Pakistan Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf. – Photo by APP

ISLAMABAD: Council of Common Interests (CCI)  on Wednesday approved the Petroleum Exploration and Production Policy 2012 in its meeting. The new policy will increase the wellhead gas price more than 100 per cent.

The meeting was presided over by Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf. It was attended by chief ministers of the four provinces, some federal ministers and other pertinent officials.

According to the new policy the wellhead gas price was increased more than 100 per cent.The new wellhead gas price was set at $6 to $9 per Million British Thermal Unit (MMBTU), while previously it was on average $3.5 per MMBTU.

Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif, who was attending the meeting after a very long time, talked about the problem of load-shedding in his province. He complained that Punjab was facing more load-shedding as compared to the other provinces.

PM Ashraf assured Sharif that no province would be discriminated and uniform load shedding would be ensured in all the provinces.

Commuters in Islamabad are pictured on a dark street during a power cut. – Photo by AFP

ISLAMABAD: India may claim the world’s biggest blackout, but in Pakistan an endemic energy crisis blamed on years of mismanagement cripples the economy and makes millions of lives a daily misery.

Six weeks after the new prime minister in Islamabad promised the shortage would be his top priority, blackouts have reached a peak – reportedly up to 16 hours a day in urban areas and as much as 22 hours a day in the rural parts of the country.

But with political posturing becoming more acute as the weak coalition stutters towards general elections, there is no quick end in sight.

Unprecedented power failures blacked out over half of India for two days last week, affecting more than 600 million people when three national grids collapsed.

In Pakistan, however, shortages day in, day out highlight chronic underinvestment in infrastructure, long-term planning sacrificed to short-term expediency, lack of leadership, cronyism and corruption.

For ordinary people it is almost unbearable, particularly during the holy month of Ramazan when Muslims fast from dawn to dusk, coinciding this year with temperatures over 50 degrees Celsius.

Peak demand for electricity in the summer is around 18,000 megawatts, with a third of that coming from air-conditioning, but power companies only manage to supply 13,000 to 14,000 MW.

Angry protests and riots erupt every few days and the central bank has warned the energy shortages have effectively put a ceiling on economic growth.

The government’s Planning Commission says power cuts shaved three to four per cent off GDP in the financial year 2010-11, with industry bearing the brunt.

At the heart of the problem is so-called “circular debt”, which the commission says stood at $4.4 billion in 2011-12.

The dual effect of the government setting low electricity prices and customers failing to pay for it means state utilities lose money, and cannot pay private power generating companies, which in turn cannot pay the oil and gas suppliers, who cut off the supply.

“It’s a crisis of management, a crisis which has been born out of indecisiveness, born out of procrastination, not taking the decisions required at the right time,” said Shahid Sattar, the Planning Commission’s member for energy.

He dates the problem to the rule of military ruler Pervez Musharraf, when a massive boom in demand was not matched by investment in new power stations.

Raja Pervez Ashraf, burdened by corruption allegations from his time as water and energy minister but sworn in as prime minister on June 22 after the Supreme Court sacked his predecessor, promised to fix it.

In mid-July, a 12-billion-rupee ($127 million) bailout led to a noticeable let-up in the blackouts, but since then cuts have been as bad as ever.

Opposition leaders have sought to make hay, with Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif of the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) backing protests and complaining vociferously that his province is suffering an unfair share of the power cuts.

He has been photographed working in a tent, without fans or air-conditioning, as a gesture of solidarity with the sweltering masses.

With polls expected by April and rivalry fierce between the PPP and the PML-N, led by Sharif’s brother Nawaz, there is little appetite for cooperation even on what analysts agree is a “genuine national crisis”.

But neither is there a quick solution for whoever wins. The government needs to pay its bills, but the country also needs to generate more power.

Major projects such as the $12 billion Diamer Bhasha dam, which is expected to generate 4,500 MW, will not come online for another five or six years.

The rivers and valleys of the mountainous north may offer more than 50,000 MW of untapped hydroelectric potential, but Sattar says power generated from it could be unreliable and cannot guarantee year-round supply.

Coal reserves have been found in the Thar desert, but the quality is uncertain and international donors are unwilling to pump money into such an environmentally damaging form of energy.

The government is keen to develop nuclear power as it tries to wean itself off expensive imported hydrocarbons – the country spends 7.5 per cent of GDP on buying fuel, according to the Planning Commission.

There are currently three nuclear plants generating a total of 740 MW of power and there are plans to expand this to 8,800 MW, but only by 2030.

Saeed Alam Siddiqui from the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission said two new reactors to be built by the end of 2017 would generate an extra 680 MW.

But as Pakistan is not party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty it is excluded from trade in nuclear materials and technology, and can rely only on its neighbour China for help.

Parallel efforts to reform publicly-owned generating and distribution companies have met fierce resistance – an attempt to replace the CEOs of power companies last year ended in failure after industrial action.With Pakistan’s 180 million population growing rapidly and demand rising by around 1,500 MW every year, a daunting battle lies ahead.

If no solution is found and violent protests continue, political analyst Hasan Askari warns Pakistan’s ability to function as a state could be under threat. “If these people can challenge one government they can challenge any government,” he said. “Violence and agitation become the normal political style and you never have stability.”

In a garden, long-term shade can be created by planting trees. Neem should be at the top of the list as it has mosquito repellent properties, is reasonably fast growing and has an umbrella-like growth. However, there are many more indigenous trees to choose from too. When selecting a shade tree, remember to ask about its height and spread at maturity and – this is very important – the depth its roots are liable to penetrate as you don’t want to damage the foundations of your home, boundary wall or any other structures. Pot grown trees are available all year round from nurseries; prices range from as little as Rs 150 up to Rs 2,500 depending on species and the size of the sapling. Also, watch out for underground cables and pipes when selecting the planting site.

If you don’t have space to plant a huge tree or don’t have the patience to wait for one to grow, fast growing papaya or banana trees, which do well in large pots, are a speedy solution.

A great alternative to the above is to construct a wooden or bamboo framework and grow creepers and grapevines over it and install your favourite chair… maybe even a traditional Sindhi swing chair or a hammock if you can manage it, in the luxuriant shade underneath.

Erecting green netting is another way to proceed but, for a breeze, depending where you live, you might just have to depend on a portable electric punkha!

– B Khan

First published in the Adbuzzzz Section of The DAWN National Weekend Advertiser on July 29. 2012.

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira visiting the site of damaged High Power Transmission Pylones.   — Photo by APP

LAHORE/PESHAWAR: Prolonged power outages triggered by well over 50 per cent shortfall for common consumers, coupled with hot and humid weather, pushed people over the edge, besetting major part of the country with violent protests causing damage to official and private property in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The urban areas suffered 12 to 14 hours of loadshedding on Monday and rural feeders faced up to 18 hours of power cuts as one of Chashma Nuclear Power Plants and three plants in Muzaffargarh (AES Lalpir, PakGen and Kapco) remained partly or fully offline. The plants had been damaged by a storm on Friday.

The severity of the protests jolted the federal government in more than one ways when apart from facing popular fury it received threats from two allies (PML-Q and ANP) to withdraw support if the problem was not solved soon.

Lahore was cut off from Islamabad as protesters put up tents on the motorway, blocking it form 11am and causing tens of kilometres of vehicular queues on both sides.

The Charsadda-Peshawar road was blocked at River Kabul.

Pepco offices were attacked in Islamabad, Abbottabad, Charsadda, Okara, Multan, Mandi Bahauddin, Sialkot and Sheikhupura and many of them were set on fire.

No loss of life was reported in the protests. The road blockades that were continuing till late in the night.

Minister for Water and Power Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar and the Managing Director of Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco) and
National Transmission and Dispatch Company, Naveed Ismael, belatedly arrived in Muzaffargarh where a rainstorm had taken 1,550MW off the system and promised relief (without explaining its extent) within a day or two.

Information Minister Qamar Zamar Kaira deflected the blame for the protests on “political manoeuvring of the PML-N” rather than prolonged outages.

On the political front, PML-Q’s federal ministers handed over their resignations to their leader Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, citing “prolonged countrywide loadshedding as one of the reasons, as it was threatening their electoral prospects”.

The Awami National Party (ANP), feeling the heat of popular protests in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, also put the federal government on a 24-hour notice. Railways Minister Ghulam Ahmed Bilour delivered the ultimatum, “threatening to join the protesters if the situation does not improve”.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Water and Power continued fudging figures of generation and national demand in a bid to make them look less pathetic, disregarding ground realities and that violent protests that marked the day.

It reported computed demand of 18,300MW in the country (excluding Karachi Electric Supply Company) and generation of 13,300MW — a shortfall of 5,000MW, or around 27 per cent.

Up to 18 hours of loadshedding, however, belied the official claims.

“These figures are grossly misleading because they neither include massive line losses nor huge exemptions that the ministry maintains,” a Pepco official said. The current documented line losses are around 25 per cent; they bring generation down by almost 3,000MW. In addition to these losses, the power sector maintains exemptions (for VVIP houses, defence installations and hospitals), which take another 1,500MW.

Thus, around 4,500MW is taken out of the system on these accounts, but was still shown as part of generation, making these figures doubtful, he said.

Exasperated power consumers came out on roads in several cities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in protest against excessive loadshedding and low voltage.

The enraged protesters created hurdles for traffic by pelting stones and burning tyres which led to exchange of fire at various places.

Besides Peshawar and Abbottabad, protests were held in Bannu, Karak, Kohat, Charsadda, Mardan, Nowshera, Swat, Lakki Marwat and other districts.

Most of the roads in Peshawar, including Ring Road, motorway, Charsadda Road, Namak Mandi Road and Dalazak Road, remained closed for hours as charged protesters shouted slogans against the Awami National Party and Pakistan People’s Party.

The situation on the Ring Road became tense when some protesters and police exchanged fire when the latter tried to open one lane of the road leading to Hayatabad. Residents of various localities placed boulders in the middle of the roads from 7am till mid-day.

Announcements were made from mosques in various localities urging people to come out and raise voice against the government’s apathy in Ramazan.

Addressing a press conference in Peshawar, ANP’s provincial chief, Senator Afrasiab Khattak, said the party would hold a conference of political parties on Aug 9 and call a special meeting of the provincial assembly to develop consensus on the issue.

The massive protest demonstrations and prolonged breakdowns, he said, were tarnishing the image of the government and it would be a bad omen for the federation.

He criticised the ‘centralised policy on electricity’.

In Landi Kotal, tribesmen took to the streets and doctors observed a token strike to register their anger against prolonged loadshedding and acute shortage of water in the area.

Sultankhel and Nekkikhel tribesmen blocked the Peshawar-Torkham highway for several hours.

Last night I was in the middle of doing my assignment when the power went out and I was doing it on my laptop so although an inconvenience I thought I could just carry on. However I then realised that I couldn’t log onto the internet as the WI FI was no longer connected, and had difficulty reading the couple hundred books (I exaggerate of course) under candle light. So eventually I put off doing my assignment till the power came back on, which was the next day only. The fact that I waited for the electricity to be on before I carried on with what I wanted to do made me realise how dependant I am and I’m sure everyone else in the world on electricity. However this is not news to South Africa as we can all remember the dark ages when load shedding became part of our normal everyday lives, and when the power went out last night it was like a flash back to then. This was just a brief power outage but try to imagine life without electricity (which would be hard as we only know life with it).

Source:  http://www.urdusukhan.com/2012/06/hafiz-muzafar-mohsin-article-be-shak-dramay-baz-thay/

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However, the apex court in the NICL contempt case has again issued notices to former DG FIA Malik Muhammad Iqbal and former Secretary Establishment Rauf Chaudhry. Further hearing in the case has been postponed for three weeks.

Three member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was informed by Director Legal FIA that about the money transferred in the accounts of Moonis Elahi and his wife, money laundering or any other crime could not be established. There is Money Laundering Act in the country but so far Pakistan has not signed any accord with any country regarding money laundering.

The Chief Justice observed that money coming from abroad runs the economy of the country and money coming from abroad should not be stopped.

Postponing the hearing of the case, the court ordered the FIA that on the next date of hearing, report about recovery in the NICL case should be submitted while the court has again sought reply from the parties on the Justice (retd) Ghulam Rabbani Commission Report.

I’ve always said that if I had to choose, I’d choose no electricity over no water. I’d like to amend that to I’d choose to have lights though before Daniel’s bedtime (you try getting a little person ready for bed in the dark)….although I must say when you have a little person in the house neither is ideal.

I must say during the ” we-are-not-load-shedding” load shedding we’ve had the past few night I have become even more aware and grateful for how easy the Ginger is: I’m grateful that he’ll eat anything. Hot, cold, lukewarm. I’m also grateful that we have never heated his bottles so his evening bottle or early morning one is not an issue.

The load shedding is also a blessing in disguise in that it slows one down and takes you out of the rat race and noise that comes with TV’s etc. It also turned Daddy Abs into a magician as he made shapes on the compactum in place of Dan’s bedtime story.

And finally it’s a gentle reminder of how bloody cold this winter is and makes one lend a thought to those not so fortunate to have 4 albeit cold walls around them.

Time to sign off and turn our King bed into a queen as I snuggle over to daddy abs’s side to get some warmth and much needed zzzzz’s before we get woken by the inevitable brights lights we’ve forgotten on!!!

For quicker augmentation of the faulty distribution mechanism often blamed for blackouts in the state, the state power department is shifting its focus to a comparatively new type of power sub-station that takes half as long to build as a conventional one.

A gas-insulated substation (GIS) can be ready in about six months, while its conventional counterpart ~ an air-insulated sub-station (AIS) ~ takes a year. Given this, GIS sub-stations are considered an ideal option for West Bengal, where citizens often suffer power cuts despite surplus generation.

“Our present power-generation capacity is 4,933 megawatts and the average peak-hour demand is pegged at around 4,500 megawatts,” said state power minister Manish Gupta.

“Going by our assessment of the demand scenario, we are capable of meeting the further increase in demand for at least the next year. But despite this, people in the state are sometimes witnessing power cuts and low voltage because of lapses in the distribution mechanism,” he said.

“To address this problem, we have decided to streamline the supply network and construct more 33/11 kV power sub-stations as soon as possible. For this, we have asked the state-owned power distribution companies to go for GIS sub-stations, which become ready in six months and are also more efficient,” he said.  At present, the state has only one GIS sub-station ~ a 400 kV version at the Purulia Pump Storage Scheme. In the 2012-13 fiscal year, the power department has set a target of constructing 18 new 33/11 kV substations.  Work has already started on a GIS sub-station for the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd at Barrackpore in North 24-Parganas. Two more GIS substations are being constructed by the West Bengal State Electricity Transmission Company Ltd at Bagnan in Howrah and in Murshidabad. Another is planned for Cooch Behar.

To the advantage of the power department, a GIS sub-station needs only a quarter of the land required for an AIS substation.  “This is because, in an AIS sub-station, the busbars and equipment terminations are installed in an open ground with specified gaps in between and this increases the land requirement,” a senior power department official said.

“Whereas, in the case of a GIS sub-station, all major equipment ~ such as isolators and breakers ~ is housed in a compact metal case with sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) gas playing the role of the insulating medium. This reduces the land requirement by about three-quarters,” the official said.

While about one acre land is needed for a 33/11 kV AIS substation in the state, the GIS sub-station requires only 25 decimals. The cost of building a GIS sub-station, however, is higher (Rs 5 crore), than the cost of building a conventional AIS sub-station (Rs 4 crore).

(The author is on the staff of The Statesman, India. This piece first appeared in The Statesman on 16 July 2012.)

A sector-wise analysis showed negative growth in exports of all products of textile and clothing sectors except raw materials. – File photo

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s export of textile and clothing dropped 9.961 per cent in the first 11 months of the current fiscal year due to weak demand from recession-hit key markets Europe and US.

The exports proceeds from these sectors fell to $11.273 billion in July-May period this year from $12.472 billion over the corresponding period of last year, suggested data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics released on Wednesday.

Last year exports from textile and clothing sector crossed $14 billion. For the current fiscal year, the government has projected a target of $16 billion.

But textile people estimate that export proceeds would hardly touch $13 billion-mark by end June 2012.

As a result of poor performance of the textile and clothing sector, overall exports also fell 3.37 per cent to $21.500 billion in the July-May period as against $22.388 billion over the corresponding period last year.

The government has projected an overall export target of $25.8 billion, which doesn’t seem achievable in the last one month of 2011-12.

Officials said that crisis in the Eurozone and stiff competition in textile products from China, India and Bangladesh in the international market also causes decline in export proceeds from the country.

Local manufacturers of raw materials and value-added sectors have already projected a 25 per cent drop in export
to Europe alone due to debt crisis.

Contrary to this, over 6.03 per cent decline was also witnessed in terms of rupee despite depreciation of rupee against the dollar in the past few months, indicating that the fall in the health of rupee did not support Pakistani textile and clothing products to penetrate in the international markets.

A sector-wise analysis showed negative growth in exports of all products of textile and clothing sectors except raw materials.

At the same time, there was a 9.63 per cent decline in import of machinery in the value-added sector to increase quality and capacity of production. This indicates that local manufacturers were also not expanding their production capacity.

Product-wise details showed that export of raw cotton increased 31 per cent because of high demand for cotton, especially in China following a ban by Indian government on cotton exports. Also export of tents, canvas were up by 101.75 per cent during the period under review and other textile materials 4.77 per cent, respectively.

The export of readymade garments declined by 6.45 per cent, knitwear 13.19 per cent, bedwear 15 per cent and towels 9.51 per cent during the period under review. And export of cotton yarn declined by 19.89 per cent, cotton cloth 3.13 per cent, cotton carded or combed 61.58 per cent and art silk declined by 15.9 per cent during the period under review.

Do you know what the average Pakistani thinks?

1. When are we going to get rid of load shedding and when are we going to have surplus electricity?
2. When is the corruption going to end in all the different departments of the government?
3. When are we going to have politicians and leaders that really work for us and don’t steal from us?
4. When are the drone attacks going to end and when will the American troops go home?
5. Why do the Americans hate us?
6. When is it going to be safe to go out and not fear being blown up by a bomb?
7. When is it going to be safe to go out and not be kidnapped for ransom?
8. When will we have a police that really works for us and stops crime instead of abetting crimes?
9. When will we have enough jobs that pay well so that every person gets three meals a day?
10. When are we going to have surplus wheat, rice, and other commodities, at reasonable prices, without those being exported abroad?
11. When will all the different religious sects stop their infighting and work towards unity?
12. When can we get milk that is pure and without water and thickening agents?
13. When will it be possible to own a home, a motorcycle, a car?
14. When will every Pakistani have access to healthcare that is cheap, affordable, and reasonably good?
15. When will we all have access to good, affordable education?
16. When will we get rid of pollution?
17. When will we get rid of trash?
18. When will we get rid of Al-Qaeda?

And last but not least 16) When will I start feeling proud of being a Pakistani?

Commenter Safdarprime says, ”when will i get up and actually do something”

Commenter Sheenmeem says, “When will Pakistanis stop burning offices and vehicles (of other people and not their own), destroying street lights and stop committing acts of vandalism?”

We have a cat, Cherie. She is a Siamese. THE BEST DAMN THING EVER.

Anywho, in her previous adventure during her heat sesh, she encountered a tom cat. Now he is very cute, but  I didnt want Cherie to go and.. You know..

Im guessing she did, otherwise why would she be acting the way she is? She has started sitting in an enclosed box, purring and meowing more than before, and her stomach area is pretty sensitive. Now that my exams are coming up, I dont know how I will take care of her!

Speaking of exams, I havent studied since morning! There’s a bunch of course-work to go through and I have less than three months!! Let’s hope it turns out fine.

Meanwhile, the electricity outages here in Pakistan are murderous. It doesnt even come back for a whole hour, before leaving us in a blackout all over again. Because of that are bills are ridiculously low, though.. Equivalent to $5, which is insane. But oh well, they cant expect us to pay for something we havent even used, can they? Even though I would not be surprised if they came knocking on our door asking for money for just that! But the worst part about all this is that people who work are out of work since there is no electricity to run their machines. As if Pakistan’s industry was flying high, this is going to further destroy any hope we had of regaining.

BTW, not a big fan of Burma’s Daw Suu.. Nor her speech.. More on that later!

The local people have demanded of the government to provide solar panels to the mosques, hujras, schools and tube wells without charging any fee keeping in view the high ratio of poverty in the tribal areas. – File photo

LANDIKOTAL: Load shedding and absence of light have compelled the tribal people in Landikotal to resort to buying solar panels to compete with the scorching heat in the area.

The solar panels as alternate energy can surely meet the needs of light and to run the small plastic made fans ,but cannot work at night time to force the mosquitoes to flee, as a result of which the malaria malady is increasing day by day in Landikotal and the far off areas.

People who have also the facility of UPS inverter and battery, avoid suffering at night time, but the have-nots are not in a position to buy the solar panels to meet energy crisis. Tribesmen are disappointed with government and Wapda authorities that they would not do them any justice with regard to the fair provision of electricity so that they could meet their domestic needs of water etc.

“We are selling solar panels on daily basis from seventy to hundred, which shows that the source of the alternate energy from the sun through the glasses have proven useful”, a shopkeeper told.

The solar panels are of various qualities, which carry different prices from ten thousand to thirty thousand, the shopkeeper said, adding that most of the people bring the panels from Afghanistan because of its good quality and cheap rates.

APA Landikotal Khalid Kundi has said that more than hundred solar panels have been provided free of cost to the dwellers of Bazaar Zakha Khel, which is a very far flung area and the most affected one.

Solar systems would also be provided to run the tube wells in various areas of Landikotal to overcome water shortage, he added.

The local people have demanded of the government to provide solar panels to the mosques, hujras, schools and tube wells without charging any fee keeping in view the high ratio of poverty in the tribal areas.

They have expressed disappointment over the discriminatory and unfair attitude of the Tesco authorities for depriving them of the fair distribution of power. People have also asked the health officials to conduct anti mosquitoes spray in Landikotal so that malaria could be controlled.

While showing satisfaction over trade liberalisation process between India and Pakistan, the World Bank chief economist cautioned that there would be a win-win situation for both the countries.

KATHMANDU: As talks on trade liberalisation between Pakistan and India entered a new phase of regional integration, the World Bank has offered Pakistan to carry out a feasibility study on proposed import of 500MW electricity from India to help the country overcome power load-shedding.

The technical studies on the project would be completed within 36 months, says World Bank Chief Economist for South Asia Kalpana Kochhar, while addressing selected journalists at a workshop on regional cooperation, organised by the World Bank here on Tuesday.

The chief economist elaborated further that the bank would take 18 months on conducting technical studies, including prices issue, while the remaining 18 months would be required for actualising the project.

Asked about details of the implementation of the project, she just said through a video conferencing from Washington that the transmission line would be spread on short distance. However, the chief economist said she did not have enough technical information regarding cost of transmission line on per kilometre basis.

However, her colleague Diep Nguyan-Van Houtee, Senior Operation Officer WB South Asian region, told journalists that Pakistan has formally requested the World Bank for multi-million dollar assistance for importing 500MW electricity from India.

The import of electricity was so important for Pakistan, as Ms Diep in the presentation pointed out that power load-shedding in Pakistan led to laying of jobs for more than 400,000 people. However, she said that this would be the approximate figure and could be on the higher side.

The project doesn’t seem to help the energy starved country in the immediate future, but it would help in the long term to overcome the growing demands.

However, the country has enough water resources to build demands on her own but there is no political will for that.

Pakistan would be the second country after Nepal in the region to get assistance from the World Bank on import of electricity from India.

This clearly demonstrates moving in a direction to develop energy sharing within the region.

While showing satisfaction over trade liberalisation process between India and Pakistan, the chief economist cautioned that there would be a win-win situation for both the countries. She said there would be some stumbling blocks, who will lose in the short term because of trade liberalisation. Asked whether the World Bank is involved in promoting bilateral trade between Pakistan and India, she said the Bank has not been requested for involvement at any stage in trade negotiations by both the countries.

“We are just observers”, she said, adding the bank has already done various technical studies on potential of bilateral trade between the two countries.

But at the same time, she cautioned that there must be some losers in the trade liberalisation process on both sides. To cope with such issues, she suggested establishment of a fund for compensating losers because of trade liberalisation. She said such funds exist for losers because of trade liberalisation within the European Union member countries.

Asked whether the bank is considering such funds for Pakistan and India, she said there was no consideration at the moment.

However, she said, “We are studying how and which mechanism can be offered just for our understandings at the moment.”

The chief economist said striking agreements on trade could not help to achieve the desired results until governments offer facilitation and promoting border trade.

“This is not enough to just have trade agreements. We have to work on facilitation and logistics,” she said.

The World Bank is putting a lot of emphasis on trade facilitation and transportation.

She said that Pakistan and India are considering other land-routes beyond the Wagha border point.

On the other hand, the World Bank has started technical studies to find out how much regional integration can lead to poverty alleviation in the region. However, she said according to the bank recent studies poverty is concentrated in landlocked and bordering areas of South Asia.

Asked whether there would be any possibility of reversal on trade front between India and Pakistan, she said the involvement at higher level shows that it would go forward and lead to more trade between the two countries.

Vikram K Chand, senior public sector management specialist at the World Bank in New Delhi, talked about right to information access laws. The bank, he said would provide technical assistance to countries in the region which are eager to implement the right to access to information laws.

Joyti Malhotra, an Indian journalist, Pramila Acharya Rijal of Saarc Chamer of Women entrepreneurship and Rohan Samarajeewa also spoke.

News Jamaat e Islami Faisalabad 07-06-2012

Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif.—File Photo

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Saturday said the first priority of government bodies should be the restoration of peace in the country, DawnNews reported.

Speaking to media representatives, he said that peace would automatically lead to greater employment opportunities.

Criticising the Pakistan People’s Party-led government at the centre, Shahbaz said millions had been looted from the country in the past four years.

The country’s problems could only be resolved by voting out the current government, he said.

The provincial chief minister said that standing by the people while they suffered from load-shedding was a decision of the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N).

The federal government’s corruption has led to the issue of circular debt, Shahbaz said, adding that the people had been deprived of their livelihoods.

The chief minister said that if the country’s wealth was recovered from corrupt leaders and officials, the country’s power crisis could be resolved in a period of 24 hours.

He said people had been driven to a point where they wanted employment and electricity over democracy.

The Jor bagh metro station wears an elite look much like the colony it leads to

Your address tells of your taste in saris, your holiday preferences, your cultural inclinations, your tenor of spoken English and which nationality of spouse your children will take three decades into the future. It’s a jungle of possibilities, some red herrings too – your address.

In recent years, added to all this, your address has a summer significance. How much load shedding you will be abjected to? So, Sujan Singh Park and Pandara Road will pretend they live in NYC – all power and no break!

Green Park and Safdarjung Enclave will arm themselves with generators and inverters and hope they have arrived in power-packed paradise.

Jor Bagh lies in between the two categories – geographically and status-tically. The electricity stays long enough to belie all middle class claims conscientious Jor Bagh residents might want to make; it goes off often enough to make them sweat from their extra-middle class exertions. Inverters are passé, but generators are seen as an environmental menace. The average Jor Bagh resident is a silent, well-educated, well-aware but very definitely upper-crust Indian who inhabits a global dashboard of opportunities and accomplishments.

This summer Jor Bagh is experiencing power cuts. Load shedding, it is called. They are taking it in their stride. “There is not enough electricity to go around..” they exclaim with a patient shake of the head. Water pumps and fans are dutifully switched off. “… Save energy…it will worsen in the coming years..” They know future trends – they read. No, they will not exchange their inverters for that noisy animal – the generator. Not yet! They must carry their part of the load – of being a Delhi-zen, staying on in Delhi in preference to a European sojourn, during the summer months.

एउटा पत्रकारले राजेश दाई लाई सोदेछ

पत्रकार - “दादा, लोड शेडिङ्को बेलामा के गरेर बस्न्नु हुन्छ ?”

राजेश दाई – “के हो त्यो भनेको ?”

पत्रकार- ” दाई जोक नगर्नुस न । बत्ती गाएको बेलाम के गरेर समय बिताउनु हुन्छ ?”

राजेश दाई – “लौ, नेपाल्मा बत्ती जन्छ र भनेको ?”

पत्रकार- ” हया, दाईको पनि जिस्किन बानी रैछ । नेपाल विद्युत प्रधिकारणले विद्युत कतौती गरेर हैरान छ, रात भरी अँध्यरो हुन्छ । दैको घरमा बात्ती जाँदैन र ?”

राजेश दाई (उठेर, फलाम्को हात देखाउँदै)- “हेय्य्य्य्य्य्, जुन घरमा मेरो डरले घाम त अस्तादैँन, त्यो घरमा बात्ती कात्ने कस्तो हिम्मत ?”

Although I’d like to write more, I’m sitting in a dark office on the campus of SRUJAN and don’t know how much longer
a. my computer’s battery will last and,
b. my eyes can stand to stare at a computer screen in the dark.

So this will have to be a short and sweet post, bringing you up to date on my latest adventures in India.

I haven’t posted in awhile, which means you know nothing of the religious ceremonies that I witnessed during my last stay in Mulgavan. Nor have you heard about how I met merchants who were promoting their Bt cotton seeds by walking around Mulgavan and leaving pamphlets and flyers on the steps of farmers’ homes. I recently watched Bitter Seeds, Micha X. Peled’s last installment in a trilogy about globalization. The documentary is about cotton farmer suicides in India. In one scene merchants from the same seed company come to the town that the documentary takes place and hand out a pamphlet that looks almost identical to the one that Radhika and I received from the Ankur seeds representatives. The beauty of living in Mulgavan and doing my fieldwork at all hours of the day and night is that at 7:00p.m. when the light is fading and I’m writing in my journal about the day, seed merchants wander up to me. These are the people who provide farmers in Vidarbha with 99% of the information they have about farming. And guess what? 100% of the time their advice is buy our product. Hmm…

I’ve spoken with nearly a dozen different farmers. Most of them own around 5 acres of land. Every single one of them borrows money in order to buy seeds and all the other necessary inputs for farming. Some of them borrow from local self-help groups. Some of them borrow from banks, private and government. And many of them borrow from private moneylenders. Every farmer who borrows from private moneylenders pays a 50% interest rate on their loan. 50%! (When I mentioned this to the Ankur seed salesmen, they said no, I must be mistaken. The highest interest rate they’ve heard of is 25% (still awful!). As they were leaving, one of them mentioned that his father is a money lender. Figures.)

I made a list of highlights from the field to post on my blog, but I forgot the notebook with said list in my room and in order to retrieve it I’d have to go down two flights of stairs, jump from the building to the ground (about a four foot drop), walk several meters, duck under some barbed wire, and then riffle around in the dark for said notebook. Ah, the adventures that load-shedding (i.e. government power cuts) lead to. Any ways. There are more highlights. But for reasons previously noted, they will remain in my notebook until another time.

Last week I took a break from the field (and the heat!) and visited friends in Pune and Mumbai while also sorting out visa stuff at the Foreign Regional Registration Office. Although I didn’t get an extension for as long as I’d hoped for, I am officially allowed to stay in India until August 31. I’ll be headed back sometime in August to try to get another extension through March 2013. We’ll see.

I’m learning so much about this region and cotton farming. Stepping away from Eastern Maharashtra for a week or two was a great way to remind myself of this. On the train back to Nagpur the evening light illuminated farmers finishing their day’s work in their field, boys playing cricket, cows wandering back home across land that was not nearly as hot and dry as the land where I have been for the last 3 months. Farmland in Western Maharashtra looks happier—greener, more abundant, more dependable. The fields were covered with crops in mid-season or ready for harvest, crops that can’t grow in the dry summer months of Vidarbha save for on a few rare irrigated fields . Corn fields. Sugar cane.

I made it back to Nagpur yesterday morning and this morning took the bus to Pandharkawada. Tomorrow morning Radhika will join me and we’ll head back to Mulgavan. I’m beyond excited. The farmers are busy buying seeds (and borrowing money). The season is beginning! The rains will come in a week or two. Hopefully sooner rather than later. It’s hot. I’m looking forward to the cooler days the rains will bring! Until next time…