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2013 brings many changes in Pakistan
Aaj Kamran Khan Kay Sath on Friday
Monday, October 07, 2013
KARACHI: Year 2013 brings high-level changes in Pakistan, said Kamran Khan in his programme Aaj Kamran Khan Kay Sath on Friday.
A new president and a new prime minister have already taken oaths of their respective offices. Now its the turn of changes in the military leadership.
Kamran Khan said that the time of retirement of the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, General Khalid Shameem Wynne, has come. Today he paid a farewell visit to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Now the announcement of a new chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee will be made by the prime minister any moment.
Kamran Khan said there is no hard and fast rule as far as appointment of the chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee is concerned. The post can go to the Army, the Navy or the Air Force.
He said that generally it has been observed that if the country happens to be under military rule then the post goes to a four-star army general, but there are examples when under the civilian rule the post went once each to the Air Force and the Navy.
It is also believed that this is just a ceremonial post. However, one must not forget that the policy on the countrys nuclear assets is actually framed at the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and so the post assumes huge importance.
Meanwhile, the term of the Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, ends on November 28, 2013.Kamran Khan said that the government and the opposition appears to be in agreement that seniority must be the criterion for promotion and that the senior-most person should be elevated.
Kamran Khan said that it is quite rare that the government and the opposition happen to be on the same page on an issue. Now is one such occasion when the government and the opposition think alike on several things. This indicates that if Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif picks someone from the Army for the post of the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee then Lieutenant-General Haroon Aslam, who is the senior-most lieutenant-general of the Army at the moment, may bag that slot. If Nawaz Sharif decides to take the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee from the Navy then the post is likely to go to the incumbent naval chief, Admiral Asif Sandila. In that scenario, Lieutenant-General Haroon Aslam will likely be the next Army chief.
Defence analyst Air Marshal (R) Shehzad Chaudhry said in the programme that the post of the chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee has failed to serve its purpose for which the post was created in the first place. However, it is incorrect to say that the post is merely ceremonial.
In a different segment of the programme, Kamran Khan said that hike in power tariffs has created a storm in the country. Coupled with the increase in the prices of petroleum products, the situation nearly reached the boiling point. However, the political parties acted quite maturely and helped in cooling things down.
Kamran Khan said that the national exchequer cannot afford to supply power at the current rates. The government says that almost 50 percent of power consumers are those who use from 100 to 200 units a month, and so the hike in power rates will not affect the lower economic section of society.
Kamran Khan said that the government has withdrawn the notification on hike in power rates, and some consumers have drawn the conclusion that the government has changed its mind on increasing power tariff. As a matter of fact, this is just some peoples wishful thinking. The notification will now come through Nepra, though with some changes.
Federal Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Asif said that a majority of our population consumes up to 200 units of power and so a hike in tariff will not affect them. He said that there used to be lifeline customers who consumed 50 units, but now we have raised that to 200 units. He said that the petition the government filed today has lessened the burden and distributed it among all the slabs. He said that the government has also mentioned Rs150 billion subsidy to Nepra.
Kamran Khan said that the economy will completely collapse if the national enterprises continue to be run in their present state of affairs. He said that governments do not have the capacity to run state enterprises in the manner that commercial enterprises are run. He said that national enterprises have practically been ruined in the last five years.
Now it seems impossible for these departments to manage on their own. The Pakistan Steel, which was once a profit-earning entity, has been ruined in the last five or six years. PIA and the Pakistan Railways are on the verge of bankruptcy. The PML-N government had promised even before coming to power that these organisations will be privatised to save the national
exchequer Rs500 billion to Rs700 billion. Habib Bank and MCB have become one of the best organisations after their privatisation. Recently the KESCs privatisation has turned the power utility into an effective organisation. Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar presided over a meeting to decide on privatisation of 31 different organisations, offering their 26 percent shares.
Federal Minister for Privatisation Khurram Dastagir has said only non-profiting organisations will be privatised. He also pointed out that PIA and the Partisan Railways did not come up to the expectations of people. The decision to privatise these organisations has been taken and now the finance adviser will invite bids in a transparent manner. Responding to a question he said that the process of privatisation will take 18 months to two years but following the directives of the prime minister, the period has been reduced to 11 months which will enable the government to privatise some big organisations.
Kamran Khan said that police and rangers are conducting joint and separate operations focused on arresting target killers. Police have arrested over 100 accused including Shujaat and four target killers. However, street crimes are still rampant and continue unabated in Karachi.
Kamran Khan said that the New York Times has projected before the world a completely different side of Karachi. According to the newspaper, the stock market in Karachi has projected an impressive performance despite law and order situation and gained 44 percent in last one year. Famous US firm Franklin Templeton Investments has invested around $1 billion in Karachis stock market.
Aaj Kamran Khan Kay Sath on Friday
Monday, October 07, 2013
KARACHI: Year 2013 brings high-level changes in Pakistan, said Kamran Khan in his programme Aaj Kamran Khan Kay Sath on Friday.
A new president and a new prime minister have already taken oaths of their respective offices. Now its the turn of changes in the military leadership.
Kamran Khan said that the time of retirement of the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, General Khalid Shameem Wynne, has come. Today he paid a farewell visit to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Now the announcement of a new chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee will be made by the prime minister any moment.
Kamran Khan said there is no hard and fast rule as far as appointment of the chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee is concerned. The post can go to the Army, the Navy or the Air Force.
He said that generally it has been observed that if the country happens to be under military rule then the post goes to a four-star army general, but there are examples when under the civilian rule the post went once each to the Air Force and the Navy.
It is also believed that this is just a ceremonial post. However, one must not forget that the policy on the countrys nuclear assets is actually framed at the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and so the post assumes huge importance.
Meanwhile, the term of the Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, ends on November 28, 2013.Kamran Khan said that the government and the opposition appears to be in agreement that seniority must be the criterion for promotion and that the senior-most person should be elevated.
Kamran Khan said that it is quite rare that the government and the opposition happen to be on the same page on an issue. Now is one such occasion when the government and the opposition think alike on several things. This indicates that if Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif picks someone from the Army for the post of the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee then Lieutenant-General Haroon Aslam, who is the senior-most lieutenant-general of the Army at the moment, may bag that slot. If Nawaz Sharif decides to take the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee from the Navy then the post is likely to go to the incumbent naval chief, Admiral Asif Sandila. In that scenario, Lieutenant-General Haroon Aslam will likely be the next Army chief.
Defence analyst Air Marshal (R) Shehzad Chaudhry said in the programme that the post of the chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee has failed to serve its purpose for which the post was created in the first place. However, it is incorrect to say that the post is merely ceremonial.
In a different segment of the programme, Kamran Khan said that hike in power tariffs has created a storm in the country. Coupled with the increase in the prices of petroleum products, the situation nearly reached the boiling point. However, the political parties acted quite maturely and helped in cooling things down.
Kamran Khan said that the national exchequer cannot afford to supply power at the current rates. The government says that almost 50 percent of power consumers are those who use from 100 to 200 units a month, and so the hike in power rates will not affect the lower economic section of society.
Kamran Khan said that the government has withdrawn the notification on hike in power rates, and some consumers have drawn the conclusion that the government has changed its mind on increasing power tariff. As a matter of fact, this is just some peoples wishful thinking. The notification will now come through Nepra, though with some changes.
Federal Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Asif said that a majority of our population consumes up to 200 units of power and so a hike in tariff will not affect them. He said that there used to be lifeline customers who consumed 50 units, but now we have raised that to 200 units. He said that the petition the government filed today has lessened the burden and distributed it among all the slabs. He said that the government has also mentioned Rs150 billion subsidy to Nepra.
Kamran Khan said that the economy will completely collapse if the national enterprises continue to be run in their present state of affairs. He said that governments do not have the capacity to run state enterprises in the manner that commercial enterprises are run. He said that national enterprises have practically been ruined in the last five years.
Now it seems impossible for these departments to manage on their own. The Pakistan Steel, which was once a profit-earning entity, has been ruined in the last five or six years. PIA and the Pakistan Railways are on the verge of bankruptcy. The PML-N government had promised even before coming to power that these organisations will be privatised to save the national
exchequer Rs500 billion to Rs700 billion. Habib Bank and MCB have become one of the best organisations after their privatisation. Recently the KESCs privatisation has turned the power utility into an effective organisation. Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar presided over a meeting to decide on privatisation of 31 different organisations, offering their 26 percent shares.
Federal Minister for Privatisation Khurram Dastagir has said only non-profiting organisations will be privatised. He also pointed out that PIA and the Partisan Railways did not come up to the expectations of people. The decision to privatise these organisations has been taken and now the finance adviser will invite bids in a transparent manner. Responding to a question he said that the process of privatisation will take 18 months to two years but following the directives of the prime minister, the period has been reduced to 11 months which will enable the government to privatise some big organisations.
Kamran Khan said that police and rangers are conducting joint and separate operations focused on arresting target killers. Police have arrested over 100 accused including Shujaat and four target killers. However, street crimes are still rampant and continue unabated in Karachi.
Kamran Khan said that the New York Times has projected before the world a completely different side of Karachi. According to the newspaper, the stock market in Karachi has projected an impressive performance despite law and order situation and gained 44 percent in last one year. Famous US firm Franklin Templeton Investments has invested around $1 billion in Karachis stock market.
