profit.com.pk

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Tuesday, 03 April, 2012

BeiJiNG’S recent choice ofavoiding US pressure andstepping away from the iran

pipeline notwithstanding, itsrelationship with Pakistan is uniqueindeed, primarily because thepolitical equation has been made torevolve around long termdevelopment arrangements. thosefamiliar with the six-decade longrelationship were neither surprisedby islamabad’s silence at the pulloutnor by the pleasantness at Boao,where the two sides committed toraising bilateral trade to $15 billion.truth be told, China is a far morevaluable resource for Pakistan thanthe other way around. the Chineseembrace of Pakistan comes not justfrom the latter’s role long ago as afacilitator in engagement with thewest. their’s hasn’t been a culturethat celebrates sentiment for sometime now. they realise wellPakistan’s geostrategic significance(hence the bridge-chapter), more sonow than ever, when the most potentthreat of the 21st century will eitherstem from or be contained by it. Apart from China, the PM’sengagement with delegations fromiran and Kazakhstan wereparticularly instructive. the iranpipeline is definitely on, whichmeans further engagement in energyprojects should follow. But the offerof access to short sea routes toKazakhstan will gain a vitalreciprocal foothold in central Asia,which must partner with Pakistan onmore than just an economic level tocounter the challenges ahead. themenace of terror has alreadydeclared both a common enemy,with signs that their theatre of warwill spread further across thecontinent.in sum, while the government’sperformance on the home front findslittle praise, its position on SouthAsia seems far sighted and toPakistan’s benefit. the Chinesefactor is by far the most crucial. evenas it let discretion be the better partof valor in the iran pipeline specificfaceoff with America, it is ever readyto help friends in time of need, nomatter how tall the opposition. Wemust build on our uniquerelationship with China.

CoMMeNT

China’s

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

the Lahore Chamber of Com-merce and industry Mondaymade it clear that MFN Statusto india would be of little bene-

fit to Pakistan unless and until all Pak-istan-specific NtBs are removed and thecore issues are addressed.this was stated by the LCCi Presidentirfan Qaiser Sheikh while talking to apanel of experts including former Fi-nance Minister Shahid Javaid Burki,

former foreign Secretary tasnimNoorani and Dr Ayesha Ghous Pasha.LCCi Vice President Saeeda Nazar, for-mer Senior Vice President Yaqoob tahirizhar, former Vice President AftabAhmab Vohra, executive CommitteeMember Ahmad husnain, Vice Chair-man PiAF Nadir Kamal Usman and for-mer executive Committee MemberAmjid Ali Jawa also spoke on the occa-sion and gave their point of view on thisissue of national importance.irfan Qaiser Sheikh said given the sizeof the two economies and trade level,

indian firms are likely to gain muchmore than Pakistani businesses. this issimply about export competitivenessand level of readiness to participate ininternational markets. this is whereindia has advantage over Pakistan.the LCCi President said that in thepresence of core issues between the twocountries and multiple NtBs imposedby india, the desired results from open-ing up trade cannot be fully realized.this is a very serious challenge for boththe countries moving forward.irfan Qaiser Sheikh said there are nu-

merous conditions, Pakistani exportershave to meet in order to get the ship-ments cleared which include agriculturepermits, indian standard of quality, li-censing requirement for import of vehi-cles, textile specific barriers, health andsafety regulations and many more.the LCCi President said that complainof rigid application of Sanitary and Phy-tosanitary in india concerning food ex-ports as well as compliance withlabeling, testing and certification. it isbelieved that most of these restrictionsand requirements are Pakistan-specificwhereas we give much farer treatmentto indian exporters.it appears that for Pakistani exporters,the compliance with export documenta-tion, procedures and standards is madevery cumbersome and various compli-cations are fabricated during transitand at clearance stage. Pakistani com-panies exporting to india have oftenraised concerns over time consumingand excessively bureaucratic nature of

examination, appraisal, assessment andevaluation at indian Custom ports butno attention has been paid to that ex-cept promises.irfan Qaiser Sheikh said that it is theneed of the hour that indian businesscommunity should actively and effec-tively lobby their government to expe-ditiously alleviate fears of Pakistanibusiness that many NtBs on the in-dian side are Pakistan-specific. A com-prehensive review exercise of allperceived and real NtBs should beconducted with the private sector ofboth sides in the driving seat.Likewise both governments have a clearrole in harmonizing their respective cus-toms procedures and simplify compli-ance with safety and quarantinestandards. in this regard, both govern-ments need to work together to establisha modern infrastructure of special quar-antine centres and testing labs for com-pliance with safety standards at allborder crossing points.

LCCI’s MFN jibe # 173

KARACHI

ISMAIL DILAWAR

With little or no cash availablefor the growth-orientedprivate sector, the resource-constrained but highly paying

federal government would be borrowingover Rs 1 trillion from the risk-aversebanks during the fourth and last quarter ofcurrent fiscal year.the central bank reported Monday that thegovernment had set Rs 1.085 trillion targetfor its budgetary borrowings from thescheduled banks during April-June FY12.the just-concluded third quarter, January-March, had seen the State Bank auctioningthe heavily-weighted government papersto the tune of Rs 777 billion to cater thecash-strapped government’s ever–increasing budgetary needsAccording to the central bank’s pre-announced auction calendar, issuedMonday, during last quarter the funds-starved government would be borrowingRs 995 billion, Rs 50 billion and Rs 40billion from the banks, respectively,

through the sale of Government ofPakistan Market treasury Bills (MtBs),Pakistan investment Bonds (PiBs) andijara Sukuk.the economic observers call it a sort ofcyclical debt as the central bank, on onehand, is raising billions of rupees from thebanks for the government and injectingmammoth liquidity into the system on theother. First day of the week, Monday, sawthe regulator injecting a huge sum of Rs242.500 billion into the system where, theSBP believes, many of the small bankswould fail if it stopped pumping cash onweekly basis.the amount was injected at 11.55 percentrate of return through reverse repo openmarket operation.Of the total Rs 1.085 trillion targetedamount, Rs 30.668 billion and Rs 11.382billion would be raised as an additionalrequirement of the government.During the period under review, thecentral bank would be conducting sevenauctions to be conducted on 4th and 18thof April, 2nd, 16th and 30th of May and13th and 27th of June, respectively.

On theauction dates

the government has targeted to raiseRs 160 billion, Rs 200 billion, Rs 180billion, Rs 110 billion, Rs 140 billion, Rs120 billion, and Rs 85 billion, respectively.An additional amount of Rs 30.668 billionincludes the total money to be borrowedthrough t-bills auction.the auctions for selling Rs 50 billionislamic bonds, called ijara Sukuk inShariah-compliant banking, would beconducted on April 23 and June 20 to raiseRs 25 billion in each auction.“(the) maximum value of the asset underthe present issuance program of the ijaraSukuk is Rs 126.21 billion,” said the StateBank. Whereas the Rs 40 billion targetedagainst the sale of -3, 5-, 10-, and 20-yearPiBs would be raised in two auctions onApril 25 and May 23.Rs 20 billion is the amount rounded offtarget. Also, Rs 11.382 would be raisedadditionally of the total Rs 40 billion.the coupon rates for 3-, 5-, 10- and 20-year bonds has been set at 11.25, 11.50,12.00 and 13.00 percent, respectively.the economic observers are concerned asthe cash-strapped governments, both inthe center and provinces, are relyingalmost totally on the banks for cateringtheir ever-burgeoning budgetaryrequirements. While the banks; advancesto the private borrower is depleting theirinvestment in the risk-free governmentsecurities would be well above Rs 3trillion by the end of this financial year,June FY12.the analysts concern is that much of thebanking liquidity being sucked up by thecash-strapped government is being usedfor non-productive purpose: running ofthe government. this trend, they warn,would leave the private sector sans cashthus dealing fresh blow to thegovernment’s growth targets for FY12.

g Cash-strapped government eyes over Rs1tn bank loans duringQ4FY12 as SBP keeps pumping billions in system g Non productiveactivities (read running the govt) sucking up banking liquidity

Symphony of destruction

g Says MFN status to India is a disaster waiting to happen unless NTBs are removedg Claims core issues render trade realisation futile

PRO 03-04-2012_Layout 1 4/3/2012 12:29 AM Page 1

news02Tuesday, 03 April, 2012

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

It seems as if there is nothingas exciting as equities thesedays, since the dramaticchange of the investor’ssentiment took place after thefinance ministry’s nod to the

SeCP proposals relating to theCapital Gains tax reforms.Pakistani equities, with seemingly nobreather, set the volume numbersrolling with rapidly-changing tickercolors on the trading terminal screenproviding an eye-catching sight, saida report issued by investCapResearch Monday.“Market simmered with highliquidity levels during Mar-12 as allthe participants’ heads wereapparently sunk into exchangingmore and more number of stockswhich were on the go,” viewedKhurram Schehzad, the head ofresearch at investCap.in Mar-12 alone, he said, KSe100yielded 6.8 percent (6.1 percent inUSD terms), where equitiescontinued staying supercharged asthe average trading volumes of themonth stood up 26 percent MoM anda solid 42 percent YoY, to $77.9million while hitting multi-yearhighs in terms of share volumes.he said even the verbal resolve onCGt-concerning issues did the trick,which was yet to be endorsed by thePresident through the promulgationof the Presidential Ordinance that isto be added as the 8th Schedule tothe income tax Ordinance 2001).in this regard, Schehzad said, thedelay was already announced(implementation now was pushed tomid Apr-12 instead of Apr 1st’12)buying frenzy in equities continued,may be partly due to the periodending to show better quarterclosings by the institutionalinvestors.“the CGt-related proposals borefruits in the form of the return offoreign investors to Pak equities and

more participation of the retailand/or individual investors (asvolumes were more tilted towardssecond and third-tier stocks whotraded with low denominations),”said he.the Pakistani equities kept headednorthwards despite country’slingering macros chained with theon-going noise on the politicalcanvas and yet-to-recover relationswith the U.S. Further, better-than-expected corporate results could notmake it at a better time than this,extending investor’s joy furthersetting aside rising oil and cementprices that in fact benefited indexheavyweight companies.Cumulatively, KSe100’s 1QCY12(Jan-Mar12) return went through theroof with a whopping 21.3 percent(~20 percent in USD terms).encouragingly, Schehzad said, withthe persistently climbing index,Pakistan equities topped the AsiaPacific slot with eye-wideningoutperformance during Mar-12.in global perspective, Pak equitiesnot only stood above Asia Pacific’saverage returns but also globalaverages in Mar-12 with many anemerging market ending the monthin the red including the MSCiemerging Market index.Moreover, not only did KSe100substantially outperform itsbenchmark MSCi Frontier Marketindex (1 percent in Mar-12) with a fatmargin, but also the emergingMarkets (-3 percent in Mar-12) aswell as MSCi Developed (1 percent inMar-12) and World Market index (-0.1 percent in Mar-12). in addition,Jan-Mar12 quarterly returns also putPak equities amongst the top-notchequities market slot in the AisaPacific region.in the same vain, foreign flowsstrengthened further as Pak equitiesgained further traction in the AsiaPac region with enriching liquidityand persistent capital appreciation.in this regard, net inflows stood atUSD17.9mn in Mar-12 alone (excl.

off-market outflow of USD9.5mn onthe last trading day that resulted innet inflows of USD8.4mn in Mar-12)piling up the net YtD inflows toUSD26.3mn (USD16.8mn includingthe one-off), against a whoppingUSD5.1bn of inflows into the regionduring Mar-12, taking total inflowsto USD27.9bn YtD (USD14.3bn ofoutflows in 2011).the report shows significant returnsprovided by a mix of cements(DGKC, FCCL, LUCK), 2nd and 3rd-tier banks (FABL, BAFL, AKBL), andgas distribution (SNGP, SSGC), werethe most-yielding stocks amongstinvestCap Sample companies thatoutperformed the index during thereview month.Only a handful of bluechip banks,including MCB, ABL, UBL, andtextiles (NML) with few othersectors like Autos (PSMC) andinsurance (AiCL) were having thestocks that outweighed benchmarkKSe100’s returns in Mar-12.Amongst the top-5 scrips, FABLtopped the list providing asubstantial 37 percent MoM returnin a single month. this wasfollowed by AKBL (33 percentMoM), DGKC (30 percent MoM),FCCL (27 percent MoM) and BAFL(18 percent MoM). On a relativebasis, except for Cements, noheavyweight bluechip scrips couldeven catch up to the KSe100’sperformance in Mar-12.On the other hand, while FFBLperformed the worse amongstinvestCap Sample companies inMar-12 as well as in 1QCY12,eNGRO provided best returns at 39percent on a QoQ basis, followed byFFC (25 percent QoQ) and NBP (22percent QoQ). “Once again, continuity of the on-going rally is largely contingent tothe materialization of the saidOrdinance with respect to the newCGt regime while any stretch fromApr’12 may start cascading negativeimpacts on both volumes andreturns,” the analyst warned.

Remember

PESHAWAR

STAFF REPORT

B RAziLiAN Ambassadorto Pakistan Alfredo leonisaid on Monday therewas plenty of room for

improvement in bilateral tradebetween the two countries.Leoni said he was not here just topromote the commercialrelations between Pakistan andBrazil, but also to send a clearmessage that the embassy washere to help you in doingbusiness with Brazil or travelingto Brazil, a rising power in theworld.the ambassador was addressingexecutive members of KhyberPakhtunkhwa Chamber ofCommerce and industry(KPCCi).he said Brazil is the largestcommercial partner of Pakistanin Latin America. Leoni said onepositive thing is that Pakistan’sexport to Brazil reached almostby 80 percent during 2009 to2011i.e from $44 million to $80million. he said major Brazilianexports to Pakistan included

cotton, plastic, iron and steel andmajor Brazilian imports fromPakistan included textile items,surgical items, soccer balls etc.the ambassador said Brazil hadbecome a major internationalplayer and this was the reasonBrazil contributed $1.55 millionin cash to the flood victims inPakistan during the past twoyears.Leoni said Brazil governmenthad offered 5-year multiple visafacility to Pakistan businesscommunity and the Pakistangovernment had given a positiveresponse.he said customs clearance issuesbetween the two sides could bemutually settled to facilitatetraders.Leoni said Braziliangovernment was working withthe Pakistan government intechnical cooperation. he saidPakistan business communityshould project Pakistan in apositive manner to promotebusiness between the two sides.he said Brazil is the 8th biggestconsumer market, addingbusinessmen should visit theembassy website to register and

become a member of the biggestdatabase available in Brazilinvolving global tradingcompanies, market studies,information on fairs and tradeoffers.earlier, welcoming the guest,KPCCi President Afan Aziz saidBrazilian embassy in islamabadwas issuing visas to Pakistanibusiness for a period of 1-2months, suggesting the embassygive businessmen 5-year multiplevisas to facilitate them.Aziz requested the Braziliancustoms to relax procedure toallow Pakistani small traders tocarry samples to Brazil.he said Brazil is one of the majorcountries in tobacco productionand trade. Aziz said Brazil wasalso importing tobacco fromPakistan. he said tobacco tradevolume could be enhanced formutual benefit. Aziz said Brazilcould also help Pakistan inenergy sector particularlyhydropower. he suggestedbilateral ties between the twosides be enhanced. he assuredthe ambassador of chamber’ssupport in all fields.

SIALKOT

STAFF REPORT

P ReSiDeNt Sialkot Chamber ofCommerce and industry (SCCi) NaeemAnwar Qureshi has strongly criticized thedecision of the government to increase

petroleum prices by about 8 to 9 percent , thesecond highest increase in the country’s historyand stressed that the price increase must bewithdrawn immediately. the increase inpetroleum prices would add to the rising inflationand the cost of industrial production that isalready under pressure because of higherelectricity and gas charges.in a press release issued here today, SCCiPresident said that in case the petroleum pricesrise in the international market, the governmentshould itself absorb maximum impact byreducing taxes and duties to maintain thepetroleum price at the minimum level.expressing great concern, the SCCi Chiefnarrated that the people are already pushed tothe wall unable to bear the brunt of sky high oilprices. it is a killing blow but could be avoided ifthe government passes its profit to the people bydecreasing levies on petroleum products. hesaid that the only beneficiaries are oil marketingcompanies whose profit margins would increaseby making life miserable for the general public.this is being done at the cost of business, tradeand the people. he feared that not only thetransportation cost of goods would increase butfares of public transport would also increase

manifold. the increase is immenselydetrimental for business and industry asproduction price would go up and exports wouldsuffer badly. he said that there is immenseunrest among the people leading them towardsprotests and agitation, which must not beallowed to happen the only option beingwithdrawal of petroleum prices. Naeem Anwar Qureshi said that the petroleumprices are being increased every month to add tothe miseries of every citizen of Pakistan. Power isnot available and industry is hard pressed to useoil to run generators during long power layoffs.the President of Sialkot Chamber wondered whatoption has been left for the industry to produce,especially the export goods, which have to be sentto foreign customers as per predetermineddelivery time. he said that the ultimate effect ofthis draconic decision would be closure ofindustry, which will lead to flight of capital,massive unemployment and decline in therevenue of government. he said that it is timethat the government should extend best supportto the business and industry rather than to keepon raising petroleum prices, making life difficultfor the people of Pakistan. he urged theGovernment to immediately withdraw increase inthe prices of petroleum products to provide reliefto the people, to enable the industrial wheel tomove, and allow trade and business to sustain.he said that the business and industry is unitedand firmly stands with the people to do whateverpossible to force the authorities to withdraw thethunderbolt rise in petroleum price.

SAdIA ZAfAR BAIg

the recent wave of load shedding hascrippled the routine lives. Once againpeople associated with power sector

generally and PePCO particularly came undersevere criticism. there is no doubt that theduration of load shedding remained very highand every sector of our country suffered badly.A lot of criticism came from media andopposition parties and once again Pakistanelectric Power Company (PePCO) was givenevery bad name. No wonder, PePCO isresponsible for managing power needs of thecountry but one should keep in mind that thecompany has limited resources as compare tothe surging power demand. in these days,everyone criticized PePCO and hold protestsagainst outages but nobody tried to investigatethe reason behind the load shedding and justopen its guns towards PePCO. i am notdefending the PePCO or outages but wouldlike to share some facts and figures with thereaders and consumers so that they couldunderstand the problems being faced duringlast one month and decide what best couldhave done. in the recent one month, theproduction from hydel resources declinedsharply and there was at least 65 percent lesselectricity produced from these resources whileat the same time the supplies of oil and gaswere disturbed badly. in the current year theload shedding remained far high as compare tosimilar period in previous year. the samePePCO was operating even at that time. theonly difference was the available resources. theduration of load shedding in March 2011 wasfar less than current year. Last year in Marchonly two to three hours of load shedding wascarried and things were moving smoothly. thereason of this difference is hydel generation,which decreased sharply this year. Currently,

we are facing more than 5,000MW shortfall.the electricity shortfall in March 2011 hydelgeneration contributed around 5,500MW;iPPs and GeNCOs produced 7,500MW thusthere was around 13,000MW electricity was inthe system and the demand remained around14,500MW and shortfall around 1,500MW.But this year shortfall increased to 5,500MWwith hydel generation remained not more than2,500MW and iPPs and GeNCOs gave7,000MW while demand remained more than14,500MW. the hydel generation dropped andthere was clear drop of 3,000MW. At the sametime, the supplies of oil decreased to the powerplants resulting in further drop in electricitygeneration. everyone knows that water level atMangla and terbela dams is at dead level andit is due to late summer. the winter seasonremained long and continued till mid of Marchon the hilly areas and resolutely snow meltedlate and water level dropped in the dams.however, the water level will improve withwater coming after snow melt. Unfortunately,some media sections tried to give animpression as if PePCO higher-ups are leastbothered for the load shedding and people’smiseries. in fact, the reality is altogetherdifferent and the officials of the company triedtheir best to overcome the crisis and workedround the clock to overcome outages. the loadshedding in the coming days would decrease,as hydel generation would improve whilePePCO would also get oil supplies for powerplants. On the instruction of Prime Ministerthe oil supplies have been improved to powerplants and it is expected that Orient, Roche andLal Pir power plants would start productionthus giving 2,000MW electricity to the system.it is expected that shortfall would reduce andload shedding duration would also reduce.

The writer works at NTDC/PEPCO.

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

PAKiStAN industrial & traders Asso-ciation Front (PiAF) has demanded ofthe government to take concrete

measures to overcome the on-going energycrisis as the decisions in the energy confer-ence like closure of government departmentsand banks for two days in a week would nothelp in filling the gap between demand and

supply of electricity. in a press statement is-sued here Monday, Chairman PiAF SohailLashari said that forthcoming energy Con-ference would also prove useless as like asprevious ones. Government has to enhancethe power generation to salvage the sinkingtrade and industry. he said in the decisionsmade in the previous energy conferences hadswelled the woes of the business communityas they suffered badly due to two holidays inthe banks and government departments.

A March to Pakistan equitiestop regionalstocks in March

Reduction in hydropower generationand oil supplies resulting in outages

A word of advice from Samba-landg Brazilian Ambassador sheds light over enhancing trade with Pakistang Tobacco trade volume to be increased for mutual benefit

SCCI president not a big fan ofsoaring petroleum prices

PIAF reminds govt about the energy crisis

PRO 03-04-2012_Layout 1 4/3/2012 12:29 AM Page 2

news

Tuesday, 03 April, 2012

03

engro commits to a greener planet bycelebrating earth Hour

ISLAMABAD: engro Corporation and Fertilizers ina step to show solidarity with the global initiative toshowcase support for climate change and reduce envi-ronmental footprint celebrated the earth hour by or-ganizing a candle light vigil at their head office as partof Green Office initiative under the WWF umbrella.the earth hour was first initiated in WWF-Australiawhere Sydney-siders were inspired to show their sup-port for climate change action. in 2011, earth hour sawhundreds of millions of people across 135 countriesswitch off for an hour. engro as a responsible corporatecitizen also held this ceremony to highlight the graveclimate change issues that continue to have long termimpact of the environment of the plant. PRESS RELEASE

PTCL launches Smartphone eVoDRoID ‘Touch N Fly’ISLAMABAD: Continuing its legacy of bringing af-fordable and innovative technology to consumers, Pak-istan telecommunication Company Limited (PtCL) haslaunched the first ever 3G Android mobile Smartphone,eVODROiD “touch N Fly”. PtCL eVODROiD touch NFly comes with built-in 3G eVO wireless Broadbandservice that gives dual support for both eVDO andGSM/CDMA networks. Powered by Google AndroidFroyo 2.2 operating system, S martphone eVODROiDlets its users surf and talk simultaneously while on themove and that too at 3G speeds of up to 3.1 Mbps. Sup-porting all GSM SiMS to ensure maximum outreachwithout limitations of any specific GSM network, itbrings three-months and six-months bundled eVOWireless Broadband connections equipped with both 3G& Wi-Fi for un-interrupted on-the-go connectivity. theeVODROiD touch N Fly is packed with hi-resolution3.5” 480*320, capacitive hVGA tFt LCD touch screen,5.0 mega pixels autofocus rear camera, 3G Wi-Fihotspot to enable sharing of Wi-Fi & 3G connectionswith multiple gadgets simultaneously, 512MB FlashROM and 256MB DRAM, 4GB Micro SD card havingextendable memory upto 32 GB included. PRESS RELEASE

LG recognised by red dot and if design awards

LAHORE/ SEOUL: Fourteen of LG electronics’ (LG)2012 products were recognized by the red dot designawards for their excellence in the field of design. A panelof 30 independent judges considered over 4,500 prod-ucts from 1,800 manufacturers and designers in nearly60 countries. in all, LG took 12 red dot design awards aswell as two honorable mentions. LG’s success at the 2012red dot design awards follows the 14 awards the companyreceived among the 2,923 competing entries at the iF (in-ternational Forum) design award earlier in the year. LGOptimus 2.0, an Android-based smartphone interface,was recognized for its unique user interface design. LGwas also recognized for being environmentally responsi-ble in designing the MAChJet printer’s packaging usingpulp molded recycling buffer material. “LG’s philosophyis that every LG product incorporates user experience inits design,” said Kun-pyo Lee, head of Corporate Designat LG electronics. “Our ultimate philosophy to incorpo-rate designs that work but also evoke some emotional re-sponse.” STAFF REPORT

Around-the-world with Mobil 1

KARACHI: team Mobile 1 Pakistan welcomes An-drew Pettengell and Ann Nuttall as they pass throughKarachi, on a round-the-world-trip in their Jeep –using Mobil 1 the World’s Leading Synthetic MotorOil. the adventurous Australian couple has travelledin Pakistan from the highest peak in the Korakoramhighway to the historic city of Lahore. the journey

through the cold mountainous down to the lushgreen hot plains has been tough and demanding, es-pecially for their vehicle – from freezing cold the ex-treme head over dusty terrain, crossing over muddystreams, the team relied only on Mobil 1 for a powerpacked performance kilometer after kilometer. Shar-ing his views, Andrew said, “only one Mobil 1 oilchange was needed, even after undergoing the harsh-est driving coordination for over 66,000km. this ex-treme temperature performance and outstandingwear protection has been one of the most assuringfactors.” Now in Karachi, for a Mobil 1 fill-up beforethe next leg of their journey. PRESS RELEASE

Huawei Landing Pakistan with Best Smart PhoneLAHORE: huawei today officially unveiled thehuawei “honor”, its latest Android 2.3.5 Gingerbreadsmartphone in Pakistan. it features a 16M 16:9 truecolor high-definition (hD) 4-inch FWVGA capacitivetouch screen. Powered by a 1,900 MAh battery. thesmartphone frees consumers from the inconvenienceof searching for an electricity source, allowing themto share and connect for up to three days on a singlecharge – the longest battery life among smartphonesin the 4-inch screen range. With a 1.4 Ghz processor,an 8-megapixel hDR - enabled camera and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera, “honor” is a power-house in a sleek 10.9 mm-thin body and weighs just140g. honor comes with a 3D user interface which iseasier to customize and manage, as well as a dynamicweather widget. it also features a Gyroscope whichenables a better gaming experience. “huawei honorencapsulates the huawei brand – it features simple-to-use, advanced technology that allows people toshare and connect easily. STAFF REPORT

SNGPL suspends gas supply to DH FertilisersLAHORE: Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited(SNGPL) had suspended natural gas supply to Da-wood hercules Corporation’s fertiliser plant on Mon-day. the SNGPL curtailed gas supply due to sabotageactivity that widened the gap between demand andsupply, SNGPL sources claimed. STAFF REPORT

USAID Interactive Session with SePStudents during workshopKARACHI: the people and Government of UnitedStates of America are committed to improving educationin Pakistan; this was stated by Dr. Randy hatfield, DeputyDirector USAiD who participated in a workshop organ-ized to discuss experiences and future plans of 29 high

schools students from public schools in rural areas ofFAtA, Sindh and Balochistan. Last year, USAiD in part-nership with the Government of Pakistan organized atechnology and cultural exchange program for thesebright young Pakistani’s at Wakefield high School in theUSA. Mr. Siddiq Memon, Secretary Sindh education &Literacy Department also adorned the occasion and in hisaddress to the students expressed his gratitude to USAiDfor their continued support over the last 5 years, “We aretruly thankful to USAiD for providing these students theopportunity to learn and excel. it is inspiring to see thesestudents become leaders in their schools and communi-ties. Now USAiD is helping rehabilitate flood-affectedschools in Sindh and Balochistan. Our continued partner-ship is now yielding tangible results.” PRESS RELEASE

March inflation at 10.79 per centKARACHI: the Consumer Price index (CPi) inflationin the country stood at 10.79 percent as against 11.05percent recorded last month in February. the numbersculminate into 9MFY12 average CPi of 10.79 percent asagainst 13.95 percent in the same period last year, whileon month-on-month (MoM) basis the inflation skippedabove one percent to stand at 1.2 percent. “Waiting fordetail break-up, our initial assessment suggests that theresurgence in the MoM inflation comes from higher pe-troleum and gas prices on the back of increase in the in-ternational oil prices and higher food prices,” viewedNauman Khan of topline Research. PRESS RELEASE

PGA DG talks up Watan CardsLAHORE: Director General Provincial Disaster Man-agement Authority, Mujahid Sherdil has said that due togood governance and effective strategy by Chief MinisterPunjab, a new chapter has been added to the history ofthe province by issuing Watan Cards of 40 thousand ru-pees to the 313828 flood victim. he said that distributionof Watan Cards has been completed under a transparentsystem and a sum of about 12 billion 55 coroe 5 lakh and80 thousand rupees has been disbursed to the flood af-fectees in two phases. he said that all Watan Card Cen-ters are functioning efficiently. STAFF REPORT

LAHORE: NBP Regional Head, Naeem Aslam receivesreceives CSR division award Punjab Governor LateefKhosa during fourth CSR Conference. PRESS RELEASE

CORPORATE CORNER

Major Gainers

Company Open High Low Close Change Turnover

UniLever Pak LtdXD 5601.00 5784.00 5600.00 5676.80 75.80 201Sapphire Fiber 122.11 128.21 128.21 128.21 6.10 15Pak.Int.ContXD SD 135.00 141.75 129.00 140.13 5.13 25,987Pak Suzuki Motor 66.00 69.30 66.16 69.30 3.30 116,352Jubilee Life In 66.00 69.30 63.75 69.00 3.00 15,045

Major Losers

Rafhan MaizeXD 2635.85 2600.00 2510.00 2520.17 -115.68 66Indus Dyeing 405.87 400.00 385.58 385.58 -20.29 80Nestle PakXD 4447.00 4630.00 4250.00 4431.18 -15.82 203Service IndXD 188.03 186.00 183.00 184.11 -3.92 1,901Oil & Gas Develop 167.66 167.97 164.00 164.54 -3.12 197,418

Volume Leaders

Dewan Cement 4.17 5.16 4.22 4.97 0.80 34,293,858Jah.Sidd. Co. 21.76 22.33 20.68 20.69 -1.07 30,280,942Lafarge Pakistan 4.82 4.98 4.70 4.89 0.07 25,190,800JS Bank Ltd 6.91 7.29 6.50 6.64 -0.27 22,239,222Bankislami Pakistan 8.74 8.80 8.15 8.39 -0.35 15,343,246

Interbank RatesUS Dollar 90.6899UK Pound 145.4303Japanese Yen 1.0954euro 121.0710

Dollar EastBuy Sell

US Dollar 90.50 91.10Euro 120.16 121.48Great Britain Pound 144.11 145.73Japanese Yen 1.0839 1.0957Canadian Dollar 90.15 91.65Hong Kong Dollar 11.49 11.67UAE Dirham 24.56 24.83Saudi Riyal 24.06 24.30Australian Dollar 93.15 94.61

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

the traders and industrialists incountry’s this commercial hubMonday declared the recent hike inpetroleum and CNG prices as a most

unjustified move by the present governmentdemanding its immediate withdrawal.Patron in-Chief, Korangi Association oftrade and industry (KAti), S MMuneer, Chairman, ehtesham Uddin,Vice Chairmen, hasham A Razzak,tariq Malik and President, AllKarachi industrial Alliance (AKiA)Mian zahid hussain whilerejecting the massive increase andslapping surcharge on CNG saidthe government’s decision wasjust to further squeeze the poorpeople of country besides cripplingthe trade and industry. they saidthat petroleum prices were alreadyat the highest level and any furtherincrease would prove the last straw thatbreaks the camel’s back. the KAtichairman said a comparison between theinternational oil prices and local prices isenough to make the point that the local priceshave registered more than 50 per centincrease in the last two years in comparisonwith the global rates. therefore, he said, thatthe government has no justification to makeany increase in POL prices. Mian zahid saidthat the increase would hit all sectors of theeconomy that would jack up the inflation andresultant hike in mark-up rates and disturbthe entire economic cycle. he said that to

keep the economic cycle well on track, thegovernment would have to shelve thedecision to increaseoil prices.

he said that instead of passing on any surgein international market to masses, thegovernment should cut the number of taxeson petroleum products as the fuel is theengine of growth. if the fuel would be heavily

taxed the entire economy would suffer andthe same happened in Pakistan as the

repeated increases in the POL priceshad ruined the industrial and

economic activities. he said thatonly because of high cost of

doing business in Pakistan, alarge number of industrialunits had already shiftedtheir operations to othercountries and the recentdecision would forcemore industrialists tofollow the suit. the KAtichief said that the entire

industrial sector wasalready facing multiple

internal and externalchallenges and any new

increase in POL prices wouldfurther aggravate the economic

situation. Pakistan agriculturesector is engine of growth. the

increase in petroleum prices wouldincrease the input cost of agriculture

production as high speed diesel is being usedin tractors, tube-wells, harvesters, thrashersand other agriculture machinery. he said thatthe cost of thermal generation by privatesector to go up. “Not only the transportation

cost of goods would multiply but fares ofpublic transport would also increasemanifold,” he added.

ReJeCTeD! Traders, industrialists not particularlyamused by oil price hike

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