President FPCCI, Zubair Ahmed Malik, said that it was heartening to know that Saudis had been taking reasonable interest in helping out the incoming government led by Nawaz Sharif.

Previously in 1998, Saudi Arabia extended a similar special package to Pakistan after it was imposed with sanctions following its nuclear tests, providing Pakistan with $3.5 billion worth of oil on deferred payment.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 26^th, 2013.

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Many businessmen believe that it is not in the mandate of the caretaker setup to announce budgets or levy new taxes. In a joint press statement issued on Friday, they said that at the time when the newly elected government is nearing its formation, the promulgation of a mini-budget is inappropriate and untimely.

The matter should be left to the incoming government. The trade body was especially critical of the increase in taxes in the mini-budget.

“At this stage, increase in sales tax from 16% to 17% has put additional burden on
the business community which is already paying its share of taxes. This additional burden will ultimately pass on to the consumers and a price hike would be inevitable.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 25^th, 2013.

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NAUDERO: Five districts of Larkana division and the neighbouring Usta Muhammad area of Balochistan are suffering from an acute shortage of irrigational water. The districts include Larkana, Kambar-Shahdadkot, Shikarpur, Kandhkot-Kashmore and Jacobabad. The Mehar and Dadu regions have also been affected.

Rice growers in these areas had sown paddy and other crops on about 1.6 million acres of land but have not yet been able to transplant paddy saplings due to the severe shortage of water.

The Rice Canal and Keerthar Canal, which are fed from the Indus River, have run dry. Water is usually released to these canals on May 10 every year, which enables farmers to sow saplings for their crops. This year, however, the release of water has been delayed due to unknown reasons, after which fertile agricultural lands have turned seemingly arid.

The rice sapling is ready for transplantation within a month of its sowing, with the activity gaining full force in June. However, due to the non-supply of irrigation water, transplantation activities have been halted, leaving peasants worried for their sustenance. Most peasants in these areas rely on the crop as their sole means of earnings.

The Larkana Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Larkana Chamber of Agriculture (LCA) have already held emergency meetings in this regard, during which they demanded immediate release of water into the affected canals, including the Dadu canal, so that growers can plant paddy saplings. No notice has been taken as of yet by the government or the Indus River System Authority.

LCA president Siraj Rashidi and other members told media that water used to overflow the canals in the past but has not been released this year as of May 20, which means that tillers may face difficulties in earning a livelihood for their families.

An acute rice shortage is also expected during the period due to the late sowing of the crop, because the plant requires proper weather conditions to thrive.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 25^th, 2013.

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KARACHI: People should take all possible precautions against the brain-eating amoeba, Naegleria fowleri, as the chances of survival after an infection are very slim. The director of  Karachi University’s International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences, Prof. Dr M Iqbal Choudhary, said this on Thursday while delivering a lecture at Dr Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research.

“The organism is found in fresh water reservoirs such as ponds and lakes and can survive in water as hot as 113 degrees Fahrenheit,” he added.

Prof. Choudhary stressed on the need to train doctors and health workers in dealing with the disease. “According to the health department, 10 people died of the disease last year, between July 7 and October 3.” He pointed out that the amoeba doesn’t grow in water which has been treated properly.

He also said the amoeba enters the body through the nose. “Naegleria normally eats other bacteria but when it gets into the human body, it uses the brain as a source of food.” He pointed out that you cannot get infected by drinking water containing the bacteria.

“It takes between two to 15 days for the symptoms to appear after it enters the body and the infected individual usually dies sometime during the next three to seven days.” He added that the symptoms of the disease include headaches, fever, loss of appetite, vomiting, altered mental state, fits and coma. “The individual may also suffer from hallucinations, blurred vision and a loss of sense of taste.”

The professor pointed out that there were no tests to detect the disease but MRI scans could help to spot it.

“People can protect themselves by avoiding swimming and water skiing in places with warm, still waters,” he advised, adding that people should wear a nose clip when they do.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 24^th, 2013.

KARACHI: Foreign exchange reserves fell to $11.433 billion in the week ending May 17 from $11.601 billion in the previous week, the central bank said on Thursday.

Reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) fell to $6.382 billion from $6.524 billion a week earlier, while those held by commercial banks fell to $5.050 billion from $5.076 billion. Pakistan, on March 28, successfully paid its 11th installment worth $143.75million of Stand-By-Arrangement (SBA) to the IMF.

The next IMF repayment of $391 million is due at the end of May. Meanwhile, exports and record remittances have supported Pakistan’s reserves. Remittances from Pakistanis abroad rose 6.37% to $11.57 billion in the first ten months, July to April, of the 2012-13 fiscal year, from $10.876 billion in the same period last year. Average monthly remittances from July-April 2012-13 come to $1.156 billion.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 24^th, 2013.

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KARACHI: Karachi Traffic Police deputy inspector general has announced the route for the procession of Hazrat Ali’s (RA) Viladat Day on May 24.

The Sindh government issued a notification saying that the procession would begin at 4pm from Ghafoor Chamber and conclude at Mehfil-e-Shah-Khurasan.

The procession will travel along the route of Ghafoor Chamber, Abdullah Haroon Road, Sharae-Iraq, Zaibun-Nisa Street, Aga Khan Road, M A Jinnah Road, Father James Road before concluding at Shah-e-Khurasan.

Users of these routes have been advised to take alternative routes on the day.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 23^rd, 2013.

KARACHI: Sindh Law Minister Mehmood Mandviwalla on Wednesday announced that Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad has promulgated the Sindh HIV Aids Control, Treatment and Protection Ordinance, 2013.

In a statement, the minister said that this was the first HIV Aids legislation in the region adding that it would help control the spread of the virus in the province. “It will help protect people living with HIV from discrimination in all spheres of life, including healthcare, employment and education,” he added.

Mandviwalla pointed out that Pakistan was facing an Aids epidemic and that the government had tried to control the epidemic since 1987, when the first case of the disease emerged, through its National Aids Control Programme and the Provincial Aids Control Programme.

“After the 18th Amendment, health has become a provincial subject which is why it is vital to take urgent measures to control the disease.”

Through the ordinance, the Sindh Aids Commission will be formed to advise the government on issues of prevention, control, care, support and treatment. The minister also mentioned that the ordinance paved the way for the establishment of a one-window health care facility for the patients.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 23^rd, 2013.

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), on Wednesday, issued a circular to all Islamic banking institutions about the Islamic Export Refinance Scheme (IERS) and eligibility of Ijara Sukuk (Islamic bonds to be included in the Musharaka pool.

According to SBP rules, every Islamic bank is obligated to create a Musharaka pool consisting of financing blue chip companies on Islamic modes.

The Musharaka pool is supposed to have a minimum of ten companies with diversified lines of businesses to avoid concentration in sectors.

The circular listed the conditions that will make the Government of Pakistan Ijara Sukuk eligible to be included in the pool, created under the IERS.

The conditions said that the maximum limit for investment in the Ijara Sukuk by Islamic bank institutions in the pool will be 50% of their total share of financing in the Musharaka pool.

The value of Ijara Sukuk held cannot be counted for meeting the bank’s statutory liquidity ratio requirement – an amount that every bank is bound to maintain either in gold or government approved securities before providing credit to its customers.

In the scenario where the Government of Pakistan issued Ijara Sukuk are included in the Musharaka pool, they will be eligible to counted towards calculating the concentration limit on holding of Islamic bonds.

The Sukuk should also be appropriately reported in the appendix when the institutions release its statements under the heading ‘GoP Ijara Sukuk’. Moreover, it should also be verified or certified as over and above the liquidity requirement’s eligible limit by the Islamic banking institutions’ internal audit department.

According to the SBP instructions, the Islamic banking institutions are also required to maintain records of Sukuk issues and the amount it allocated to its respective Musharaka pool.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 23^rd,  2013.

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ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday changed the date for re-polling in 21 polling stations of NA-46 FATA.

According to reports, the commission said that re-polling will now be held on June 5.

According to the earlier schedule, re-polling was to be held on May 25.

The decision to hold fresh polls was taken by the ECP after candidates accused each other of rigging and a violent incident took place at the polls on May 11.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf candidate Iqbal Afridi’s son was shot and injured, after which polling was halted.

KARACHI: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazal (JUI-F) Sindh Secretary General Dr Khalid Mehmood Soomro and other party leaders called for re-polling in Sukkur, Jacobabad, Larkana, Mirpurkhas, Pano Aqil, Ghotki, Kandhkot, Kashmore and Shikarpur.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the JUI-F leaders said that PPP had stolen the mandate of the province by rigging the elections.

They announced to support the May 22 strike call by the 10-party alliance against polls rigging in the province.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 22^nd, 2013.