Neelum Jhelum Dam ahead of schedule’

The Neelum Jhelum hydropower project is progressing at a very high pace, and is 4% ahead of schedule despite lack of funds and power, according to a statement issued by the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda), which denies the impression that the expensive equipment is going to waste.

The two tunnel boring machines (TBMs) have been fully assembled and deployed at the project site, however, they have not yet been put into operation due to lack of funds and alternate power arrangements.

The spokesperson of Wapda said that though, the contractor was in need of money and pressing hard for payment of its certified amounts, construction work on the project is continuing. “Despite these irritants, the project is progressing at a very high pace, 4% ahead of schedule.”

The arrival of TBMs started in January and continued till August 2012, and the manufacturer specifies five to six months for assembly and two months for testing and initiation of actual operation.

The two TBMs were procured at a total cost of $92 million. The Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Company has paid $60 million so far to the contractor for onward payments to the manufacturer.

First private sector steel complex comes on stream

 Noting that the cost of doing business in Pakistan is favourable to private businesses, Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Saturday urged foreign investors to take maximum advantage of the export processing zones (EPZs) facility that offers land for industrial development at a subsidised rate along with duty exemptions.

Speaking at the inauguration of Tuwairqi Steel Mills (TSML), Pakistan’s first private-sector integrated steel manufacturing complex, Ashraf said Pakistan treated domestic and foreign investors alike by allowing full foreign business ownership and profit repatriation with minimal terms and conditions.

A joint venture of Al-Ittefaq Steel Production – a subsidiary of Al-Tuwairqi Holding, Saudi Arabia – and South Korea-based Posco Limited – the world’s fourth largest steel maker by market value – TSML is located at the Port Qasim over an area of 220 acres. The mill, built at a cost of $342 million, will produce 1.28 million tons of Directly Reduced Iron (DRI) per year in the first phase.

With its forward integration to a melt shop, the complex will start producing steel slabs and billets in the second phase. Local mining of iron ore and its beneficiation and pelletisation will constitute the third phase of this project.

World crude steel production in 2011 was 1.49 billion tons whereas Pakistan’s share in it was approximately 4.5 million tons. Moreover, the per-capita consumption of steel in Pakistan is 38 kg as opposed to the global average of 215 kg, which shows enormous potential for growth in the local steel industry.

While Pakistan produced 4.5 million tons of steel in 2011, the estimated annual demand in the country is 7.63 million tons. TSML’s plant is the first DRI plant installed in Pakistan, as Pakistan Steel Mills uses blast furnace technology.

Weekly Review: Political uncertainty keeps bourse at bay

The stock market witnessed a dull week and remained range-bound due to heightened political uncertainty in the country. The benchmark KSE-100 index closed flat, down 14 points (0.1%) during the week.

Investors chose to be cautious throughout the week, with several parties making statements about their participation in Dr Tahirul Qadri’s ‘million-man’ march, which intends to bring a change in the government. The march is planned to take place on January 14 and has created friction between the government and its allies.
While most political parties chose to abstain from the march, the MQM, which is also a government ally, initially announced that it would participate in the rally. However, a day later it backtracked on its statement and decided not to participate. Investors welcomed the decision, which led to a small relief rally on the final trading session of the week.
The law and order situation also played on investor’s minds as a series of bomb blasts took place across the country, which resulted in a heavy loss of life. Furthermore, tensions erupted at the line of control with India, as border skirmishes led to the death of several soldiers on both sides of the fence.

However, all news was not bad news, as foreigners again turned net buyers at the bourse. With the earnings season set to get in flow in the coming week, foreigners picked up equities at attractive valuations and were net buyers of equity worth $8.4 million.
Macro numbers were mixed, with the highlight being the double-digit growth in remittances for the first six months of the current fiscal year. Remittances grew 12.5% year-on-year and stood at $7.12 billion for the first half of the fiscal year 2012-13.
The figures were dampened by the declining forex reserves of the country, which dropped $249 million on account of repayments to the International Monetary Fund. The government is now discussing a second bailout package from the IMF, as the country’s forex reserves continue to drop to critical levels.
The cement sector was again in the limelight as cement sales surged 5.9% year-on-year during December 2012 and as a result, activity was witnessed in the sector, with Fauji Cement and Lucky Cement being the main beneficiaries.
The banking and power sectors also witnessed activity as investors expect good payouts during the earnings season. While the fertiliser sector also made news with Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim announced a decrease in earnings by 60% during 2012.
The cautious approach of investors was reflected in the sharp drop in average daily volumes, which plummeted 35% and stood at 96 million shares per day as compared to 148 million shares in the previous week.
Average daily values, however, dropped only by 17.5% and stood at Rs2.81 billion, as most of the foreign investment took place in blue-chip stocks. The market capitalisation of the KSE dropped 0.1% to Rs4.17 trillion by the end of the week.
Winners
Fauji Cement

Fauji Cement Company Limited manufactures and sells cement.
Askari Bank

Askari Commercial Bank Limited provides commercial banking services. The bank has branches in Pakistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Bahrain.
Pakistan Tobacco

Pakistan Tobacco Company Limited manufactures and sells cigarettes.
Losers
Grays of Cambridge

Grays of Cambridge (Pakistan) is a holding company. The company, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and exports sporting goods, specialising in hockey sticks.
JDW Sugar

JDW Sugar Mills produces and sells crystalline sugar. The company is located in Rahimyar Khan, and was formerly named United Sugar Mills Limited.
Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories (Pakistan) manufactures, imports, and markets research-based pharmaceutical, nutritional, diagnostic, hospital, and consumer products.

Food and beverages: Pakistan among PepsiCo’s top 10 non-US markets

Pakistan is one of the top 10 markets outside the United States for PepsiCo, says Qasim Khan, a senior executive in the global food and beverage giant’s management team for Asia.

“Pakistan is one of the largest and fastest growing markets for PepsiCo around the world,” said Khan, the Rawalpindi-born head of PepsiCo’s North and South Asia business unit. His division covers Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Pakistan, Mongolia, and the island states in the Pacific Ocean.

Somewhat surprisingly for PepsiCo, its biggest brand in Pakistan is not the signature Pepsi cola, but rather Mountain Dew. “Pakistan is the second-largest market in the world for Mountain Dew after the United States,” said Muhammad Khosa, head of corporate affairs at PepsiCo Pakistan.

Pepsi began its operations in Pakistan with carbonated beverages in 1967, and currently has eight bottling franchisees operating throughout the country. In addition to Pepsi and Mountain Dew, they produce 7up and Mirinda in the carbonated beverage category, and Sting in the energy drink segment. Over the past decade, Pepsi has added snack foods and fruit juices to its portfolio of products in Pakistan, which it manufactures primarily out of a factory in Lahore.

The addition of the snack food business – as well as strong growth in its beverage lines – has resulted in PepsiCo becoming the largest food and beverage company in Pakistan. According to sources familiar with the matter, the revenues of PepsiCo Pakistan and its eight bottlers came to a combined Rs82 billion for the financial year ending June 30, 2012, up 19% compared to the previous year.

Growth seems to be moving at breakneck speed in the snack food business, which the company started in 2006. “The Pakistan snack food business was the fastest growing in the Asia Pacific region for PepsiCo last year,” said Khan.

Speak now, or forever hold your peace

In the summer of 1979, a horrifying thing began to happen in Atlanta, Georgia, US — African-American children began going missing and subsequently their murdered bodies found. This continued till the spring of 1981 and by that time, the dead bodies of 28 children were found. The brilliant James Baldwin wrote an account of the episode in his 1985 book The Evidence of Things Not Seen. Baldwin narrates an arresting story, which provided the inspiration for the book. “Some years ago, after the disappearance of civil rights workers Chaney, Goodman and Schwirner in Mississippi, some friends of mine were dragging the river for their bodies. This one wasn’t Schwirner. This one wasn’t Goodman. This one wasn’t Chaney. Then …: ‘It suddenly struck us — what difference did it make that it wasn’t them? What are these bodies doing in the river?’”

In 2013 in Pakistan, murdered bodies of children are being found. Although a critical difference being that they do not go missing, nothing as sly as that; they are murdered for everyone to see by people who then have the audacity to claim responsibility for it. Syeda Mehzar Zehra is a 12-year-old child, who survived the murderous assault, for now, may she be blessed with a long and happy life. However, one cannot wish her convincingly. Her father was a Shia and was killed for being one. Many young Hazaras in Quetta, this Thursday did not have the fighting chance that Mehzar still has. Yet, we are still not asking ourselves, what are these bodies doing in the river, in our case, a river of Shia blood. If this goes on, we will begin to find bodies that we know, all of us would.

We live in a time and a place where murder does not stir us anymore, at least the common, run of the mill murder does not. The daily numbers of dead in Karachi or Peshawar are just a statistic. Maybe, I presume insensitivity, however, most of us do not give them a second or perhaps, a third thought. Life goes on. Let me propose a simple experiment, which will, perhaps, recapture your interest in the daily murder. Next time you see a news report about someone killed in Karachi or Quetta for no ostensible reason, try and look up the name (of course provided the newspaper has felt the need to print it). Chances are many of you will see a pattern. The Pakistani media goes out of its way to take terrible amounts of trouble in not stating the obvious. Shias are being killed in this country through an orchestrated scheme. Some people do not like it when the word ‘genocide’ is used; I assume they are waiting to begin condemnation once the threshold number is crossed, they will not have wait for much longer now. In any event, most news outlets do not deem it fit to mention that ‘Shias’ are killed in the attack. Apparently, saying ‘sectarian violence’ conveys all that needs to be said.

14 security personnel killed, 25 injured in North Waziristan

At least 14 security personnel were killed and 25 sustained injuries on Sunday when a roadside bomb hit a military convoy in Shabqadar, North Waziristan.

The improvised explosive device struck the convoy in Dosali village.

All the soldiers killed were in one truck and those injured were in vehicles behind it, a senior official said.

Local residents said military helicopter gunships had reached the scene after the attack.

The attack comes a day after Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) said they would not attack Pakistan’s army in North Waziristan and would concentrate their attacks on Nato forces in Afghanistan.

A leaflet issued by Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud ordered those to stop. A senior commander confirmed the pamphlet’s veracity.

“O Mujahideen brothers! As you know, the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban under the leadership of Mullah Mohammad Omar Mujahid are engaged in jihad against the crusaders and infidels, and are supporters of each others in the ongoing holy war,” the pamphlet said.

Restoration complete: Anarkali’s Tomb ‘returned to its splendour’

 Work on the restoration of the Anarkali Tomb has been completed.

The Archaeology Department is also likely to finish work on two more monuments in 2013.
The Anarkali Tomb is the first monument on which restoration work has been completed since 2011. The tomb, built between 1605 and 1606, has been restored on orders of the chief secretary at a cost of Rs4.984 million.
During the repairs, the roof, windows and doors have been fixed while terracotta tiles and lattices (jails) have been replaced.
An Archaeology Department official speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to speak said three layers of lime had been applied and new tiles, bearing similar patterns and made of the same materials, were used to replace the old ones. The towers have been plastered with lime. The damaged floor tiles have been replaced. He said bricks were used for underpinning the structure.
New electric wires have been laid and the damaged lights have been retouched. The building has also been fixed for holes and an opening allowing rain water seepage has been sealed.
Photographs of the repairs have been taken and added to the department’s record of restoration projects.
Over the last couple of hundred years, the tomb has been put to several uses. In the first half of 19th century it served as the residence of Ranjit Singh’s French General Jean Baptiste Ventura’s Armenian wife.

From 1849, after takeover of Punjab by the British, it was used as offices for the clerical staff of the first British Resident, Henry Lawrence. In 1851 the offices of the Board of Administration were removed from the Tomb of Anarkali and placed it inside the eastern bay of the tomb. In 1851 the tomb was made into St James Church. In 1855, access was granted to the upper storey of the arches through an outer staircase to expand the sitting area of the church. In 1863 a clock was placed in one of the towers. It was removed after partition. In 1867 a wooden addition was made to the part of the galleries in St James Church. Some

Cricket: Despite stumbling twice, Bangladesh refuses to rule out Pakistan tour

Bangladesh will send a security delegation to Pakistan soon to see if its cricket team can visit the country in March and April for a short series, Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hasan said on Saturday.

A proposed tour this month was postponed for security reasons and Pakistan subsequently threatened to block their players’ participation in the forthcoming Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 tournament, which starts on Jan. 18.

Nazmul told a news conference that Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Zaka Ashraf had made a fresh invitation when the pair met in New Delhi during an India-Pakistan one-day international.

“We haven’t made any specific decisions but we discussed our end of the problem with him,” Nazmul said.

“We talked about a time slot, end of March and the start of April, otherwise we are busy in Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. We will send the security team as soon as possible.”

No ICC awards, no problem: PCB gives Saeed Ajmal four honours

The Pakistan cricket board (PCB) made up for Off -spinner Saeed Ajmal’s omission on the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Player of the Year shortlist by awarding him four honours at the PCB’s first awards ceremony.

Ajmal, 35, was adjudged the best bowler in all three formats of the game and was also given the special prize of best bowler of the year.

“It is a great honour to get these awards. But I will cherish the best Test bowler award since bowling in test matches requires fitness, perseverance and skill,” said Ajmal.

“You have to think the batsman out. I am happy that I was rated as the best out of an attack that is considered second to none.”

Ajmal, who has played 23 tests and 74 one-day internationals, said he also saw the special prize as adequate compensation for missing out on the ICC awards which took place last September.

The PCB had filed an official protest with the ICC after Ajmal was not nominated for the final awards despite the bowler being ranked first in ODIS and third in tests in 2012.

During the period under consideration for the award – August 4, 2011 to August 6, 2012 – Ajmal took 120 wickets in Tests, ODIS and Twenty20 internationals, including 24 wickets in three tests against England last January and February.

“The ICC and its member countries have their awards and we also want to encourage and reward our best performers in Pakistan cricket,” said PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf.

Ashraf added the annual awards would now be a permanent feature on the Pakistan cricket calendar.

ICC chief executive Dave Richardson was present for the ceremony in which awards were given away in 18 different categories.

Pakistan’s Twenty20 captain Mohammad Hafeez walked away with the best player of the year award while opener Nasir Jamshed won the best Twenty20 and ODI batsman of the year awards. Azhar Ali won the best test batsman of the year award.

Pakistan’s former captains and greats, Hanif Muhammad and Imtiaz Ahmed, also got lifetime achievement awards and received their trophies from Richardson.

Left arm paceman Junaid Khan won the emerging player award.

Full list of prizes:

PCB Curator of the Year: Haji Mohammad Bashir

PCB Umpire of the Year: Ahsan Raza

PCB Deaf Cricketer of the Year: Mohammad Shakeel

PCB Blind Cricketer of the Year: Mohammad Jamil

PCB Woman Cricketer of the Year: Sana Mir

PCB Most Valuable Domestic Bowler: Zulfiqar Babar

PCB Most Valuable Domestic Batsman: Haris Sohail

PCB Emerging Player of the Year: Junaid Khan

PCB T 20 (Int) Bowler of the Year: Saeed Ajmal

PCB T 20 (Int) Batsman of the Year: Nasir Jamshed

PCB ODI Bowler of the Year: Saeed Ajmal

PCB ODI Batsman of the Year: Nasir Jamshed

PCB Test Bowler of the Year: Saeed Ajmal

PCB Test Batsman of the Year: Azhar Ali

PCB Player of the Year: Mohammad Hafeez

PCB Life Time Achievement Award: Hanif Mohammad

PCB Life Time Achievement Award: Imtiaz Ahmed

Special Prize for Best Bowler of the Year: Saeed Ajmal

Saint Luke's Church of Abbottabad

This church resembles so much with the old church of the native village Blackheath , London of Sir General James Abbott.

This is a rare photograph as this rear end Victorian gate is no more there.