Loud Thinking

Archive for November, 2014

Mr. Prime Minister this is an SOS call from the public for your personal intervention..!

A letter published by the daily “Pakistan Today”

Sugar monopolies and Ishaq Dar
Comment Editor’s Mail

NOVEMBER 14, 2014 BY PAKISTAN TODAY

I would like to request the ECC or Pakistan Sugar Mills Association or Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to please explain to the people of Pakistan the benefits the country will receive with the export of 500,000 metric tonnes of sugar.

Due to worldwide surplus production of sugar, the international price of sugar has dropped down to 320$ per tonne, that is almost equal to 34 Rs per KG. While in Pakistan we have to pay 54 Rs per KG for sugar. This means that the sugar mills will be selling the sugar at a lower rate than what the citizens of Pakistan pay for sugar and will also be generating a very small amount of foreign exchange for the country.

And to add insult to injury, the Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has also allowed a 25 per cent tax on all imports of sugar, so we the people of Pakistan are not able to get the cheap surplus sugar available from India, Brazil etc.

Every citizen of Pakistan, I included, would like to know why the Government of Pakistan and Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) are colluding together to create a fake monopoly that increases the sugar price for Pakistanis from Rs 32 to Rs 54, a 68 percent increase.

ENGRY SHAHRYAR KHAN BASEER

Peshawar

“The heart that gives, gathers.”

—Marianne Moore (1887-1972)
Poet

“Strength of character isn’t always about how much you can handle before you break, it’s also about how much you can handle after you’ve broken.”

— Robert Tew

“The only way to find your voice is to use it.”

— Austin Kleon

2 very vital questions to Pervaiz Musharraf..!

Mr. Pervaiz Musharraf please refer to the news item published by the daily “Dawn” today titled “Musharraf warns of proxy war with India in Afghanistan”

Mr. Pervaiz Musharraf now you are warning about a proxy war with India in Afghanistan, but first kindly inform the reasons, how India got its foothold in Afghanistan, whereas, you had clearly declared your government’s policy to the Americans and its NATO allies that Pakistan’s cooperation in the War on Terror (WOT), was strictly linked to the condition that India will NOT have any role in this WOT in Afghanistan?

Who, when and why allowed India such a strong foothold in Afghanistan that today India is able to destabilise Pakistan, from its terrorists and agents trained in Afghanistan?

Also please inform the reasons, why you allowed India to construct a heavily fortified fencing wall all along the LOC in Kashmir and the Sialkot working boundary:

– Against the national security interests.

– In violation of the international rules, where border fencing or wall is ONLY allowed on international borders.

– Against the declared policy of Pakistan that too, without any reciprocal concessions from India.

There is no doubt that if any civilian leader had done this free favour to India, he would have been dubbed as a traitor and sent to the gallows.

Musharraf warns of proxy war with India in Afghanistan

By the daily “Dawn” dated 18 November, 2014
Published about an hour ago

Pervez Musharraf. — AP/File
KARACHI: The departure of Nato combat forces from Afghanistan could push India and Pakistan towards a proxy war in the troubled state, former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf warned in an interview with AFP.

“The danger for Pakistan is… the Indian influence in Afghanistan,” he told AFP at his house in Karachi.

“That is another danger for the whole region and for Pakistan because Indian involvement there has an anti-Pakistan connotation. They (India) want to create an anti-Pakistan Afghanistan.”

Musharraf was a key US ally in its “war on terror” when he was presdient, but he now lives under tight security in his Karachi home, facing Taliban death threats and criminal cases dating back to his near decade-long rule that ended in 2008.

The 71-year-old — who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999 — praised new Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who made his first official trip to Pakistan last week in a bid to reset ties with Islamabad.

Pakistan’s support is seen as crucial to Afghan peace as US-led forces pull out by the end of this year after 13 years battling the Taliban.

But the former strongman said calming tension between India and Pakistan — running high at the moment after some of the worst cross-border firing in years — is key to peace in Afghanistan.

Ethnic allegiances
India and Pakistan have long accused each other of using proxy forces to try to gain influence in Afghanistan.

While India has tried to gain traction with the Tajik ethnic group, which dominates in northern Afghanistan, Pakistan has been accused of using its leverage with the Pashtuns of the country’s south and east who make up the majority of the Taliban.

“If Indians are using some elements of the ethnic entities in Afghanistan, then Pakistan will use its own support for ethnic elements, and our ethnic elements are certainly Pashtuns,” Musharraf said.

“So we are initiating a proxy war in Afghanistan. This must be avoided.“

Musharraf blamed India for supporting separatist rebels in Balochistan via training camps in southern Afghanistan — a common accusation in military circles.

Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai routinely accused Pakistan of secretly backing the Taliban as a hedge against Indian influence in his country.

Pakistan denies the accusation, though it was one of only three countries to officially recognise the Afghan Taliban regime, in power from 1996 until 2001 when the US-led invasion resulted in its overthrow.

Musharraf criticised former Afghan president Hamid Karzai for sending officials for training in India and not Pakistan, saying “these small things add up to strategic problems”.

Ghani and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif pledged at the weekend to move on from the sniping and bitterness of the Karzai years, with the Afghan leader saying three days of talks had undone 13 years of differences.

But Musharraf warned that regional rivalries could flourish again once Nato’s 34,000-strong combat contingent leaves by the end of next month.

“When there is an absence of all these forces, then yes there would be a vacuum… in that case there can be more serious repercussion,” he said.

Musharraf said he stands by his decision to ally Pakistan with Washington in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

But he said that the US-led coalition that invaded Afghanistan to oust the Taliban had “failed to convert a military victory into a political victory” when it handed power to Tajiks and thereby alienated many Pashtuns.

Exile to house arrest
Musharraf’s home in a well-heeled Karachi neighbourhood is decked with photos of him with world leaders, but his dreams of a triumphant homecoming last year were dashed amid allegations of treason and murder.

He came back to Pakistan in March 2013 after four years of self-imposed exile to run in the May general election, vowing to “save” the country from Taliban violence and economic ruin.

But he was barred from running in the election, and was then put under house arrest and hit with numerous criminal cases — including treason, the first former army chief to face the charge.

Despite the setbacks, he said he has no regrets about returning.

He also said recent anti-government street protests led by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan and populist cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri have touched a nerve.

“The people are for change, there is no doubt in my mind, and there should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that the people of Pakistan, the masses of Pakistan, widely and very strongly want change,” he said.

———————–

“For most of life, nothing wonderful happens.

If you don’t enjoy getting up and working and finishing your work and sitting down to a meal with family or friends, then the chances are you’re not going to be very happy.

If someone bases his/her happiness on major events like a great job, huge amounts of money, a flawlessly happy marriage or a trip to Paris, that person isn’t going to be happy much of the time.

If, on the other hand, happiness depends on a good breakfast, flowers in the yard, a drink or a nap, then we are more likely to live with quite a bit of happiness.”

— Andy Rooney

“Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.”

—John Wesley (1703-1791)
Theologian

Inventory Your Team’s Knowledge When Starting a New Project

Team leaders often don’t fully tap into the knowledge team members bring with them. This is, in large part, because the most confident, outgoing people get the most airtime, while the real experts take a backseat and have limited impact. But a brief intervention can change this dynamic. When starting on a new project, encourage team members to first discuss the relevant knowledge they each bring to the table. By opening the floor for reflection, you can lead the group in assessing members’ knowledge and discussing its relevance to the task at hand. And your team will be less likely to defer to those with the most confidence, and more likely to combine their expertise to devise strategies for solving the problems. The process may sound simple, but it can help you bring out the best in your team.

Adapted from “ Bring Out the Best in Your Team” by Bryan L. Bonner and Alexander R. Bolinger.

Why not consumer friendly actions in Pakistan as well?

From January 2015, life-saving drugs to show govt-fixed rates in bold red

A TOI news report…
Sushmi Dey,TNN | Nov 17, 2014, 04.14 AM IST

Until philosophers are kings, or the kings and princes of this world have the spirit and power of philosophy, and political greatness and wisdom meet in one, and those commoner natures who pursue either to the exclusion of the other are compelled to stand aside, cities will never have rest from their evils…

~Plato