April 17, 2006	Monday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 18, 1427

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Making a bad deal worse LAST week’s explosion in Karachi’s Nishtar Park which killed 57 and injured over 100 has had particularly painful implications for business....		Yet another record year for banks Commercial banks have released their 2005 operating results. For bank owners and managers it is time to rejoice because growth in profits and returns on equity is breathtaking....
How Basmati can be protected PAKISTAN and India have decided to constitute a working group which will take measures to jointly patent Basmati rice to protect it against any piracy threat....		Storage of grain THE storage of grain requires proper care and planning. It releases and absorbs heat and moisture from the surrounding. Insects infesting stored foods can be divided into primary and secondary grain feeders....
Dealing with low mango output MANGO is an important export commodity as it earns about $24 million annually. Around 60-70 per cent good quality mango is exported to Middle East and 15-16 per cent to Europe....		Issues, challenges and opportunities in floriculture THE flower industry comprises cultivation and trade of cut flowers, cut foliage, potted plants and bedding plants. The main representatives of cut flowers are: the rose, chrysanthemum, gladiolus, carnation and lilies....
Agricultural performance below the mark DESPITE flawed policies of successive governments, the agriculture still constitutes 23 per cent of the GDP and engages 44 per cent of the total labour force....		Is Kalabagh dam really inevitable? THE pro-Kalabagh dam lobby believes that if it is not built, following things may happen....
Planning Commission’s new mandate THE Planning Commission has prepared a strategy paper focusing on measures to improve the economic fundamentals that have retarded economic development with equity over the years....		Light-equipped insect killer Illiteracy and ignorance in the use of conventional pesticides on edibles is leaving disastrous effects in the developing countries where mono-cropping system is common....
Rampant market abuse THE market is afflicted by price volatility, determined not by cost of production and a fair profit, nor by demand and supply but by manipulation and hoarding of even essential commodities used by low income groups....		Long trek to the cities EVERY year as the scorching heat of the summer months takes its toll, thousands of poor farm labourers from some of the poorest districts in three of India’s richest states begin a long trek to the cities....
Unanswered questions in Steel Mill’s sell-off DEPARTING from normal procedure, the Privatization Commission (PC) accepted ‘on the spot’ the bid for 75 per cent stake in and management control of the Pakistan Steel (PS) submitted by a...		India and Pakistan: the inflation differential AS Pakistan struggles to bring its’ inflation down to eight per cent in FY06, its’ Indian neighbour has managed to contain inflation in the 4-5 per cent range....
More revenue and less bogus cases HOW can the Central Board of Revenue (CBR) raise Rs202 billion as tax revenues during the last quarter of this financial year ending June 30, after its chairman Abdullah Yousaf has...		Agriculture output and wheat politics ISLAMABAD: The lower than estimated output of the two major sectors- agriculture and manufacturing - by a wide margin has shattered hopes that Pakistan’s economic growth rate would cross six per...
Poverty linked with structural transformation AMONGST the economic buzzwords gaining increasing popularity are poverty, structural transformation, income and asset inequalities, health and education expenditures, and economic growth, to name a few....		World economies LIBYA is generously endowed with energy resources, but has one of the least diversified economies in the Maghreb region and among the oil producing countries. In the early 1970s, Libya opted for a command...
Index consolidates above 12,000 points THE KSE 100-share index consolidated well above the crucial level of 12,000 points during the holiday-shortened week. Analysts predict that it could well prove a takeoff point for its forward thrust to its next widely speculated target of 15,000 points....		Rupee weakens against dollar THE local currency market opened the week on a negative note and then witnessed bearish trend in the absence of market players amid low trading volumes throughout the week....
Cut-off yield on T-bills likely to remain unchanged this fiscal ON April 12, the State Bank of Pakistan sucked in Rs14.850 billion through the auction of Treasury Bills. Though the market is experiencing shortage of liquidity for the past two weeks they invested Rs14.65...		Improved supply of pulses brings prices down PRICES of pulses on the Karachi wholesale commodity markets fell from the inflated levels which prevailed during the last couple of weeks. The decline was due to improvement in supplies partly...