Pages: 3 profit.com.pk Wednesday, 01 February, 2012

Index ends flat after top stocks restrictbenchmark movement Page 03

ISLAMABAD

AMER SIAL

I nSTeaD of passing on the impact ofbumper sugar production to the consumers,the benign government decided to facilitatethe wealthy sugar millers by allowing exportof 100,000 tonnes of sugar that will help

retain the sugar prices at the last year level of Rs70per kg from the current prices of Rs45 per kg. Thedecision was made by the economic CoordinationCommittee (eCC) of the cabinet, chaired byFinance Minister Dr abdul hafeez Shaikh.eCC has already allowed procurement of 478,000tonnes of sugar directly from the sugar millers.Pakistan is expected to produce a record fivemillion tonnes of sugar this year as compared toaverage yields of three million tonnes per year.The procurement by public sector will help thegovernment to maintain strategic sugar reservesfor the current year.an official source said the decision of eCC willonly help the millers as allowing export will helpthem manipulate the market in the later part of thecurrent year, when the demand for sugar picks upin the summer season. This will also be electiontime and official control over the cartel will bedifficult to maintain. The source said that eCC also expressed concernover the delay in the payment of sugar millers by

the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP). SinceChairman TCP was not present in the meeting,eCC directed him to apprise the Cabinet Divisionand Finance Division on daily basis about thepayments made to millers.a statement issued after the meeting said eCCallowed export of 100,000 tonnes of sugar. Thedecision was taken after a detailed review of thesugar situation in the country. eCC hadconstituted a committee under the chairmanshipof Minister for Textiles Makhdoom Shahabuddin,to examine the export of sugar and submit itsrecommendations. It recommended export of200,000 tonnes of sugar on first come first basispurely through the private sector. eCC had adetailed discussion on sugar situation from theline ministries which maintained that the left overstocks from last year were 900,000 tonnes, andthe current crop is expected to yield recordproduction of around 4.5 to 5 million tonnes.Taking annual consumption of 4.2 million tonnes,expected surplus would be around 1.5 milliontonnes. however, it is important to mention thatthe Ministry of Industries has estimated last yearthat the domestic sugar consumption had declinedto three million tonnes per annum due to theinflationary sugar prices. The government hadimposed a ban of sugar exports in 2009.While allowing export of sugar, Finance Ministerdirected the concerned ministries to ensure that

no single party alone benefited and modalities forthe export be finalized in coordination with theState Bank of Pakistan.eCC also discussed the request of the PakistanCotton Ginners association already made to thePrime Minister for procuring 1 million bales ofcotton lint at price of Rs6500 per bale. It wasnoted that only a small stock of cotton that is lessthan 10 per cent of overall production of 14million bales was lying with the growers. It wasdecided that any intervention in such a situationwas not prudent for cotton market as well as thegrowers. The meeting decided that the policy offree market should continue and let market forcesdefine the prices of cotton in the country. It maybe mentioned here that the Karachi Cottonassociation (KCa) and all Pakistan Textile Millsassociation (aPTMa) have also opposed thegovernment intervention in the cotton pricemechanism. The source said eCC deferred asummary of the Ministry of Water and Powerseeking imposition of 16 per cent GST on thehydro electric power sector. he said that thecommittee was completely confused on thepresentation made by the Power Ministry andministers were not able to comprehend the needfor imposition of levy. It was decided that theChairman Water and Power Developmentauthority (WaPDa) would be called to brief thecommittee on the issue in the next meeting.

ECC facilitatesmillers, jacksup sugar prices Committee expresses concernover delay in payment ofsugar millers by TCP

Govt borrows 142pcmore from banks

KARACHI

ISMAIL DILAWAR

The funds-starved government’sbudgetary borrowings from thebanking system, continued its

northward journey, and marked a massiveincrease of 142 per cent during last six andhalf months of the current financial year.State Bank reported Tuesday that during aperiod ranging from July 1 to January 20,the cash-strapped government borrowedRs777.393 billion from the central andscheduled banks. The amount shows anexorbitant increase of 142.24 per cent whencompared with Rs320.910 billion theresource-constrained federal andprovincial governments borrowed form thebanks during the corresponding period lastyear, FY11. In monetary terms thismammoth increase accounts for Rs456.483billion. Despite serious attempts by thecentral bank the regulators have not beenable to reduce the volume of its advances tothe government which during the reviewperiod accumulated to Rs182.581 billion,up 70 per cent or Rs75.43 billion fromRs107.144 billion of last correspondingperiod. The analysts from official andunofficial quarters deem the government’sborrowings from the State Bank as highlyinflationary as the central bank caters thegovernment’s monetary need through waysnot other than printing new banknotes.With central bank rejecting the impression,some analysts perceive that the SBP wasstill lending huge sums to the governmentindirectly through injecting liquidity in thebanking system where the risk-aversecommercial banks were extending thepumped liquidity to the sovereign borrowerinstead of crediting the same to the privatesector. On the other hand, the State Banksays the government was relying more onthe scheduled banks for its budgetaryneeds and borrowed over Rs595 billionduring the period under review. Duringsame period last year the banks’ advancesto the government stood at Rs 214 billion,which means the banks invested 178 percent or Rs 381 billion more in the risk-freeand heavily-weighted government papers,including Market Treasury Bills, PakistanInvestment Bonds and Ijara Sukuk. If notinflationary in nature, this trend, theanalysts fear, is crowding out the privatesector which is considered the engine ofgrowth to ensure sustainable and long-term development world over.

record highLPG prices hit

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

The February Saudi Aramco

Contract Price for LPG soared

to a record high of $1028 per

tonne yesterday. This

represents an increase of $142 per

tonne from the price of January 2012.

Local LPG Producer prices that are

indexed to the Saudi Aramco CP and

calculated on a 40:60 ratio of propane

to butane are expected to increase by

at least Rs15,000 per tonne to settle

at Rs107,000 per tonne with effect

from 3rd February 2012.

The resultant increase in prices will

translate into an increase of Rs177 for

domestic and Rs681 for commercial

cylinder. LPG retail prices could jump

as high as Rs155-160 per kilo

whereas the sale price for domestic

and commercial cylinders will increase

from Rs1650 to Rs1830 and Rs6356

to Rs7035 respectively.

“We urge the government to seriously

reconsider the imposition of the

petroleum levy on local LPG, which

could further escalate prices and

increase them by Rs28,000 per tonne

instead of Rs 15,000” said Belal

Jabbar, the spokesman for the LPG

Association of Pakistan.

On 16th January 2011 the federal

government imposed a petroleum

levy of Rs11,486 per tonne on LPG

production in order to increase its

price and equate it with that of

imports.

however, in order to avoid criticism

and public backlash state owned LPG

producers upon direction from the

Ministry reduced their prices by

Rs10,000 per tonne before adding the

levy of Rs11,486. The resultant

increase in prices was therefore

Rs1486 per tonne. however public

sector producers suffered a heavy

loss on account of reducing their

prices and will most likely not absorb

the impact of the petroleum levy in

February. The ultimate impact of the

levy will be borne by the consumer.

“LPG imports have plunged since the

imposition of the levy as local prices

have arisen to alarming levels said

Belal. Imports for December 2011

stood at 17000 tonnes whereas those

in January have been less than

12,000”. Almost 70 per cent of the

Local production is controlled by the

government of Pakistan through its

holdings in PPL, OGDCL, PARCO and

PPL. Furthermore 80 per cent of the

country’s requirement is met through

local production. “The imposition of

the levy is unjustifiable and is pure

discrimination against local

production” said Belal.

Imports for December 2011 stood at 17000 tonnes whereas those in Januaryhave been less than 12,000 tonnes

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news02Wednesday, 01 February, 2012

National Rabta Information Portal Serviceslaunched in Urdu LAHORE: Pakistan Telecommunication authority (PTa)believes that lack of local language content is one of themain hurdles behind the proliferation of broadbandinternet services in the country. Therefore, for thefacilitation of general public and internet users of Pakistan,Urdu version for national Rabta Information PortalServices of Pakistan (www.pakistan.pk) has been launchedon Tuesday, a single source facilitation web portaldeveloped by PTa, providing information and contentrepository to information seekers from within and outsidethe country at one place in Urdu language. STAFF REPORT

Descon ‘facing challenges proactively’LAHORE: CeO of Descon Chemicals Limited answeringto a question in the Corporate Briefing Programme at LSestated that the company is facing the challenges proactivelyand with the support of Descon Group, the company hasturned around even in difficult times. Mr Taimur Saeed, theChief executive of Descon Chemicals Limited wasaddressing the members, investors, analysts and mediarepresentatives at the Corporate Briefing Programmeme ofDescon Chemicals Limited and Descon Oxychem Limitedtoday at the Lahore Stock exchange. Mr Saeed presented adetail overview of the Companies operations and alsoshared future expansion plans. Speaking on the occasion,he said that the Descon Oxychem Limited (DOL) startedcommercial productions in December 2008 and in a shortperiod of about three years; the company is operating at101per cent capacity. STAFF REPORT

GCCI asks govt to open Iran immigration route KARACHI: President Gwadar Chamber of CommerceIndustry (GCCI) Mir naveed Kalmati asked thegovernment to open immigration route with Iran throughGwadar, besides, the government should also bring theBalochistan trade community into mainframe nationalaffairs to the province’s sea port operational growth, hereon Tuesday. GCCI president added that Reto Dero Roadconstruction should be completed on urgent basis to likeincrease transportation from the Gwadar sea port to otherparts of the country. Mir Kalmati said that Gwadar portcompleted the Urea operation successfully, dispatched 72thousand tonnes Urea to the other parts of the country, inthis operation the local clearing and shipping agents done100 per cent work and transporters also take goodadvantage, 500 truck of Balochistan were engaged and2000 people got the jobs, he added. Talking to group ofjournalist in local hotel GCCI President said “half millionreligious visitors went to the Iran”, if Pakistan’sgovernment open the immigration route with Iran throughGwadar this route is comfortable for visitors and also goodfor government. STAFF REPORT

US Consular upbeat about Pak prospectsLAHORE: Pakistan’s economy is going to take off in amatter of couple of years as misperceptions about thecountry are fast fading out. This was stated by USCommercial Consular Brian McClreary while talking toLCCI Vice President Saeeda nazar here at the LahoreChamber of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday. LCCIexecutive Committee Members Rehman Chan, ZeeshanKhalil, Tahir M Sheikh and Waqar ahmad Mian andformer executive Committee Member Ibrahim Qureshialso spoke on the occasion. US Commercial Consular saidthat there exists a vast potential in Pakistan to become adeveloped economy but it is only suffering because of lackof technology and the United states was keen and taking allpossible measures to remove the hurdles coming in theway of expanded Pak-US economic relations. STAFF REPORT

Lucky Cement profit up 107pc to Rs3.02bKARACHI: Lucky Cement Limited has outperformed itscompetition by recording 107 per cent rise in its half yearlyprofit for the year 2011-12. The company has declared a profitfor the half year, ending 31st December 2011, of Rs3.02billion which is 107 per cent higher than the correspondingperiod last year. The earnings per share (ePS) for thecorresponding period increased to Rs9.33 against an ePS ofRs4.52 of corresponding period last year. The company’sgross profit increased by 46.55 per cent during the half yearas its net sales revenue improved by 27.82 per cent to Rs15.37billion against Rs12.03 billion of last year. STAFF REPORT

Privatisation Commission to speed up SPO ISLAMABAD: Privatisation Commission Board onTuesday decided to accelerate the Secondary Public Offering(SPO) of Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) while it wasinformed that five parties were pre qualified for theprivatization of the national Power Construction Company(nPCC). The meeting was chaired by the Minister forPrivatisation Ghous Bux Khan Mahar. The minister directedPC to exercise utmost transparency at every phase of theprivatisation process of public sector entities for their valueaddition and to associate all stakeholders for their completesatisfaction in an open and fair manner. The board reviewedthe implementation status of the decisions taken in theearlier meeting and the progress of other various on goingand upcoming transactions. STAFF REPORT

KARACHI

GHULAM ABBAS

P ReSIDenT asif ali Zardari,has taken notice of the fi-nancial constraints of thecountry’s only “Under-

ground Coal Gasification” (UCG) proj-ect at Thar which is feared to collapseif the required fund is not released bythe government. Dr Samar Mubarak-mand, the project’s head, had recentlyclaimed that the country would be los-ing the entire work of the project madeduring last one year if the needed fundwas not released by both federal andSindh government. The president hasdirected the ministry of finance andother concerned authorities to hold ameeting to discuss the issue, sources atUCG project said.

Soon after the expected meeting inIslamabad, they claimed, the financialissues of the important project, whichhas successfully started producing gasby ignition of coal 600 feet belowground in December 2011 would be re-solved through releasing Rs5 billion forpurchase of machinery and other re-quired things. Through the UCG ofThar Coal the generation of 100 MW ofelectricity was expected by the end of2013 at a total cost Rs9.9 billion. ear-lier, to complete power generationphase of the project, Dr Samar had re-quested Prime Minister Yousuf RazaGilani to arrange immediate funding ofRs2.4 billion this year and the remain-ing 7.8 billion during the next financialyear so that the country can benefit

from the generation of 100 MW of elec-tricity before the end of 2013.

however, at least Rs200 millionout of the approved fund for the projectwas also yet to be released by provin-cial government. earlier two scheduledmeetings to be held in Islamabad todiscuss the funding issue of the projectwas postponed for unknown reasons.The previously postponed meeting wasto be held on January 16, among theministries of petroleum, finance andother concerned authorizes to discussand approve the financial require-ments of the UCG programmeme atThar, Sindh.

after over a month of the successfultest burn of Thar Coal through the UCGprogramme Secretary Coal and energySindh and Secretary Finance are alsoscheduled to visit the site of the projectat Tharparkar on Wednesday to test theproduced gas, they said. The pilot proj-ect, according to sources, has startedfacing the financial issue since the oilimporters’ lobby started lobbyingagainst the project raising variousquestions about the gasification pro-gramme in media. The powerful lobby,they said, was allegedly behind themove of creating financial problems tothe project which has proved a land-mark achievement of the country’s sci-entist through an ingenious design.

“When a very important break-through has occurred in Thar and coalgas is being produced there are peoplewho keep misleading the public by say-ing that gasification can only be possi-ble once the coal has been brought on

t h es u r f a c eafter mining,”they added. Inreply to a query,the sources claimed that the projectwas definitely commercially feasi-ble. Through the project at Block-5 of Thar Coal, at least 10,000megawatts of electricity was esti-mated to be produced generatedbesides producing 2000 barrel ofdiesel per day.

To a question, they said thatthe production of gas through theUCG programme was going on inUzbekistan, South africa and someother parts of the country. how-ever, the work on the same kind ofproject was halted in australia dueto the strong lobby of Methane.The country, can also obtain Car-bon Credit as there would be nocoal on surface through the UCGbesides making no noise at theside. The only Block-5 (64 Sqkm)of Thar allocated for the gasifica-tion project could meet the energydemands of the country for over 30years as it has the reserves of 1.4billion tonnes. The pilot project, ini-tially aimed to generate gas for pro-ducing 100 megawatts, was now alsobeing planned to be extended fromthe approved 18 to 84 gasifiers. DrSamar led team has also approachedthe government for arrangement of$1.2 billion fund for the 84 gasifiersaimed to meet expected demand of2200MM cft by 2015.

KARACHI: Pakistan has become thesecond largest importer of the usedclothes as a backbreaking double-digitinflation in the country continues torender even the higher income groupsas cash-strapped. With purchasingpower of the inflation-stricken buyersconstantly decreasing, a four-year pe-riod ranging from 2006 to 2010 sawPakistan jumping five notches up tothe second position on the list of na-tion states importing the second-handcloths. Russia happens to be theworld’s largest importer of wornclothing. The economic observersdeem the situation alarming sayingthis trend indicates two things: First,more people are going under povertyline in the country. Second, if the cur-rent inflationary climate persists thetextile manufacturers would see a

massive slump in the sale of their low-capacity productions. “This showsthat a major chunk of the people isgoing below poverty line and that thenew cloths have become unreachableeven for the middle income groups,”senior economist asfar Bin Shahidviewed. according to official figures,during last four years the imports ofworn clothing have been rising ro-bustly marking an upsurge rangingfrom 24 to 69 per cent. To cater theever increasing demand in domesticmarket, the country’s importers hadto increase the volume of their im-ports of used clothing from FY2008-09’s $18.272 million to $23.420million in FY2009-10 and then$29.014 million last year in FY11. Thisshows a respective increase of 28 percent and 24 per cent. ISMAIL DILAWAR

ISLAMABAD

AMER SIAL

A heated debate took placebetween theparliamentarians andofficials of the petroleum

ministry on Tuesday, withpoliticians demanding supply ofnatural gas to their constituencieswhile officials vehemently opposingthe demand saying that it is noteconomical, considering the historicgas shortage and poor rate of returnon investment in rural areas.Chairman of the national assemblyStanding Committee on PetroleumSardar Talib hassan nakai at theoutset expressed completedissatisfaction over thegovernment’s efforts in managingthe gas crisis. he said thegovernment’s load managementplan miserably failed, as were itsmeasures to expedite domestic oiland gas exploration. It failed tomake any progress on LnG and

LPG imports and committee wasnot taken into confidence on IranPakistan and TaPI gas pipelineprojects.Secretary Petroleum ejazChaudhary that the gas utilitycompanies incurred an expenditureof Rs250 billion during the last fouryears to expand the gasinfrastructure to less profitablerural areas, as the gas sale volumeonly increased by 1.7 per centduring the period. he said theincrease in gas prices wasnecessitated due to the guarantee of17 per cent return to gas utilitycompanies on their infrastructureeven though no increase in gas pricewas allowed to the producers.Criticizing his argument, Dr Donyaaziz of PML-Q said it was the basicresponsibility of the government toprovide affordable energy to thepeople. She said the people in ruralareas were paying all their tax onagriculture inputs and they shouldnot be sidelined in development.

MD of SnGPL arif hameed said thecompany was laying on the average5,000 km of pipeline every year forconnecting new villages and towns.he said already 13,000 km pipelineexpansion projects were pendingdue to lack of funds, which willrequire at least three years tocomplete. he said the governmentwas providing only 25 per cent ofthe cost for the parliamentarianschemes while the rest was beingborne by the company itself bygetting it financed at 14 per centinterest rate from banks.Countering the Secretary Petroleumstatement he said in fact they werelosing money instead of makingprofit from new supply schemes.SnGPL, he said was working onRs16 billion worth of projects whileRs18 billion were required forparliamentarians schemes. Whileanother Rs35 billion were requiredto develop new infrastructure forthe transmission of LnG and otherimport projects. he said the

domestic banking sector was not ina position to finance Rs50 billionworth of projects of the company. Members criticized that theconcerned officials totally failed toforesaw the gas shortages and didnot bother to plan to avert thecrisis, Secretary Petroleum said thatthe ministry was warning since2004 of imminent gas crisis if localoil and gas exploration was notexpedited and expansion in gasinfrastructure was not stopped,which ultimately resulted in a banon new CnG station in 2008.When Barjees Tahir of PML-nasked him to fix responsibility onofficials who granted illegal licensesduring the ban, he said top OGRaofficials were involved and thecommittee was alreadyinvestigating the issue. however, heaccepted that he was totallyhandicapped in implementing thegas load management plan due tothe pressure of the variousstakeholders.

MNAs asked to stop pressurising for rural gas provision

Pakistan 2nd on world’s worn-clothes importers listLAHORE: agri Forum Pakistan hasurged the government to import oilfrom Iran and export rice and kinnowunder barter system to save preciousforeign exchange as well as providingcheaper fuel to the Pakistani con-sumers. agri Forum Pakistan Chair-man Muhammad Ibrahim Mughal ina statement issued here Tuesday saidthat Pakistan would be able to deliverdiesel at the rate of Rs75 per liter in-stead of present rate of Rs104 perliter. about nine billion liters of dieselper annum is consumed in the coun-try and its cheaper provision wouldcut the cost of doing business by thetransport, factories and agriculturalsector, he claimed. Commentingupon increasing prices of petroleumproducts in Pakistan, MuhammadIbrahim Mughal said that our neigh-

bouring country India was importinga large part of its diesel requirementfrom Iran and Pakistan should followthis practice. he said India was pro-viding this diesel in Pak rupees atRs74 per liter and in Indian rupees atRs41 per liter. he said that Pakistaniswere consuming around nine billionliter of diesel per annum at presentrate of Rs104 per liter. ‘Pakistan gov-ernment can provide a facility of cutof Rs205 billion to Pakistanis by im-porting diesel from Iran and provid-ing it to its own consumers at the rateof Rs75 per liter,’ Mughal said. agriForum Chairman questioned that ifeurope and India could providecheaper fuel to its national by import-ing diesel from Iran then why Pak-istani was not following it to save ourpeople from inflation. STAFF REPORT

Agri forum for rice, oil barter with Iran

Financial constraints of Tharproject in President’s notice

PRO 01-02-2012_Layout 1 2/1/2012 4:35 AM Page 2

news

Wednesday, 01 February, 2012

03

CORPORATE CORNER

Ufone celebrates 11th anniversarywith great zeal and enthusiasm

ISLAMABAD: Ufone celebrated its 11thanniversary with great fervor and spirit, with thecommitment to remain the best cellular companyin Pakistan. Cake cutting ceremonies were held inoffices nationwide on 30th January 2012. Ufone’sCeO, abdul aziz congratulated the Ufone family onsuccessfully completing 11 years of achievement.he also said that “Ufone as an organisation is wellpositioned to realize the benefits of our majorstrategic growth investments and strongoperational execution. at the same time, we remainpassionate about positioning Ufone as the leadingintegrated telecom company in Pakistan providingone of the most affordable and variety of services inthe telecom market”. PRESS RELEASE

PTCL leads PTA’s 2011Broadband QoS surveyISLAMABAD: Pakistan TelecommunicationsCompany Limited (PTCL) is leading all operatorsin the country by providing to consumers thehighest quality Broadband Internet service,according to the second nationwide Quality ofService (QoS) 2011 survey conducted by PakistanTelecommunication authority (PTa). Released last week, the PTa survey places PTCL incategory a (more than 95%) at Lahore,Rawalpindi, Peshawar and Quetta, and in categoryB (more than 80%) at Karachi for the 1Mbps wire-line broadband service. The survey was carriedout in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta,

Rawalpindi/Islamabad and Muzaffarabad forcategories of 512Kbps and 1Mbps in both wire-lineand wireless broadband services offered bydifferent operators. The survey measuresoperators’ overall performance based on PTa’skey performance indicators (KPIs), includingservice availability, download and uploadbandwidth speed, round-trip time, and serviceretain-ability. PRESS RELEASE

Bashir Ahmad: A newbrand in textile launched

KARACHI: a new brand in fabric is ready to takeoff in Pakistan. In this connection a prestigiousceremony was held at a local hotel in Karachi.Distinguished guests including parliamentarians,eminent citizens, prominent personalities frombusiness, trade and industry and a large numberof media representatives attended the ceremonywith a great interest. On this occasion, a video wasscreened, Presenting the Objectives and Role ofBashir ahmad in years to come. Mr. Mohammadarif, CeO of the company, while talking to thenewsmen expressed his gratitude and highlightedhis Company's Plan to become a Preferred Choicefor Pakistani Consumers. Other Director of theCompany Mr. abdul awwal was also present onthe occasion. PRESS RELEASE

Warid partakes inLUMS annual career fairKARACHI: equal opportunity employer, WaridTelecom recently participated with the theme of

“Transforming Futures” at the LUMS Mega CareerFair recently held on Saturday, January 28, 2012.Warid Telecom’s Recruitment & Staffing teamprovided advice to students about the jobapplication process, requirements, eligibilitycriteria as well as the scope of career inTelecom Industry. Coaching Sessions for jobseekers were also held on this occasion,providing the graduating students with careercounseling. an incredible response wasreceived from the university graduates and finalyear students, who turned up in large numbersto explore career opportunities available withWarid Telecom. PRESS RELEASE

Kamal Limited announcesKamal Lawn by Élan 2012LAHORE In its first domestic initiative, KamalLimited will be introducing Kamal Lawn by Élan inan exclusive launch exhibition at 10-Q in Lahore on16th March, 2012. One of the premier home textilesexporters of Pakistan, Kamal Limited’s lawnventure with designer fashion label Élan is theirfirst local initiative which brings together twohighly regarded names in textile production anddesign respectively. With an aim to carve a nichefor itself in the Pakistani designer lawn market,Kamal Lawn by Élan is being introduced with stateof the art quality in cloth and printing, andattention to detail in design. Kamal Limited bringswith it six decades of experience in textilemanufacturing, having been established in 1950.Drawing design inspiration from Sub-continental,Central asian, Oriental and european aesthetics,Kamal Lawn by Élan presents a wide array ofdesigns in various geometric and floralpatternswith the diversity of both vibrant andpastel-based colour palettes. PRESS RELEASE

Samsung rewards its cameracustomer with an LCD TVLAHORE: Samsung electronics Company Ltd.,a global leader in Digital Media Technology,recently held a special Prize-Distribution

ceremony for the Samsung CamerasPromotional Offer in Lahore. Mr Zunair Sattarfrom Lahore was rewarded with a brand newSamsung LCD Television, as the first prize. Topromote the innovative, sleek and feature-richcameras by Samsung, a special consumerengagement initiative was launched.eachcustomer of Samsung Cameras was given aScratch-Card, which provided an opportunity towin fabulous prizes including a cutting edgeLCD TV. PRESS RELEASE

Mr. Aamer Manzoor, Director Sales Mobilink Infinity,giving away prize to a lucky winner of TombolaNight. PRESS RELEASE

KARAcHI: Mr.Abdul Qadir Aziz, Regional Manager -International of RaKairways, inaugurating Al HadiAviation Pvt Ltd office. Picture shows Syed AliImam, Syed Fazal Imam, Mr.Ajmal Zahidi countryManager, Mr. Rizwan Marchant, of Qatar Airways,and Mr.Rafiq Khan, of Bukhari Travels present onthe Occasion. PRESS RELEASE

Index ends flat after top stocks restrict movementKARACHI

STAFF REPORT

T he benchmark raced towards thenorth and kissed a level of 11,977level, but soon after selling in var-

ious top tier stocks restricted the bench-mark movement. Once again volumeslide to merely 60 million shares tradedwith top ten stocks generating 49 percent of the total volumes.

after the result announcement ofLUCK, FFC and FFBL investor jubila-tion has toned down to lower level whilestocks which are likely to declare theirfinancial results are still in the limelight.among the banking stocks, MCB outdidrest of its peers whereas the index heavy

weigh OGDC reached a high of Rs154.5per share, but soon after selling pres-sure pushed the stock price to close atRs152.4. We believe the result seasonmay continue to dominate the index

performance, said Bilal asif, head ofResearch at hMFS.

KSe 100 index closed at 11874.89levels with the loss of 8.12 points, whileKSe 30 index gained 2.44 points to

close at 11172.94 levels. all Share indexclosed at 8225.97 levels after losing 5.94points. Total 98 scrips advanced 117 de-clined and 115 remain unchanged out oftotal 330 scrips traded.

Zia-ul-Mustafa Awanelected President ICMAPLAHORE: national Council of the Institutehas recently elected Mr Zia-ul-Mustafa awanas President of the ICMaP for the period2012-2014. he is the youngest ever presidentelected by the institute’s council in its historyof more than 60 years. he has attained thisposition at the age of 37 years which is asymbol of emerging young leadershipparticularly in the professional institutionsand generally in the country. Mr Zia ulMustafa awan brings with him professionalexperience of over 15 years. he is a FellowMember of ICMaP and has served theInstitute in different capacities such ashonorary Secretary, Chairman Lahore BranchCouncil and Chairman Journal andPublications Committee. STAFF REPORT

Farmers urge govt to focus on research

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

PaKISTan is blessedwith the best possiblenatural resources andweather, but agricul-ture production of the

country is almost 40 per cent lessin comparison to neighbouringcountries in the region. Productiondeficiencies are results of ineffi-ciencies of research institutes andlack of government’s interest.

These observations were madeby Kissan Board Pakistan (KBP)

Central Vice President Sarfrazahmad Khan here on Tuesday. hewas speaking to the newly-electedoffice-bearers of the agricultureJournalists association (aJa), in-cluding President Munawar hasan,Vice President Sighbat UllahChaudhry, General Secretary RanaFawad and Finance SecretaryImran adnan. aJa former presi-dent Zahid Baig and other memberswere also present on the occasion.

Khan pointed out that in allmajor crops Pakistan’s productionwas lowest in the region. In sugar-cane, he indicated, through re-search and good farming practicesvarious countries in the region hadachieved production level of 1,200to 1,500 maund per acre, whereasPakistan was hovering between500 and 600 maund per acre.

Similarly, region was produc-ing 50-60 maund wheat per acre,

while Pakistan was getting a yieldof 27-30 maund per acre. however,a few big farmers were touchingthese levels in the country too,which indicated the Pakistan hadsimilar potential. elaborating hispoint, Khan said that nearly 86 percent farmers in the country had12.5 acre or less land holdings,which did not have access to re-search and modern technology.Only a small percentage of big andinfluential farmers did have knowl-edge and access to modern re-search, he maintained.

KBP vice president under-scored, “agriculture is and will re-main the base of national economy,as the country is surrounded on theprime land in the region.” The gov-ernment should understand thatPakistan was located on an areathat was rich with agriculture andmineral resources. But, Pakistan

could never exploit this potential ofvisible and invisible natural re-sources, he lamented.

Lack of interest on the part ofthe state machinery had createdsocio-economic imbalance in thesociety. With better planning thiscrisis like situation could easily beconverted into an opportunity. “Ifgovernment maintains its focus onagriculture, the country’s exportscan be multiplied, ample employ-ment opportunities can be gener-ate and food security will be noissue,” he underlined.

Criticising the role of researchinstitutes, Khan said that theseheavy headed institutes weremerely causing a loss to nationalresources. These so-called re-search institutes were not deliver-ing anything to agriculture orsociety, whereas the country wasbadly needed new research in al-

most all areas. he stressed that thecountry needed high-yield,weather and pest resistant vari-eties that could be produced withless water and it was only possiblethrough research. he urged thegovernment to pay due attentionto research and development.

Speaking on the occasion, KBPCentral Punjab PresidentChaudhry Manzoor ahmad high-lighted the issue of black marketingof agriculture inputs. he pointedout that though the governmentwas giving subsidy on urea, but thebenefit was not being passed tofarmers. Farmers were still gettingfertiliser at an exorbitant price ofRs1,600 to Rs1,700 per 50-kg bag.he indicated that mills were sellingurea at Rs1,600 per bag, but due toabsence price control middlemenwere making hefty profits throughblack marketing.

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