Violence in Karachi

In response to an article in the Pakistan Daily Who plans to open Karachi front? In Karachi there were twenty-five killed from cars being torched this past Wednesday. There was no clear reason why the violence happened and there have been investigations as to who is behind the attacks. There is suspicion that the land mafia was responsible. There is also debate over whether the attacks were supposed to create political tension between the two political parties. There have been investigations ordered by the Prime Minister, but nothing has been resolved yet. With all the violence that is happening in the Swat Valley Pakistan has their hands full enough. More violence is not good for the stability of the country. The authority of the government is being questioned with these attacks as well. They did not take immediate action and therefore have their authority in question. There are many possibilities for these actions and the sooner the Pakistani government gets to the bottom of it and takes action the better.

Long Term War

In response to article in the Pakistan Daily Pakistan Government Prepares For Long-term War. There has been considerable fighting in the North West Frontier Province because of the Taliban’s presence there. Many have been fled from the area, more than 670,000 people have been displaced. The Pakistani government has been fighting the terrorists in the Swat Valley with the upmost intensity. The war zone itself is very dangerous and is off limits to many. The army spokesman, Major General Athar Abbas, has said that there is success in how the military operations were unfolding. There are many refugees to be worried about but currently the government is concerned with their war on terror. They have set up refugee camps, and such to help out the displaced citizens and there has been an increase in police forces in the region. The Swat Valley is a conflict that does not have an easy resolution. The government, backed by the U.S. is prepared for a long-term war. The terrorists have a stronghold on the region, and have already caused much destruction. The Pakistani government is trying its hardest to have a quick and successful resolution to this conflict as possible. Although they are realizing now this is a complex problem with no clear end in sight.

Facts in Number of Water Shortage in Pakistan

Demand in million gallons of water a day=115
Supply in million gallons of water a day=62
Water tankers=51
Out of service tanks=15
Requests for tankers per day=500
Expected pull of water per minute in gallons by tanker= 400-500
Actual pull of water per minutes in gallons by tanker=40-50

Looking at these numbers you could tell that water shortage was a big problem for the people of Pakistan. We are not familiar with water tankers, but it is pretty much a delivery service of water. With requests as high as 500 a day, it was obviously impossibly to fill the demand. Imagine having to rely on a delivery service to acquire water. Even though the tankers are used mostly for agricultural crops, it is still outrageous.

American Outages= Candles | Pakistan Outages= Self-generators

When you think of a huge loss of power in America, most of you would result to lighting a few candles until the power returned within a few hours. Using the words candles as well as hours is even a stretch, because most power outages do not happen often and power supply can be fixed in less than an hour. Outages are not thought of as a huge problem here in a American since most outages are restricted locally due to a telephone problem. When power is lost in Pakistan, it results in a huge loss to the economy.

The average duration of a power outage in Pakistan is 4 hours and 36 minutes. In 2008, the average yearly hours of outages was 1,379! Looking at these numbers it is easy to tell how it negatively affects Pakistan's economy. These outages result in loss of spoilage, loss of production, self-generators, and changing in shifts for workers. The cost to run a self-generator is 2 and a half times more expensive than the cost for the industry to be run by a supplier. Pakistan needs to focus much energy on its energy!

Pakistan could be saved by 'going green'

The article "Village electrification through solar energy" shows a great way that Pakistan could take care of some of its problems. The Alternative Energy Development Board in Pakistan has made solar energy powered plants throughout Pakistan estimated to effect over 6968 cities. By making these solar energy powered plants it will reduce Pakistan's dependency on fossil fuels. This is extremely important in Pakistan right now because the cost of energy has sky rocketed recently in Pakistan causing shortages of energy all over the country. Not only is this idea great because the use of fossil fuels will decrease but also the operation and maintenance cost is minimal compared to that of conventional power plants, and Pakistan can now avoid the risk of future electricity cost. The average sun duration is 8-8.5 hours a day in Pakistan, who's values are among the highest in the world. Pakistan needs to take advantage of solar technologies to meet the challenge of its electricity deficit.

The president may be no help.

In response to New York Times Magazine's article "Can Pakistan Be Governed?" it seems as though the president of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, is no help to the current economic situation that Pakistan is in. After the article explains many hardships that the state is currently in the article reads, "And amid all that, Pakistan's president appeared to be playing with fire"(Traub, 1). Instead of directly approaching the situation and taking care of it head on, Zardari encouraged his military forces to daunt protesters only intensifying the situation. This article addresses the point that Pakistan is falling apart; last fall the country barely avoided bankruptcy. The article gives information about the downfalls in all four provinces of Pakistan and instead of trying to enforce policies throughout the country to fix these problems Zardari is arresting protesters. Throughout history Pakistan has had problems with its political leaders, history is only repeating itself again. In order to pull itself out of its current economic situation Pakistan is in desperate need of good political policies, which is currently not being given to the country because of its poor political leadership. What Pakistan needs is a new government setup, or political leader, one where the country can be given the ability to pull itself out of its current situation.

Pakistani Government Swat Valley Involvement

In response to the article in the Pakistani newspaper The Dawn, Cabinet endorses military action in Swat by Iftikhar A. Khan. The Pakistani Federal Cabinet decided this Saturday that the peace agreements with the Swat Valley Taliban were not working. They claimed that the Islamic militants were doing un-Islamic and inhumane actions, such as killings and abductions. The Pakistani government concluded that they would endorse military actions. They stated that it won’t be easy due to the guerilla military style of warfare which their opponents are using. They called for the Provincial government to be vigilant and for the country to back their decision and stand up against these extremists. This is tremendous news for the country of Pakistan. The government is sending a message to the Insurgents in the Swat Valley that what they are doing is unlawful and needs to be stopped. They also sent a very clear message that although they claim to be Islamic they are not acting in accordance to Islamic law. The Pakistani government has an enormous internal struggle ahead of them, but in passing this legislation they are sending a clear message that they will not sit by and watch any wrongdoings in their country.

Debate Over Building Dam

In response to the article in the Pakistani newspaper The Dawn, Hindu Community Opposes Dam in Balochistan by Saleem Shahid. In recent Pakistani political news there has been an ongoing debate over whether a dam should be built in the Hindu community in the Baluchistan Province. The Hindu’s in the community are worried that if the Hingol dam is built it will destroy a historic temple of theirs would be inaccessible. The Baluchistan government then decided to meet with the Hindu community. The chairman of the Baluchistan Assembly, Wapda, met with the Hindu leaders and explained that everything is being done so that their temple will be preserved. He also explained what the benefits of building the dam would be, such as irrigation and a natural power source. The chairman of the Baluchistan Assembly stated that he recognizes the concerns of the Hindu people and wants them to know that the government will keep them in consideration when making their decisions. This dam seems to be a good investment for the betterment of the province and country. It is a step in the right direction as far as being energy efficient and boost the agriculture in that region with the irrigation that would come from the dam. Although this will be a good energy and agricultural investment, the government must also appreciate the sacredness of the Hindu’s temple.

"Growers Reject Proposed Sugarcane Prices"

In accordance with the article in Dawn newspaper about fixed prices on sugarcane, Growers reject the proposal to fix the price of sugarcane at Rs103 per 40kg and demand it to be changed to Rs125 per 40kg. The Sindh Chamber of Agriculture’s general secretary was angry at the fact that he was not invited to the meeting of the Sindh Sugarcane Factories Control Board. He complained that the Sindh Cane Commissioner was not listening to any of the growers suggestions making the final decision one-sided. I would agree with the general secretary of the Sindh Chamber of Agriculture even though his proposal of the fixed price was denied. The crushing date of the sugarcane and the shortage of water was not taken into account. The growers of sugarcane were already mad about the loss of crops due to the water shortage as well as the fact that the sugar mills never starting the crushing season on time. One issue the growers wanted to discuss was a set crushing date.

"Sugarcane prices fixed"

Before I read this article on the Dawn newspaper website, I did not know any of the basics of econmics making it hard for me to understand what the article was talking about. I did the best I could at interpreting the article with no knownledge of "fixed prices" in the US let alone in Pakistan. Feel free to correct me if I am completely wrong.

There’s a shortage in sugarcane, which is causing the demand to be even greater. If there’s a high demand and a low supply then it allows for prices to be raised. This allows companies to fix prices at a certain level and doesn’t allow for equal competition in the industry. In the case of sugarcane prices in Karachi, the price was fixed at Rs103 per 40 kg. The season was short for sugarcane, which didn’t allow for full revenues to be produced thus reaching full economic capacity.

Pakistan's Textile Industry

As I have learned from my college Term III course, Pakistan-A Cultural Perspective, Pakistan's major exports are cotton fabrics, bedwear, and knitwear, all which can be classified under Pakistan's textile industry.
According to allbusiness.com Pakistan's textile and clothing exports have fallen dramatically within the last eight months. This decline is due to rising raw materials prices, energy crisis, financial costs and the global recession. Cotton yarn, which again is Pakistan's largest export, has fallen at the rate of 15%. This fall in the textile industry has now led to a number of closures and shutdowns.
After becoming aware of how serious the dramatic decline in exports from textiles, as well as the fall in Pakistan's agricultural economy as well, it has come to my attention that this will be a sign for the rest of Pakistan's economy. The fall in their major industries will only lead to larger falls in other areas of Pakistan.
I am prediciting that these other falls will lead to some type of politcal/governmental policies that are going to have to be put into place if Pakistan wishes to still strive to be a developing country.

Agricultural Differences

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/news/business/
Earlier this week, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet, in Pakistan, ordered the immediate import of 25,000 tons of sugar to Pakistan. Along with the 25,000 tons of sugar, the government has planned to loan 20,000 tractors to farmers hoping to crop monitoring/assessment cells. The ECC along with the Ministry of Food and Agriculutre plans to keep a close eye on farmers hoping to better anticipate shortages and surpluses.
In contrast to this shortage of sugar, according to the Dawn Media Group, a newspaper based out of Pakistan, Punjab wheat farmers are estimated to have over 2 million tons of a surplus of wheat by the end of this year.
These two factors have led me to wonder, why is one supply of agriculture in Pakistan flurishing while another is lagging behind? This is a question that will have to be answered in the near future, seeing as how my research project is on the internal conflicts of both the agricultural and textile industries in Pakistan.
Another question that will have to be answered is, what does the government plan to do to fix these problems?
The newspapers have given some insight about what the government is setting in place to do in the shortrun, but what about the longrun?
Stay tuned, for these questions are bound to be answered in the near future.