Wednesday, 15 February, 2012

Index ends flat after topsy-turvy day Page 3

profit.com.pk

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

tHE Competition Commission ofPakistan (CCP), moving undersection 34 of the Competitionact 2010, on tuesday conducted

search and inspection of Pakistan Banks’association (PBa) in this metropolis to im-pound proofs of the association’s sus-pected role in providing a platform to itsmember banks for collusively determininguniform atM charges.

the collusive activities are prohibitedunder section 4 of the Competition act,said the CCP tuesday.

the Commission had earlier con-ducted search and inspection of 1-link, asthe banks charging uniform atM chargesare members of and 11 major banks consti-tute the board of directors of 1-link, and itwas possibly playing role in this collusiveactivity of fixing atM charges.

the CCP took notice of atM cashwithdrawal charges implemented bybanks in Pakistan as majority of banks,i.e. 26 banks, were charging uniformamount of rs15 for atM cash with-drawal transactions.

In the absence of any guideline fromthe state Bank of Pakistan (sBP), charge-ability of atM cash withdrawal services in

a similar manner raised a suspicion of col-lusion among banks.

It has come to the Commission’s noticethat atM cash withdrawal service is pro-vided by two atM networks/switchnamely, 1-link and Mnet.

the state Bank has mandated that allforeign and domestic commercial bankshave to become members of one or theother switch to provide atM services totheir own customers as well as customersof other banks.

the 1-link is a consortium of majorbanks, totalling 31, and owned by theconsortium of 11 major banks that ownand operate the largest representative

shared financial services network ofcountry, while Mnet switch has approxi-mately 15 members.

during the enquiry in progress, sBPinformed CCP that the state Bank doesnot monitor and regulate banks at suchmicro level, but it is discretion of banksto charge customers on atM cash with-drawal services.

suspicion of collusion was strength-ened by the fact that 31 banks are memberof 1-link which may provide them a forumto discuss and agree on atM charges.

since the banks can be differentiatedin terms of atMs installed and transac-tions carried out on their atMs, therefore,

their atM charges should also vary fromeach other under competitive conditions.

the Enquiry Committee of the Com-mission while examining the impoundeddocuments from 1-link has found evi-dence suggesting that PBa, prima facie,has role in terms of discussion on pricingpolicy of banks in respect of atM cashwithdrawal charges.

Important data has been confiscatedby the authorised officials of CCP, whichwill be scrutinised by the Commission. asreported by the authorised officers of theCommission, the officials of PBa providedfull access to all the documents andrecords available in PBa’s office.

CCP moves against banks for charging uncompetitive ATM charges

Pak-Iran agree toexpedite powerimport projects

ISLAMABD

STAFF REPORT

PakIstan and Iran have agreed toexpedite finalisation of the powertariff to speed up import of three

power projects to enhance bilateral tradein the energy sector. ambassador of Iranali reza Highighlian called on theMinister for Water and Power syednaveed Qamar and discussed variousmatters of bilateral cooperation. atpresent three projects of importingelectricity from Iran for Balochistanprovince are under negotiation betweenthe two countries. Both sides have agreedto enhance the current import of 35 MWto 70 MW, which is likely to becommissioned during the current month.the two countries have also signedagreement to import 100 MW. theproject is ready for ground breaking butthe delay in the finalization ofperformance guarantee was delaying theproject. Both the countries are alsodiscussing import of 1000 MW powerproject, which would be used in theBalochistan province. all issues havebeen finalized except tariff which isunder advance negotiation stage. theminister said that all the three projectswill help resolving electricity crises. Hesaid Pakistan is also encouraging Iranianinvestors to invest in infrastructureprojects. He said cooperation in variousfields of economy will further enhancebilateral relations. Iranian envoy saidIran gives importance to its relationswith Pakistan and was keen to invest invarious projects. He stressed earlycompletion of the power import projects.He said that various new projects will befinalized during the visit of IranianPresident to Pakistan which will enhancethe economic ties between the twocountries. ambassador of tajikistanZubaidullu Zabaidov also called on theMinister for Water and Power. theminister said Pakistan is moving forwardon import of 1000 MW from Central asiaand soon a video conference of powerministers of Pakistan, tajikistan andafghanistan will be held to expedite theproject. tajik ambassador stressed theneed for direct flights from Pakistan totajikistan to boost bilateral trade andtourism between the two countries. Healso invited the Minister to participate inthe regional Economic Conference forafghanistan to be held next month.

KARACHI

WAQAR HAMZA

IndustrIal tycoons ofPakistan have grilled theIndian Commerce Ministeranand sharma in a meeting

on Monday in lahore over thecautious stance of India related tothe non tariff barriers under MostFavoured nation (MFn) status.sources informed Profit, Bashir aliMohammad of Gul ahmed Groupvoiced his concerns that despitetheir group’s importing cotton of$16m from India they still don’t getvisa from India, which shows thatIndia is not to make the Pakistanitrader feel the benefits ofliberalisation of bilateral tradeunder MFn cover. similarly,Muhammad ali tabba, ChiefExecutive Officer of lucky Cement,told the Indian minister that Indiaquite happily imports clinker fromthem but doesn’t give relax to therestrictions on cement imports fromPakistan, sources added. syed Babarali of nestle Pakistan said that ntBsare the major hindrance in thegrowth of trade between both thecountries, sources said; adding thatthis grilling of Indian ministermakes it clear that the Pakistanibusiness community is not happywith the way Ministry of Commerceis handling MFn business.In addition to this, secretaryMinistry of Commerce ZafarMahmood in a secret summary sentto the cabinet on MFn issue onFebruary 10 proposed that theMinistry be allowed to progressivelyphase out the negative list in threeinstallments on quarterly basis afterapproval of the cabinet with quartersending on June 30, september 30,and december 31 of the year 2012.the summary says that for thenormalisation of trade the proposednegative list must be ultimatelyphased out, and the justification ofit is that India specific negative listwould be violation of article 17 of the saFta agreementwhich clearly restricts countriesfrom adopting any measures thatdiminishes or nullifies anyconcessions already agreed.‘there was no need of any negative

list. and if this is to be made areality, why the Ministry ofCommerce phasing it out by the endof this year is beyondunderstanding,’ sources questioned.they added that it is not clear thatwhat would make the local industryto become so competitive to theIndian market in such a short spanof time, which has never been ableto compete the Indian market andthe balance of trade is still in thefavor of India.the industry is deeply perturbed,and had already lodged theirprotest against earlier decision toeliminate negative list in 10months (by dec 2012), as it did notallow the government to establishtrade defence measures againstflooding of India’s goods in thePakistan market. this newapproach is not understandable asthis leaves no time at all forestablishing infrastructures for alevel playing field for trade withIndia, sources added. regrettably, none of the keyindustries were taken intoconfidence, neither in the initialdecision of eliminating negative listin december 2012 nor in the currentproposal for quarterly phasing out ofthe negative list. In this regard, thespokesman of Pakistan automotiveManufacturers association (PaMa)said: “the industry fails tounderstand how the rationale forprotecting local industry wouldchange from one quarter to the nextquarter.” Instead of negotiating along term phase out plan in theinterest of the local industry, thegovernment has tried to take shortcuts and have practically sold outthe national interests, he added.He further said that all the actionsand measures have been taken bythe government withoutconsultation with the stakeholders,who hold the government fullyresponsible for the consequences oftheir decisions; therefore, this latestof the developments will have severeadverse long term impacts for thecountry’s industry as well as the longterm economic growth of our nation.It is to be noted that the sectors andrespective number of 636 itemsincluded in the proposed negative

list are: food andagriculture 16;minerals 3;chemical 4;pharmaceutical 32;plastics 74; rubber24; paper andwood 55; textile andclothing 77; ironand steel 25; andauto sectors 311. Moreover, according tothe statistics of FederalBoard of revenuePakistan and theannual report of stateBank of Pakistan,Pakistan’s exports toIndia in the year 2010-11stood at $193m while theimports from India stood at$860m. the value of total tradebetween both the countries inthe said period was$1053m. Pakistanwitnessed the highesttrade value withIndia in the year2006-07 when ithad total trade of$3098m with 22per centexports.

g CCP conducts search and inspection of Pakistan Banks’ Association g PBA found guilty of enabling members to collusively determine uniform ATM charges

Industrialists grill Indiancommerce minister

PRO 15-02-2012_Layout 1 2/15/2012 12:28 AM Page 1

news02Wednesday, 15 February, 2012

KARACHI

GHULAM ABBAS

IndIa seeks opening up ofMonabao-khokhara Par landroute on the sindh border toenhance trade with Pakistan.

the issue is included in the currenttalks with Islamabad.

this was said by the IndianCommerce Minister anand sharmaduring his first visit to karachi at thecity’s airport while addressing apress conference. the land routeissue at Mona Bao has already beentaken up with the concerned author-ities of Pakistan, he added.

It is worth mentioning here thatthe two countries have alreadyagreed to open a second gate at theattari-Wagah border, which was ex-pected to increase the number oftrucks crossing the border to 500-600 daily from 150-200 atpresent. Pakistan has agreed to re-move restrictions on the number ofcommodities traded by the land

route once the infrastructure inWagah is ready, while both countrieshave agreed to avoid arbitrary stop-page of goods at ports.

according to the Indian ministerthe tow countries needed to step for-ward for strengthening economic re-lationship which is vital to improvethe life of citizens on both sides. “thechallenges you faced here are thesame in our country and to minimisethe sufferings of people joint effortsare needed,” he said.

there was no way for the twosouth asian neighbours, but to cometo closure on economic front. “Wehad also unresolved issueswith China, but the two neighborshave now focused on trade,” he saidadding that resource mobility andeconomic engagement should be theprimary objectives. to a question, hesaid, the work on opening of bankingchannels on both sides of borderwere on final stages. He said the stateBank of Pakistan and reserve Bankof India were in touch in this regard.

Indian commerce minister visits Karachi LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

lPG marketing companieshave reported a sharp re-duction in their sales forthe month of February.

sales have slowed down by as muchas 30 per cent due to the impositionof the petroleum levy, with has re-duced off take. Earlier in the month,state owned lPG producers that ac-count for 70 per cent of the country’sproduction had increased their explant price by rs20,000 per tonneafter including the petroleum levy.the levy has been imposed on localproduction in order to equate itsprice with imports. “the impact ofthe petroleum levy has lead to asharp reduction in sales as lPG haslost its competitiveness to otherfuels,” said Belal Jabbar, thespokesman for lPG association ofPakistan. lPG companies and con-sumers had challenged the notifica-tion of the petroleum levy imposedon local lPG production in the la-hore High Court on the grounds that‘it is based on malafide, inasmuch as,

in the garb of the said notification,protection is being extended to theimporters of lPG by enhancing priceof the locally manufactured lPG’.they had further contended that theimpugned petroleum levy is beingimposed discriminately as the im-ported lPG is not being taxed.

the court admitted the petitionand issued notices to the secretary pe-troleum and deputy attorney generalto file their comments before the nextdate of hearing which has been fixedfor 27th February, 2012. the courtfurther stated “secretary, ministry ofpetroleum and natural resources shalldepute a senior officer to attend tothis court on the next date of hearingalong with a summary prepared bythe ministry which forms the basis ofthe impugned notification dated16.1.2012 in order to establish the rea-sons behind the imposition of the pe-troleum levy.” Pressure is mountingon local lPG producers to reduceprices as companies are unable to lifttheir allotted quantity. at least onelPG producer has begun selling lPGto companies that are not its allotteesin an effort to clear its stock.

LPG sales drop by 30pc

Bank Alfalah replaces Nishat Chunian asKSE-30 benchmark recomposesKARACHI: karachi stock Exchange Mondayrecomposed the ksE-30 index that marked the onlychange and that is the replacement of nishat (Chunian)limited with the Bank alfalah limited. according toksE management, the re-composition for the reviewperiod, ranging form July 1 to december 31, 2011, hasbeen carried out in view of the pre-requisite/criteria ofselection of the benchmark companies. “Only onecompany would be affected i.e. Bank alfalah limitedand it will be included in the index in place of nishat(Chunian) limited,” said a ksE notice issued onMonday. the new benchmark is based on the prices ofdecember 31, 2011, and would take effect from February15, 2012, the exchange said. ISMAIL DILAWAR

DG Khan Cement Ltd qualifies for carbon creditsKARACHI: as per the notice issued by dG khan CementCompany limited (dGkC) in the karachi stock Exchange(ksE), the company has qualified for the carbon creditsunder the united nations framework convention onclimate changes. these carbon credits will be earnedthrough its Waste Heat recovery (WHr) plant situated atdera Ghazi khan. the company is expected to generate33,845 tonnes of CEr per annum. STAFF REPORT

Engro Awards honour leading PakistanisKARACHI: Engro Corporation held a ceremony tocelebrate and recognise the accomplishments of threeeminent Pakistanis chosen as the recipients of the EngroExcellence awards 2012. these awards have beendeveloped as annual awards for the people of Pakistan,and the recipients of this year’s awards were dr adeebrizvi of sIut for social and Humanitarian services, drHafeez a Pasha for social sciences and shahid sajjad forarts. dr Ishrat Husain, Chairman of the Jury highlighted,“I am extremely delighted that Engro Corp has taken thisnoble initiative to recognise the services of eminentPakistanis who have excelled and made outstandingcontributions in their respective fields.” the recipientswere selected on the basis of their lifetimeaccomplishments and excellence in their respective fields.they were presented an Engro Excellence Medallion aswell as a cash prize of rs5 million, each. STAFF REPORT

Sindh Economic Survey 2009–2011KARACHI: sindh Economic survey 2009–2011 isscheduled to be launched at the Management ExcellenceCentre (MEC), Institute of Business Management (IoBM)at 4:00 pm sharp on thursday, February 16, 2012, says anannouncement of the IoBM Public affairs section. syedMurad ali shah, sindh Finance Minister is going to be theChief Guest on this occasion. this survey seeks to analysedevelopments in the provincial economy during 2009–2011. such areas have been comprehensively covered asthose pertaining to agriculture, manufacturing,construction, education, manpower, health, transport andcommunication. the project leader of this survey isProfessor M ashraf Janjua, advisor to President, IoBMand former deputy Governor of the state Bank ofPakistan. While Co-Project leader of this survey isProfessor dr Javed akbar ansari, dean, College ofBusiness Management, IoBM, a team of worthy anddedicated IoBM faculty and researchers meticulouslysupported this project. STAFF REPORT

Textile gas distribution policy from March 1LAHORE: sui northern Gas Pipelines limited(snGPl) Managing director arif Hameed has said two-zone gas distribution policy for the textile industry willbe followed from the 1st of March. addressing the allPakistan textile Mills association (aPtMa) executivecommittee members here on tuesday, snGPl Md saidincrease in natural gas supply to textile industry duringthe current month was subject to its availability.However, snGPl would revert to original two-zone gasdistribution policy, against four-zone policy at present,for gas distribution to textile industry in Punjab, hemaintained. He disclosed negotiations with Qatar wereunderway to import natural gas for meeting the nationalrequirements. STAFF REPORT

Special monitoring for sugarcane growersLAHORE: special assistant to Chief Minister Punjabon Food, Manshaullah Butt has said in order tosafeguard interests of cane growers and ensure timelypayment of their dues, instructions have been issued tocane commissioner Punjab for special monitoring. He isvisiting all sugar mills of the province to resolve theproblems being faced by the cultivators. ManshaullahButt said besides wheat growers, food department isalso safeguarding the interests of cane growers and allhurdles in the payment of their due returns will beremoved. He said food department staff showing goodperformance will be encouraged, while no leniency willbe shown towards negligent officials. a specialmonitoring cell headed by the cane commissioner isalready working for sugarcane growers and they cancontact the cell for complaints regarding dues andweighing of their produce, he added. STAFF REPORT

KARACHI

ISMAIL DILAWAR

PakIstan is all set to conferthe Most Favoured nation(MFn) status to the tradi-tional arch rival India in line

with World trade Organisation’s(WtO) principles that call for non-discriminatory trade relations be-tween the member countries.

acting in accordance with a bilat-eral agreement with new delhi in6th round of november 14-16 com-merce secretary-level talks, Islam-abad has completed the requiredhome work to phase out its negativelist, containing 636 tradable items, tomake its trade arrangements with theEastern neighbor non-discriminatory.

Having got the federal cabinet’sapproval to complete the process of

granting the long-denied MFn statusto India, the Ministry of Commerce isnow awaiting the nod of the former toproceed with the phasing out, envis-aged by the two countries by thismonth (February 2012), of the nega-tive list. the local industrialists, how-ever, are concerned and don’t seereciprocity on the part of new delhiin this bilateral trade normalisationprocess which, they fear is one-sided.

“We are granting the MFn statusto India which continues to observeprotectionism when it comes to theopening of Indian markets for Pak-istani goods,” noted local traders andindustrialists with concern.

declaring the current trade nor-malisation process as a positive move,the traders recalled that India, despitegranting the MFn status to Pakistan16 years ago, was yet to remove innu-

merable tariff and other trade relatedbarriers in its trade arrangement withPakistan. “India, despite being one ofthe world’s largest economies, is aprotectionist country unlike Pakistanwhich is opening up its markets forIndian products without protecting itsalready-troubled trade and industry,”the traders said.

the stakeholders, traders and in-dustrialists, smell a rate in the inten-tions of concerned authorities inIslamabad which, they believe, wereshowing an unprecedented quicknessin this particular matter.

“the government officials eventend to bypass the industrialists andother stakeholders in their haste toproceed with the MFn issue,” said anindustrialist adding, “and to be hon-est, we feel being bypassed in somematters.” there are some quarters

who believe that Islamabad was fol-lowing the policy of conciliation to-wards India which in contrast hadalways been containing Pakistan oneach and every front. “WtO principlesequally apply on India which is un-wary of the same. the point iswhether or not new delhi has the po-litical will to behave in line with theWtO rules,” said a critique.

In addition to it, he said, Pakistanmust keep in mind a very fragile stateof its trade and industry which wereplagued by longstanding problemslike that of energy crises.

“Besides crippling our ailingeconomy, these problems are playinghavoc with the competitiveness of ourtrade and industry that would find ithard to compete with Indian goods inthe post-MFn status regime,” the cri-tique expressed the concern.

Traders, industrialists doubt India still followingprotectionist policies towards Pakistan

Foreign investors concernedover ban on CNG kits importISLAMABAD: Foreign investors have expressedserious concerns over the government’s outrightban on the import of CnG kits and cylinders whichthey term could jeopardise any future investmentin the entire gas sector. after holding a meetingwith CEOs of foreign companies of Italy,argentina, Japan and China, which have madeinvestment in the sector, Chairman all PakistanCnG association (aPCnGa) Ghias abdullahParacha demanded immediate lifting of the ban asotherwise it could derail the entire plan of thegovernment to restructure the gas sector. talkingto reporters after the meeting, Paracha said thatthe foreign investors have serious concerns overthe import ban, as it was affecting their wholeinvestment. He said due to the ban not only theCnG equipment manufacturers but even themotor companies were facing pressures. He saidthe ban would ward off any future investment inthe entire gas sector including CnG, lnG and lPGin the country. Pakistan has emerged as theleading CnG user after the government introducedthe natural gas as an alternate vehicle fuel. Morethan 3.5 million ply on the fuel. due to theelectricity shortages of 5,000 MW in the country,most of the industrial sector has shifted theirpower generation to natural gas. this has created adeficiency of 1 bcfd gas even during the hotsummer, in which domestic consumers don’trequire gas for their heating requirements. thegovernment estimates that the use of CnG hasincreased 35 percent during the last ten years. theCnG sector uses 310 mmcfd. the governmentplans to replace CnG with lPG as auto fuel and isgradually increasing the price of CnG to bring itcloser to petrol and diesel prices. STAFF REPORT

‘Farmers getting fertilisers athigh prices despite subsidies’LAHORE: Farmers associates Pakistan (FaP)Chairman shah Mahmood Qureshi has saidbillions of rupees are being spent on subsidy andfertiliser import, but farmers are still gettingfertilisers at an exorbitantly high price.Middlemen are making millions of rupeesthrough profiteering, but rulers are determinedlytrying to save their chairs. He was speaking tothe media after chairing FaP’s 119th ExtraOrdinary General Body meeting held here ontuesday. Qureshi underscored that middlemen,in connivance with the state machinery wereinvolved in huge profiteering, whereas, thegovernment was busy in contempt case andmemo scandal. nobody was paying heed to theproblems of the farming community thatconstituted around 70 per cent of the totalpopulation. He underscored that the farmers andfarming sector of the country were in real crises.sugarcane growers were being exploited by sugarmillers and cotton or rice farmers were worriedowing to low prices. He pointed out that farmersgot some rs5,000 per maund for cotton crop lastyear, while they had to sell their produce atrs2,000 to rs2,500 per maund, this year.similarly, he indicated, rice prices also droppedin comparison to the previous year, while thecost of farming was multiplied. the governmenthad announced diesel price of rs105 per litrethat was beyond the reach of a common farmer.He underscored that farming had becomeunviable in the present circumstance. Qureshifurther stated fertiliser off take had beendropping continuously, because fertiliser priceshad gone beyond farmers’ reach, which wasagainst the national interest. STAFF REPORT

FBR reviews NCCPL’s system to collect CGTKARACHI: a senior official of Federal Boardof revenue (FBr) visited national ClearingCompany of Pakistan limited (nCCPl) tostudy the company’s system and mechanismbeing deployed for the computation anddeduction of Capital Gains tax (CGt). thevisit has been a consequent step to the financeminister’s approval to the sECP proposal onrevamping CGt that was submitted to FBr lastmonth. In terms of the proposal to provideease of calculation and documentation toindividual investors, nCCPl will act as awithholding agent to deduct and deposit CGtfrom investors’ transactions. nCCPl, sECP,FBr and other relevant capital market serviceproviders are working out the exact details sothat necessary legal and operational changesare made by the target date of april 1, 2012.nCCPl during its presentation, briefed FBr onits operational and legal infrastructure andcapabilities to undertake the envisaged role.nCCPl’s It-intensive set-up will allow systembased computation of CGt without humaninvolvement. under the proposed mechanism,nCCPl will compute and deduct CGt for everyinvestor by constructing an inventory portfoliobased on its unique identification number.Both market-based transactions executedthrough stock exchanges and in the Centraldepository system will be used forcomputation of CGt liability in accordancewith the Income tax Ordinance and rules. It isexpected that during the coming week, nCCPlwill forward its proposal to FBr in relation tothe required regulatory amendments to giveeffect to the overall CGt scheme. STAFF REPORT

PRO 15-02-2012_Layout 1 2/15/2012 12:28 AM Page 2

news

Wednesday, 15 February, 2012

03

CORPORATE CORNERPearl Continental Muzaffarabadhosts grand musical evening

MUZAFFARABAD: a grand musical eveningwas held at the Pearl Continental Muzaffarabad. Itwas a joint collaboration of sonic Peacemakersand the hotel. large number of families and eliteswho attended the show appreciated the superbarrangements made by the hotel followed bylavish Hi-tea. the performers of the evening weretodd shea and Farhan saeed who made theyoungsters dance to their melodious songs. Mr.amir kazi, the General Manger of the hotel,thanked the audience and promised to treat thecitizens of Muzaffarabad with many moreentertaining programmes. PC is the only 5 starhotel in the area equipped with elegant halls forall occasions, and also offers budget friendlydiverse hygienic cuisines in an ambiance whichhas no parallel, said the GM. PRESS RELEASE

Karachi Atrium Cinemasreignite alien world fantasy KARACHI: the popular saga of light sabers andintergalactic space-fightshas made its way back tothe big screen, this time in 3d. the premiere ofstar Wars Episode I: the Phantom Menace in 3dwas held at karachi atrium Cinemas whereleading celebrities of the tinsel town made redcarpet appearance. star Wars Episode I: thePhantom Menace is a 1999 american epic spaceopera film written and directed by George lucas.the film follows the Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn(neeson) and his apprentice Obi-Wan kenobi(McGregor), who escort and protect Queenamidala (Portman) in traveling from the planetnaboo to the planet Coruscant in the hope of

finding a peaceful end to a large-scaleinterplanetary trade dispute. they also encounterJar JarBinks (Best), a goofy, lizardlike creaturewho has been banished from his underwater worldfor his clumsiness. the film also features a younganakin skywalker (lloyd)before he became a Jedi,introduced as a young slave boy who seems to beunusually strong with nascent powers of theForce, and must contend with the mysteriousreturn of the sith. When the trade Federationlaunches an attack on naboo, the queen and herallies must battle hordes of robot troopers whileQui-Gon and Obi-Wan face off against the sinisterdarth Maul. PRESS RELEASE

LG brings new super ultrabookseries and more industry

LAHORE: lG Electronics (lG) will showcasefour new notebook models and an all-in-one PC atthe Consumer Electronics show (CEs) 2012 in lasVegas. lG’s brand new super ultrabook™ series,the Z330 and the Z430, offer powerfulperformance and sleek design unseen in ordinaryultrabooks, while the P535 and the a540 establisha new standard for 3d notebooks. lastly, theV300 is the ideal 23-inch all-in-one PC forentertainment, thanks to its immersive 3d displayand In-Plane switching (IPs) -enabled wideviewing angle. PRESS RELEASE

PTCL creates ‘Jadoo Box’for endless connectivityISLAMABAD: Following its tradition ofproviding state-of-the-art telecom services to

the nation, Pakistan telecommunicationCompany limited (PtCl) has brought to itscustomers a fascinating ‘Jadoo Box’ – anovelty device that gives uninterruptedconnectivity on wired dsl as well as backupwireless. Introduced in three attractivepackages, the exciting new ‘Jadoo Box’ givescommercial and residential customersunlimited and uninterrupted Internetconnectivity through a winning combinationof dsl and EVO nitro bundled together.topping it all is unlimited voice connectivitythat customers can enjoy through this magicdevice. PRESS RELEASE

EU hands over Sindh EducationReform-Technical project to Sindh

KARACHI: the European union's fundedsindh Education reform - technicalassistance project, (sEr-ta) managed by theBritish Council, was completed and handedover to the Government of sindh at animpressive ceremony here in karachi today.this €4.6 million project has contributed tothe eradication and alleviation of povertythroughout the province, through acceleratingprogress and reforms in achieving its goal of“Education for all”. PRESS RELEASE

Cathay Pacific releases combinedtraffic figures for January 2012KARACHI: Cathay Pacific airways todayreleased combined Cathay Pacific anddragonair traffic figures for January 2012that show growth in passenger numberscompared to the same month last year due to

the Chinese new year effect, while cargo andmail tonnage showed another significantyear-on-year decline. Cathay Pacific anddragonair carried a total of 2,511,043passengers in January – a year-on-year riseof 11.9 per cent – while the passenger loadfactor rose by 0.6 percentage points to 81.9per cent. Capacity for the month, measuredin available seat kilometres (asks), was upby 8.7 per cent. a total of 116,250 tonnes ofcargo and mail was carried by the twoairlines last month, a drop of 19.5 per centcompared to the same month in 2011. thecargo and mail load factor was down by 7.9percentage points to 59.9 per cent. Capacity,measured in available cargo/mail tonnekilometres, fell by 6.7 per cent, while cargoand mail tonne kilometres flown saw adecline of 17.6 per cent. PRESS RELEASE

LAHORE: Prof Sohail Afzal, Executive Director,Punjab Group of Colleges and Allied Schools signedpartnership for Teachers’ Training with AmeenaSaiyid, Managing Director, Oxford University PressPakistan. PRESS RELEASE

Major Gainers

Company open High low Close Change turnoverUnilever pak ltd. 5553.47 5600.00 5450.00 5589.20 35.73 101Bata (pak) ltd. 699.00 733.95 665.00 727.72 28.72 117Siemens pakistan 821.78 840.00 818.00 835.60 13.82 50Colgate palmolive 705.00 718.00 700.00 710.00 5.00 725Wyeth pak limited 700.00 705.00 705.00 705.00 5.00 70

Major Losers

Nestle pakistanXD 3287.76 3299.90 3226.00 3247.28 -40.48 29Unilever pak Foods 1750.00 1750.00 1700.00 1722.11 -27.89 21pak.int.Con. SD 107.13 105.10 101.78 101.78 -5.35 18,947Al-Ghazi tractors 182.00 184.75 178.10 178.78 -3.22 531Abbott laboratories 103.99 105.99 98.80 100.92 -3.07 22,056

Volume Leaders

Jah.Sidd. Co. 8.47 8.95 8.42 8.52 0.05 26,141,280Azgard Nine 5.93 6.15 5.60 5.73 -0.20 12,651,898Cherat Cement 12.79 13.65 12.75 13.23 0.44 8,013,028SilkBank limited 1.99 2.28 2.00 2.19 0.20 7,912,415pace (pak) ltd. 1.60 1.88 1.67 1.79 0.19 7,093,729

Interbank RatesUS Dollar 90.8692UK pound 142.8373Japanese yen 1.1633euro 119.6293

Buy Sell

US Dollar 90.50 91.00

euro 118.46 119.78

Great Britain pound 141.43 142.92

Japanese yen 1.1500 1.1616

Canadian Dollar 89.71 91.29

Hong Kong Dollar 11.46 11.73

UAe Dirham 24.58 24.80

Saudi riyal 24.08 24.27

Australian Dollar 95.91 98.50

Mr Hasan Jamil, Head of Marketing, Dawlancealong with Dawlance Karachi dealers and theirrespective sons at an event where the dealers’sons paid tribute to their father and expressedtheir affection. PRESS RELEASE

index ends flat after topsy-turvy dayKARACHI

STAFF REPORT

K sE-100 index closed up 12points with second tierstocks witnessing bulk ofthe volumes, while majorblue chips closed with

clipped gains. Oil stocks continuedto remain out of favor which wasevident from dismal volumes inMajor E&Ps & OMCs, while amongbanks nBP showed some initialpromise but received massive bat-tering to close flattish.

Fertilizer stocks witnessed decentvolumes and remained highly soughtafter as both FFC and EnGrO ad-vanced 0.6per cent and 14.3per cent re-spectively. JsCl once again witnessed

staggering volumes of 26 million shares& remained the volumes leader fol-lowed by other second tier names.

Market activity was centeredaround third-tier stocks in today’s ses-sion as strong investor interest was wit-nessed in anl, CHCC, and sIlk, whichcombined for close to 20per cent of thetotal shares traded. despite market vol-

umes staying firm above the 100mnshare mark, the ksE-100 index re-mains range bound as investors eagerlyawait the issuance of the CGt amend-ment srO. the intra day market trenddepicted a strong bull run in the firsthalf as the index shot up to a 97 pointgain before gradually receded due toprofit taking. aBl announced its Cy11

results today which were in line withconsensus estimates but the announce-ment failed to ignite a rally in the script.

‘We expect the market to continueits range bound pattern in the nearterm with a potential tremor from thepolitical side as the Prime Minister’sfate is decided by the supreme Court,’said ali Hussain at HMFs.

KARACHI

ZAIN ALI

U tIlIty stores Corporation (usC) ofPakistan has increased the price ofwhite refined sugar by rs3 to rs45per kg, whereas, the local price ofcommodity market is rs48; offsetting

advantage of subsidised commodity to poor con-sumers, it is learnt on tuesday.

the white refined sugar was the only com-modity on which government was offering anykind of rebate to help mitigate financial woes of

underprivileged segment of the population, butthe withdrawal of the facility is likely to overbur-den the monthly expenditure of buyers. Cur-rently, white refine sugar is priced at rs45 perkg in usC outlets, which is rs3 per kg highercompared to pervious rate of rs42 per kg. a de-clining trend was registered in prices of sugarduring the last six months in the open marketand it was available in the wholesale markets ataround rs45.60 to rs46 per kg and rs48 tors49 per kg, at retail level.

sugar is one of the fastest selling items at allusC outlets, mainly owing to its lower price com-

pared to open market in wake of subsidy offered bythe government. at usC outlets situated inMehmoodabad, Malir and sadder, karachi, buyershave been reacting strongly to the fresh increase inprices of the commodity, terming it as unjustifieddecision and against the interest of buyers. sincethe majority of the buyers belong to a lower seg-ment of the population. "I always prefer purchasemost of the commodities, including ghee, cookingoil and sugar, in the hope of saving some amount,but the newly enhanced prices would be a blow onmy meager financial resources," clamed a buyers.

usC was established with the sole objectiveof providing financial relief to poor masses, butover the period of time, it has transformed intoa profit making organisation. It is not interestedin the welfare of the society. While talking toProfit, karachi Zonal Manager usC, BashirBaber termed the fresh increase as a decisioncarried only on orders of high officials of the de-partment based in Islamabad. We are anticipat-ing repercussions, he added. He said accordingto ECC formula, usC fixed the price of sugar rs5per kg, which is less than the open market.

Utility StoreS Corpups white refined sugar price

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