WikiLeaks: UAE expressed concern over Balochistan airstrip leak

WikiLeaks: UAE expressed concern over Balochistan airstrip leak

Al Musally had said that the UAE government desired to keep details of cooperation with US military confidential.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) was concerned in 2005 that the details about its military cooperation with the US on the Balochistan airstrip had been leaked, according to latest diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks.

Ahmed Al Musally, Director of the Asian and African Affairs Department at the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had specifically complained that retired General Tommy Franks, former Commander of US Central Command, mentioned in his book, “American Soldier” that US forces had made use of Sheikh Zayed’s private airstrip in Balochistan, Pakistan.

In his meeting with the deputy chief of mission, Al Musally explained that the government of UAE desires to keep details of the UAE cooperation with the US military in Afghanistan and Pakistan confidential, because the Government is concerned that public acknowledgement of this assistance could pose risks to the UAE security within the UAE or to UAE officials in Pakistan.

Earlier, the Pakistan Air Force’s (PAF) deputy chief had revealed that the Shamsie airbase in Balochistan was not under their control as it was funded and constructe by the UAE. The PAF chief had made this revelation during an in-camera session of both houses of parliament following the unilateral operation by US forces in Abbottabad that killed Osama bin Laden.

KU blues

University of Karachi (KU) is not only one of the most depressing universities of Pakistan; it is also perhaps one of the most testing. And I don’t mean that in an academic way.

If the dry, unwelcoming terrain and shabby, unmaintained infrastructure doesn’t put you off, the academe entirely, the administrative staff’s cold and condescending behavior surely will. However, if you still find yourself young and exuberant enough to face the many challenges flung at you as you try to get even the simplest of tasks done on the university campus, you will probably give in to the exhaustion caused by running from one inhospitable—and usually also quite misguiding—office to another. If you survive all of this and then some, you don’t only deserve the degree you signed up for; you deserve a medal.

My relationship with the university began a few years ago when my brother and I decided to enroll ourselves in its external graduate program like many other students who do so while pursuing studies in Accountancy from Pakistani Institutions and English Associations. After all, a quick complementary degree from KU these days has got to be worth more than the education it pledges, right? Especially if it’s genuine!

The first blip came on the very first day; the day I went in to submit my initial registration forms. My confident swagger and definitive gloat as I walked into the office holding my shiny A-Levels certificates were thwarted almost instantly by a bored looking man who didn’t seem the least bit impressed by my better-than-decent grades. So an Equivalence Certificate it would have to be. I mean, other than the fact that it callously reduced my 90 Cambridge percents to 75 HEC percents, and that it is possibly one of the most pointless piece of papers I have in my academic records, the incomprehensible need for this document and the two-week delay caused by it was obviously an unfortunate episode I could have easily avoided had I not been a slave to the Brits and their pretentious board of examinations.

I returned to the University assuring myself that that was it; I was beyond the initial obstacle and things would progress smoothly now; that I will graduate with honour.

Or so I thought until a few weeks later when I found myself standing in a mile-long line, all sweat and sand, ready to fight a bunch of abaya-clad course mates for breaking queue at the infamous Silver Jubilee gate on exam registration day. And then as I gave the actual exam, in June, in a fan-less room packed to the hilt with fifty sweaty men. And then as I gave another exam under the open sky with a crow accompanying me throughout, and another in a dark, gloomy corridor with the invigilator brushing up against me every time he walked past my creaky, swiveling desk. And another time when a few of my exam mates and I had to spend the first twenty minutes of the paper sitting cross-legged near the door because the room we were assigned to didn’t have enough seats. And then the last time, when the tent we were sitting in collapsed on us, mid-exam.

All good memories though

And the best of them, for it truly offered an insight on just how despicably rotten our educational ideals have come to be, was the one where after giving an exam, I was approached by an otherwise civil looking man in his mid-thirties, who after casually introducing himself as an experienced teacher from a well known chain of tuition centers, offered to give my next exam for me at a “very reasonable” sum of ten thousand Rupees. A ten grand someone had paid him to give his exam that very day. A ten grand he had been charging crafty students with rich, resourceful parents for years on end. A ten grand that would include the oh-so-deserving pay-offs of at least four other respected abettors inside various University departments.

But what can you say, really, when you live in a country that hasn’t a Higher Education Commission and some very smart, very influential people walk free and proud with distended chests and fake degrees in their pockets. At least my exam-giving friend from outside the exam hall knew what a university looks like. And to be honest, nothing teaches you how to be thankful for small favours better than being a Pakistani civilian standing on the wrong side of the official desk these days.

My brother and I learned that lesson, perhaps for the gazillionth time, standing in a certain Karachi University department’s chairperson’s office the other day—our emotions proliferating for we had only recently received our amusingly satisfying post-graduation results after eight months of nail-biting anticipation—where we were told with a heartless shrug that according to some godforsaken new policy, we’re no longer eligible to pursue a doctorate in our chosen discipline from the university we were finally beginning to grow a soft spot for. The chairperson was kind enough to offer her invaluable advice though, and for a minute I was actually going to listen to her and enroll myself in the English department instead of a PhD in 17th century Irish poets! After all, when you go to school in Pakistan, it’s not education you’re after, but a degree to frame and flaunt. And if you earn a medal or two along the way, well…there’s nothing like it!

Missouri town says 232 missing after tornado

town, and had only managed to identify one of the 125 bodies found in the storm’s wake.

Some of the missing from Sunday’s disaster in Joplin may be among the unidentified remains being stored in a hastily constructed mass morgue.

But officials pleaded with anxious family members for patience while they undertake a lengthy identification process involving DNA testing and fingerprinting.

Some may simply have failed to contact anxious friends and family. There may also still be people trapped in the rubble who have not been officially reported missing, Spiller cautioned.

Asked why families were not being allowed into the morgue to visually identify their loved ones, she replied: “It is not 100 percent accurate, and 100 percent accurate is our goal.”

In what is one of the worst tornado seasons on record after a series of twisters killed hundreds in southern US states last month, Sunday’s was the deadliest single tornado to strike America in six decades.

Crews continue to search through the tangled piles of debris in hope of finding survivors, but hopes were fading after rescuers found no one in the rubble Wednesday — dead or alive.

Anguished families have kept up a desperate hunt for their missing loved ones. But poor and patchy communications plus the complete devastation of some areas have hampered the search.

Officials said they hoped that by publishing the list of 232 names they could locate the missing and ease the frayed nerves of their families. (AFP)

Euro firms on China scholar’s investment comment

TOKYO: The euro firmed during Asian trade Thursday after a Chinese scholar published a media commentary arguing that Beijing should expand purchases of euro-zone sovereign debt.

Investors flocked to the single currency after Wang Yong, a professor at the People’s Bank of China’s training institute, wrote in his piece that China should also increase direct investment into Europe.

For China, such moves should both help alleviate the global crisis and contributes to “counter-protectionism strategy,” giving Beijing more leverage to negotiate for concessions in trade talks, Wang wrote.

The piece triggered buying of the euro, which jumped to $1.4136 and 115.86 yen from $1.4083 and 115.40 yen in New York Wednesday.

Still, traders said the Greek debt concerns should limit the euro’s gains as investors remained cautious amid uncertainty about how the fiscally-strapped nation’s problems could be resolved.

“While we continue to see a market- and euro-friendly outcome (on Greece) as the most likely on a multi-week view, political risks make a further euro/dollar breakdown very real,” BNP Paribas analysts said in a note to clients.

The euro’s gain was also magnified in part due to thin trading in Asia, traders said.

The dollar was at 81.96 yen, nearly flat from 81.89 yen in New York. (AFP)

Budget deficit to cross Rs1 trillion

ISLAMABAD: For the first time in the history of the Islamic Republic the difference between what the government spent over the past twelve months and what the government managed to collect will cross Rs1,000,000,000,000.

Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani in his first speech as prime minister had introduced a number of austerity measures: PM Secretariat’s budget will be cut by a wholesome 40 percent; all ministers will travel economy class; no minister will travel in a car of more than 1600 cc.

On 26 December 2009, PM Gilani had constituted a Special Committee to “prioritize and oversee the implementation process of the austerity measures.” On 21 December 2010, a meeting of the cabinet, presided by PM Gilani, approved “major austerity measures.”

Twelve months ago, our budget drafters had expected net revenue receipts of Rs1.37 trillion and current expenditures of Rs1.99 trillion-the budgetary deficit was set at Rs685 billion. Over the past twelve months, two things have happened: First, current expenditures at the Cabinet Division, the Prime Minister’s Secretariat and the Household Allowances of the President have all gone through the roof. Second, there has been a massive shortfall in revenue receipts.

Twelve months ago, the Government of Pakistan (GOP) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had agreed on a budget deficit target of around 4 percent of GDP. Over the past twelve months, the GOP has ended up spending in excess of Rs1 trillion over and above its receipts and, as a consequence, the budget deficit may have crossed 7 percent of GDP.

Figure fudging at Block Q of Pak Secretariat, according to some insiders, is now in full swing. If the wizards at the Ministry of Finance can somehow inflate the GDP the budget deficit as a percentage of the GDP will look much, much smaller than it really is. That will be the best of both worlds-we will have a swollen GDP, pumped-up per capita income and a half bearable budgetary deficit. Only if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.

At Block Q midnight oil is once again being burnt. Budget 2011-2012 is scheduled to be announced in a week’s time. Once again we will have inflated revenue receipts, a healthy developmental allocation, a constrained steam of expenses and an awfully alluring budgetary deficit. At Block Q the motto is: A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent making real budgets.