, by January 1, 2015 unless the country finalises a deal that would permit some foreign soldiers to stay behind. But in closing Parwan, like the much larger Guantanamo Bay US military prison in Cuba, the Obama administration risks political backlash from several directions. Human rights advocates have criticised long detentions for suspects in US military prisons since 2001, most of whom have never been charged with a crime. Such groups also express concerns about turning over prisoners for further detention in countries with poor human rights records.

Republicans have condemned the Obama administration's release of other detainees, who critics say could easily return to militant activity. The identities of the detainees at Parwan, who have also included citizens of Tunisia, Russia and Jordan, have largely been a mystery, as has the reason for their imprisonment.

The Yemeni Human Rights Ministry said earlier this year that one of the two men sent back to Yemen last week was captured in Thailand. The International Justice Network, which challenged the two men's detention in US courts, said in a statement on its website that both of them were taken prisoner outside of Afghanistan and were "coercively interrogated" at "secret prisons" before being sent to Afghanistan.

August 29, 2014

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 tranche amounting to $352 million was received in February 2014. "Yes, the country has received $371.2 million from the United States under the Coalition Support Fund," confirmed a State Bank official.

The side amount was released Wednesday by the US and accordingly, on Thursday reflected in the SBP account, he added. Mainly, Pakistan receives some $700-800 million annually from the US on account of CSF, which will help build the forex reserves of the country. Since 2004, Pakistan received over $10 billion on account of CSF. Sources said despite payment of this amount millions of dollars CSF payments are still due towards the US and major the amount of these pending payments have already been approved by the US authorities.

August 29, 2014

To facilitate taxpayers, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has extended the date for filing of returns of total income/statement of final taxation, which is due from August 31, 2014, to September 30, 2014. In this regard, the FBR has issued circular number 4 of 2014 here on Thursday. As a measure of taxpayers' convenience it has been decided by the FBR to extend the date of filing of tax returns for 30 days as August 31, 2014 last date of filing returns has been extended up to September 30, 2014.

August 29, 2014

European Union has removed the temporary cargo ban restriction that was imposed on PIA cargo shipments to Europe. PIA spokesman said here on Thursday. The decision has been taken after satisfactory examination and approval by the EU inspection team. The airline has now resumed its cargo shipments to EU, PIA spokesman concluded.

-PR

August 29, 2014

Security forces on Thursday safely recovered kidnapped Vice Chancellor of Islamia University Professor Ajmal Khan four years after his abduction by Taliban militants. A statement issued by

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that security forces and intelligence agencies had been trying to locate Professor Khan since September 8, 2010 when he was kidnapped in Peshawar while going to university. "Civil society and relatives appreciated the untiring efforts of Pakistan Army for the safe recovery of Mr Ajmal Khan," said the statement.

August 29, 2014

Gunman opened fire on the offices of a domestic private news agency here on Thursday, killing three people including two journalists, officials said. "A gunman entered the offices of the Online news agency and began firing indiscriminately, killing the bureau chief, named Irshad Mastoi, and accountant on the spot," provincial home secretary Akbar Hussain Durrani told AFP. He said the third victim, a reporter, sustained serious injuries and died of his wounds in the hospital.

City police chief Abdul Razaq Cheema also confirmed the incident and casualties. No group has claimed the attack and the motive remains unclear.

August 29, 2014

A petition seeking to restrain Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from functioning was dismissed by Lahore High Court on Thursday. Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah took up the petition as an "objection case" as registrar's office had already objected to its maintainability. The petitioner, Muhammad Shabbir Advocate, pleaded that after statement of former additional secretary of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Afzal Khan, the Prime Minister had no moral ground to continue to function as prime minister.

He said the former official of the ECP maintained that the May 2013 general elections were rigged. Justice Syed Mansoor Ali while dismissing the petition observed that the petitioner should approach an election tribunal for the required relief.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Afghan election result delayed again despite US pressure

August 29, 2014

Afghanistan will not have a new president in time for a key Nato summit next week, officials said Thursday, as the country's prolonged election crisis lurched towards another damaging delay. The latest deadline of September 2 was abandoned as a UN-supervised audit of all eight million votes has fallen behind schedule, with both candidates still claiming victory in the fraud- tainted vote.

A Nato summit in Britain from September 4-5 is meant to agree on future support for Afghanistan after the 13-year US-led combat mission ends this year. But Nato members have stressed a new president should be in place before the summit to prove that the country has becoming a functioning state after receiving billions of dollars of military and civilian aid assistance.

Jan Kubis, the UN mission chief, told President Hamid Karzai "that a rigorous and credible audit required time, but could be completed around 10 September", according to a UN statement. "Following all necessary steps, as required by law, the inauguration of the new President should then be possible soon after," it said. The US had been leading a strong international effort to push for the next president to be inaugurated by September 2 to allow him to attend the summit.

August 29, 2014

The World Economic Forum unveiled a project on Thursday aimed at connecting governments, businesses, academia, technicians and civil society world-wide to brainstorm the best ways to govern the Internet. WEF, which each year gathers the global elite in the plush Swiss ski resort of Davos, launched its NETmundial Initiative in a bid to build on the outcome of a large conference in Brazil in April that called for a transparent, multi-stakeholder approach to running the Web.

The participants at that conference balked at a push by some countries, including China and Russia, for governments to move into a leading role in overseeing the Internet, amid fears of the impact this could have on the unity of the Web and on online dissent and freedom of expression. The WEF project aims to put the goals decided upon in Brazil into action by bringing as many voices as possible into the growing global debate over how to govern the Internet without jeopardising its diversity.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Modi pledges 75 million new bank accounts by 2015

August 29, 2014

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged Thursday to provide bank accounts to 75 million people by January in an ambitious bid to end "financial untouchability" in the nation of 1.2 billion people. Modi, who pledged this month to provide accounts for all, said 68 percent of India''s population did not have access to banks, leaving millions of poor vulnerable to unscrupulous money lenders.

"If 40 percent of our population can''t get into the mainstream, we can''t develop," Modi said, in a grand unveiling of his flagged financial inclusion initiative. "If Mahatma Gandhi talked about social untouchability, to tackle poverty, we have to end financial untouchability," he told a gathering of ministers and media. Modi made the pledge in his Independence Day speech after sweeping to power at elections in May on a platform of reforming and reviving the ailing economy. While the drive for universal banking access dates back decades, India is still far from its goal. Now Modi is taking a personal stake in the quest.

Despite winning the biggest mandate in 30 years, Modi''s right-wing government has not yet introduced big-ticket reforms that are needed to kick-start economic growth. Modi said 75 million bank accounts would be opened by mid-January, with the new holders given a debit card, accident insurance worth up to 100,000 rupees ($1,650) and 30,000 rupees of life insurance.

"Sixty eight years after our independence not even 68 percent of the population has got bank accounts," said Modi, adding that he had emailed 700,000 bank employees urging them to support the initiative. Modi said welfare payments would be transferred directly into the new accounts which would help in the "fight against corruption".

The direct transfers are aimed at reducing waste and corruption that hike India''s multi-billion dollar subsidy bill for food, fuel and fertiliser for the poor that blows out the country''s public finances. Experts say there are many hurdles to achieving Modi''s goal, among them a lack of identity documents among poor people. Would-be bank customers have to produce a host of documents from birth certificates to residence proofs that many Indians do not possess.

Indians have one of the world''s highest household savings rates, but the central bank says just 35 percent of these savings go into the banking system. Microfinance institutions, which loan small sums to those unable to get credit from mainstream banks, have sought to step into the breach, but have been criticised for exorbitant lending rates, adding to already high poverty levels.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Erdogan sworn in as Turkey president, opposition walks out

August 29, 2014

Turkey's outgoing premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan was Thursday sworn in as president to extend his decade-long rule, as opponents who accuse him of authoritarianism walked out of the ceremony. Erdogan, 60, took the oath in Ankara to begin a five-year mandate in which he has vowed to build a "new Turkey" by pushing through a new constitution and driving on with an ambitious development programme.

Deputies of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) - who accuse Erdogan of violating the constitution - angrily walked out of parliament just before he was sworn in. CHP deputy head Engin Altay hurled the rule book containing parliament's procedures across the chamber as his MPs marched out before Erdogan was sworn in to thunderous applause from supporters.

Erdogan has made clear he wants to wield genuine executive power as president after becoming the first directly elected head of state, taking 52 percent of thhe vote in the August 10 poll His recent predecessors in the Cankaya presidential palace performed a largely ceremonial role.

The election was a triumph for Erdogan - who first become premier in 2003 - after surviving a tumultuous 2013 that saw mass anti-government protests and corruption allegations against his inner circle. He takes over as president from Abdullah Gul, a former close comrade and co- founder of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), who appears now to have fallen out with the feisty Erdogan and is expected to play no role in the next government. Erdogan's five- year presidential term means he will have ruled Turkey longer than its modern founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who established the republic out of the ruins of the Ottoman Empire.

August 29, 2014

The United Nations said that an armed group captured 43 UN peacekeepers on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights on Thursday and that it was doing everything to secure their release. An additional 81 peacekeepers were "currently being restricted to their positions in the vicinity of Ar Ruwayhinah and Burayqah," it added.

Israel closed off the area around Quneitra on Wednesday after an officer was wounded by stray fire as Syrian rebels, including fighters from the al Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra front, stormed the crossing. No details were released on the nationalities of the detained peacekeepers but six countries are contributing to the 1,200-strong unit: Fiji, India, Ireland, Nepal, Netherlands and

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 the Philippines. "Forty-three peacekeepers from the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) were detained early this morning by an armed group in the vicinity of Quneitra," it said in a statement.

UN officials noted that the peacekeepers monitoring the armistice line between Israel and Syria were detained twice last year and released safely. "The United Nations is making every effort to secure the release of the detained peacekeepers and to restore the full freedom of movement of the force throughout its area of operation," it added.

August 29, 2014

Stocks closed lower following panic selling on the fourth consecutive day Thursday and the benchmark KSE-100 index lost another 37 points to close at 27,774 points down from 27,811 points Wednesday. Analysts said the market remained volatile and stayed in the red zone. Volumes stood lower as foreign and local investors remained uncertain about the ongoing political situation in the country.

During the intra-day trading, the market fell by over 450 points, however some recovery was witnessed in the evening and at the end of the session, the index closed with a decline of 0.13 percent. The index touched 27,866 points highest and 27,354 points lowest level. Following a negative trend, volume at the ready counter decline to 115 million shares compared to 132 million shares in previous session. Ahsan Mehanti, an analyst at Arif Habib, said stocks closed bearish amid concerns for the outcome of government refusal to meet the demand of PAT and PTI protesters across the country.

"Rupee instability and political deadlock impacted the sentiment, however later session support by state-owned institutions, speculations for PC decision on OGDC GDRs at London Stock Exchange for $850 million sale in the midst of political crises supported to index to close flat," he added. Fall in banking spreads and huge losses viz political crises played a catalytic role in the bearish activity at KSE despite the Supreme Court ruling on refund of GIDC for industrial sector, he added.

Despite a bearish activity, market capitalisation increased by Rs 17 billion to Rs 6.553 trillion against previous Rs 6.536 trillion a day earlier. Trading took place in 319 companies, of which 132 closed in green zone, 162 in red, while 25 remained unchanged.

"After falling by 3.8 percent in last three days, the market showed intraday recovery as the government agreed to register FIR against PM, CM Punjab and other 21 persons in Model Town incident," said Samar Iqbal, analyst at Topline Securities.

The local bourse closed 0.13 percent down after declining by 457 points intraday, while volumes slightly declined to 115 million shares and the value remained at $64 million (value Rs 6.37 billion), she added. She said selective buying was seen as valuations become so attractive as the market fell by 8.8 percent from its peak. Renewed interest was seen in OGDC, POL and DGKC.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014

Among top 10 volume leaders, four recorded positive trend. Maple Leaf Cement emerged the volume leader with 9.7 million shares, losing Re 0.07 to close at Rs 25.47. B.O.Punjab stood second at Rs 7.91 on 7.8 million shares. Pak Elektron Ltd ranked third, closing at Rs 28.76, up Re 0.40, on 7.5 million shares.

K-Electric Ltd lost Re 0.03 to Rs 6.71 on 5.8 million shares. With a trading volume of 4.4 million shares, TRG Pak Ltd gained Re 0.16 to close at Rs 10.22. Lafarge Pak increased by Re 0.08 to close at Rs 15.10 on 3.9 million shares and Nishat Mills Ltd lost Re 0.81 to Rs 98.57 on some 3.7 million shares. Some 3.5 million shares of Fauji Cement were traded and the scrip closed at Rs 18.23, down Rs 0.05. Adamjee Ins surged by Re 0.34 to Rs 47.18 on 3.3 million shares. Byco Petroleum fell by Re 0.12 to Rs 9.39 on 2.7 million shares.

Nestle Pak and Wyeth Pak Ltd were the top gainers with Rs 230.80 and Rs 160.00 to close at Rs 7,730.80 and Rs 3,360.11, respectively. Rafhan Maize SPOT and Sanofi-Aventis were the top losers with Rs 199.00 and Rs 36.50 to close at Rs 10,501.00 and Rs 693.50, respectively.

August 29, 2014

Bearish sentiments continued for another day on the Lahore Stock Exchange on Thursday and the equities suffered more declines amid improved trading turnover. The LSE-25 index was declined by 39.49 points to close at 4863.71 against 4903.20 of Wednesday while transaction volume was increased to 1.298 million shares compared with previous volume of 953,840 shares.

The market was opened on a negative sign and remained under pressure during the entire day's trading. The banking and oil sector shares including MCB Bank, Bank Al-Habib, United Bank, Bank Alfalah, Shell Pakistan, Attock Refinery Hascol Petroleum and Byco Petroleum were succumbed of selling pressure while Nishat Mills, Engro Foods, Kohinoor Energy also ended in minus column. However, DG Khan Cement, Lafarge Pakistan Cement, Fauji Cement, Pak Elektron, Askari Bank, Bank of Punjab, Adamjee Insurance, PPL, Avanceon Limited and Pervez Ahmed Securities resisted pressure and were ended in green zone.

The losers were more than the gainers, as out of a total of 78 active companies, 14 registered gains, 19 recorded losses while 45 companies stayed glued to their overnight closing. DG Khan Cement gained 79-paisa, Pak Elektron was improved by 64-paisa while Askari Bank and Adamjee Insurance were up 57-paisa and 29-paisa, respectively.

In the negative column, MCB Bank lost Rs 5.79, Shell Pakistan was declined by Rs 5.63, Attock Refinery shed Rs 4.29 while United Bank and Nishat Mills were down by Rs 2.58 and Rs 2.18, respectively. PIAC with trading of 247,500 shares topped the volume leaders followed by Bank Alfalah with 175,000 shares.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 ISE index improves by 10.48 points

August 29, 2014

Bulls dominated the proceedings at the Islamabad Stock Exchange (ISE) on Thursday, where equities continued to move in upward direction with positive trend at the ISE amid increase in index. ISE Ten Index showed an improvement of 10.48 points as the ISE Ten Index moved from 4368.65 to 4379.13 points. The overall turnover amounted to 33,000 shares as compared to previous volume of 32,100 shares.

Total 125 companies participated in buying and selling activity. Majority of stocks (55) closed in positive territory, 69 closed in negative territory, whereas 01 company remained pegged to its overnight levels. The volume of Bank of Punjab was 25,000 shares. The volume of Askari Bank Ltd was 5,000 shares. The volume of Silk Bank Ltd was 1,500 shares.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Company News: Pakistan Emerging middle-class brought TGIF back: Donald MacQueen, Regional Director of Asia Pacific

August 29, 2014

Donald MacQueen has been Regional Director of Asia Pacific for TGI Fridays (TGIF) since the beginning of 2013, having previously looked after the Middle East for them since 2010. An industry veteran, Donald is from the UK and has been involved in various international restaurant businesses since 1992.

Following are selected excerpts from BR Research's sit-down with him last week:

BR Research: Why was it that TGIF left Pakistan before?

Donald MacQueen: TGIF had a hugely successful business back in 1999. But, we started facing problems in getting quality ingredients and a lot of things could not come in. There are some products that couldn't be imported. Without getting the right ingredients, it was better not to run the brand instead of pretending to run it. The other thing is that the industry was quite young at that time. There were only a few Western food brands. So the industry did not develop very well at that time. To a certain extent, TGIF was perhaps a little bit ahead of its time here; still it was doing very well.

BRR: So, it's not that TGIF left because the business was not doing very good here?

DM: No, the demand was good and the restaurant was quite popular back then as well. But, you cannot expect people to keep coming in if you cannot serve them the taste that you're known for. Even now, the demand for TGIF is huge as far as casual dining is concerned.

BRR: Is the rising middle-class the reason behind re-entering the Pakistani market? Or was it because of the opening up of more Western brands in the country?

DM: Yes, we recognised the emergence of the middle-class. But we're not in the business of following what others do, although the opening of more Western brands did indicate that the market had developed more. Not only is there a healthy demand, but also there is an understanding of the brand that TGIF is.

BRR: What kind of cuisine is being offered by TGIF? What market segment are you targeting?

DM: Well, we target anybody who'd like to come by. It's an American food brand with large portion sizes, and that is popular with the Pakistani market. We also offer courses that are unique.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 BRR: Are prices not too high for the Pakistani market?

DM: Pricing is always a part of the equation. But, our prices are not at a level where people can afford to come by only once a year. If you're asking me: is it cheap? Then no! But, it is affordable, especially given the quality of food and portion size; it is quite reasonably priced.

BRR: What kind of competition do you see in the market?

DM: Everyone who serves food is a competitor. There's not any one brand that we qualify as our competitor because people have their own choices. But, we're not just about food; it's about the ambience and living the Friday experience. It's a young brand and attracts young people and is very fun-filled.

People come to TGIF not just for food but for escapism as well. We have a sign above our kitchen that says: 'In here, it's always Friday'. You can come here any day during the week and we are going to make you feel as if it was the cherished weekend.

We were the first one to bring in the casual dining concept, and we are the only one in Pakistan who may be qualified as such. Unlike fast food, at TGIF it's about spending time with us and feeling better for being here.

BRR: How do you employ local chefs? Who conducts their trainings and what is the training like?

DM: We have sent many people overseas, beginning with a trip to Dubai where they spent several weeks at TGIF kitchens there. When we opened the first restaurant in Islamabad, we brought over trainers from the Philippines, where we have been operating for almost 20 years, and they trained local chefs.

BRR: Cuisine is an experimental process. Do you allow flexibility to your chefs to experiment?

DM: No, we're not experimental. We're a brand and the brand gives us strict recipes to follow.

BRR: But, if someone has an idea, what is s/he to do?

DM: Yes, we're not completely inflexible. If someone has an idea, there is a rigorous process that is to be followed. It has to fit our brand style. We don't want to serve nihari, for example. We offer what we're good at. In any brand, in terms of food, you don't have a lot of creativity. You should be able to have the same taste of TGIF anywhere in the world.

BRR: Where do you get your ingredients? Do you get them from local vendors?

DM: There are some ingredients that we import because they are simply not available in Pakistan. We also import beef from the United States because there is no quality beef industry in Pakistan, while we use certified quality beef for our cuisine. But, we do use chicken and fish locally, among other ingredients.

BRR: Is beef imported strictly from the US?

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 DM: We could get it from somewhere else if it meets our standards. But, the US is a preferred choice. There are some countries where they do not allow US imports, so there we try to get it from Australia. We have to ensure the safety and integrity of the product.

BRR: Would you prefer to buy ingredients locally?

DM: Yes, absolutely. We would prefer anything that meets our quality standards and can be bought locally.

BRR: Do your prices also follow some standards set by the brand?

DM: No As per law, pricing cannot be dictated to a country; that is purely a local decision.

BRR: So the prices could vary between Islamabad and Karachi, for example?

DM: They could but they don't. But, you won't see the same prices in the Emirates and Australia, for example. We have to price correctly in order to be able to do business.

BRR: What are your expansion plans? How do you plan expansion, for example, Faisalabad is an urban centre that offers prospects.

DM: We're opening next in Lahore, sometime in the first half of next year. And then we would make an assessment of how well we're doing there and how the market responds. We would expand if we get to know that they want us to serve them.

BRR: What kind of challenges have you faced in Pakistan?

DM: We don't see any problems that are unique to us alone. Besides, working with a local partner and local talent helps in overcoming a lot of challenges that an international business might face in the country. If we can't find a franchisee who shares our philosophy and values, we do not step in. We manage the brand, our franchisees manage the business. We're global experts working with the locals.

BRR: What do you find different here in the Pakistani market?

DM: First, there's no alcohol. In most countries we have bars, and that in itself is one element of our sales. However, there is a lot more that is common than there is a different. Generally, people would not expect poor quality. They would rather pay a bit more for better quality. We're not about price, we're more about value.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 SCB's profit before tax grows by Rs 7.3 billion in first half CY14

August 29, 2014

The Board of Directors of Standard Chartered Bank (Pakistan) Limited has declared an Interim cash dividend of 7.5 percent (Re0.75 per share) in respect of the half year ended June 30, 2014. Standard Chartered Bank (Pakistan) Limited has announced its H1 2014 results, according to which the bank continues to deliver consistent financial performance with nine percent increase in both revenue and net advances.

The Bank's profit (before tax) has grown by one percent to Rs 7.3 billion in H1 2014, with earnings per share up at Rs 1.22 per share from Rs 1.21 per share in H1 2013. Revenue has enhanced by nine percent in comparison with first half of 2013. Overall administrative expenses have slightly increased by six percent however, due to continuous cost discipline; the in-country administrative costs have increased by only two percent which is much below the ongoing rate of inflation in the country. Net advances increased by Rs 12 billion since the start of the year on account of pick up in lending. The deposit momentum continued with a growth of above five percent since the start of this year. The continuous increase in low cost deposits has significantly supported the bank's performance, current and savings account now comprising over 92 percent of the deposits base.

Commenting on the results Najam Siddiqi, Acting Chief Executive, Standard Chartered Bank (Pakistan) Limited, said, "The Bank continues to deliver a strong set of results for the first half of 2014. Our balance sheet remains a source of competitive advantage with a focus on diversity, high levels of liquidity and a strong capital position. We intend to maintain focus on positive jaws whilst continuing investment in the franchise. The Bank is dedicated to grow our business here and to provide the high quality of service and products to our clients".-PR

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Business and Economy: Pakistan Pakistan receives $371.4 million under CSF

August 29, 2014

Pakistan on Thursday received $371.4 million from the United States on account of Coalition Support Fund (CSF). Sources said this is the first CSF payment during this fiscal year and another tranche of over $350 million is expected in the second half of FY15. The last CSF tranche amounting to $352 million was received in February 2014. "Yes, the country has received $371.2 million from the United States under the Coalition Support Fund," confirmed a State Bank official.

August 29, 2014

The country's total liquid foreign exchange reserves posted a fall of $344 million during the last week owing to debt payments. According to weekly forex report, issued by the State Bank of Pakistan on Thursday, the total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $13.582 billion as on August 22, 2014 compared to $13.926 billion as on August 15, 2014.

During the week under review, SBP's liquid forex reserves decreased by $349 million to $8.554 billion compared to $8.903 million last week. During the week, the SBP made payments of $165 million on account of external debt and other official payments, which included $147 million payment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the SBA. While, there was no major inflow during last week. Reserves held by banks posted a slight increase of $4.1 million to $5.027 billion at the end of the previous week.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Mauritius invites Pakistani businessmen

August 29, 2014

Mauritius President Kailash Purryag has offered to provide all necessary facilities to the foreign particularly Pakistani businessman and investors. While in a meeting in Mauritius with Pakistani delegation led by Mauritius Honorary Counsel General in Karachi Sohail Yasin Suleman, Kailash Purryag said that his country is full of opportunities for foreign investment and the government is fully supporting and facilitating the foreign investors for setting up new businesses.

"To support the foreign investors, the government will fully facilitate foreign investors, so that they will not only be able to do business in Mauritius but can also expand it all over Africa," he added. There is a huge potential of trade and investment for both the countries, Pakistani investors can explore these opportunities and get full advantage from it, Kailash added. Trade between both countries can enhance gradually with joint venture in different sectors, he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Pakistani delegation head Sohail Yasin said that their past experience has brought this industrialist's delegation to Mauritius from almost every sector. He further said that the meeting with Mauritius important institutions heads was extremely beneficial for them. He hoped that the exchange of trade delegation will lead them to obtain positive results.

Major General Mohammad Sadiq (Retd.), President Pakistan Mauritius Friendship Association, said that that Pakistani delegation was especially invited in MAITEX 2014 because we want to boost trade relation with Pakistan in the future. Anjum Nisar, former president of Karachi chamber lauds the joint efforts of Mauritius and Pakistan to boost trade and create new openings for investment and bilateral trade. Anjum said special attention on joint ventures and trade issues can help both sides' investors. He invited Mauritius trade delegation to participate in Expo Pakistan and earn benefits from Pakistani products. Pakistani delegation includes Anjum Nisar, Yahyah Polani, Abdul Rauf Tabbani, Anis Haji Younus, Mohammad Rajpar Anwar Ali and Yaseen Peer Mohammad and others.-PR

August 29, 2014

Provincial Development Working Party (PDWP) in a meeting on Thursday approved 31 projects costing Rs 16.929 billion. The meeting, chaired by Additional Chief Secretary Khalid Pervaiz, was attended by the administrative secretaries and senior staff of Planning and Development, Finance, Environment, Communication and Works, Local Government and Rural Development, Health and Higher Education, Irrigation, and Social Welfare departments.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 The meeting approved projects including solarization of Civil Secretariat (Pilot project for P&D department), electrification of un-electrified villages through solar/alternate energy in remaining districts of KP, Phase-II Science Lab Project, KP Early Childhood Education (ECE) Project, conversion of 100 mosques schools into regular primary schools, establishment of 160 government primary schools (B&G) on need basis (Phase-IV), upgrading 100 middle schools to high level on need basis, construction of 100 examination halls in high and higher secondary schools, upgrading 100 government high schools to higher secondary on need basis, upgrading 100 government primary schools to middle level, establishment of government colleges in KP.

Other projects are establishment of Government Degree College at Khanpur Adenzai Dir Lower (Revised), support to Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute, Swabi, establishment of DHQ Hospital (Category-C) at Judbah, District Tor Ghar.(PC-II), construction of Category-C Hospital at Balakot, Mansehra (PC-II), upgrading of RHC Yar Hussain to Category-D Hospital, District Swabi (PC-II), upgrading of Booni Hospital to Category-C Hospital, District Chitral (PC-II), establishment of Khyber Institute of Neuro Sciences and Clinical Research (KINAR) in Peshawar (PC-II), upgrading of RHC Manki Sharif, Dag Ismail Khel and Ziarat Kaka Sahib to Category-D Hospitals District Nowshera (PC-II), purchase of equipment and furniture for various ADP schemes, establishment of Nowshera Medical College, Nowshera, strengthening of TB Control Programme in KP (Phase-II), construction of two gyms, wards and OTs in Paraplegic Centre Hayatabad Peshawar, construction of hostel in PICO, HMC Peshawar, construction of four lecture theatres in Khyber Girls Medical College Peshawar, construction of road from Cherat Cement Factory to Village Sheikhi, Nowshera (4km), F/S, design and construction of bridge at Kabul River connecting Mohib Banda/Pashtun Gharai on Right Bank and Kheshki on Left Bank, Nowshera, Public Policy and Social Protection Reforms Unit, provision for contractor's accrued liabilities, reconditioning and improvement of Canal Patrol Road along Kuragh Branch RD to RD, Mardan and PSDP schemes for construction of Ghol Banda Dam, Karak.

August 29, 2014

The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry would enhance its interaction with policy makers to bring the country out of economic mire. LCCI Vice President Kashif Anwar stated this while talking to MPAs Salma Butt, Shahzadi Shamim Akhter, and Dr Farzana Nazir on Thursday.

Chairperson Pakistan Police Public Council Nuzhat Nosheen, Chairman Overseas Pakistanis Protection Forum Shahid Butt, Chairman All Private Schools Education Promotion Council Fayyaz Ahmad Khan and Chairman Voice of Journalists Pakistan Ahsan Mahmood also spoke on the occasion.

Kashif Anwar said though traders are bound to pay their taxes still government should also take representatives of business community onboard while formulating tax related policies. He said

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 existing ratio of LDA commercialisation fee and property tax is not justified, it should be rationalised immediately. He urged the Punjab Food Authority and other related departments to facilitate the restaurant industry.

He informed the participants that he had taken various initiatives to facilitate the LCCI members. LCCI has adopted open-door policy for all traders. Chairman All Private Schools Education Promotion Council Fayyaz Ahmad Khan, Chairman Overseas Pakistanis Protection Forum Shahid Butt, MPA Salma Butt and Ahsan Mahmood lauded the efforts of the LCCI Vice President Kashif Anwar for well-being of the business community. Meanwhile, Kashif Anwar was given shields in recognition of his best services for the cause of the business community.

August 29, 2014

Business community of South Punjab wants the participants in the sit-ins to return home successfully and not to waste time in Islamabad. According to community, "entire nation is severely tense due to protest rallies and sit-ins and our economy is badly shattered and we are incurring losses of Rs 50 to 60 billion daily."

President of Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) Khawaja Usman said PAT and PTI should not adopt any unlawful and unconstitutional way to remove an elected Government and there was no justification to demand a resignation from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. He said since there was a consensus of the political parties that no unconstitutional solution would be accepted, and that even if the sit-ins continued for 100 days, only the constitutional way would be adopted to end the crisis, and there was no justification to continue this protest.

Khawaja Usman said government had accepted the five out of six points of Imran Khan and agreed to register a murder case of 14 activists of Awami Tehrik. He said the nation desired the two sides to sit together and workout a political solution and not to wait for the third option or the interference by the third party. He expressed grave concern over the worsening situation in the federal capital and they had appealed to both the government and the protesting parties to show flexibility to end the crisis. He also lauded the establishment's role so far and said it did not use baton, teargas or bullet against the protestors during the last two weeks.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 'Broghul festival to serve as milestone for uplift of Chitral'

August 29, 2014

General Officer Commanding (GOC) Army engineering Battalion, Major General Akhtar Salim Rao has said the 'Broghul Festival' will serve as mile stone for development of the backward area where people are still leading lives in period of stone age as the festival attracted a large number of local and non-local tourists. Tourism Corporation of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) in collaboration with Chitral scouts jointly organised a colourful event.

Major General Akhtar Salim Rao said this event would be the first step for development of the area. Major items of the festival were yak polo, horse polo (free style), donkey polo, Buz Kashi(completing of round circle carrying a goat carcass by a man who riding a horse depending the goat who catch it from the opponent rider), horse race, donkey race, yak race, cattle show and exhibition of local handicrafts and traditional foods.

GOC, Major General Javed Mehmood Bukhari of Malakand Division was the chief guest on the occasion. While GOC Major General Akhtar Salim Rao of 104 Engineering Battalion also attended the colourful event in the scenic valley of Broghul. Talking to local journalists General Akhtar Salim Rao said that he was very excited when he visited Broghul valley. He said he really impressed by local games and traditional events like Yak polo which is playing only in this valley.

Local people thanked to Lieutenant Colonel Sarfaraz Awan wing commander of 146 Wing of Chitral Scouts, Pakistan Army, TCKP, Thrive CIADP (Chitral Integrated Area development programme) Sarhad Rural Support Programme (SRSP) and other Non-Government Organisations for supporting the organising committee for celebrating the event.

Educationist and chairman of PUNAR LSO Sher Wali Khan Aseer demanded from the federal, provincial governments as well as international donors for focusing on the valley to bring positive changes in their lives who still passing through the stone period and there is no development in this modern era. At last the chief guest including Major General Rao, chief executive officer of SRSP distributed prizes among the players. The buz kasha trophy was given to Anwar Baig of Garamchishma (employee of CIADP).

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 TDCP approves Punjab Youth Tourism Wing

August 29, 2014

Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab (TDCP) on Thursday approved setting up of Punjab Youth Tourism Wing. The Board of Directors gave the approval during the 23rd annual general meeting of TDCP, which was chaired by Punjab Law, Education, Sports and Tourism Minister Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan.

In the meeting, formal approval was also granted to the appointment of Imran Goraya as Vice Chairman Board of Directors and Member Punjab Assembly Tahiya Noon as Member Board of Directors and company shareholder of TDCP. The meeting also reviewed the annual report of the directors regarding the measures taken so far for the restructuring of TDCP. It was decided that historical clubs will be set up by TDCP in all schools of the province for providing safe travel facilities to the students to visit historical places of the province so as to gain knowledge about their historical and cultural heritage. It also gave approval to the appointment of Secretary Higher Education Punjab, Secretary Schools Education, Secretary Irrigation Punjab, Secretary Women Development and Secretary Health Punjab as ex-officio members of Board of Directors of TDCP.

August 29, 2014

The Karachi Port handled 143,618 tonnes of cargo comprising 108,819 tonnes of import cargo and 34,799 tonnes of export cargo including 6,132 loaded and empty containers during the last 24 hours ending at 0700 hours on Thursday. The total import cargo of 108,819 tonnes comprised of 42,971 tonnes of containerised cargo; 7,645 tonnes of general cargo; 10,617 tonnes of bulk cargo: 2,143 tonnes of canola; 4,317 tonnes of DAP; 2,779 tonnes of soyabean meal; 1,378 tonnes of palm kernal and 17,586 tonnes of oil/liquid cargo.

The total export cargo of 34,799 tonnes comprised of 32,184 tonnes of containerised cargo; 100 tonnes of general cargo; 775 tonnes of cement and 1,740 tonnes of oil/liquid cargo. As many as 6,132 containers comprising 2,860 containers import and 3,272 containers export were handled during the last 24 hours on Thursday. The break-up of imported containers shows 1,129 of 20's and 784 40's loaded while 95 of 20's and 34 of 40's empty containers, whereas that of exported containers shows 719 of 20's and 585 of 40's loaded containers while 835 of 20's and 274 of 40's empty containers were handled during the business hours.

There were four ships namely Ponente, HS Everest, Bunga Lavender and Bochem Chennai carrying containers and oil tankers respectively sailed out to sea during the reported period. There were five vessels viz. Ever Result, Kota Kamil, EL Gurdabia, Armata and Julia Oldendroff carrying containers, oil tanker, fertilizer and coal respectively currently at the berths.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 There were four ships namely Ever Result, Kota Kamil, Eleni-1 and MT Karachi carrying containers and oil tanker respectively sailed out to sea on Thursday, while another ship namely King Success carrying general cargo is expected to sail on Friday. There were five vessels viz. Teera Bhum, APL Seattle, Makita, Bao Success and Atlas Explorer carrying containers, steel and oil tanker respectively due to arrive on Thursday, while two vessels viz. Hyundai Singapore and Pacific Dream carrying containers and steel respectively are due to arrive on Friday.

PORT QASIM

A cargo volume of 86,397 tonnes comprising 59,379 tonnes of import cargo and 27,018 tonnes of export cargo inclusive 3,200 loaded and empty containers (TEUs) was handled at Port Qasim during the last 24 hours on Thursday.

The total import cargo of 59,379 tonnes includes 11,538 tonnes of diesel oil; 5,800 tonnes of palm oil; 5,749 tonnes of phosphoric acid; 192 tonnes of soyabean seeds and 36,100 tonnes of containerised cargo. The total export cargo of 27,018 tonnes includes 500 tonnes of chemical; 1,818 tonnes of cement and 24,700 tonnes of containerised cargo.

As many as 3,200 containers comprising 1,900 containers import and 1,300 containers export were handled during the last 24 hours on Thursday. There was one ship namely MV Ikan Pandan sailed out sea on Thursday morning, while two more ships namely CV CMA CGM Verdi and CV Maersk Columbus with containers are expected to sail on the same day afternoon.

A total number of eight vessels viz. CV CMA CGM Verdi, CV Safmarine Ngami, CV Maersk Columbus, MV Ikan Pandan, MV Ince Ilgaz, MT Prosperity, MT Desh Prem and MV Genunie Hercules currently occupied berths to load/offload containers, cement, rape seed, palm oil, furnace oil and phosphoric acid respectively during the last 24 hours.

As many as five ships namely CMA CGM Moliere, Ratna Salini, MT Quetta, Beach Galaxy and Ocean Future with containers, furnace oil, phosphoric acid and wheat are currently at the outer anchorage of Port Qasim. There are two vessels viz. CV CMA CGM Moliere and CV APL Oman carrying containers expected to take berths at Qasim International Containers Terminal on Thursday. There is one ship namely CV ER Denmark with containers due to arrive on Thursday.

August 29, 2014

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014

-PR

August 29, 2014

Saudi Airlines resumed its flight operations from Peshawar on Thursday after two months suspension following militants' attack on Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) aircraft. Various international airlines had suspended their flight operations to and from Bacha Khan Airport, Peshawar, after the shooting incident at the PIA plane on June 24 that left a passenger dead.

After more than two months of suspension the Saudi Airlines restored their flight operations by taking the Hajj pilgrims from Peshawar to Jeddah. It is pertinent to mention here that Emirates airlines restored their operations for same airport on July 24, while Ettihad Airlines is likely to resume their services from September 1.

August 29, 2014

Pakistan International Airline's pre-Hajj Operation 2014 commenced on Thursday. The intending pilgrims were seen off by Secretary Aviation and Chairman PIA, Muhammad Ali Gardezi at Lahore whereas the intending pilgrims from Karachi were seen off by Managing Director PIA, Shahnawaz Rehman and Director Airport Services, Aijaz Mazhar.

The first pre-Hajj flight PK 2001 took off from Jinnah International Airport Karachi for Jeddah at 07:00 hours carrying 300 intending pilgrims. While the first pre-Hajj flight from Lahore PK 2201 took off at 08:00 hours from Allama Iqbal International Airport Lahore carrying 315 intending pilgrims.

On the first day of pre-Hajj operation the National Flag Carrier carried 1,004 intending Hujjaj to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; one flight from Karachi and two flights from Lahore. Managing Director PIA, Shahnawaz Rehman while talking to intending pilgrims said. Special Hajj information desks have been set up at the airports for the convenience of pilgrims and PIA scouts deputed for assisting the pilgrims. Leaflets containing information regarding baggage allowance, excess baggage, change of booking and related information have been distributed to Hajj camps, PIA ticketing offices and the airline's travel agents for the pilgrims.

PIA is conducting Hajj operation with its own fleet consisting of Boeing 747 and Boeing 777

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 aircraft. The airline is operating Hajj flights from Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, Quetta, Multan and Sialkot. Meanwhile, Managing Director PIA, Shahnawaz Rehman has instructed all concerned departments to provide best services to the pilgrims. The first pre-Hajj flights from Islamabad, Quetta and Peshawar regions PK 2203, PK 2601 and PK 2501 respectively will commence from Friday (today). This year, PIA will be carrying around 54,000 intending pilgrims. Out of which 43,000 Hujjaj will be carried by 112 Hajj flights and 11,000 through schedule flights from all over the Pakistan.-PR

August 29, 2014

Pakistan's leading biscuit manufacturing company, English Biscuit Manufacturers (Pvt) Limited (EBM), will be deeply involved in Management Association of Pakistan's 16th Convention to take place next week, in its role as a founding partner of this flagship event that brings together national and international experts on one platform.

Saadia Naveed, Deputy Managing Director of EBM is also the President of the Management Association of Pakistan (MAP), since June 2013, and she is the first ever female President of this prestigious professional body. The theme of the Convention this year is 'Re-think Management', and the event will reinforce the need of innovative management practices and re-thinking on contemporary management styles for the future success of businesses. Throughout history, only those companies which have been continuously adapting their management practices to the rapidly changing business environment have been able to achieve meaningful growth.

EBM is a classic case study of how good management practices have driven rapid growth, as its sales have gone up from Rs 3 billion to Rs 23 billion in the past 10 years. Following what is known as a 'sustainable management' approach, the company has synthesised sustainability concepts with time-tested management practices. This approach has generated the capability in the company of keeping a system running indefinitely without depleting resources, while maintaining economic viability, and nourishing the needs of the present and future generations.

Speaking about EBM's management style, Dr Zeelaf, Chairperson, Executive Management Board, said: "What fuels long-term business success is not just operational excellence or technology breakthroughs, or even new business models, although all these are important. The critical difference is made by management innovation - adopting new ways of mobilising talent, allocating resources, and formulating strategies. Corporate sustainability has created a significant competitive advantage for companies that have implemented it. At EBM, it is part of our management's DNA and corporate culture. We strongly believe in doing the right thing that benefits the environment and society, and makes good business sense."-PR

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Boeing, US embassy voice concern at likely withdrawal of contract

August 29, 2014

IQBAL MIRZA

Boeing Company and the US Embassy have expressed concern and informed of the repercussions in case Pakistan International Corporation backed out from the contract of five Boeing-777, which was finalised in the year 2012 and an amount of US $8.5 already paid during the term of previous government.

This has been stated by Deputy Secretary (CAA), Pervaiz Iqbal in reply to allegations against Special Assistant to the Prime Minister's corruption and corrupt practices in CAA & PIAC forwarded by Transparency International Pakistan. "They are of the view that Boeing Company is not at fault and the deal is valid. If PIAC at its end have not followed proper procedures, it is of no concern to Boeing Co PIAC is already flying B-777 family aircraft and getting spare parts under component support programme from Boeing Co therefore, backing-out may cause serious legal issue. However, it is encouraging to state that in the recent negotiation with Boeing Co in the Farnborough Air Show, the company has verbally agreed to re-negotiate the deal," Pervaiz Iqbal said.

Acknowledging that TI-Pakistan has received reply, Chairman, TI-Pakistan Sohail Muzaffar in a letter sent to Secretary to the Prime Minister, Javed Aslam on August 26 said that on close examination it has been found out that clarifications of CAA confirmed all the allegations against PIA, CAA and SA to PM reported by the complainant and forwarded to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on August 2, 2014.

The Prime Minister was requested to address the complaints for across the board application of rules to achieve the goal of 'zero tolerance against corruption' as the credibility of government is at stake, for wrong advices of such ill informed persons. The clarifications should have been examined by the PM's Secretariat, as these allegations may result in aspersion on the PM himself, Sohail Muzaffar said. Seriatim admission of violations is stated below:

1. That the construction of Multan Airport has been delayed due to personal interference of Captain Shujat Azim SA to PM, who personally in June 2013 desired adding of two additional passenger boarding bridges on the desire of Captain Shujat Azim at advanced stage of construction.

Airport designs are based on traffic forecasts, and can not be changed on the desire of few persons, disregarding the economy, cost effectives, IRR and FIRR, and approval of PC-I by ECC, which is the competent forum for any increased in the Scope of Work. Delay of 1-1/2 years caused due to new requirement has resulted in loss of revenue and also indirect benefits to the economy.

2. For Multan Airport, Air Traffic Control Equipment procurement is being handled by S A to PM who is influencing to award the contract to the highest bidder R&S, Rs 78 million, which is

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 51 percent costlier than the lowest bidder IAL Rs 51 million. The CAA clarification admits that the delay in airport operations is due to furniture contract, and after transparent bidding process, only lowest bid will be awarded the contact, why CAA has not been able to award a Rs 51 million contract in over three months, whereas Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metro contracts worth over Rs 30 billion were awarded within 45 day. The delay confirms the allegation of interference in bidding process.

3. After spending Rs 100 billion, CAA has no right to spend Rs 200 million pubic money for decoration of VIP lounge at Islamabad BB Airport, which has already undergone expansion last year. And manipulation of CAA for awarding contract to NLC, without tender is illegal. As the pre-selected party Arshad Shahid Abdullah could not be awarded any contract without open bidding, on the SA to the Prime Minister's instructions, CAA has devised an innovative procedure to avoid tendering, and circumvent PPRA Rules. Supreme Court of Pakistan has declared illegal all unsolicited contracts in RPP Case, US $126 million Safe City case, Railway Engines case and Rs 5 billion PWD award of contract to FWO.

4. CAA has confirmed the contempt of court it has committed by appointing MD PIA. The Prime Minister is to note that due to inappropriate advice of Captain Shujat Azim, and by hiding the facts from the PM, two wrong decisions were accorded by the PM, one is the illegal appointment of Managing Director Shahnawaz Rehman, which is against the law as the vacancy is to be filled up only through processing by Federal Commission for Selection of Head of Public Sector Organisations (FCHPSO). Attorney General has requested the Supreme Court to revisit the Court Orders and the SC had formed on July 24, 2014 a larger bench of SC which is poised to decide whether the top court can revisit its June 12, 2013 judgement in Khawaja Muhammad Asif's case on transfers and shuffling of high-ranking government officials by the caretaker government. Regarding the appointment of heads of other departments, the court was told that the government is facing difficulty due to the court's judgement in Khawaja Asif case. Upon this, the bench asked that if the government is facing difficulty then it should have filed review petition against the court's June 12, 2013 judgement. AG requested the court to review the case, but the chief justice rejected his plea and said that law does not allow the court to review the judgement in this matter and there is no precedent for such a review.

5. CAA has confirmed that PIA has been illegally awarded unsolicited contract worth US $1.5 billion or so. PIA has also lied and PPRA never ever cleared Boeing 777 contracts. Supreme Court of Pakistan has declared illegal all unsolicited contracts in RPP Case, US $126 million Safe City case, Railway Engines case and Rs 5 billion PWD award of contract to FWO. Prime Minister shall apply rule of law. Khawaja Asif himself had gone to the SC on RPP unsolicited contracts, and now as Minister he can not justify any unsolicited contracts, even five Boeing 777 at US $1.5 billion or so.

Copies of the letter have been forwarded for information with the request to take action under their mandate to: Chairman, Public Accounts Committee, Islamabad; Chairman, NAB, Islamabad; Secretary Ministry of Defence, Islamabad' Registrar, SC, Islamabad, and Auditor General, Islamabad.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Taxation: Pakistan Situation at Constitution Avenue: FBR unable to hold meetings with stakeholders

August 29, 2014

SOHAIL SARFRAZ

August 29, 2014

MUHAMMAD ALI

Adjudication department of the customs department is reportedly dillydallying to issue show cause notices to importers, who are allegedly involved in multi-million tax evasion in fabric imports through misdeclaration. According to sources, Appraisement Collectorate West had

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 made over 40 contravention reports against 13 fabric importers for their involvement in fabric consignments misdeclaration.

These reports have been sent to the adjudication department for further action. Although all reports have comprehensively been drafted, the adjudication department has reverted all these contravention reports back to the Appraisement Collectorate West with the rationale that mandatory clause of providing hearing opportunity to the accused persons is missing, sources maintained.

Sources said the electronic system, which had been running for over two years, had so far issued number of notices but did not face such objection in any other case. Sources alleged that this objection was nothing but intended to put dust on this case as all seized fabric consignments had been released under misdeclaration. They said that Custom Intelligence, Karachi and Appraisement West had blocked the clearance of fabric consignments on the complaints of misdeclaration in June.

They said that Customs Intelligence department has lodged FIRs against fabric importers for evading over Rs 218 million through misdeclaration of description and valuation manipulation in fabric imports but legal process in Appraisement West was going with snail pace, raising ambiguity against the department. When contacted, officials posted in the Appraisement Collectorate, on condition of anonymity said this mandatory requirement had been fulfilled a week ago but the adjudication department had neither raised any objection nor given hearing opportunity to these fabric importers by issuing show notices to prove their innocence in this case.

August 29, 2014

Fifty four Excise and Taxation Inspectors (BS-14) have been promoted to the post of Assistant Excise and Taxation (AE&T) Officers (BS-16) on Regular/Acting charge basis as per recommendation of the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) and with the approval of competent authority.

According to an order issued on Thursday by Excise, Taxation and Narcotics Department ETIs Attaullah Soomro, Sheraz Gul Thebo, Bilal Khan, Syed Asad Ali Shah, Syed Dadan Shah, Muhammad Ali Soomro, Yousif Ali Shaikh, Muhammad Aslam Solangi, Syed Baqar Ali Raza, Ishtiaq Unar, Habibullah Kazi, Mushtaq Ahmed Shaikh, Madad Ali Khokhar, Anwar Rind, Mubarak Ali Chachar, Bashir Ahmed Memon, Muhammad Mursaleen, Javed Akhtar Baloch, Imtiaz Ahmed Samito, Moez Kazi, Zahoor Elahi Mazari, Attaullah Jagsi, Saeed Ahmed Shaikh, Ahmed Yar Khoso, Nawab Khan

Markhiani, Zulfiqar Ali Samejo, S.M.Ashraf Ali, Aleemuddin Shaikh, Liaquat Ali Sangi, Ghulam Sarwar Solangi, Imdad Ali Magsi, Adil Rasheed have been promoted as Assistant

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Excise and Taxation Officer on "regular" basis. Muhammad Ismail Khaskheli, Muhammad Ismail Siyal, Sarwan Kumar, Arif-ur-Rehman, Altaf Hussain Jamali, Sohail Abbas, Engineer Tulswani, Partap Rai, Faheem Hassan Khan, Muhammad Farooq, Nisar Ahmed Thebo, Muneer Ahmed Gabol, Abdul Waheed Mughal, Saleem Raza Solongi, Noor Nabi Palijo, Asadullah, Ghulam Rasool Chandio, Altaf Hussain Kalhoro, Shafique Ahmed Bughio, Jeend Maheri and Abdul Qadir Turk have been promoted as Assistant Excise and Taxation on "acting charge" basis. While Muhammad Bachal Mari has been promoted as Assistant Excise and Taxation Officer on future vacancy.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Taxation: World Sweden election favourites eye more taxes on rich

August 29, 2014

Sweden's main centre-left opposition party, leading in opinion polls, will reverse eight years of tax cuts by raising the burden by 1 percentage point of GDP if it wins next month's election, the likely new finance minister said. Magdalena Andersson, the party's economics spokeswoman and widely tipped for the finance post after the September 14 vote, said taxes - including a new levy on banks and the top rate of income tax reaching around 60 percent - would be raised over two years to pay for more welfare spending.

The plan is a clear signal of a U-turn after eight years of centre-right Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, who has cut taxes and trimmed the welfare state as the Nordic region's largest economy outshone many of its European competitors. But Sweden also has the fastest growing economic inequality of any OECD nation and voters have been shocked by media reports that staff at elderly care homes locked up patients in closets or neglected to feed them, raising fears people have slipped through a thinning welfare net.

"We will increase taxes in Sweden, definitely, and also on the highest incomes," said Andersson, who said the top rate would rise on incomes above 60,000 Swedish crowns ($8,731) a month. The current top rate is about 57 percent, one of the world's highest. A poll published last weekend showed a possible coalition of opposition Social Democrats, Left Party and Green party would get just under 50 percent together if an election were held now, while support for the government coalition stood at 39 percent.

Reinfeldt cut income, wealth and corporate taxes, seeing the tax burden fall by 4 percentage points of GDP. Sweden is one of the few economies in Europe with the top AAA credit rating. But polls show many voters have tired of reforms while pressure is growing for more spending on education and health. "Given that our school results are falling quicker than in any other OECD-country we need to spend more money on schools, that's definitely our main priority," Andersson said.

Andersson wants to tighten up rules on the private equity firms currently running many tax- funded hospitals and schools. Critics say Andersson's plans of increasing spending and taxes could jeopardise the economy. Reinfeldt said at the weekend there was no fiscal room for more spending, citing higher costs of record asylum seekers that pressured government finances. The budget deficit is already at 1.2 percent of GDP, the highest in more than a decade, while a sputtering euro zone may weaken Sweden's growth.

Andersson, a former director at the tax agency who has never held an elected position, dismissed Reinfeldt's argument and argued the euro zone - a major trading partner for Sweden, which is outside the single currency - would recover. Andersson said she would be a voice for more investment and taxes on the wealthy in Europe, in contrast to Finance Minister Anders Borg who

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 gained prominence in Brussels for pushing austerity and reform to boost the region's languishing economies.

"I'm very critical of lots of conservative governments across Europe," Andersson added. "There has been too much focus on cutting benefits for ordinary people when it comes to reducing deficits. There has not been enough focus on increasing taxes, taxes of rich people, on companies."

"The problem in Europe is not too high taxes," she said. Andersson said a new banking tax would raise around 4 billion Swedish crowns ($582 million) a year. Critics say she is taxing a sector just because it is profitable. "Banks are not quite as exposed to international competition as some of our other companies and they're also incredibly profitable and I see potential of taxing there without negative effects for the economy," Andersson said.

Social Democrats supporters say the party, in power for most of the last century, has been business friendly and pragmatic in balancing welfare spending with helping industry. Andersson said no spending would go unfinanced and no new taxes would fall on "ordinary " people.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Cotton and Textiles: Pakistan Prices up slightly after fresh rains in Punjab

August 29, 2014

Prices moved higher modestly on the cotton market on Thursday following the fresh monsoon rains in the Punjab, dealers said. The official spot rate maintained overnight level at Rs 5,600, they added. In ready session, over 18,000 bales of cotton changed hands between Rs 5600 and Rs 5650, they said. In late evening, rates went up at Rs 5700 and Rs 5750 as a result of tight supplies in Punjab, dealer said.

In Sindh, prices of seed cotton maintained upward march at Rs 2625 and Rs 2650 and in Punjab prices were at Rs 2650 and Rs 2700, they said. According to the market sources, after the fresh rains in Punjab prices tended higher and it is expected that rates may improve further in the coming days. Naseem Usman, cotton analyst, said that tight supplies causing increase in the rates as phutti arrivals stopped from Punjab.

Reuters adds: Cotton futures rose to a fresh one-month high on Wednesday, helped by technical buying, economic optimism and gains in other agricultural commodity markets. The benchmark December cotton contract on ICE Futures US closed up 0.57 cent at 67.46 cents a lb. The market has not broken above the technically important 67 cents a lb since July 24, within reach of its 50- day moving average at about 68 cents a lb. Approximately, 18,000 bales of cotton changed hands between Rs 5600 and Rs 5650 from both Sindh and Punjab stations, they said.

======The KCA Official Spot Rate for Local Dealings in Pak Rupees ------FOR BASE GRADE 3 STAPLE LENGTH 1-1/32" ------MICRONAIRE VALUE BETWEEN 3.8 TO 4.9 NCL ======Rate Ex-Gin Upcountry Spot Rate Spot Rate Difference For Price Ex-Karachi Ex. KHI. As Ex-Karachi on 27.08.2014 ======37.324 Kgs 5,600 155 5,750 5,750 Nil ------Equivalent ------40 Kgs 6,002 155 6,162 6,162 Nil ======

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Low seed cotton arrivals increase lint prices

August 29, 2014

DR ZAFAR HASSAN

Interruption in seed cotton (Kapas/Phutti) arrivals from Punjab where rains have slowed down supplies has resulted in increase in raw cotton prices. There are also predictions that Sindh region may also receive monsoon showers during the next few days. Mills became weary that rains may affect the quality of lint adversely. Thus lint prices have tightened this week.

Accordingly, seed cotton (Kapas/Phutti) prices are said to have risen by Rs 200 per 40kgs this week, while lint prices have correlatively risen by Rs 150 to Rs 200 per maund (37.32 Kgs). Thus seed cotton prices in Sindh reportedly ranged from Rs 2625 to Rs 2650 per 40 Kgs, according to the quality. In the Punjab, seed cotton prices are said to have ranged from Rs 2650 to Rs 2700 per 40 Kgs. Up to now, rains in the cotton belt are said to be beneficial.

Recent rise in the value of the greenback against the Pakistani rupee has also increased the price of domestic cotton. Earlier, the value of an American dollar had increased to Rs 103, but on Thursday it was said to have decreased to Rs 102 per US dollar. Thus lint prices in Sindh were said to have ranged from Rs 5650 to Rs 5675 per maund (37.32 Kgs), where as in the Punjab the lint prices extended from Rs 5700 to Rs 5750 per maund in a tight market. In recent days, a few exporters also reportedly bought small quantities of cotton. Moderate buying of yarns by China and also by local users was reported. However, yarn prices ranged just steady. Thus domestic mills demand resulted in tightening of cotton prices.

However, in the aggregate the millowners were mostly worried despite some recent uplift of yarns. Some mills still report that yarn prices remain depressed. Global cotton markets are basically quiet as per the cotton trade circles. In the ready cotton market, 4000 bales of cotton from Sindh stations such as Shahdadpur, Tando Adam, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas and Kotri all sold between Rs 5650 and Rs 5675 per maund on Thursday.

The future of Pakistani politics hangs in animated suspension as Dr Tahirul Qadri, a religious divine, and former ace cricketer turned politician Imran Khan, have challenged the authority of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif et al. calling last year's national elections as fake and doctored. This has led to a very serious social and political impasse in the country which continues unabated.

In this connection, the Chief Executive of the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), S.M. Muneer, has pinpointed to the dire need for early resolution of the continuing political crisis failing which it will damage the country's economy severely.

On the global and economic and financial front, the confidence in the Euro area economic condition has reportedly fallen more than it was forecast as Spanish consumer prices have reportedly fallen the most in five years. Furthermore, unemployment in Germany, the workhorse of Europe, is said to have risen unexpectedly. These and related developments further confirm that the Eurozone is still not out of the woods. Far from it.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 News from Bloomberg Businessweek adds that "an index of executive and consumer confidence fell to 100.6 this month from 102.1 in July 2014. That's the lowest this year..." Reports added that president of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, is meeting with the ECB policy makers next week to discuss and debate whether the earlier stimulus measures announced in June 2014 are enough or a review is warranted. In the Eurozone, the unemployment remains "stubbornly high" which may require "quantitative easing", said Draghi.

Besides inherent and home-grown problems in the Eurozone, ever-increasing socio economic and political problems in Ukraine and the Middle East remain a deterrent for any economic revival. With rising tensions in these regions, it was almost a foregone conclusion that the global economies would further suffer with alarmingly low growth and continuing economic problems. Thus the 18-nation economy is reported to have stagnated in the second quarter.

Obviously, such issues signify major economic setback for the Eurozone. Indeed it is sobering to reflect on the shrinking German economy during the second quarter of this year while keeping in mind that the business sentiment there dropped for a fourth month in a row ie August 2014. No wonder that pessimism is rising in the Eurozone. French jobless claims have risen again. Triggered by the rising tension in Russia-Ukraine, global stock markets beat a retreat on Thursday when the president of Ukraine claimed that Russian troops had entered his country. In the United Kingdom, it is the same story of decline in the value of scrips. British bourses saw a decline in its stocks values due to a drop in the performance of the mining sector. This led to a decline in the value of UK stocks which had earlier been performing at seven-week high levels.

In the United States, the US stock-index futures declined on Thursday showing that the Standard and Poor's 500 index may drop below the charismatic level of 2000 for fear of investors pertaining to increasing jobless claims and pending home sales. Moreover, the continuing political drama in Ukraine intensified the concerns of the investors. The jobless claims may rise to 300,000 in the week which ended on August 23, 2014, observers said.

Thus the share indices like Shanghai Composite, Nikkei and Hang Seng in Far East, CAC 40, DAX and FTSE 100 in Europe and the UK all declined on Thursday with red splashed over the board. Almost all the indices in the United States opened lower on Thursday and turned negative for the rest of the day. Once again an element of fear and also concern regarding high unemployment and inequality of wages has rattled the global investors.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Agriculture and Allied: Pakistan September sowing: growers advised to select sugarcane variety

August 29, 2014

Punjab Agriculture Department (PAD) advised the growers to select sugar cane variety for September sowing keeping in view their production capability and resistance against pests and diseases. A spokesman of the Department said here on Thursday that during the year 2013-14, sugar cane was planted over 18.70 million acres of land in the province and a production of 43.7 million tons was attained thus registering an average production of 626.1 maund per acre while some progressive farmers were getting very high production.

The spokesman said the growers had to adopt latest sowing techniques to bridge the gap between per-acre yield attained by an average farmer and progressive farmer. He advised that for early sowing growers should use CPF-243, HSF-242, CP400-77, CPF-237 and HSF-240 while for medium term varieties SPF-213, CPF-246, CPF-247 and SPF-245 were suitable.

The spokesman further said whole month of September is suitable for sugar cane sowing and seed should be healthy and devoid of any disease or pest. He also advised that organic or green fertilizer should be used to meet the nutritional requirements of the crop while chemical fertilisers should be used after analysis of the land.

August 29, 2014

On Thursday at Pakistan Mercantile Exchange (PMEX) value traded was recorded at PKR 2.224 billion as compared to PKR 2.049 billion registered on Wednesday, up by 8.55 percent. The number of lots traded was 13,453 and PMEX Commodity Index closed at 2,994. Major business was contributed by crude oil amounting to PKR 1,237 million, followed by gold amounting to PKR 881 million - up 38 percent and silver at PKR 105 million - up 17 percent.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Steps discussed to enhance meat export

August 29, 2014

Stakeholders from meat sector at a consultative meeting held at the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences Lahore discussed various steps to enhance meat export. Secretary Livestock and Dairy Development Department Punjab Nasim Sadiq and UVAS Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Talat Naseer Pasha chaired the meeting while officials from the Livestock and Dairy Development department, livestock farmers and office-bearers of the All Pakistan Meat Exporters and Processors Association (APMEPA) attended the meeting.

The participants identified potential of meat sectors for export, various problems and gave suggestions to overcome them. Speaking on the occasion, the Secretary Livestock sought suggestions and co-operation from the farmers, breeders and other stakeholders fro better progress of the livestock department. He assured the participants that the government will take sold steps to solve the problems of meat exporters immediately. The VC said that Pakistan has great potential for meat export and called for joint efforts to increase export. He said that the UVAS on its part is actively involved in development of livestock, dairy, meat and related sectors.

August 29, 2014

The poultry rates have recorded steep fall in open market during the past couple of days due to uncertain political situation and limited social activities in Punjab, former Chairman of Pakistan Poultry Association and LCCI Senior Vice President Abdul Basit, told Business Recorder, here on Thursday.

He said the price of chicken meat has climbed down from Rs 210 per kilogram to Rs 140 per kg at the retail outlets. The live chicken bird is being sold at Rs 95 per kg against the farmers production cost of Rs 140 per kg causing a loss of Rs 50 per kg. Chicken is being sold even at lesser rates than the vegetables, grams and lentils prices.

Basit said that Rs 600 billion perishable and fragile poultry industry is at the threshold of financial crisis that provides livelihood to 1.6 million households through 25,000 poultry farms and hundreds of thousands chicken outlets. He said free movement of goods, including poultry products, vegetables and edibles has been hampered by the prolonged containerisation, road blocks, political turmoil and all sort of long marches. In these circumstances, the farmers could not retain their mature birds in the farms and had to sell them at the throw away prices.

He said the poultry industry daily supplies three million to 3.5 million to the food markets. He said the production cost of a mature live chicken bird is Rs 140 per kg, including price of one- day old chick, feed, medicines and vaccines and power generation cost as most of the farms are

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 established. He said the poultry industry could only survive if the rates of live birds were not less than Rs 170 per kg.

August 29, 2014

The second largest fishermen colony - Mubarak village - confronts serious civic and healthcare problems, as the Sindh government's project to develop the village on modern lines has come to dead-end. Talking to Business Recorder on Thursday, the villagers shared their grievances, blaming the sudden closure of the key government project, which was aimed at building the colony as a 'model village'.

The struggling fishermen community asked the government to initiate an inquiry to ascertain facts behind sudden closure of the project. "In 2009, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah had announced to develop Mubarak village as a model village for the fishermen," the residents said. After the chief minister's announcement, the government had begun its spadework to start development work on the project, but suddenly the construction stopped midway, they said.

"Nearly 50 percent development work had taken place to provide electricity and sewerage facilities to half of the colony population but the rest of the area is still facing key civic problems because of the work closure," they added. They claimed that despite provision of funds by the government, work on the project stopped without apparent reasons.

The villagers asked the government to launch probe into misuse of funds allocated for the project. At present, they said, the village presented a primitive colony look for being without sewerage, electricity and road infrastructure. They said that the chief minister had also announced to provide lease documents of houses to fishermen but only 10 percent residents could receive the official papers.

Another project was to expand Mubarak village dam and construct a harbour but the same was yet to be launched. "The government had pledged to carry out the dam expansion and develop a harbour for the community on the sea but nothing happened," they added. Similarly, a maternity home was built at the village but the medical facility was still without staff, the said. They demanded of the government to resume construction work on the project as early as possible to arrest the fishermen community's long-standing problems.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Fuel and Energy: Pakistan Transmission line: NTDC allowed to raise Rs 17 billion from local banks

August 29, 2014

MUSHTAQ GHUMMAN

According to the approved PC-I, the work was awarded to Chinese contractor on buyer''s credit by Managing Director NTDC on September 12, 2013. But Board of Directors (BoD) NTDCL in its 78th meeting held on January 03, 2014 resolved unanimously not to ratify the orders of MD NTDCL due to some procedural lapses as per PPRA rules. However, the management of NTDC approved plan ''B'' for implementation of the subject project.

The sources stated that as per Prime Minister''s directives, the first unit of 969 MW Neelum Jhelum HPP would be operative by December, 2015 for which NTDCL has to complete the priority portion of transmission line on or before September 30, 2015 for evacuation of power from the above said hydro power project.

In order to execute the plan ''B'' on a fast-track basis, revised PC-I amounting to Rs 21.697 billion including FEC Rs 11.272 billion (@PKR 99.65/US$) is under process of approval from the competent forum. Bids have also been processed and are under evaluation according to given time lines.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 PPL reports EPS growth of 23 percent YoY

August 29, 2014

Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) earnings clocked at Rs 26.08/share for FY14 vis-à-vis earnings of Rs 21.28/share in FY13, depicting a growth of 23 per cent YoY. According to Topline securities, up-tick in earnings was largely driven by 17 per cent YoY rise in revenues emanating from 28 per cent YoY higher oil production and an average depreciation of Pak Rupees vs the US Dollar by 6 per cent YoY across FY14.

In 4QFY14 earnings clocked in 58 per cent YoY and 15 per cent QoQ higher at Rs 6.76/share vs. "Our 4QFY14 expectation of Rs 6.1/share given lower-than-expected due to field expenditures at Rs 9.5 billion and secondly effective tax rate of 26.6 per cent," analysts at Topline said. Alongside the result, the PPL announced a final cash payout of Rs 7.5/share, taking cumulative dividend to Rs 12.5/share for FY14.

August 29, 2014

ABDUL RASHEED AZAD

A parliamentary panel on Thursday was informed that an estimated amount of Rs 14 billion was being lost annually on account of Unaccounted for Gas (UfG) losses. This was stated by Abid Saeed, Secretary Petroleum and Natural Resources while briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Resources on the topic of controlling UfG and recovery of outstanding gas bills against various consumers.

The committee was informed that the government has already approved the establishment of Gas Utility Tribunals (GTUs) in all provincial capitals. "The informer of the gas theft will get 5 per cent of the fined amount as a reward, besides special award. Majority of the consumers involved in gas theft are domestic consumers, while industrial and commercial consumers are also involved in gas theft," Abid stated.

The committee was informed that gas being stolen by domestic consumers was not in significant amount as being stolen by the industrial and commercial sectors. The committee unanimously approved the gas theft bill titled, "The Gas theft and Recovery Bill 2014" with requesting the parliamentarians to approve the bill unanimously in both houses of the parliament.

Secretary Petroleum said that as per law any person found guilty of tempering gas meter will be punished for six months imprisonment and Rs 1 million fine, whereas industrial consumer found guilty of gas theft will get 10 years imprisonment and person found guilty of damaging gas pipeline will get 14 years of imprisonment.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014

Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, while responding to different queries of the committee members, said that no one is allowed to approve free of cost gas supply to any part of the country, however as per law gas producing areas are getting royalty. Senator Abdul Nabi Bux, while lamenting over the behaviour of the senior officials of the Petroleum Ministry, said there is no issue of law and order in his area district Karak. He said that officials of the gas distribution companies ie Sui-Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Sui-Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) were involved in the gas theft.

Chairman Standing Committee Senator Mohammad Yousaf said that those who were involved in gas theft are committing crimes against state and they must be treated as national criminals, adding that the parliament should unanimously approve the bill to check the gas theft. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources, informed the committee that as per Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) laws the gas utilities can only impose a fine against any consumer equaling to one year's gas bill.

August 29, 2014

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has congratulated his energy and economic team for obtaining the approval of the Chinese government for setting up 14 power projects, which would generate 10,400MW electricity.

The projects include Port Qasim (coal-fired) 1320 MW, Sukki Kanari (Hydropower) 870 MW, Sahiwal (coal-fired) 1320 MW, Engro Thar (Coal Fired- Mining of Block 2) 660 MW, Muzafargarh (coal-fired) 1320 MW, Gwadar (Coal fired) 300 MW, Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park (Cholistan) 1000 MW, United Energy (Wind power, Karachi) 100 MW, Dawood (wind power, Karachi) 50 MW, Sachal (wind power) 50 MW, Sunnec (wind power) 50 MW, Rahimyar Khan (coal-fired) 1320 MW, SSRL Thar (coal-fired) 1320 MW and Karot (hydropower) 720 MW.

The projects will be started immediately and put into operation by 2017-2018. In addition, there are few other power generation projects totalling 6445MW which would be completed in the second phase of the programme on a fast-track basis. The Prime Minister said this gesture of the Chinese government manifests the deep cordial relations it has with Pakistan. It also shows the confidence of the international community in the policies of government.

He expressed satisfaction that the MoUs Pakistan had signed with China in the recent past were now being translated into on- ground projects. He expressed confidence that this massive addition to the power generation capacity of the country would prove immensely beneficial in overcoming electricity shortages. Nawaz Sharif said this is part of the government's energy roadmap which is aimed at ensuring provision of cost-effective electricity to people.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 40 percent of power generation depends on imported RFO: Hubco chief

August 29, 2014

Chief Executive Hubco, Khalid Mansoor, has said that country's existing energy mix is neither sustainable nor affordable as around 40 per cent of power generation is dependent on imported residual fuel oil (RFO). It results in higher cost of power generation, alarming levels of circular debt and high import bills draining the country's foreign reserves, he added.

Briefing media persons at his office on Thursday, the Hubco chief said that the need of the hour was to minimise dependence on foreign oil. He also emphasised the need for looking towards investments in indigenous resources like coal and hydro which could help build our local energy economy. "Creating this energy economy is not only a stopgap measure to meet the challenges, but also an opportunity that can be seized and cultivated to deliver long-term socio-economic benefits for the country and its citizens," he said.

Globally, the percentage of energy production through coal out of the total energy mix is approximately 41pc but in the case of Pakistan it stood at a massive low of 0.1pc.

He said that Independent Power Producers (IPPs) are in severe liquidity crisis owing to the alarming level of circular debt and power purchaser's default on its contractual agreement. WAPDA's payment default has resulted in severe effects on the financial viability of the power plants and has affected the sustainability of the operations. Claiming that the IPPs are on the verge of collapse, he said that Wapda and NTDC currently owed Rs 220 billion to the IPPs against the overdue invoices for electricity purchased and received on the national grid.

He said that contrary to the power purchase agreement, Wapda has released a meager amount or in some cases absolutely no payments to the IPPs over the past few months. Claiming that the IPPs having most modern machines are producing much more electricity with same fuel compared to public sector. At present, IPPs contributed more than 50pc requirement of Pakistan's energy supply.

Mansoor said that maintenance of two boilers of Hubco had been carried out at an estimated cost of $20 million whereas the other two boilers would also undergo the maintenance process in October and November this year. Pointing out that Chinese investors are evincing keen interest in power projects in Pakistan, he said: "We are currently negotiating with different potential investors and sharing our feasibility with them. The initial plan to have a 660 MW coal-based power plant could be backed up with another 660 MW plant if investors are confident to invest further.

Speaking of Hubco's growth initiatives, he said that the company has signed an agreement to invest $20 million in Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company Limited for the development of Thar resources. Hubco is also working on developing an imported coal-based project of up to 660 MW at its Hub site, he added. The Hubco chief said that the company wanted to convert its existing RFO based 1,292 MW Hub power plant to coal but in the absence of clear-cut policy

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 guidelines on coal conversion, the Company's Board has decided to keep the conversion on hold and gave go-ahead for setting up a new coal-based power plant.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Banking & Finance Pak forex figure $ 13.58106bn

Thursday, 28 August 2014 19:03

Posted by Imaduddin

KARACHI: The total liquid foreign reserves of the country stand at dollars 13.58106 billion, said State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

SBP's weekly statement issued here on Thursday said, the foreign reserves held by State Bank on Aug 22, amounted to dollars 8.55404 billion and the net foreign reserves held by other banks were dollars 5.02702 billion.

Over last week, SBP's liquid foreign exchange reserves decreased by $ 349 million to $ 8.554 billion compared to $ 8.903 billion of the previous week.

During the week, SBP made payments of $ 165 million on account of external debt and other official payments which include $ 147 million payment to International Monetary Fund (IMF) under SBA.

There was no major inflow during the week.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Markets ISE-10 index stays Bullish

Thursday, 28 August 2014 19:17

Posted by Imaduddin

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Stock Exchange(ISE) on Thursday witnessed bullish trend as the ISE-10 index was up by 10.48 points to close at 4379.13 points.

A total of 33,000 shares were traded, which showed a positive growth of 900 shares, when compared with previous day's trading of 32,100 shares.

Out of 125 companies, share prices of 55 companies recorded increase while those of 69 companies decreased and 1 company remained stable in today's trading.

The share price of Pakistan Tobacco increased by Rs 46.31 while that of Sanofi Aventis decreased by Rs 36.5 per share.

The Bank of Punjab, Askari Bank Limited and Silk Bank remained the top trading companies with 25,000, 5,000 and 1,500 shares respectively.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 BR Research: All Message in a bottle

August 29, 2014

BR Research

There is no scarcity of problems in this world. And when it comes to global economics, problems are, in fact, in abundant supply. But, what really are the biggest three economic problems faced by the world today?

The answer to that question isn simply 2+2, but five leading worldly philosophers currently alive have pronounced their verdict: inequality and lack of inclusiveness; inadequate growth in worlds advanced economies; and climate change.

Marking 50 years of Finance and Development, a quarterly magazine published by the IMF, the multilateral agency asked five Nobel Prize winners (for economics) to write about what they see as the biggest problem faced by global economy.

For Joseph Stiglitz and Micheal Spence--both of whom were awarded Nobel for their individual analyses of markets with asymmetric information--the biggest challenge is the rising inequality and lack of inclusiveness. For Robert Solow and Paul Krugman, the biggest problem is inadequate demand in advanced economies.

Robert Solow, who got his Nobel for contributions to the theory of long-term macroeconomic growth, says affluent economies are stuck in neutral, a state which is likely to be more than transitory. Solow fears that advanced economies are heading towards secular stagnation, which "refers to a persistent tendency for a national economy (or a group of them) not only to grow slowly but more particularly to find it difficult or impossible to use fully its productive potential".

While Solow only fears that rich economies are heading towards secular stagnation, Krugman, who won his Nobel for analysis of trade patterns and location of economic activity, appears to hold a more certain position. "Inadequate demand is still a very big problem, and looks likely to remain so for a long time to come," he wrote in the magazine.

Turning to the problem of climate change, George Akerlof--who shared his Nobel with Stiglitz and Spence for different work on the same subject of "markets with asymmetric information"-- says the world faces two inconvenient truths. "The first is global warming itself. The second is that we aren yet telling ourselves the stories that compel us to combat it."

Tie these challenges together and we have a recipe for disaster; a kind of an economic doomsday scenario. With sustainable development still an elusive pipedream, the convergence process, which is expected to triple the size of the global economy in the next 25 to 30 years, will lead us towards ecological time bomb.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Spence says "at present, there is no consensus about how to deal with the various forms of inequality that exist." Capitalising on this lack of consensus, the markets and market-men are having a ball, and, therefore, taxing the ecological system even more.

Stiglitz chimes in by noting that the major challenge facing the global economy in coming decades is more than just taming the excesses of the market economy; it "entails ensuring that the economy is the servant of society, not the other way around".

And given the power of money in politics, inequality within and between countries will continue to stoke fire. Those closely watching regional and global developments would agree that the fire is back, as protests, riots, coups and geopolitics have begun to make headlines once again all across the world.

With the West in economic stagnation, a power vacuum or a leadership gap has begun to emerge. The BRICS and other emerging economies aren willing to fill the leadership void, as together they are busy bringing billions on the development curve--a move that risks bringing the earth to an ecological tipping point.

And with global governance superstructures "at best a work in progress", it seems there is no silver lining on the sky. For those on this ship called earth, here is the message in a bottle: we better start believing in ghost stories, we are in one. Silk Bank: back in green!

August 29, 2014

BR Research

When it comes to core banking, Silk Bank passes the test without a hitch. With an Advances-to- Deposits Ratio (ADR) of 73 percent and Investments-to-Deposits Ratio (IDR) ratio of 19 percent as of June 2014, the banks standing as a core banker seems quite convincing. Unlike its peers, Silk Bank is certainly not under the magic spell of lucrative yields on government securities rather it is excelling by boosting its advances portfolio.

Top line of the bank depicted a staggering growth of 20 percent year on year in 1H CY14, while deposits grew by 10 percent and advances by 13 percent year on year. Increased focus on building up advances and low-cost deposits augured well for the banks Net Interest Margin (NIM), thus resulting in a spread ratio of 38 percent in 1H CY14 (1H CY13: 26 percent).

Further boost to the bottom line was provided by strengthening non-mark-up income that soared by a healthy 27 percent year on year in 1H FY14 on the heels of rising income from fee, commission and brokerage coupled with gains on sale of securities. Thanks to the aforementioned factors, the bottom line landed in green, flattering a profit of Rs72 million from a loss of Rs365 million in 1H CY13.

The only blot at this stage appears to be its unsound coverage ratio of 56 percent (as of June 2014). The bank might have to inflate its provisioning further to enrich its coverage ratio. Higher provisioning, however, will keep a check on Silk Banks profitability in coming periods where

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 banks deep-seated regards towards high-yielding advances will likely keep shoring the fate of Silks profitability.

======Silk Bank (Profit & Loss Account) ======Rs (mn) 1HCY14 1HCY13 Chng ======Markup Earned 4,533 3,786 20% Markup Expenses (2,791) (2,801) 0% Net Markup Income 1,742 985 77% Provisioning/(Reveral) (29) 11 - Net Markup Income after provisions 1,511 908 66% Non Mark-up/Interest Income 788 621 27% Operating Revenues 2,299 1,529 50% Non Mark-up/Interest Expenses (2,223) (2,024) 10% Profit Before Taxation 76 (495) - Taxation (4) 130 - Profit After Taxation 72 (365) - EPS (Rs) 0.03 (0.14) - ======

Kapco resilient on higher gas supply

August 29, 2014

BR Research

FY14 was the year of overhauls and repairs for major independent power producers. And thus their profitability that picked up right after the settlement of circular debt remained stunted in year ending June 2014.

But, for Kot Addu Power Company (Kapco) things started improving from the third quarter of FY14.

While profitability in 1H FY14 was largely affected by repairs and overhaul of its gas turbines, plant availability improved in 3Q FY14 which resulted in better load factors, and thus a 20 percent year-on-year increase in quarters earnings.

Similarly, Kapcos 4Q FY14 has been even better in terms of its core operations.

The IPPs earnings for the last quarter of FY14 jumped 48 percent year on year, precisely due to better gas availability.

This improvement in gas supply came from about 45mmcfd of gas diversion from the fertiliser sector, which resulted in increased plant utlisation, improved fuel efficiency and lower liquidated damages.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014

Overall, the financial performance for FY14 has three key definers.

First, Kapcos revenue improvement of 16 percent year on year, due to higher generation, and higher overall rupee depreciation supported the bottom line. Second, the gross margins took a big dip due to high overall repair and overhaul costs.

And third, the circular debt settlement resulted in lower penal income for the firm which resulted in a 29 percent slide in other income, a significant contributor to the firms bottom line otherwise.

However, this was also offset by a hefty decrease in finance cost, which is also

a result of the debt resolution.

Kapco can continue to benefit from the diverted gas as long as it lasts.

The points of concern for the IPP continue to be the burgeoning circular debt, and gas outages after the redirection of additional gas back to the fertiliser sector.

However, the firm also has a couple of positives in its bag--like another settlement of the circular debt and investment projects like coal-fired power plants-to continue moving forward with buoyancy; though its another thing that all of it is of little significance at least until the political dust settles.

======Kot Addu Power Company Limited ======Rs(mn) FY14 FY13 YoY ======Sales 113,206 97,533 16% Gross profit 12,204 13,388 -9% Administrative exp 537 357 50% Other income 4,214 5,898 -29% Operating profit 15,880 18,904 -16% Finance cost 4,550 7,999 -43% Profit after tax 7,730 7,354 5% EPS (Rs) 8.78 8.35 5% Gross margin 10.8% 13.7% Operating margin 14.0% 19.4% Net margin 6.8% 7.5% ======

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 K-Electric - a stupendous FY14

August 29, 2014

BR Research

There seems to be no stopping to K-Electrics profitable journey that started off in FY12. The Power generating and distribution company announced 1.89 times increase in its earnings for FY14 yesterday. In its annual result released at Karachi Stock Exchange, it also announced a cash dividend up to a maximum of 15 percent only for minority shareholders, subject to waiver from its four majority stakeholders namely GOP, KESP, IFC and ADB. The firm did not announce any dividend for majority shareholder due to circular debt and cash flow constraints.

K-Electrics top line grew by a meager three percent year on year in FY14. However, a dissection of the net revenues show that the net energy sales grew by 24 percent, year on year, which corresponds to better electricity generation as well as energy purchases to fulfil the demand.

According to a research note by Elixir Securities, units billed-a function of generation and purchases--increased by around seven percent year on year in 4Q FY14.

However, a 28 percent year-on-year decline in tariff adjustment component of revenues offset the overall growth in turnover.

The support from the revenues coupled with a decline in the cost of fuel and oil and contained transmission and distribution losses resulted in a significant expansion in gross margins.

Net margins also improved from 3.6 percent in FY13 to 6.6 percent in FY14 not only due to the growth from the top but also a 19 percent year-on-year fall in finance cost.

======

K-Electric Limited

======Rs(mn) FY14 FY13 YoY ======Revenue Sale of energy-net 139,113 112,166 24% Tariff adjustment 55,378 76,615 -28% Rental or meters and equipment 218 218 0% Total Revenue 194,708 188,999 3% Cost-fuel & oil 64,336 67,808 -5% Purchase of electricity 82,971 78,372 6% Generation, T&D 14,983 13,999 7% Gross profit 32,418 28,820 12% Consumer service & admin 16,247 15,302 6% Other operating income 6,163 5,090 21% Other operating expenses 1,484 647 130% Operating profit 20,850 17,962 16% BACK TO HEADLINES Page 61

PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Financial charges 11,275 13,960 -19% Profit after tax 12,887 6,826 89% Gross margin 16.6% 15.2% Operating margin 10.7% 9.5% Net margin 6.6% 3.6% ======SCB: fine, very fine

August 29, 2014

BR Research

Standard Chartered Bank (Pakistan) Limited (SCB) has performance ratios that most local banks would die for. Although, the after-tax 1H CY14 profits largely remained flat year on year, the bank did boast further improvement in spreads, cost of funds, asset and liability mix and administrative cost control.

Spreads and NIMs are bound to be superior, when you have a CASA as high as 92 percent-- streets ahead of others--both then local banks are not exactly an apple to apple comparison.

The top line growth was steady and has likely come on the back of increased advances, as the banks advances grew by around 9 percent since the beginning of CY14.

Investing in government securities was the order of the day during 2Q CY14, but it appears SCB did not lose focus, and most of the 5 percent incremental deposit went to productive advances.

Then again, not many have asset quality as good as SCBs--hence the appetite. The post provisioning income slid slightly, mainly on

back of slowdown in reversals.

The high base effect from yesteryear stalled the profit growth, which nevertheless, stayed sound.

The ever present non-mark-up income provide further impetus as dealing in foreign currencies, fee, commission and income from Sri Lankan operations all combined to fatten the bottom line. The banks cost control is exemplary, as its in-country administrative expenses increased by a mere two

percent year on year,

well below the average inflation.

The ADR is gradually inching up and SCB would not mind lending more aggressively should the opportunities arrive, especially when the NPLs are not much of a headache.

The low deposit cost and ever improving CASA makes it look better than ever.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 ======Standard Chartered Bank (Pakistan) Limited ======Rs (mn) 1HCY14 1HCY13 chg ======Markup Earned 16,443 15,196 8% Markup Expensed 6,707 5,855 15% Net Markup Income 9,736 9,341 4% Provisioning/(Reversal) -18 -682 -97% Net Markup Income after provisions 9,753 10,023 -3% Non Mark-up/Interest Income 4,132 3,387 22% Operating Revenues 13,885 13,410 4% Non Mark-up / Interest Expenses 6,631 6,228 6% Profit Before Taxation 7,254 7,182 1% Taxation 2,539 2,498 2% Profit After Taxation 4,715 4,684 1% EPS (Rs) 1.22 1.21 ======Summit shows signs of improvement

August 29, 2014

BR Research

Summit Bank is learning the hard way. It still continues to be in net losses, and massive ones at that. But, there are signs of visible improvement. In a rare industry event, the banks top line slid year on year, as the asset-base shrunk in relation to the same period of last year. Summit has been on the road to clearing its books, improving the deposit-mix and the asset portfolio.

Positively for Summit, the net mark-up income almost quadrupled year on year. The bank has an uncharacteristically high ADR relative to industry average, but the improvement in spreads is encouraging. Lucrative yields on offer in the PIBs also seem to have helped the gross spread.

A lot of it has to do with Summits relentless efforts to rationalise the deposit-base.

The cost of deposits has been coming down gradually and is well below six percent. The industry spreads are on a multiyear low, which poses a challenge to all banks and Summit will be no exception. The resurgence of NPLs and high provisioning cost is not a good omen, and Summit would like to have a cleaner loan portfolio in the times of depressed spreads.

Summits strategy of cross-selling seems to be yielding the desired results, with non-mark-up income lending an able hand to the profits. Non-mark-up income is almost at the same level as the net mark-up income, evident of the banks focus on maximising returns from the customer- base.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 The administrative expenses were kept in check, although, in times of loss-making, a tighter lid on expenses would not go amiss.

======Summit Bank Limited (Unconsolidated P&L) ======Rs (mn) 1HCY14 1HCY13 chg ======Markup Earned 4,513 5,030 -10% Markup Expensed 3,533 4,793 -26% Net Markup Income 979 237 314% Provisioning/(Reversal) 497 (350) Net Markup Income after provisions 482 586 -18% Non Mark-up/Interest Income 971 675 44% Operating Revenues 1,454 1,261 15% Non Mark-up/Interest Expenses 2,372 2,172 9% Profit Before Taxation (919) (911) 1% Taxation 30 244 -88% Profit After Taxation (949) (1,155) -18% EPS (Rs) (0.65) (1.07) ======

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Crime News 13 Afghan nationals held in Quetta

QUETTA: Security forces here on Wednesday arrested 13 illegal Afghan nationals during checking. Frontier Corps spokesman Khan Wasey said that security forces deployed at the Baleli check-post detained 13 illegal Afghan nationals for not possessing their necessary travelling documents. The detainees were handed over to the police for further investigation. Peshawar Police seize suspected chemical

PESHAWAR: The Faqirabad police on Wednesday recovered 35 sacks of chemical reportedly being used in making explosives.

A source said that the local police recovered 35 kilogram chemicals from a vehicle during an action in the limits of the Faqirabad Police Station. However, the samples were sent to the laboratory to confirm whether it was raw material for making bomb. Kohat: 2 held for smuggling relief

KOHAT: The police arrested two accused and seized food items meant for the internally displaced persons (IDPs) being smuggled to Punjab at Khushalgarh Checkpost, sources said on Wednesday.

The sources said the police stopped a truck coming from Bannu and on thorough search found food items, including 300 bags meant for distribution among the IDPs. The stuff was being smuggled to Punjab, they added. The police also arrested two accused identified as Arif and Ameer belonging to Kharmatu area in Kohat. The police impounded the truck and registered the case against the accused and started investigation. Gang of criminals busted in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: The Sabzi Mandi police has busted a four-member gang involved in street crimes and recovered two pistols with ammunition, dagger, and cash from their possession, a police spokesperson said.

According to reports, the Industrial Area SP had given a task to the Sabzi Mandi Police Station to arrest a street criminal gang involved in street crimes. The team, utilising all the modern means arrested four members of the gang and recovered cash, pistol of 30-bore along with ammunition and dagger from their possession. Meanwhile, the Tarnol police arrested an accused and recovered one pistol of 30-bore along with four bullets. The police also arrested another accused for being involved in dacoity. Further investigation from the arrested accused is underway.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 2 thieves arrested in Lahore

LAHORE: City Anti-Vehicles Lifting Staff arrested two bike thieves and recovered 11 bikes and master keys from their possession.

The arrested robbers identified as Adeel and Amjad confessed to committing dozens of such crimes in Tibbi City, Gujjarpura, Shadbagh, Harbanspura, Islampura, Lower Mall and Shafiqabad. In the line of duty: Journalist Irshad Mastoi, reporter shot dead

Published: August 29, 2014

QUETTA:

Senior journalist and Secretary General of Balochistan Union of Journalists (BUJ) Irshad Mastoi, trainee reporter Abdul Rasul and an accountant of a news agency were gunned down in Quetta’s Kabir Building on Thursday.

According to SHO Bijli Road police station, two armed men barged into the office of the news distribution agency Online News and opened fire at the people inside. “Senior journalist Irshad Mastoi, trainee reporter Abdul Rasul and accountant Mohammed Younus were shot in the head and chest. All died on the spot,” said SHO Hashim Shah.

The office of the news agency is located on the second storey of the Kabir Building near Jinnah Road, in downtown Quetta. The assailants managed to flee from the scene after carrying out the gruesome attacks.

The dead bodies were shifted to Provincial Sandeman Hospital where doctors pronounced them dead on arrival.

Irshad Mastoi, 34, was among the veteran journalists in Balochistan and wrote for local and national newspapers. Abdul Rasul, who was in his early 20s, had recently become a trainee reporter for the news agency. “It was a targeted attack and the target was these journalists,” an official said.

Rasul was a student in his final year at the Media and Journalism Department of the University of Balochistan Quetta. Journalists and relatives of the victims rushed to the hospital after hearing about the incident. The dead bodies were handed over to heirs after legal formalities.

Pakistan remains one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists, media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in its annual report in February. Four of the seven reporters killed on duty worked in Balochistan, RSF said. Not a single murder was investigated.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 “There is no security for journalists in Balochistan. We lost our many friends but not a single perpetrator of the crime was booked. We are facing constant threats to our lives,” Mastoi had said on several occasions during protests held by the BUJ.

“The gruesome attack saddened all the journalists. I do not have the words to express our grief,” said Irfan Saeed, President of Balochistan Union of Journalists (BUJ).

The Balochistan government issued a statement condemning the deadly attack on journalists. “The Balochistan government stands by journalists in this difficult time,” Jan Buledi said in his statement.

A few months ago, Chief Minister Balochistan Dr Malik Baloch had announced the formation of a judicial tribunal to investigate the killings of journalists in Balochistan. However, this has yet to be implemented. “The frequent deadly attacks on journalists in Balochistan negatively impacted their work,” said Irfan Saeed. “The killers were carrying out attacks with complete impunity.”

Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists and other journalist organizations strongly condemned the attack and demanded that the government arrest the culprits.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 29th, 2014.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Miscellaneous News Missed deadline: Failing to address glitches, govt extends deadline

By Shahbaz Rana

Published: August 29, 2014

ISLAMABAD:

As authorities fail to address technical glitches on the online portal, the federal government on Thursday extended the date to file income tax returns.

This will deny taxpayers incentives linked with the timely filing of their returns including reduced tax rates.

The date for filing of income tax returns for income earned during fiscal year 2013-14 has been extended by one month to September 30, according to a notification issued by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). According to FBR officials, the date was extended after they could not fix issues related to the web portal.

However, the government was quick to blame Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Pakistan Awami Tehreek for its own faults. The two political parties have staged a sit-in since August 14, demanding ouster of the prime minister over allegations of election rigging.

“It was impossible to comply with the obligatory provision of filing income tax returns by August 31 due to the prevailing situation because of the sit-ins by the two political parties,” according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance.

It added that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, in view of various representations and pleas submitted by the salaried class, has extended the date of filing the returns by one month. The finance minister took this decision to facilitate salaried persons, it added.

Under the law, it is mandatory for every person to file income tax returns to declare their income and expenditures during a fiscal year. The previous fiscal year ended on June 30.

The government had set August 31 deadline for the e-filing of returns in the case of salaried persons.

By extending the date, the government has infringed upon potential benefits of the active taxpayers, said Dr Ikramul Haq, an economist and tax practitioner. From July this year, the government has introduced drastic changes in tax laws, making it difficult for people to remain outside the tax ambit.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 It has introduced higher withholding tax rates for those who do not file income tax returns. Under the law, those who file the income tax returns before or on June 30 each year will be entitled to these benefits that also include privileged cards for highest income taxpayers.

The FBR is bound to update the list of active taxpayers fortnightly once the exercise of filing of income tax returns is completed for a fiscal year. Vehicle buyers have to pay higher withholding taxes than the specified rates until the government upgrades its active taxpayers list.

Like its predecessor, the PML-N government has been struggling to expand an extremely narrow tax base. Out of 3.544 million people who have valid National Tax Numbers (NTN), only 890,000 filed income tax returns on incomes earned during financial year 2012-13 ended on June 30, according to the FBR.

These persons were assigned NTNs by the FBR only after getting their personal data and hence, can be easily tracked and asked to obey the law.

The 890,000 taxpayers, who chose to obey the law, paid Rs433 billion in taxes, with the corporate sector alone contributing almost three-fourth of the total.

Out of the registered 53,744 companies, as many as 23,179 firms or 43% filed income tax returns and paid a sum of Rs315 billion, according to FBR documents.

The FBR has not taken any action against the rest of the companies that did not file returns. Only 313,005 salaried persons filed income tax on income earned during fiscal year 2012-13. They paid a sum of Rs50 billion in income taxes.

The average annual income tax paid by the salaried class was Rs159,741 per person.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 29th, 2014. Power generators: HUBCO puts coal- conversion plan on hold

By Saad Hasan

Published: August 29, 2014

KARACHI:

Hub Power Company Limited (Hubco) has put on hold the plan to convert its oil-based power generators to coal, as it has already spend $40 million to fix existing boilers, according to a top company official.

“Overhaul of the boilers of four power plants, with nameplate capacity of 325MW each, has been going on for months and is expected to be completed by May 2015,” said company CEO Khalid Mansoor.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 “At least for the immediate term we do not intend switching to coal — especially not after having spent so much money already,” he said, explaining the fact that using coal instead of furnace oil would require construction of new boilers from scratch.

Mansoor pointed out that as soon as he took over the company as CEO, he rang the alarm bell regarding boilers’ condition. They broke down frequently and had leaks.

A few months later government announced that it had convinced some Independent Power Producers (IPPs) including Hubco to switch to coal, that would eventually reduce their electricity tariffs by fifty per cent.

Mansoor said that none of the companies started with the conversion because the policy guidelines needed were not approved by the government. In cases where heavy investment is required, the IPPs want updated contracts.

“Hubco’s contract expires in 2027. We would like to extend it to 2037 or beyond. Conversion of existing plants to coal might happen in a few years, but right now we have other plans,” explained Mansoor.

The boiler overhaul has taken a toll on the company’s profitability as every attached unit undergoes a one-time shutdown that spans over 110 days, cutting output and revenue.

Hubco recently announced a 30.2% decline in net profit at Rs6.549 billion in 2013-14 against Rs9.387 billion it posted in 2012-13.

Profit for current fiscal 2014-15 will remain under pressure as work on two remaining boilers is yet to be carried out. “We expect to see profitability at round the same level (as 2013-14). But things will go back to the way they were from next fiscal year.”

“The recurring problem of circular debt, which has once again created a liquidity crunch for IPPs, will have to be resolved for effective management of the power sector,” Mansoor said.

“The government owes Rs235 billion to IPPs. Hubco alone has Rs70 billion stuck in the circular debt.”

Company’s growth plans

About Hubco’s growth plans, Mansoor said that the company is moving ahead to build a new coal-fired 660MW power plant near its existing facility in Hub, a few kilometres away from Karachi.

“Being right at the coast, we have the most ideal location for a coal-based power plant. We have land measuring 1,500 acres, out of which we are currently using just 100. It leaves us enough space. We can build many power plants there,” he said.

The company is considering what Mansoor calls offshore-unloading solution to handle coal imports. “A large floating storage could be parked in the sea. We could then use barges to bring coal from there to the plant on the coast. This would save cost of building a dedicated coal terminal.” BACK TO HEADLINES Page 70

PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Hubco might also utilise spare coal capacity at Karachi Port Trust’s terminal, located 50km from Hub, to meet the estimated requirement of 2 million tons a year for the power plant.

The 660MW power plant would cost around $1 billion and Hubco expects to get most of the financing from Chinese investors.

It has also signed an agreement with Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company to inject $20 million in the project, which will extract coal from the vast reserves in Tharparkar district.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 29th, 2014. Clearance: PIA resumes cargo shipment to EU

By Our Correspodent

Published: August 29, 2014

KARACHI: Pakistan International Airlines resumed its cargo shipment after the European Union removed a temporary restriction after a satisfactory inspection of the national carrier.

PIA’s cargo shipments were barred in Europe since July 28 because of delays in a validation from experts who stamp ‘compliance to security protocols’ on part of the airline.

Temporary suspension of PIA’s cargo service came on heels of a deadly attack at the Karachi airport, raising concerns over aviation security.

The airline found itself caught up in the tough regulation called Air Cargo or Mail Carrier operating into the Union from a Third Country (ACC3) that required carriers to take certain security screening measures by July 31, 2014.

ACC3 regulation became mandatory, after October 2010, when an attempt to carry explosives hidden in a printer cartridge was made from a Middle Eastern state.

According to the regulation, countries have been divided in three separate categories. The Green category includes countries that do not need validation, The White category includes most of the countries that require validation, but Pakistan has been placed in the high risk Red category, among countries under stringent watch.

The airline had spent months putting in place relevant systems and procedures to comply with tough European Union conditions, officials said.

In line with the regulation, PIA installed dual view scanners, explosive trace detectors (ETDs) and deployed dogs trained in identifying explosives. The two-step validation is done by IATA approved Independent Validators. A pre-validation inspection has already cleared PIA to run cargo service to EU.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 The validation is acceptable for 10 years. But authorities have increased security in recent weeks by deploying trained and well-equipped guards around all international airports and enhancing the screening of vehicles, passengers and their attendants.

PIA is the only Pakistani airline operating cargo service to Europe.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 29th, 2014. Textile and readymade garments: Gross disbursement in 1HCY14 clocks in at Rs1.7t

By Our Correspondent

Published: August 29, 2014

KARACHI:

Gross disbursement to textile and readymade garments sector in the first six months of 2014 clocked in at Rs1.7 trillion, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

The SBP did not release the comparable figure for the corresponding six-month period of 2013. However, the latest figure is 29.3% lower than the gross disbursement achieved in July- December 2013 when loans to the textile and readymade garments sector totalled Rs2.4 trillion.

More than Rs1.6 trillion, or 95% of the gross disbursement during the period under review, was in the category of ‘manufacture of textiles’. The category of ‘wearing apparel, readymade garments and dressing’ received disbursements of Rs85.3 billion, or 15% of the total loans extended to the textile sector.

Textile manufactures can now export their products to member-countries of the European Union (EU) at relatively lower or no tariffs under the Generalised System of Preferences scheme.

A substantially large portion of the total loan disbursement to the textile and readymade garments sector falls in two kinds of financing, namely working capital and cost of project financing. About 86.3% of Rs1.7 trillion loans disbursed in January-June were meant for working capital requirement.

The rest of the loans represented mainly borrowings for fixed investment. Financing from banks and development financial institutions against purchase of machinery during the six-month period amounted to Rs45.4 billion. Long-term investment for purchase of machinery is considered an indicator of future capacity expansion, but it was only 2.6% of the total disbursement made during the January-June period.

Businesses engaged in weaving of textiles received the highest amount in loans in the first six months of 2014. With Rs722.5 billion, disbursements in January-June were 43.4% lower than the comparable figure for July-December 2013.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Companies involved in spinning of fibres received disbursements of Rs489.9 billion in January- June, down 12.1% from the preceding six-month period. Businesses engaged in finishing of textiles took out loans of Rs204 billion in the first six months of 2014, which was 20.5% less than the comparable figure recorded in the last six months of 2013.

Disbursements to the manufacturers of readymade garments in January-June amounted to Rs52.9 billion, which is almost 10% less than the loan disbursement to the same sector recorded over the preceding six months.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 29th, 2014. Corporate results: Standard Chartered posts Rs7.3b profit

By Our Correspodent

Published: August 29, 2014

KARACHI: Standard Chartered Bank’s pre-tax profit for the first six months of 2014 increased 1% to Rs7.3 billion, according to the bank’s financial results released on Thursday.

With a 9% increase in both revenue and net advances, earnings per share went up to Rs1.22 from Rs1.21 in the corresponding period of 2013.

The bank’s board of directors has also declared an interim cash dividend of 7.5%, or Re0.75 per share, for the half year ending June 30. The overall administrative expenses increased by 6% during January-June. The in-country administrative cost has increased 2%, which is substantially lower than the current rate of inflation in the economy.

Net advances increased by Rs12 billion during the period under review mainly because of a pickup in lending. The deposit momentum continued with a growth rate of over 5% since the start of 2014. The continuous increase in low-cost deposits has supported the bank’s performance, with current and savings accounts now comprising over 92% of the deposits base.

Commenting on the results, acting Chief Executive Officer Najam Siddiqi said the bank’s balance sheet remains a source of competitive advantage with a focus on diversity, high levels of liquidity and a strong capital position.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 29th, 2014.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Teamwork: ‘Entrepreneurs need encouragement’

By APP

Published: August 29, 2014

ISLAMABAD:

Preston University in collaboration with Jump Start Pakistan Thursday jointly organised a seminar on `Entrepreneurship’ here on Thursday to apprise students of the latest techniques to run a profitable business.

The event was held at the Islamabad Campus of Preston in which faculty and students of the varsity participated in large numbers. Eminent among the speakers were John Duhring, an Education Technology Specialist at Cogswell Polytechnical College, Sunnyvale California, Alfoze Technologies CEO Muazzam Ali Bhatti.

In his presentation, Bhatti emphasised that the reasons to become an entrepreneur include passion, a need in the market that is marketable and belief on innovation. He said start-ups must have trustworthy, reliable and diverse team members and mentoring is very important for start ups.

Regarding the issue of financing start-ups, Muazzam said that funding can be arranged in monetary or non-monetary terms.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 29th, 2014. ITCN Asia 2014: Pakistan’s 3G transition slow but gradual

By FARJAD KHAN / Photo: FARJAD KHAN

Published: August 29, 2014

KARACHI:

The three-day 14th ITCN Asia 2014 IT and Telecom exhibition concluded yesterday at the Karachi Expo Centre, with the event showcasing Pakistan’s steps towards adopting the latest mobile broadband technology.

Organised by the Ecommerce Gateway Pakistan, the exhibition provided a platform for various telecom and industry-related companies to display products and their technologies.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Prominent companies including Zong, Mobilink, Wateen and Wi-Tribe displayed their products with the most significant aspect being the cohesion with 3G services offered.

The country saw the 3G and 4G spectrum auction take place in April this year, raising huge amounts of foreign exchange amid hope that the latest mobile broadband technology will pave the way for future progress — in the economic, social and health sectors.

Four months after the auction, Zong Regional Projects Manager Bilal Ahmed was adamant that the technology will transition its way into more practical usage for consumers. “We have covered around 95% of Karachi with our 3G services and our plan is to introduce 4G within the next two months,” Ahmed told The Express Tribune.

“The full social benefits from these services will only be realised in a year as the industry is still in a transitional phase and will continue to prove its usability to the masses.”

Innovative, practical mobile apps for Pakistan

The most intriguing aspect of the exhibition was application developers coming up with exuberant ideas that could best maximise the usage of 3G in ways other than internet surfing, browsing and messaging – traits that consume most of the current data usage through smartphones in Pakistan.

An application helpful to car owners in Pakistan, My Smart Remote, is being developed by a company in Peshawar that could potentially prevent theft and snatching through remote access to the vehicle through a smartphone.

Another developing agency, Convex Interactive, came up with the idea of an anti-counterfeiting app that can be used by customers to verify a product, for example medicine and branded appliances.

“We have witnessed a surge of clients after the arrival of 3G in Pakistan,” said Omer Iqbal, business manager at Commtel Digital – a company providing IT solutions.

“If the shift to 3G is as quick and smooth as telecom companies predicted, we can expect exponential growth in application development, as suggested by trends in developed countries that have been exposed to these services.”

While it is difficult to predict when Pakistan will be fully able to utilise the true potential of 3G/4G services, there is an abundance of developers that, with their ideas, can help justify this investment by telecom companies, which insist that it is a step forward for an economically stressed country like Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 29th, 2014.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 MoU signed between Pakistan, Philippines

By Our Correspodent

Published: August 29, 2014

The signing ceremony took place in a meeting held with Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) in Manila. PHOTO: pkeconomists.com.pk

KARACHI: Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) President Zakaria Usman signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry for the formation of a joint Pakistan and Philippine Business Council.

The signing ceremony took place in a meeting held with Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) in Manila.

“The formation of Pakistan-Philippine Joint Business Council is the accomplishment of a long desire of the business community of both countries. The Joint Business Council will contribute to bilateral trade and open new avenues for joint ventures in various sectors,” said Usman.

In the meeting with the Philippine CCI and Manila CCI, Usman highlighted the investment potential and incentives in Pakistan for foreign companies and emphasised people-to-people contacts in order to boost bilateral trade.

“Pakistan gives great importance to its relationship with Philippines, an important country of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN),” he said.

“Bilateral trade potential between Philippines and Pakistan is huge. The current level of trade needs to be further raised for better economic cooperation between the two countries.”

Philippines Ambassador in Pakistan, the head of Commercial Section of Philippines for South Asia and large number of members of Philippine (CCI) and Manila (CCI) were also present at the occasion.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 29th, 2014.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Trade policies: ‘Pakistan will benefit from regional markets’

By Our Correspodent

Published: August 29, 2014

FAISALABAD: Pakistan should fully exploit the regional market by switching over to aggressive economic policies with a focus on India and other regional countries, said Faisalabad Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) President Engineer Suhail Bin Rashid, while talking to Dr Imtiazul Haq, associate professor at the Lahore University of Management Sciences.

Rashid said the main cause of poverty, illiteracy and unemployment in the region is due to a low percentage of trade between South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) countries – only around 5%, while trade among regional blocks is more than 60% throughout the world.

He expressed satisfaction over the keen interest taken by Saarc countries for the promotion of regional trade and said that Pakistan should take the lead role in promoting it.

“India is a bursting market of a billion customers and we could exploit this potential by increasing our exports to the country,” said Rashid.

“India is producing commodities that are cheaper to import. Buying these items at higher prices from other countries in addition to bearing freight charges can further burden our burgeoning economy.”

Rashid stressed the need for a uniform import-export policy to provide a level playing field to all entrepreneurs in Saarc countries, hoping that governments will take an initiative to streamline regional trade on modern, scientific and equitable lines.

The FCCI president also underlined the need for knowledge-based economy, saying that the body has been endeavouring to strengthen industry-academia linkages. An FCCI delegation recently visited Lums and officials from the university have visited the chambers as well.

Rashid concluded that FCCI intends to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Lums to share latest studies and research work on the promotion of regional trade.

Dr Imtiazul Haq discussed the geo-economic situation in detail with the FCCI president and added that the Saarc platform should play a major role in providing uniform policies.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 29th, 2014.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Inching closer: Model Town FIR finally registered

By Azam Khan / Akbar Bajwa / Asad Kharal

Published: August 29, 2014

ISLAMABAD / LAHORE:

An FIR was finally registered against 21 persons, including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, on Thursday, hours after Defence Minister Khawaja Asif announced that the process of lodging the FIR had begun.

The Punjab police received orders to register an FIR against those responsible for the deaths of 11 Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) supporters in a violent clash with the police on June 17 after which the Faisal Town police registered FIR No. 696/14 on the complaint of Minhajul Quran International’s director Admin Muhammad Jawad Hamid. The FIR was lodged under various sections including murder, attempt to murder, dacoity, rioting, criminal intimidation and abetment.

Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, which was included in the previous FIR of the same incident lodged by the police against PAT activists, was not included in this FIR.

The FIR was lodged at the IG house where Faisal Town police station’s roznaamcha was brought and after consultation with the SP legal, CCPO Lahore Amin Wains, DIG Operations Dr Haider Ashraf, the FIR was lodged.

The complainant has stated that the DIG Operations was shown court orders; which allowed PAT to place barriers for security purposes. But the DIG added, “We have been ordered strictly by Punjab CM and the law minister to eliminate Dr Qadri’s family, even at the cost of the lives of PAT workers”, stated Jawad Hamid in the FIR.

He submitted that the DIG ordered teargas shelling and firing at Dr Qadri’s residence, despite the throngs of protesters and journalists. Cranes and bulldozers of the police removed the barriers and when female PAT activists gathered outside the secretariat, the DIG Operations threatened them with opening straight fire and asked them to move on the count to three. The women did not move away and the police, on the orders of DIG operations and SP Model Town, opened fire which killed Tanzila and Shazia who received bullet wounds in the face and neck, respectively.

The complainant said this act infuriated the activists who then protested against the police but were again fired upon due to which nine men lost their lives and at least 100 were injured.

The police entered the PAT Secretariat and started torturing activists, while snatching people’s mobile phones and wallets. Hamid claimed the police officials also snatched licensed weapons from the guards at the PAT Secretariat.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Gullu Butt was also mentioned in the FIR who was described as the “baton-wielding goon”, who apart from breaking several vehicles, took away valuables from these cars and was given a pat on the back by senior police officials.

The complainant alleged that the police operation was mandated by PM Nawaz Sharif , CM Punjab Shahbaz Sharif, Hamza Shahbaz, former Punjab law minister Rana Sanaullah, Home minister Chaudhry Nisar, Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique, State Minister For Water and Power Abid Sher Ali, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid.

Separately, a writ petition was filed in the Lahore High Court seeking the dissolution of national and provincial assemblies, on the contention that these assemblies have lost their legal status. The petition was moved by Pakistan Awami Tehreek through its Punjab chapter vice-president Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan. He prayed the court dissolute the national and provincial assemblies with directions to the election commission to hold fresh elections, so a real democratic government could be established.

A visibly worried Minister for Defence, Khawaja Asif, had earlier announced that the process for the registration of the FIR had begun. “We are accepting this as it is a legal demand, but no unconstitutional demands will be accepted,” Asif explained, while addressing the National Assembly on Thursday.

He confessed that there was a delay in lodging the FIR, adding that there is no reason to justify the Model Town tragedy, which the government has condemned time and again. The defence minister, who also holds the water and power portfolio, said it has proven that courts are not under the government’s influence and “we will not file an intra-court appeal to knock on the apex court’s door”.

He, however, firmly added, “We will not let these traders of dead bodies, who want bloodshed, achieve their vested interests.” This house will remain the supreme forum for running all affairs and a crowd of a few thousand cannot dictate this house, he said.

After the assembly proceedings, Khawaja Asif, Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique and Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid addressed a press conference at the entrance of the parliament house. They appealed to Imran and Qadri to send their protesters home in a peaceful manner and free the “nerve centre of Pakistan”.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 29th, 2014.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Saving democracy: PM requests army chief to mediate, act as guarantor

By Kamran Yousaf / Qamar Zaman / Peer Muhammad

Published: August 29, 2014

ISLAMABAD:

In a dramatic development that renewed hopes of a peaceful end to protests that have now entered their third week, Army Chief General Raheel Sharif met with Imran Khan and Dr Tahirul Qadri late Thursday night after he agreed to act as guarantor for a deal between the embattled government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the Pakistan Tehreek-e- Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT).

The unexpected intervention by Pakistan’s military comes after government efforts to resolve the crisis failed, threatening to engulf the country deeper into political quagmire.

According to sources, the Prime Minister requested the Army Chief to act as a guarantor and mediator to facilitate the development of a formula that can end the lingering political deadlock caused by prolonged sit-ins by thousands of charged PTI and PAT supporters in the heart of the federal capital.

The decision came after the Army Chief met the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif earlier, their second one-on-one meeting in three days, and requested the government to renew dialogue with protestors and make all-out efforts to amicably resolve all outstanding issues.

A senior military official said the Army Chief accepted the role in national interest. He also said this showed that ‘the Army chief commands respect across the board.’

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the Army Chief had made it clear from day one that the military had no intention to resort to any unconstitutional step and had been urging all sides to resolve the issue through dialogue ever since the crises began.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan confirmed that the Army chief had been asked to play a role in solving the current political crisis.

“This is our own army and it can be asked for help in a difficult situation,” Nisar said in a statement.

He said the government tried to solve the problem at every level but both the protesting parties were not ready to trust the government. “And therefore the government had to appeal the army to play its role,” he added.

Immediately after the announcement, both Imran Khan and Qadri left the Constitution Avenue for General Headquarters for talks with Army Chief General Raheel.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 The PTI chief Imran Khan and the PAT head Dr Tahirul Qadri held separate one-on-one meetings with the army chief followed by joint talks. Sources said Qadri and Khan presented their respective lists of demands to General Raheel.

After his meeting, Imran Khan told his supporters that he had conveyed to the army chief that in the presence of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif no impartial inquiry into allegations of mass rigging was possible.

“At the request of Gen Raheel, another round of talks will be held with the PML-N government. In case the government does not accept our demand, then we will go on with our next line of action,” he said. A government official said the Prime Minister had mandated the Army Chief to negotiate a deal with Khan and Qadri on his behalf. However, the official claimed that the Prime Minister would not resign, although he would accept all other demands made by both the leaders.

According to INP, after his meeting with the General Raheel Sharif, the premier presided over a high level meeting of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in which the party leadership decided not to accept any ‘unconstitutional’ or ‘undemocratic’ step. It was also decided that both the premier and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif would not hand in their resignations.

Military sources, meanwhile, disclosed that the Army would push for a ‘middle ground’ and a solution that would be acceptable to all parties. Sources added that a breakthrough is expected within the next 24 hours.

24 Hours Extension

Having given deadlines for announcing their future course of action, PTI and PAT supporters were anxiously awaiting their leaders on Thursday evening when Dr Tahirul Qadri took to the stage and announced that he had delayed his final speech by 24 hours.

Terming it a “historic moment,” Dr Tahirul Qadri took his supporters into confidence and announced that General Raheel had advised PAT to “show restraint for 24 hours” so that a formula could be worked out for the betterment of the country.

Qadri claimed that this formula would include PAT’s revolutionary package, investigation of election rigging, and justice for martyrs of the Model Town tragedy. Qadri claimed that the army chief had also guaranteed that if rigging was proven, the government would be dismissed.

Similarly, moments later, PTI chairman Imran Khan also agreed to give the army 24 hours, which stepped in to resolve the crisis on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s request. “We have received a message from the army, which will play its role in meeting our demands,” said Imran Khan. “We will talk and present our demands. Don’t worry, your captain will not disappoint you. Tomorrow we will either celebrate Azadi (freedom), or I will give the call that I was supposed to give today,” he added.

Qadri rejects FIR

Earlier, moments after the FIR was registered for the Model Town incident, Dr Tahirul Qadri refused to accept it until it included Section 788 of the Anti-Terrorism Act and Prime Minister

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Nawaz Sharif’s name. “We will not accept the FIR until it is registered as per our application,” he said, while addressing his supporters.

Initially, the PAT leader refused to believe that the FIR had been registered at all. However, as the chief paused for the call to prayer, PAT leader Raheeq Abbasi appeared on stage with a copy of the FIR sent for Qadri’s perusal. The PAT chief read it and pointed out that it was not in accordance with their demands.

Carrying a copy of the Constitution, he mentioned those provisions that guarantee fundamental rights of the citizen and obligations of the state.

After elaborating every single provision that dealt with rights, Qadri said, “The state is responsible for the wellbeing of the people without any discrimination but this has not happened at all. The Constitution is a cheque signed by founder of the nation and we have come to encash it,” he added.

Recounting how his followers had achieved so much in the last 14 days, since the “Inqilab” march and sit-in began, he asked his supporters to get ready for the final act and to remain steadfast as they were about to reach their destination.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 29th, 2014. Slide: Foreign reserves down 3.9%

By Our Correspondent

Published: August 29, 2014

KARACHI:

Foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) recorded a week-on- week decrease of 3.9% on August 22, according to data released by the SBP on Thursday.

SBP’s liquid foreign exchange reserves decreased $349 million to $8,554 million on a weekly basis. During the week, SBP made payments of $165 million on account of external debt and other official payments, which include $147 million payment to the International Monetary Fund. There was no major inflow during the week.

Total liquid foreign reserves held by the country, including net foreign reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $13,581.6 million while net foreign reserves held by banks amounted to $5,027.2 million on August 22.

Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves had increased more than 50% in 2013-14, which earned the SBP accolades from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Published in The Express Tribune, August 29th, 2014.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014

OPEN MARKET FOREX RATES Updated at: 29/8/2014 6:40 AM (PST) Currency Buying Selling Australian Dollar 95 95.25 Bahrain Dinar 269.1 269.35 Canadian Dollar 93.50 93.75 China Yuan 16.35 16.5 Danish Krone 18.05 18.2 Euro 134.5 134.75 Hong Kong Dollar 12.95 13.1 Indian Rupee 1.67 1.69 Japanese Yen 0.97 0.98 Kuwaiti Dinar 357 357.25 Malaysian Ringgit 32 32.25 NewZealand $ 84.75 85 Norwegians Krone 16.25 16.4 Omani Riyal 264 264.25 Qatari Riyal 27.85 28.1 Saudi Riyal 27 27.25 Singapore Dollar 81.1 81.25 Swedish Korona 14.45 14.6 Swiss Franc 110.5 110.75 Thai Bhat 3.17 3.19 U.A.E Dirham 27.7 27.95 UK Pound Sterling 168 168.25 US Dollar 102 102.25

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014

INTER BANK RATES Updated at: 29/8/2014 6:40 AM (PST) Bank Buying Bank Selling Currency TT Clean TT & OD Australian Dollar 94.7 94.89

Canadian Dollar 93.31 93.5

Danish Krone 17.94 17.98

Euro 133.73 133.99

Hong Kong Dollar 13.06 13.08

Japanese Yen 0.9755 0.9774

Saudi Riyal 27.18 27.23

Singapore Dollar 81.18 81.34

Swedish Korona 14.59 14.62

Swiss Franc 110.78 111

U.A.E Dirham 27.56 27.61

UK Pound Sterling 167.97 168.3

US Dollar 101.2 101.4

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 197-2014 Bullion Rates (Gold Prices) in Pakistan Rupee (PKR) As on Fri, Aug 29 2014, 03:15 GMT PKR PKR PKR Metal Symbol for 10 Gm for 1 Tola for 1 Ounce

Gold 24K XAU 42,268 49,249 131,471

Palladium XPD 29,353 34,200 91,298

Platinum XPT 46,732 54,450 145,355

Silver XAG 641 747 1,994

Gold Rates in other Major Currencies 1 Currency Symbol 10 Gm 1 Tola Ounce Australian

AUD 443 516 1,378 Dollar Canadian

CAD 450 524 1,400 Dollar

Euro EUR 314 366 978

Japanese

JPY 42,981 50,080 133,688 Yen U.A.E

AED 1,522 1,773 4,734 Dirham UK Pound

GBP 250 291 777 Sterling

US Dollar USD 414 483 1,289

* These rates are taken from International Market so there may be some fluctuation from Local Market.

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