The Londoner

By Sikander Hayat According to reports BBC Asian Network ( A BBC run radio station for its UK Asian audience) has lost more than 30% of its audience in last year. I think following are the reasons for its demise: 1. It has become a tool to propagate Indian point of view and is overly afflicted by Bollywood coverage than it should. 2. Anti Pakistani views of most of its presenter who happen to be of Indian origion 3. A very western outlook of the channel which is pushing away its more traditional views.

By Sikander Hayat These days it is becoming fashionable to invoke East Pakistan every time someone talks about Balochistan . Now I am all for learning from history but there are some comparisons which cannot be made basically because of facts related to such situations. Here are some of the major differences between East Pakistan &  Balochistan : 1. When East Pakistan became Bangladesh it had greater population than West Pakistan whereas Balochistan is 5% of Pakistan’s total population . 2. Population mix is an indicator as well because East Pakistan was nearly 100% Bengali while the population mix in Balochistan is 50% Baloch and the remaining 50% is made up of Pashtuns , Brahwis , Sindhis   and some Punjabis. 3. Capital of Balochistan Quetta is a Baloch minority city as it dominated by the Pashtuns in addition to a sizable Sindhi and Punjabi population. 4. Dhaka which was the Capital of East Pakistan was never a Bengali minority city and it does not bode well

By Sikander Hayat Pakistan is facing a great challenge in Balochistan but it is still showing a great degree of restraint unlike Iran which recently hanged many of its own Balochis for bombing a mosque in Sistan Balochistan. Instead Pakistan is trying to solve the issue by diplomatic means by giving more powers to the provincial government of that province. But there is a feeling in Pakistan that enough is enough and a Swat like operation is required to cleanse the Baloch land of terrorists and their allies to stop the killing of innocent inhabitants in that province especially Quetta. Pakistan must work very closely with Iran to obliterate this disease from our land and learn from their experience of successfully implementing a solution to their once festering problem. There comes a time in the history of conflicts when gloves have to come off and Pakistan government must take that decisive action to destroy terrorism and its sympathizers (India has just admitted her own guilt in Ba

KARACHI: The first ever Panamax cargo ship, Al-Fahdah, berthed at Gwadar deep seaport laden with around 650 metric tonne of dates, said the traders on Wednesday. With the arrival of Panamax cargo ship at the Gwader deep seaport, the doors are opened for large vessels to arrive in the country, they added. The Panamax ships are the largest ships and are built to carry the maximum amount of cargo. "The Gwadar deep seaport has proved that it can cater large size cargo ships and it is hoped that more ships carrying wheat and other goods from US and Canada will also be berthed here," Chief Executive, Pakistan Horticulture Development and Exports Board (PHDEB), Shamoon Sadiq said while talking to Daily Times. He said PHDEB has finally decided to start work on two of the three modern dates processing plants in collaboration with private sector stakeholders. Read the full article here .

QUETTA: Minister for Industries and Production Mian Manzoor Ahmed Watto has said that the federal government would invest over 60 per cent of the total allocations made in the Balochistan budget for the promotion of trade and industry. Speaking at a press conference after a brief visit to Quetta on Friday he said that the decision had been taken to develop industries and promote trade in the province Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani, federal ministers Ayatullah Durrani, Mir Humayun Aziz Kurd and Balochistan Industry Minister Syed Ehsan Shah were also present on the occasion. Mr Watto announced that marble cities would be established in the province to encourage investment in the industrial sector and to explore the mineral resources that remained untapped so far. He said that exploration of mineral resources in the province would benefit the country in general and Balochistan in particular. He disclosed that the federal cabinet had approved and notified Gwadar as a tax free zone offe

By Sajid Chaudhry ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Saturday notified a tax exemption on profits and gains of any industrial unit in the Gwadar Export Processing Zone (EPZ) for a period of 10 years. The exemption will commence from the time the industrial unit is set up or begins commercial operations. The FBR also notified that industrial units established in the Gwadar EPZ would be allowed to sell 50 percent of their produce in the local market, compared to 20 percent previously. The remaining produce can be exported as per the producer’s preference. Earlier, the industrial units located in the Gwadar EPZ needed to export 80 percent of their production for availing tax exemptions and incentives. The FBR issued SRO 606(I)/2009, which amended the Second Schedule of the Income Tax Ordinance and added a new clause, 126-D, after clause 126-C. The FBR also issued a notification SRO 612 (I)/2009 that amended the Customs Rules. Read the full story here .