Loud Thinking

Archive for November, 2014

Mr. Arun Jaitely and the Indian government are sadly and badly mistaken. The fact is that Pakistan and Kashmir are inseparable entities.

Actually, it is for the Indian government to accept the ground reality and decide between war and peace, with Pakistani and Kashmiri people.

Moreover, the Indian government should also be careful, while addressing all issues with Pakistan, which is neither Bhutan nor Nepal.

We the Pakistanis, know very well the worthlessness of India, which has even failed to subdue Sri Lanka, where recently about a dozen Indians, have been awarded death penalty.

Last but not the least, we Pakistanis also know that the United States leaders have clearly told India that it can’t be included in the UN Security Council, as its permanent member, until and unless india resolves Kashmir problem with Pakistan.

So, the fact is that it is in India’s own long term strategic interest, to be at peace with Pakistan; which obviously can’t be achieved without resolving the Kashmir dispute, in accordance with the UN resolution; and the aspirations of the people of Kashmir.

Indian policy makers must repeat must, clear their mind that it can not gain anything, by its newly adopted policy of verbal and military aggression. Pakistan is NOT made of the material, which can be subjugated by India.

Mr. Arun Jaitely, you can’t have your cake and eat it too.

My reply to the Indian defence minister’s following statement:

@DunyaTV: Pak should decide whom to talk to, govt or separatists: Jaitley http://t.co/oYfV3iLQKL

My reply:
@arunjaitley @ForeignOfficePk Pakistan and Kashmir are inseparable it is for India to decide if its wants to live in peace with Pak or not.

“If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.”

— Mark Twain

“Good manners sometimes means simply putting up with other people’s bad manners. ”

—H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
Writer

Have a Strategy for Impromptu Speaking

A key demand in business is the ability to speak off-the-cuff. Whether it’s giving an unexpected elevator pitch to a potential investor or being asked to quickly defend a proposal to sales, many of us have had to speak with no preparation. Next time, don’t panic. The worst business speeches are those that ramble on. If forced to speak, quickly draft a structure of your main argument on a notecard (or napkin). Jot down an introduction, two or three supporting points, and a conclusion. Use extra time to fill out any examples or data you want to address. Always state your thesis up front so listeners can easily follow your supporting comments. Focus on key stories and statistics, rather than your delivery. If you know your topic, the words will come. Finally, keep it short. When in doubt, say less.

Adapted from ” 5 Tips for Off-the-Cuff Speaking” by John Coleman.

“The worst thing that happens to you may be the best thing for you if you don’t let it get the best of you.”

— Will Rogers

“Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter what fork you use.”

—Emily Post (1872-1960)
American Author On Etiquette

Pakistanis beware of being gassed (those using gas of Rs.500/ month up till now may well be paying up to Rs.5000/month) in this Economy of loans & corruption .http://t.co/MFKF1ASCRU

Massive increase in gas tariff likely

Khaleeq Kiani

Published about 6 hours ago

.—AFP/File

ISLAMABAD: Amid a controversy over excessive power billing, the government is set to face another wave of public outcry as gas tariff for all categories of consumers, including domestic, is likely to be increased by three to five times in a month or so.
The phenomenal increase is anticipated in the wake of failure of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) and the federal government to notify consumer prices over the last four months.

“Our estimate is that a domestic consumer who receives a monthly bill of Rs500 will get a bill of about Rs5,000,” an Ogra official told Dawn.

Know more: PM orders fresh probe into overbilling

It could create a political crisis for the government as the people would forget power over-billing, he said.

A part of the surge would be caused by higher consumption in winter, but the major increase would come because of recovery of Ogra-determined revenue from consumers in eight months instead of 12 months.

The problem emanates from the inability of the government to advise the regulator how a Rs35 billion tariff increase be passed on to different categories of consumers within the stipulated time.

As a consequence, Ogra did not notify the consumer tariff by the deadline of July 1.
The Ogra law requires the government to advise the regulator about the adjustment in consumer tariff on the basis of prescribed price set by Ogra for two gas utilities. In case, the government fails to advise Ogra about the subsidy it wants to provide from the budget or through cross-subsidisation among different consumer categories in 15 days, the regulator is legally bound to issue a consumer tariff notification based on prices determined by it.

“Ogra has failed to meet its legal obligation for four months,” the official said. The private shareholders have started sending legal notices to the regulator and the government to take the matter to the court.

Informed sources said Ogra Chairman Saeed Ahmed Khan had repeatedly asked the government to advise it about the subsidy portion. Last week, he is reported to have written a strongly worded letter to the secretaries of the cabinet division and the petroleum ministry about the government’s inability to come up with an advice and the legal challenge arising out of the notices.

They said Mr Khan had warned that the regulator had determined around 14 per cent increase in average tariff on the basis of full year billing, but the average increase had now gone beyond 20pc because Rs50bn would now have to be recovered in eight months.
The sources said legal experts had advised Ogra to issue a notification in the first week of this month to avoid being dragged in the courts.

On top of that, Ogra will be required to notify consumer tariff at the rate of Rs470 per unit for each category of consumers irrespective of existing lowest tariff slab of Rs106 per unit for domestic consumers.

NEGATIVE EQUITY: According to an analyst, unless the increase is recovered from consumers, the capital market equities of the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) can turn into negative. The SNGPL’s equity has been estimated to be Rs15bn in the negative.

The sources said the managing directors of the two gas utilities had been interacting with the minister for petroleum and natural resources, but to no avail.

Recently, they had an ‘SOS’ meeting with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and told him that the balance sheets of the companies would be in the red and prices of their shares would plunge if the government did not immediately intervene.

Ogra had worked out 14pc increase in average gas rates in July on the basis of 4.5pc unaccounted for gas (UFG) losses to meet revenue requirements for 2013-14 through a public hearing.

This is in addition to Rs50bn the government had earlier asked Ogra to recover from consumers to meet losses of the two utilities for 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 on account of gas theft, non-recovery of dues because of law and order situation, increase in retail network and sabotage.

The ministry of petroleum and natural resources had recommended that the amount should be recovered through gas tariff by allowing higher UFG losses (up to 7pc) to bail out the gas companies.

In its estimates sent to the government, the Ogra had approved an increase of Rs58.29 per MMBTU (million British thermal unit) for the SNGPL and Rs22.90 per MMBTU for the SSGC with a maximum prescribed price of Rs469 per MMBTU.

Under the law, the government can advise Ogra to fix different rates for different consumer categories like domestic, commercial, industrial, power sector and cement but remaining within the average rate approved by the regulator.

Because of political considerations, the government has been passing on higher tariff increase to industrial and commercial consumers and lower tariff increase to domestic consumers through cross subsidisation.

Published in Dawn, November 4th , 2014.

Pak vs NZ cricket series schedule of one 3 day match, three Test matches, Two T20 matches and five ODI matches.
(ESPNcricinfo.com)

Mon Nov 3 – Wed Nov 5
06:00 GMT | 10:00 local
11:00 PKT Pakistan A v New Zealanders
Sharjah Cricket Stadium 24 – 32° C

Sun Nov 9 – Thu Nov 13
06:00 GMT | 10:00 local
11:00 PKT 1st Test – New Zealand v Pakistan
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi 21 – 31° C

Mon Nov 17 – Fri Nov 21
06:00 GMT | 10:00 local
11:00 PKT 2nd Test – New Zealand v Pakistan
Dubai International Cricket Stadium

Wed Nov 26 – Sun Nov 30
06:00 GMT | 10:00 local
11:00 PKT 3rd Test – New Zealand v Pakistan
Sharjah Cricket Stadium

Thu Dec 4 (20 ovs)
16:00 GMT | 20:00 local
21:00 PKT 1st T20I – New Zealand v Pakistan
Dubai International Cricket Stadium

Fri Dec 5 (20 ovs)
16:00 GMT | 20:00 local
21:00 PKT 2nd T20I – New Zealand v Pakistan
Dubai International Cricket Stadium

Mon Dec 8 (50 ovs)
11:00 GMT | 15:00 local
16:00 PKT 1st ODI – New Zealand v Pakistan
Dubai International Cricket Stadium

Fri Dec 12 (50 ovs)
11:00 GMT | 15:00 local
16:00 PKT 2nd ODI – New Zealand v Pakistan
Sharjah Cricket Stadium

Sun Dec 14 (50 ovs)
11:00 GMT | 15:00 local
16:00 PKT 3rd ODI – New Zealand v Pakistan
Sharjah Cricket Stadium

Wed Dec 17 (50 ovs)
11:00 GMT | 15:00 local
16:00 PKT 4th ODI – New Zealand v Pakistan
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Fri Dec 19 (50 ovs)
11:00 GMT | 15:00 local
16:00 PKT 5th ODI – New Zealand v Pakistan
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Economy of loans & corruption .http://t.co/MFKF1ASCRU