Imran Husain
In change there is hope! “I am so proud to be Pakistani”, said Ayesha Baigmohamed, a Pakistani-American based in Washington DC, five minutes into the ride from Dulles Airport earlier this week. “Don’t get me wrong”, she said, “I am privileged to be American, but yes after this election, I am really proud to be Pakistani.” This sentiment has universal echo in Pakistan. Taking this further, I was privileged to attend a distinguished gathering at the Atlantic Council, graciously hosted by Shuja Nawaz, whom I unfortunately did not have the pleasure of meeting as I had to leave early. The principal speakers at the event directed at discussing the recent elections and their anticipated impact on the Pakistan scene were Dr Maleeha Lodhi, via Skype from Islamabad, Riaz Mohammad Khan, former foreign secretary and Mohsin Khan, former IMF Director. Opinion makers in DC and Pakistani-Americans attended the event. Among the attendees was Fauzia Saeed of Islamabad, on a book launching tour of her new book based on the rigours faced by women in our environment. Maleeha is a greatly admired and dear friend. As anticipated she started the meeting with a profound and well-structured discourse covering every aspect of the recent situation and emphasized upon the difference in calibre of governance that the change will bring. She focused on the benefits a Nawaz-led dispensation, considering the elections provided him the simple majority to form government enabling him to deal with critical issues without having to barter or negotiate with coalition partners. At the same time she was precise in warning that being out of office for a long time would require Nawaz Sharif to be cerebral in setting goals, selecting personnel and putting aside personal sentiments in achieving success. There were two significant points she raised which I believe require attention. First, she said that this election has indicated that the base of Pakistani politics would move from the rural to the urban scene. Perhaps she was overcome with euphoria at the election turnout. Let me say I disagree with this statement based not simply on the disenfranchisement of the bulk of the population but on the fact that the majority of urban Pakistan has no idea of how the people of the rural areas exist. If this were to happen Pakistan would suffer irreparable damage. As it is, rural Pakistan is severely under developed and government must focus on horizontal fiscal equalization to ensure more inclusive development. Failing this the march on the urban centres would become so great that infrastructure could never cope. I would therefore hope that this assessment is incorrect. The second point is definitely debatable. When asked during the Q&A that followed: what Zardari would do, she said, “He should contact his travel agent”. Setting popular sentiment aside, one must not forget that President Zardari has certain significant political assets that require logical consideration. First of these is the majority for the next three years in the Senate. Second the large vote in Sindh, with Nawaz barely on the board, the converse of the situation in the Punjab. Third and the most important fact is that Zardari has the numbers to make Imran Khan the leader of the opposition. Considering the number of votes won by Imran’s losing candidates in the Punjab, he is undoubtedly a serious player and, hospital call notwithstanding, will want to build on this much to Nawaz’s discomfort. Add to this the fact that Zardari literally handed Nawaz the election by ensuring the PPP’s pitiful election campaign and by finally deciding at a critically late juncture to follow court orders and give up the two offices. So to completely and quickly write him off is premature. He has proven to be a wily politician and pulled many a trick from his bag. Perhaps they are all used up and this may be one too many and prove difficult to pull off. We will have an answer soon enough. Riaz Mohammad Khan’s rendering of the foreign policy and administrative necessities and realities was both expansive and direct. He believes as do most rational and progressive Pakistanis that improved ties with India, and more importantly trade with India, is of absolute essence. In driving home the point he emphasized that the army no longer holds this fact taboo and is more open to positive developments. On the ‘drone’ factor and the US participation in Pakistan’s development, he advised the new government to continue to work hard in developing relations to mutual advantage. His views that drone strikes are not likely to just “go away”, are by and large correct. In my opinion, a significant fact that the ‘anti-drone’ lobby seems to conveniently forget is that the collateral damage being caused to civilian population is no different to the damage to innocent civilian lives and those of military personnel and installations being caused by ruthless and cruel terror attacks on the Pakistani population by the various factions of the Taliban. Therefore in striving to pressurise the US to stop drone attacks are they ensuring a stoppage to terror attacks? If so, they must reveal the methodology. To take it a step further, should our leaders not be absolutely honest instead of selfishly playing with emotions and reveal that there is precious little we can do if the drone attacks are to continue. His view that election results portray Nawaz as a leader of the majority Punjab province is not entirely incorrect, although Nawaz does have the largest number of seats in Balochistan and a reasonable number in KP with Sindh being the least represented. He opined, in order to overcome this deficit in the Federal government, Nawaz must build consensus overall and in particular in Sindh. This will certainly be an extremely sensitive issue. The new government must provide a level playing field in Sindh as the possibility of serious difficulties in maintaining peace in rural areas and especially Karachi loom large on the horizon. The crux of Pakistan’s problems is centred on the economy. “Economy, economy, economy,” Mohsin Khan highlighted. He stressed the fact that a new programme with the IMF will be required and that will be centred on the basic pre-requisites laid out in the previous programme that the former government had turned down. The caretaker economic team that visited Washington was told the IMF was open to discussion but would like to do this with the elected government. The last government failed to build consensus on the VAT, tax reforms and non-development expenditures. In fact the politicians never had the will to do it despite having a brilliant economic team for the last three years. And political parties opposed the reforms vehemently, especially in Karachi and Lahore. Perhaps with the change in government representing the Punjab maybe a chance exists for reversing the situation. For Pakistan’s economy to even begin to show signs of correction, the new government will have to dispassionately review the status and dismiss political expediency in driving the change. Hold our heads high we must. There isn’t a single Pakistani I’ve met here in the last few days who is not celebrating the flow of democracy in our country. In fact, even the significant Americans I’ve met are rejoicing for us. In democracy lies our future and in change there is hope. But there is extreme sadness in the heinous murder of Zahra Shahid Hussain. Those who knew her will know what a wonderful woman she was. May Allah rest her soul in peace, and let us pay tribute by continuing to work for what she stood for: A better and prosperous Pakistan. The writer can be contacted at: [email protected]

Syed Haider Azhar
The PML-N’s golden chance After what seemed like years of campaigning, speculations, name-calling, conspiracy theories and what not, the most anticipated general elections, for my generation at least, finally concluded. If the eventual outcome is to be taken at face value, with the huge mandate given to the winner in mind minus the various allegations of rigging and all that is rotten, it appears that the result has been an extremely joyous one for the significant majority of voters of this country; disappointing for those who thought that their voters would still turn up to support them despite their shortcomings and incompetence; and incomprehensible for the rest, who seemed to ride on a wave of unrealistic expectations and perception only to wake up post-May 11 with a bad case of hangover that often follows such a high. Before proceeding any further, I would take this time to toot my own horn for a bit. When my assessment of the seats in Lahore was printed on the pages of this very newspaper two weeks prior to the polls, I faced a barrage of questions and opinions from disgruntled supporters of one particular party for not considering certain factors which they apparently believed were to act as game-changers; the youth vote; the passion and vigour or ‘Junoon’ of their supporters; their naïve and idealistic belief that their message and rhetoric seeking a poll on principles was stronger and more effective than others and was enough to tilt the tide in their favour; and so on. While addressing their reservations, I mastered my two-pronged response; firstly, the entire youth vote was not a guarantee for their particular party and it would split for reasons and factors which are too long to list here; and secondly, for a fair and objective analysis of something as complicated as elections in a city such as ours, you cannot and should not really consider ‘passion’, ‘motivation’ and all that jazz as reasonable indicators because the ground reality was and is significantly different than the one perceived by them. While I got 12 out of a total 13 seats right (I still cannot figure out for the life of me how Samina Ghurki lost) and while am in a position to play my favourite game of ‘I told you so’ and claim a sense of superiority over some extremely senior and respected analysts who predicted differently, I shouldn’t because I believe any prudent mind who had followed politics in the city from the pre-tsunami days should have reached the same conclusion as I did. But what’s the harm in saying it one last time? I told you so! On a serious note, what went wrong? Why, despite the popular perception created by analysts and media houses suggesting a hung parliament, did we see one party walk away with the ‘tiger’s share’ of the seats? Surely the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) and Pakistan Peoples Party-Parliamentarians (PPP-P) were hoping to make more of a dent in Punjab if not in just Lahore than what we eventually saw. And more importantly for these and all other parties, what now? It is the ‘what now’ question that I want to focus on, in turn, aiming to briefly suggest a future course of action and strategy for both the disgruntled party as well as the disappointed party, namely the PTI and the PPP-P respectively. Let’s first address the fall from grace for the one party that has always staked a claim at being the ‘only national party’ in the country, simply because it isn’t anymore. One doesn’t need to know rocket science to figure out where they went wrong. Granted that their campaigns were hampered by threats and other such factors but a mere perusal of newspapers from the last five years should be sufficient for their think-tanks to prepare a mile-long list of faults and errors that they committed while in power. Yes the NFC, amendments to the constitution and the doing away of presidential powers were good initiatives, but the general public, as it showed, weren’t interested in these steps which the common man fails to understand or appreciate, and craves for immediate relief. All the social indicators point towards a job poorly done by the previous government. The level of disappointment amongst the masses can best be analysed by the fact that all the coalition partners of PPP-P suffered due to their affiliation with the last government. Awami National Party (ANP) not only lost their government in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa but also had only one seat in the National Assembly to show for their performance and sacrifices. Similarly, the Chaudhrys of Gujrat could not have imagined the damage that was caused to Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-e-Azam (PML-Q) candidates by agreeing to a seat-adjustment/coalition with PPP-P. MQM would probably have lost more seats too, if their voters didn’t have the remarkable capability of casting four votes per second for their candidates. With their popularity graph at an all-time low, the PPP-P needs a complete overhaul, especially in Punjab. Maybe drop the extra ‘P’; maybe do a bit of spring-cleaning and get rid of all such leaders and members who have been successful in alienating and disenfranchising the party’s core supporters; no change will be big enough. One major hurdle for PPP-P turned out to be lack of a central leader for the rest to rally around. With the president barred from campaigning and Bilawal not ready yet, the party should have had someone to lead from the front. It is time to start grooming some young and new faces to re-establish the party in Punjab and try to reconcile with the lost voter base of the party. It won’t win them the next elections, but it would be a significant start. As for the ‘ballaybaaz’ of PTI, they need to first of all pat themselves on the back for a job quite well done. From having won only one seat since 1997 to becoming the third largest party in the National Assembly and being in a position to form a government in KPK, they have come a long way. What went wrong for them? Well for starters, it was a case of too many expectations on the part of the supporters. Secondly, the PTI supporters and candidates are guilty of exactly the same things that they accuse others of; arrogance and indifference to the opinions of others. In some constituencies in Punjab, PTI fielded candidates whom the locals could not relate to and who themselves appeared not to know much about the needs of their common constituents. The Tabdeeli Razakars in Lahore, for example, were mostly volunteers from well off areas of the city with absolutely no recognition in the areas they were working and trying to mobilise support. This is where PTI needs to focus because it is in an ideal position to start the groundwork for the next elections. The candidates or local PTI offices need to start socialising and networking in their areas right away; attend funerals, weddings and whatever event possible to establish grass-root level presence in their respective constituencies. And for heaven’s sake, avoid the fiasco that we saw just a couple of months prior to the elections and have the intra-party elections at least a year in advance, if not more, to the general elections. If there is decent governance in KP coupled with poor performance by the newly elected government in the centre, then PTI may get a chance to avenge the first-innings deficit. A few words for our new rulers: Fortunately for PML-N, the bar set by the previous government at the centre is so low that anything they do will be considered as an upgrade on what we saw for the past five years. But I am sure the leadership of PML-N is aware that they can’t afford any slip-ups or they may face the wrath of the voters with a certain Pathan waiting to pounce on their every mistake come elections next time around. The residents of Punjab are hopeful that we won’t have many complaints from the new government especially as far as administration goes but there are still a few concerns. The PML-N’s continued affiliation with extremist sectarian outfits still sticks at the back of minds of all minorities. So we request the new government of Punjab, can we please have someone new as the provincial law/home minister? We really don’t trust the previous one. Oh, and a proper health minister would be much appreciated as well. The writer is an advocate of the high courts, a guidance and career counselor and a public speaking coach. The views expressed here are his own. He can be contacted at [email protected]

Kuldip Nayar
In what the Indian government says Believe it or not, the Supreme Court gave the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) an opportunity to be independent in one of the matters before it, asking the agency why it was not independent. Yet the CBI failed to grab the chance with both hands. It had a fool proof case against Law Minister Ashwani Kumar when he amended the report on the coal blocks allotment scandal. The government’s blatant interference resulted in a “corrected draft,” exactly the way the law minister wanted the report to be. The Supreme Court said that the CBI had “shaken the system” and it expected the agency to give its independent verdict on the probe. But it did not because the agency realised that it would have meant opposing the government. Apparently, it was the failure of both the CBI and the government. They could have seen to it that the agency would have its own say. Now that it has lost the chance to be viable, the way out for the government is to make the CBI independent. The present bill pending before Parliament falls short of giving the CBI independent character. It looks that both major political parties, the Congress and the BJP, do not want the agency to have teeth. I do not know how far other parties want the agency to be independent. In any case, the CBI has lost the opportunity to become viable. Corruption still gets most attention in Indian politics. The present government at the centre beats all records in scandals. Never before did the CBI have so many eyes riveted on it and what comes out again and again is the inadequacy of its powers. The reason, simply put, is that the CBI realises the extent of independence it can exercise in the present setup. The law minister’s argument that he has not committed any wrong by vetting the report as his ministry has been the authorised legal adviser of the agency sounds hollow. However, every time a scam tumbles out of the government’s cupboard, there is a familiar exercise that follows. The CBI is asked to conduct a probe. But when the agency remains a department of the government and part of the system, doubts about its functioning cannot be brushed aside. Several former directors of the CBI have written articles and books to show how they were given instructions from above to decide a case in a particular way. In the entire scenario, it is difficult to say whether or not Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had been briefed. Because of his clean record in public life, we come to infer that he did not know. It is probable, if not possible, that such a situation did obtain and that Manmohan Singh knew what was happening under his nose. But then you expect some heads to roll when the scams come to light and particularly when you can spot out the officials in the loop. Why has no one been punished till today and why has nothing concrete emerged after practically every investigation? This doesn’t surprise me at all. The party has confronted with several such situations before and had weathered them all without much ado or damage to its existence. Yet what the Ashwani Kumar and, of late, Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, episodes have brought to the fore is that even before one controversy dies down, there is another one waiting to catch the administration on the wrong foot. No government since independence has been as badly battered and shattered as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s has been. But there is a certain pattern to the CBI-law minister controversy. As was to be expected, the Congress first dismissed the accusation and then issued a perfunctory explanation before finally admitting that the law minister did go through the report and suggest some changes to it. But for the three-judge bench, which ordered CBI director Ranjit Sinha to file an affidavit, the actual behind-the-scene activities would not have come to light, although we know the agency always functioned under the influence of the government of the day. Hence, the confession by the CBI director before the Supreme Court that “the investigation agency does not exist in isolation” is no revelation. However, Sinha’s admission has let the cat out of the bag. We knew that institutions like the CBI have been devalued over a period of time. And it is the government which has its last word on a charge-sheet because of political power. Even with the Supreme Court breathing down its neck, there have been several instances where the CBI’s investigations have remained questionable. In fact, political parties have their own views and positions on ways and means to improve the efficiency and accountability of the CBI. But no government has been ever willing to give up its administrative controversy over the agency. Take the case of the BJP, the main opposition party. It did create a ruckus in parliament over the issue, demanding the resignation of Ashwani Kumar. So did the other parties with their leaders baying for his blood. But we have not seen anybody making concrete proposals to insulate the CBI from government interference. In a way, it is good that the apex court is seized of the entire matter and is determined to liberate the agency from the clutches of the government. But it remains to be seen what structure it would recommend to give the CBI full freedom. Unfortunately, the government does not seem to be even sorry for what has happened to revive faith in governance. Some ministers try to explain things “in proper perspective”. Yet what the Manmohan Singh government does not realise is the yawning trust deficit: none of its claims is accepted, none of its explanation is considered credible and none of its action is taken seriously. It is thus the loss of faith which has put a question mark against every segment of the administration. The writer is a senior Indian journalist.

anjum

This week, Microsoft rubber-stamped Windows 8 as good to go for manufacturers. This means PC makers and other partners can grab the operating system code and test it out with their products, which should start arriving Oct. 26. The struggle for the future of computing as we know it has essentially commenced.

Microsoft has essentially opened a window in having media and technology start anew with their new operating system. As they have minted a lot of money through Windows Vista, and through Windows 7, who says that they won't do the same now?

Howevever, what one really needs to see is a resurgence of the Personal Computer industry, to battle smartphones and tablets in the ever-growing information technology market. Windows unsuccesful bid to bring forth a popular Tablet PC for their customers brought an opportunity for Apple to establish its brand through the iPad. Early smartphones in the form of handheld palmtops such as the HP Jornada have given Google an edge in bringing forth Android phones with more advanced operating systems.

So it essentially comes down to this: with Windows 8, we get to find out what the non-Apple computing industry really has left.

Windows needs some resurgence to its already established brand, as the bringer of Personal Computers during in an information technology hike in the 80's, 90's, and 00's. It really needs to get the ball rolling and not leave companies like Dell, Hewlett-Packard, or Acer sitting idly by while others get ahead in the game.

Just about everyone—even Apple fans—should hope that some company gets its act together, takes some risks, and wows the public on the back of Windows 8. It’s the sort of competition the industry needs to be healthy and for innovation to continue at a furious clip.

Sakina Husain
It has been about a month since the IMF report on Pakistan ‘ingeniously’ highlighted the economy’s fragility. A sense of urgency was incumbent; the PM quickly and quite conveniently replaced the secretaries of finance and FBR. Very few questions were asked; the damage was covered. How and why would the public demand accountability and transparency, or an extenuating correction of seemingly portrayed fudged figures when it has been residing in blissful ignorance with regard to the economy? Or maybe the silence was another extension of the disillusionment with the system. For the purpose of reminiscing, the IMF report in Feb-12 revealed that the (please note: expected) budget deficit communicated by the government for FY12 has been understated by Rs532 billion where in the revenue was overstated by Rs215 billion and expenditures were understated by Rs317 billion. This would imply that the budget deficit for the current fiscal year would arrive at about 6.6 per cent of GDP, instead of the government’s repeated assurances about realising the promised five per cent contingent on promised external inflows which even the sovereign would vouch by…but nevertheless. Given this back drop, the very act of changing secretaries signals that the government is capable of making only cosmetic changes in an effort to please the almighty IMF. The first contention questions why the IMF is so important that the government needs to replace qualified personnel who have served its cause throughout the regime so far. Moreover, current deliberations by the ex-finance minister reveal that domestic debt has exceeded foreign debt, indicative of greater reliance on the domestic financial system instead of lenders abroad. So why is there a need to prove credibility in front of this iffy source of funds? The second contention challenges the autonomy of the ministry of finance as the government’s window into its accounts. If expenditures, especially the larger recurrent ones are being exceeded than the target, is the finance ministry really supposed to suffer blame? There are severe structural deficiencies in the collection and distribution of revenues between the federal and the provincial governments. For instance, the provincial government or the chief minister has the power to undertake expenditures without taking prior approval from the national assembly. This automatically results in a greater than expected deficit in provincial budgets as the latter have limited space to raise revenues, especially, post the 18th amendment which led to the devolution of many subjects that were earlier apart of the federal list. Third, the PM’s alacrity in reading international evaluations of the economy is commendable and therefore must be lauded. Why should he pay heed to weekly caveats published by domestic analysts who have repeatedly tried to inform, challenge or at least warn the government regarding the same macro variables delineated by the IMF? The government is ready to cheer the FBR chairman when he reports higher than target revenue collection, but ever ready to replace the same person when the numbers are challenged by an international body! Why are there no internal checks and balances? And moreover, is the 2-3membered IMF office in Pakistan better equipped to report federal collection of taxes and expenditures? Regardless of whether the answer is in the affirmative, there is only a sense of embarrassment and shame that holds its ground. If the government is ever so concerned about accurate reporting of its accounts and more importantly meeting its target spending, ‘may be’ it needs to address the inefficiencies that exist in its very own government offices. Supposedly, for the provision of government services annually, the government spends about Rs13,000 per capita, leaving out the amount that is assigned for expanding the scope of these services ie the PSDP. And to put an end note: there is little education, very little health and almost no security in the country. The writer is an economic analyst and freelance financial journalist. She can be reached at [email protected]

Javed Gilani
an economy unable to reach its production possibility frontier will always remain vulnerable to exogenous shocks, as in the case of Pakistan. It would have been a different story if the last two-to-three years had seen some sort of visible improvement in handling deficits and improving growth. If we had produced, exported and grown more, we would have had a more stable support base, restricting damage from external shocks our economic and political managers have no control over. In the present circumstances, among Pakistan’s chief worries is rising energy and input cost, the demand-supply dynamics of which play out on a stage and involve actors far removed from Islamabad’s sphere of influence. With our deficits in uncomfortable zones, additional price pressure due to increasing inflation, predominantly higher energy and input costs, is putting unsustainable pressure on the country’s reserve situation. Therefore, even as relevant quarters and analysts calculate a few month elbow room for reserves, their value diminishes every time international pressures bid up oil. Things looked up in the immediate aftermath of the 18th amendment, which transferred increased power and responsibility to provincial governments. Yet with no proper revenue generation framework, and unable to get help from a largely defunct FBR, they have been unable to make any meaningful contribution so far. On the other hand, the federal machinery has not been able to introduce any form of value addition in the present export basket. This means that almost all traditional means of generating national revenue are compromised. That is why we rely on international trends to facilitate our economic engine. We are always in need of improved remittances to defend deficits. We are always praying for international events that push down the price of oil so our own economic managers can breathe easy. And of course, we are always on the lookout of bailout and donor assistance. Sadly, despite the obvious persistence of such trends, we have not moved in manner that the situation merits. It bears noting that persistent growth problems require solvency in credit markets to stimulate the only indigenous option to revive GDP. When the external situation exerts unbearable pressure, economies look inward, prompting private sector expansion which in turn attracts offshore investment. In this case, banks facilitate private sector investment, in some cases ably guided by the official machinery, in a way that the centre does not interfere in market mechanism, only facilitates it. This is where the Pakistani banking sector needs to step up to the plate. For some years now, a proactive lending regime, one that incorporates targeted needs of the time, has been conspicuous by its absence. Whatever little scope the private sector has had has been compromised by heavy government borrowing. This equation requires urgent balancing. The last couple of years of private sector crowding out have left a vast investment field yet to be exploited. Ironically, the laxity of the past might even turn into an attractive opportunity for the present. If properly handled, private sector investment can create jobs, improve infrastructure, create employment and, most importantly, engineer second round market multiplier, with gains for all. We have now come to the point of no return. Both government and autonomous organs must finalise an action plan that will stimulate employment and growth. That means fine tuning both fiscal and monetary policies. Once the finance ministry initiates immaculately targeted fiscal expansion, and the central bank makes credit available to private investors, we may even see a domino effect strong enough to lure bulky foreign investors. Our problems are not existential, but their handling has made them acute. We have the necessary inputs, its just a little toggling of official policy that is required. The recent stock market optimism is an adequate indicator of productive potential across the economy. All that is needed is effective program management. The writer is Chief Manager SME bank and has been a leading banker in the industry for more than 30 years

Pakistan Today
Livestock sector plays a very important role in Pakistan’s economy. It contributes 11.6 percent in national GDP and 55.1 percent of agriculture share. There are approximately 32.7 million buffaloes in Pakistan which constitute about 15 percent of the world buffalo population. There are five known buffalo breeds in the country named as Nili, Ravi, Nili-Ravi, Kundi and Aza Kheli. Nili-Ravi and Kundi are the two main breeds with 38 percent and 25 percent of the total population, respectively. Traditionally, animals are purchased and sold on the basis of physical appearance and no system of record keeping exists at field level. However, type and conformation are very important where ‘type’ is a term commonly used to describe the physical qualities of an animal. Linear type traits are considered the basis of all modern type classification systems for describing the dairy animals. Linear classification is based on measurement of individual type trait instead of opinion. Generally, farmers use type classification as a management tool in breeding and selection decisions. Type traits are very important because they are correlated with milk production. One of the objectives of the study was to standardize method for buffaloes to select animals with proper body characteristics suitable for milk production. Nili-Ravi buffalo herds maintained at five Livestock Experiment Stations in Punjab and some private breeders were utilized in this study. The results are as under: Skin thickness has been found under the genetic control and can be improved through selection and breeding keeping in view its importance and demand in the leather industry. The negative genetic correlation of skin thickness in the neck region with 305 days milk yield advocates the thinking of farmers about the negative correlation of skin thickness with milk yield. It may be used for indirect selection for improved milk yield in Nili-Ravi buffaloes. The following points are suggested for farmers at field level: Record keeping is the basic need for improvement in any business. Farmers should start record keeping of their animals including date of purchase or birth, dam number (Mother), sir number (Father), date of pregnancy, name or number of bull used for pregnancy, date of calving, sex and number of new born calf, milk recording once a month and date of dry. These records will help the farmer to keep or cull that buffalo. Buffaloes with good type and body conformation even somewhat costly at initial stage are better milk producers and produce more milk on life time basis. Nili-Ravi buffaloes of relatively heavy size, more body length and girth, wedge shaped with angular and well sprung ribs, more body weight and with thin skin are better milk producers and should be selected and purchased accordingly.

Pakistan Today
Elections are just around the corner. The campaign of political parties is gathering its swing. The political leaders, at least those who are claimants of being stalwarts, are using cheap slogans and language in public rallies. Their language cannot be watched on TV with family around. One political starter has gone so low that he reminds me of age-old deceased Mazhar Shah of Punjabi films fame. As such our country is now devoid of all consumable resources the only thing left was little decency and this election and electioneering is going to wash away even decency. AMJAD HABIB MIRZA Lahore

Pakistan Today
It is regrettable that the laws have been manipulated to favour the rich who commit criminal offences but get light sentences while the common people that engage in petty stealing end up spending long years behind bars. Lawyers have perfected many ways of evading justice through frivolous injunctions. Lawyers file such motions for all sorts of vexatious issues. Lawyers usually apply such methods, nowadays frequent boycotts and strikes, to stall court processes and that is a crude abuse of court process. Corruption has assumed a dangerous dimension among the court personnel of district judiciary to the essence that lawyers seek injunction to prevent law enforcement agents from arresting or prosecuting suspected criminals. Is there anyone take notice of this manifest subversion of the rule of law, chronic corruption, abuse of professional ethics and moral bankruptcy in our district courts? HASHIM ABRO Islamabad

Pakistan Today
Prisoner of alliances Like the PPP earlier, the PML-N too is seeking alliances with a number of parties. Zardari’s policy of reconciliation with all was a need in the case of the PPP which did not have enough MNAs to form the government on its own. The PPP accepted any party which showed willingness to cooperate irrespective of its ideology, programme or past record. While it had a modicum of similarity of views with the ANP, the MQM and PML-Q were known for hostility towards the PPP. But since the PPP had decided to complete its tenure at any price, it continued to yield to the unending demands of its allies. Some of the bad governance that characterised the PPP era emanated from the policy of reconciliation. It is only in Balochistan where Nawaz Sharif really needs allies. The PML-N has emerged here as the single largest party with 13 seats. It has, therefore, to broker an alliance with some of the other parties to be able to form a government. It has already cobbled together an alliance, comprising the PkMAP and National Party, which provides it enough votes to form government in Balochistan. There is now a talk about including the JUI-F also in the provincial coalition which is resented by the alliance components. In the National assembly the PML-N is in a better position than the PPP was in 2008. The party has straightaway bagged 124 of the 272 directly elected seats while there is a long queue of independent candidates waiting to join the party. After the elections on the reserved seats have taken place, there is a likelihood of the PML-N emerging as the single largest party in the National Assembly capable of ruling on its own. Shahbaz Sharif has meanwhile extended invitation to JUI-F to join as a coalition partner. What has apparently prompted the PML-N is presumably the concerns about the Senate. In the Upper House, with 104 members, the PML-N has only 15 Senators as against PPP’s 39 and JUI-F’s 7. The support from the religious party could help PML-N in the conduct of the legislative business. The reliance is however likely to tilt the PML-N further towards the right as the JUI-F is opposed to legislation that favours women or religious minorities. If the media reports are to be given credence, the price being demanded by the JUI-F for support is post of the KP Governor, Chair of the Kashmir Committee, two or three federal cabinet posts and the office of the senior minister in Balochistan. The PML-N needs to ask itself if the game is worth the candle. As time passes the religious party is likely to put up more demands. Will the PML-N become a prisoner of its alliances like the PPP and end up with bad governance?

Pakistan Today
Reports of Afghanistan seeking military aid from India disturbing When the current Afghan President Hamid Karzai attended the oath taking ceremony of President Asif Ali Zardari in 2008, citizens on both sides of the Durand Line hoped that relations between the two neighbours had turned a page. Come mid-2013, relations have taken a nosedive, and arguably have reached the lowest point since the Cold War period. With reports suggesting that the Afghan president is due to seek military aid from India during his three-day visit to the country and the Afghan government pursuing a policy of reconciliation towards the Taliban, the move appears to be directed at Pakistan. There was hope that the border skirmishes on the Durand Line, and the sloganeering from the Afghan side, had come to a close with a meeting of the two military establishments. But with the Afghan president now turning to discussing the cross-border clashes with India, with whom the Pakistani establishment still harbours suspicions, it does not bode well for relations between the two countries. The Afghan ambassador to India admitted the country needed India’s help with “equipment and weapons to fight”, with a spokesman for the Indian foreign ministry saying India was ready to obilge. If an arms deal materialises, suspicions will gain more credence that the new Indo-Afghan alliance is a way of cornering Pakistan. With India and Afghanistan already having an agreement to train Afghan security forces since 2011, there are already enough suspicions on the Pakistani side regarding the honesty of the Afghan side in dialogue with Pakistan. The Afghan side, on the other hand, fears that Pakistan is trying to sabotage its efforts to start peace talks with the Taliban. With Pakistan considered crucial to the US-Afghan agenda of bringing Taliban leaders allegedly hiding in the country to the negotiating table before the NATO troops pull-out, should Afghanistan not be talking to Pakistan more than India? Some analysts have argued that no arms deal will come out of the trip, and the rumours of such a deal were only initiated for more political brinkmanship with Pakistan. If the matter will close at such, the negative effects of such a deal on regional relations could be mitigated. But if it does go ahead, then it could be taken as a move from India to intensify the rivalry with Pakistan. With India having invested over $2 billion in Afghan infrastructure, it is logical to understand that it would be willing to aid the Afghan government at a time of need. But surely the ‘right time’ is when Afghan relations with Pakistan are not at a breaking point. For now it appears Karzai is willing to go to any length to alienate Pakistan. The challenge is for the new Nawaz Sharif government, carrying the torch for peace with India, to ensure that relations on both sides of the border improve.

anjum
Speculations rife as to the purpose of the meeting With the first civilian power transition coming to its end, everyone that has any stakes in the matters political is trying to ensure they retain their influence. Given the unique position Pakistan’s military holds in our politics, it is no wonder that the Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani went to see the future Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, at his residence in Lahore. The meeting may have been dubbed a “routine one” by both parties, its timing and the duration it lasted are surely not a routine. Nawaz Sharif has yet to take oath as prime minister; he is not in government rather government in waiting. So what compelled Gen Kayani, the most powerful military leader in the country, to visit a leader whose government is yet to take control of the reins in Islamabad? Observers have dubbed the meeting as unusual, though looking at Kayani’s recent past actions doesn’t make it any suspicious. He telephoned Imran Khan a few days ago to inquire after his health. Apparently, he wants to have smooth relations with the next civilian government setup. A good step, if that indeed is the intention. However, certain developments make the sceptics be on their toes. As Gen Kayani is due to retire by November this year, another extension in his service might have come up though the N League supremo has been vocal against any extension. Kayani might also want to make sure the military and political leaderships are on the same page regarding war on terrorism. Also, with the US due to leave Afghanistan in the hands of Afghans, a unified strategy is a must to tackle the issues creating right thereof and thereafter, if a repeat of the effects of the last US withdrawal are to be avoided. Moreover, Pakistan’s military has taken a clear stand against the terrorists, as Gen Kayani’s past statements suggest, which appears to be at odds with the stand that the PML-N leader has taken recently. After the TTP designated PML-N as one of the parties they were willing to talk to for peace, the N League, a right wing conservative party, has been vocal in taking up their offer for real. If that indeed is what the two leaders discussed – some of the PML-N’s leaders have said that the meeting revolved around issues of internal and external security – then there is nothing to it. But there is one other matter that may just spoil all the good things out of this meeting: what to do with former dictator General Pervez Musharraf. If Gen Kayani insisted on saving his former boss, as certain events hint at like Ijazul Haq saying that “Musharraf will leave the country before swearing-in of the new (PML-N) government” and Ashraf Ghumman withdrawing his petition on judges’ detention case in the ‘larger national interest’, the sceptics might be right that there was an agenda behind the meeting. And that doesn’t sound too good for democracy and justice. Nonetheless, one hopes that both the sides have been, and prove to be, wiser and neither causes any harm to the democratic process or obstruct justice.