Musharraf outlines proactive strategy
The government has decided to launch a massive
crackdown on the holders of illegal arms immediately after the local
bodies elections. "There will be targeted searches to recover
illegal arms but without cordoning off localities ," President
Gen Pervez Musharraf said while speaking at a seminar on "Arms
Control in Pakistan" on Thursday.
"Let me assure you, we will be conclusive,
proactive and offensive after the completion of elections," the
president said. "We will search targeted areas. Obviously not
cordoning the whole area and doing massive search. Targeted searches
will be done," the president said. Gen Musharraf said the
campaign to recover illicit arms was viewed by the government as a
test case and "we are determined to bring it to a successful
conclusion."
The president, however, admitted that there was no
considerable success to recover illegal arms during an amnesty period.
"But now we will have to take strong measures for which I have
convened a meeting of the governors on Saturday to finalize our
strategy," he added. "Enough is enough. We have to work more
actively and aggressively in all area where extremism is causing us
harm," he said.
The president said that in some cultures it was a
matter of pride to carry arms. "But when practice becomes a
threat to the social and economic stability of any society then there
is need to take strong action against those who endanger social
harmony." He said the government had allocated Rs2 billion for
police reforms in the current budget but actually there was a
requirement of Rs15 billion to achieve certain objectives.
Gen Musharraf emphasized the need for improving the
functioning of police and judiciary along with improved intelligence
and investigation process to get hold of terrorists and criminals.
While criticizing the performance of police, intelligence and
investigation agencies and the judiciary, he said that since there
were no sufficient funds he could not squarely blame the whole
government administrative machinery for not delivering the goods.
Revival of democracy next year: Musharraf
President Gen Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday
reaffirmed his resolve to abide by the Supreme Court directive
regarding the restoration of democracy by October next year.
The reaffirmation came during talks between the
president and US assistant secretary of state for South Asia Christina
Rocca. The discussions focused on bilateral relations. Ms Rocca is the
first senior official of the Bush administration to have visited
Islamabad for exchanging views with Pakistan leaders on the
government's reform agenda and the steps being taken to restore
democracy, including the holding of local bodies elections, a press
release said.
Five companies allowed to issue TFCs
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan
(SECP) has given permission for issue of Term Finance Certificates (TFCs)
worth Rs2.95 billion to five companies of last week.
An official announcement said this was part of
efforts to raise capital through capital market and development of
fixed income securities market in Pakistan. During the current year,
12 companies have been given permission to raise their capital through
issuance of TFCs to the tune of Rs7.875 billion.
The companies that were given permission last week
include First International Investment Bank (Rs100 million) as first
tranche of total authorized Rs500 million, Gulistan Textile Mills Ltd
worth Rs300 million, Dawood Leasing Co. Ltd. worth Rs250 million,
Packages Limited worth Rs700 million and ICI (Pakistan) worth Rs1.6
billion.
President may visit Cuba next month
President Gen Pervez Musharraf is likely to visit
Federal Republic of Cuba in September before visiting New York for
attending the UN General Assembly's session, Foreign Office sources
said.
The date of his visit to Cuba is being kept secret
by the Foreign Office in view of reports that Indian Prime Minister
Atal Behari Vajpayee might not visit New York during President
Musharraf's stay there. Earlier, the visit of Cuba was scheduled after
the General Assembly's session.
TCP invites LoIs
Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) has decided
to utilize the services of private sector and international
organizations to check contamination of cotton. According to TCP
officials on Thursday, the corporation has invited Letters of Intent (LoIs)
from private sector inspection organizations to establish cotton
testing laboratories for checking contamination.
Exploration licence granted
The government on Wednesday granted Petroleum
Exploration Licence to Joint Venture of Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL)
and Government Holdings (Private) Limited over block no 3371-7 (Jhamat)
covering an area of 933.75 Sq.Km. 933.75 km in the district of Attock,
Chakwal, Mianwali and Kohat in NWFP.
New power policy next week
New policy for power projects, aimed at introducing
incentives to attract investment in this sector, will be announced
next week after the approval of the Federal Cabinet.
According to sources in the ministry of water and
power, the final draft of the policy has already been sent to federal
cabinet for approval after the vetting by the ministry of law and
justice.
Well-furnished passenger coaches
Pakistan Railways will shortly include 175
well-furnished passenger coaches in its present fleet with the help of
China. This was informed at a meeting held on Saturday between the
minister for communication Lt-Gen (retd) Javed Ashraf Qazi and a
delegation representing three Chinese companies including Dalian
Locomotive and Rolling Stock Works (DLRW), Dong Fond Electric
Corporation (DFEC) and CMC headed by Mr Hu Weidong.
