Chinese President visit

Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif hand shake with Chinese President.

Democracy WINS - Pakistan WINS!

Wall street Journal news about democratic Pakistan

PCEC map

This is the original and only map of PCEC.

Mass Transit Bus Projects

Rawalpindi Metro Project

PM meets King Salman

Pakitan stands beside Saudia for its soverignity

Reduction in fares of public transport

Toll free helpline for compaints

Parliament Gallery

Group Photo| Speaker NA Sardar Ayaz Sadiq with Dr. Cyrill Nunn, Ambassador of Germany and Members of Pakistan-Germany Parliamentary Friendship Group

News reel

Followers

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Arches of History | Episode 3

Arches of History | Episode 3

Earlier in the series:

The third of its kind Arches of History is presented here as a sequel of the past two episodes. The time when the party was under intense victimization actually rectified the loyal of the party. These people are the real ingredients of PMLN heart. from the Arches of history my intention is to reveal the dust covered pages of history. Several people who are now considered "tall heighten" were actually the part of PMLN. It is not wrong to say that PMLN as a party nourished several people that were once novice in politics. Or to be more specific that needed the support of party to create their hallow image. These people left us after October 12,1999. They are now wishing to come back to PMLN thus proving what Iqbal said decades ago "موج ہے دریا میں ، بیرون  دریا کچھ نہیں "

This iron lady faced the fascist actions of Musharaf and we are proud of her being part of PMLN 
What had not been given to this guy who shamelessly worked with Musharraf to sabotage PMLN
More of the love of Pindi for PMLN. Be it be Sh. Rashid !!
PIA was once a profitable organization
Assets of PMLN
Public gathering without any security measures
We are PMLN we are Pakistan
Mian Azhar was not able to win his own seat without PMLN in 2002, is now the beacon of success for PTI
Addressing a mammoth crowd as the opposition leader during 1993-96 
Happy moments 



Monday, August 27, 2012

Arches of history | Episode 2

Arches of history | Episode 2

Earlier in this series : Arches of History | Interview of Sartaj Aziz

This second episode of Arches of history series contains photographs from 1990s. The photographs of those  who refused to leave the party during the brutal regime of Gen. Musharraf , and of those who betrayed us in those testing times. The motive of this series is to let people know the past of those who are now a days the "most learned" scholars on TV talk shows. It also narrates the pictorial story of those for whom PMLN is part of their blood. We salute all those who stayed with the party during the Tehrik e Nijat (1995-1996). We are proud of all those people being part of our PMLN team.  Each episode in this series will be having 10 photographs. The second part of this series is presented here.

Public meetings were necessary to take people into confidence about the  political situation
People present for a strike call during "Tehrek -e- Nijat"
Some more of "Tehrek-e-Nijat"
Every segment of society participated on the call of Mian Nawaz Sharif 
We struggled to unite the opposition on one point agenda 
The street power showed the PPP govt. its way out of power corridors 

Symbol of Loyalty for PMLN

An old perhaps rare photograph of Ahsan Iqbal, Zulfiqar Khosa and Sidique-ul-Farooq
The old companions - Mian Nawaz Sharif and Raja Zafar-ul-Haq
Another rare photograph from 1996
PMLN always discussed matters with the ally parties

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Arches of history | Interview of Sartaj Aziz

Arches of History | Interview of Sartaj Aziz 


Under the title of "Arches of history" my aim is to refresh the faded memories that include interviews of renowned Leaguee leaders and memorable photographs of PMLN leadership and workers to show the struggle and history of PMLN. It will also help in disseminating our policies for solving different issues of Pakistan. For the first in this series, i am presenting here an old interview of PMLN Senior Vice President Sartaj Aziz (dated 14 August 2005, Daily Nawai Waqt Magazine). The interview had two parts the other part was published on 21st August, 2005.

Sartaj Aziz is an old leaguee and a twice federal Minister of Finance, and  Minister of Foreign Affairs. He has steered the country through its worst US sanctions during 1990-92 and 1997-99. He did his Masters in Economics from Hailay College, Punjab University, Lahore and Ph.D in Economics from Harvard University, USA.












Thursday, August 23, 2012

Better Pakistan | Pakistan Motorways Project

Better Pakistan | Pakistan Motorways Project 


The prodigious 333 km long Pakistan Motorway (PM) M2 is a unique project of its kind in South Asia. It is a six lane road that is linked with major and minor cities through interchanges and do not pass through or across any city. This project has been successfully tested for the landing of fighter aircraft of PAF. This project has a unique history which is joyful to read and for the first time i am presenting on social media, the news clips from 90s to recall the glorious work by PMLN. The present worth of M2 is PKR 272 Billion 

When was the idea of motorway presented ?

For some people it was duirng the first tenure of Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif when the work was started. This is correct but it wasn't the first time PM Nawaz Sharif had this idea in his mind. In an interview with renowned interviewer Suhail Warriach, for his book "غدار کون ؟" aka "The traitor within?" Mian Nawaz Sharif revealed that it was during his tenure as CM Punjab during 1988-90 when he decided to have a motorway linking the cities of Punjab. But we don't had enough budgets to go for this project, he said.

What was the plan ?

The actual plan of motorway after it was approved from the federal cabinet was to connect the newly liberated central Asian states with warm waters of Arabian Sea. The plan was not only to make Pakistan a trade route for central Asia but also to boost up the economic activities by establishing industrial zones along side the motorways. The plan was to build 9 MWs that connects all the major cities of Pakistan. The details of these 9 MWs is also given on the website of National Highway Authority (NHA) and Wikipedia and is reproduced here for reference.

M-1 Motorway

Pakistan's third motorway, the 155 km 6-lane M-1, linking Peshawar with the federal capital, Islamabad, has been operational since 30 October 2007.

M-2 Motorway

Pakistan's first motorway, the 367 km 6-lane M-2, connecting the cities of Islamabad and Lahore, was constructed by South Korea's Daewoo Corporation and was inaugurated in November 1997 and was the first motorway to be built in South Asia.

M-3 Motorway

The plan to construct Pakistan's second motorway, the 54 km 4-lane M-3, linking the Pindi Bhattian Junction on the M-2 with Faisalabad was finalized in 1996 with an estimated cost of Rs. 8 billion. Initially, it was planned to have 6-lanes, however, due to the shortage of funds, it was decided reduce the number of lanes to 4 with an option to upgrade it to 6-lanes in future. Construction of the M-3 began in May 2002 and it was completed ahead of schedule in September 2003 at a cost of Rs 5.3 billion. It was inaugurated and opened for traffic on 2 October 2003. Two bridges, one over a railway track and the second on a canal, were constructed on the motorway, while two interchanges near Sahianwala and Faisalabad were constructed in the second phase.

M-4 Motorway

Construction of Pakistan's fourth motorway, the 233 km 4-lane M-4, began on 19 August 2009. Once completed, it will link Multan with the M-3 Motorway at Faisalabad.

M-5 Motorway

The M-5 is a planned 4 lane motorway that will link Multan with Dera Ghazi Khan. It will be constructed after the completion of the M-4 Motorway.

M-6 Motorway

The M-6 is a planned 4 lane motorway that will link Dera Ghazi Khan with Ratodero. It will be constructed after the completion of the M-5 Motorway.

M-8 Motorway

The 892 km 4-lane M-8 is under-construction in Sindh and Balochistan provinces. Initially, it will have 2 lanes with a further 2 lanes planned. The 4 lane motorway will be upgradable to 6 lanes. Once completed it will directly link the port city of Gwadar with the rest of Pakistan's motorway network at Ratodero where it will link up with the M-6 Dera Ghazi Khan-Ratodero Motorway.

M-9 Motorway

The current 4-lane Hyderabad-Karachi "Super Highway" is in the process of being upgraded into a 6-lane access-controlled motorway, designated the "M-9". Expression of Interest (EOI) were invited by the National Highway Authority (NHA) in May 2011. The NHA awarded the Rs. 24.93 billion contract to the Malaysian construction company, Bina Puri Holdings Bhd, on Built Operate Transfer (BOT) basis in January 2012. The proposed 136-km long motorway will be completed in three years. The M-9 Motorway will have 7 interchanges, 2 service areas at the midway points and 16 toll plazas on entry and exit points.

The story of M2

M2 is the first of the 9 MWs that was constructed during the 90s. The foundation stone of this project worth PKR 34 Billion, was laid by then PM Mian Nawaz Sharif on January 11,1992. It starts near Faizpur Khurd on Lahore Shiekhopora road and ends at a village Hatian on Peshawar road near Islamabad. It was decided  through a transparent bidding process that DAEWOO a Korean company will construct this 6 lane road. The contract was later amended twice by the PPP govt. during 1993-96. They delayed the schedule to open M2 for traffic on December 1994. The country chief of DAEWOO Pakistan expressed his feelings on this unprofessional ethics of PPP govt. while addressing a press conference. That news clip is regenerated here for ready reference [The Nation, Nov 26,1997].




Despite of the difficulties posed, the PMLN managed to finished the project that has 6 lane and 32 meters wide highway. It has three major bridges, four over head railway crossings, 44 bridges over canals, streams and flood ways. Initially, when it was inaugurated it had 22 flyovers, six interchanges, 313 concrete box culverts for minor distributions, subways, cattle creeps and water drainage and 260 pipe culverts for canal irrigated areas. The original project of M2 had six service stations (three on each side) including world class road side services and facilities like restaurants, police posts, medical and emergency centers, pay phone and mosque. The project also had initially 9 toll plazas with 72 toll gates on the road. The speed limit was not more than 120 km/hr and not less than 100 km/hr. M2 also has side shoulders every 4 km for parking of vehicles which breakdown during journey.
A news advertisement on the occasion of M2 inauguration shows some interesting facts. According to this advertisement by DAEWOO some 8000 people in various capacities worked directly for the construction of M2 during its 6 year time. Some 20 local contractors are not counted in it. The amount people involved indirectly are multiples of 8000. 


The PM formally inaugurated the M2 at Janjrial near Rawalpindi. Mian Nawaz Sharif later told some historical facts to Saleem Safi that were presented in his column published in Daily Jang dated 10th April, 2012.

The obvious advantages 

A very interesting report published in local newspaper before the inauguration of M2 tells us some superb facts. It should be kept in mind that the comparison with GT Road was made according to the traffic flow statistics and road condition in 1997.  Following facts were given in that report.
  • While travelling from Lahore to Pindi , an average car requires to make about 1000 gear changes with the resultant wear and tear of the engine, tyre and other parts, while for a large and heavier vehicles, this number is about 2000.
  • The average time needed by a car to cover the 290 km distance is about six and a half hours.
  • On MW it is possible to cover a distance of 339 km in three and a half hours.
  • No more than five or six gear changes.
  • 20 percent less fuel resulting in massive savings.
  • The establishment of Motorway Police department provided job opportunities for hundreds of educated youth of Pakistan.
  • The service areas also opened horizons for small business opportunities.

Advertisements before M2 inauguration 

Since for the first time a speedy highway with 5 lanes was build in Pakistan, it was necessary to train and educate people about the rules & regulations and road safety on M2. A series of advertisements were thus carried out in local print media. Besides these advertisements a separate department of Pakistan Motorways Police was established. This department is now known as National Highway and Motorways Police (NH&MP). 







~Hadeed Ahmed Sher

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Better Pakistan | Power Generation projects

Better Pakistan | Power Generation Projects (Part I)


Electrical power being an integral part of any country is a vital need for any good governance. The load forecasting and the establishment of new power projects are thus an important requirement for any rising economy. Recent power outages in our country have shown that the shortfall of the electricity is actually a mare failure of the previous governments who never tried to cope with the growing demand of electricity. The shortfall of electricity further enhanced by the economic policies of present federal govt. who has not yet started any major power generation project.

PMLN being the largest rightest party in Pakistan have always focused on poverty elevation using industrial revolution. This way country not only gets revenue but it also decreases the unemployment ratio. Since industrial revolution is proportional to the energy supply and demand therefore in the two tenures of PMLN we put our best to supply an uninterrupted power to the industrial as well as domestic users.

Without going into the details of what previous governments have done to increase the power production capacity, we as a party have enough to show that all major power projects have PMLN signatures on them. We are proud to stand in front of nation with projects that are serving this nation in the best possible way.

Our Milestones in Power Generation Arena 

As a pro people government during 1990-92 and 1997-99, PMLN was fully aware of the ill fated contracts signed by PPP government with Private independent power producers (PIPPs) during 1993-96. The contracts were signed at higher per unit rates compared to the affordable rates. The irony was not limited to the high tariff  but some companies were charging much higher than what they were charging in neighboring countries. This was an extra burden on GoP, therefore, PMLN govt lead by Mian Nawaz Sharif (1997-99) decided to negotiate with the IPPs to bring their tariff down. It was not easy as the companies were given guarantees from national as well as international organizations. In such effort 17 power companies agreed to bring their twerrif 30-50 % down of the contractual value. The Govt. also found irregularities in the contract of two companies and cancelled their contract thus saving an amount of PKR 15 Billion. A newspaper clip dated 5th of June 1998 is shown below for reference.



In order to create a competitive and liberal atmosphere for investment in power sector PMLN took following major steps.
  1. We did the restructuring and privatizing of the existing thermal power generation, the power transmission and distribution functions and assets of existing public sector utilities (WAPDA/KESC).  
  2. PMLN  created a fully autonomous regulatory authority, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA). The NEPRA act was approved by parliament and signed into law in December 1997. The main aim of NEPRA was to create an autonomous, independent regulatory authority, which will be solely responsible for the power sector
  3. Other than this, PMLN while sensing the importance of power generation through IPPs, approved the power policy 1998 . The main points of this policy are given below.
  • The basis for selection of private power project will be minimum levelized tariff through International Competitive Bidding.
  • The process of selection will involve pre-qualification, issuance of a Request for Proposals (RFP), bidding and evaluation of bids against bid criteria clearly laid out in the RFP.
  • Detailed feasibility studies for every project will be prepared before bids are invited.
  • Hydel projects will be implemented on a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) basis; to be transferred to the province in which it is situated at the end of the concession period, and thermal projects on a Build-Own-Operate (BOO) basis.
  • The new Power Policy framework being proposed now is based on setting a tariff as a result of a competitive process through which private sector entrepreneurs will be invited to offer the lowest tariff per kWh for delivered energy.
  • The GOP will guarantee that the terms of executed agreements, including payment terms, are maintained during and after the transition to the private sector companies that result from the system restructuring described above. 

Major Power Projects 

The main power projects that were installed during two tenures of PMLN are following

CHASNUPP-1


The construction of Chashma Nuclear Power Plant Unit-1 (CHASNUPP-1), the second nuclear power plant in Pakistan, was started in 1992 with the help of People's Republic of China. It has an output of 325MW and has a life span of 40 years. (http://www.paec.gov.pk/chasnupp1/)

Ghazi Brotha HydroPower Project


The project is based on the utilization of the head available in the Indus River between Tarbela dam near Ghazi confluence with the Haro River and the Indus River near Barotha. It has  a peak power capacity of 1450MW. The feasibility of this Hydral power project was completed in 1992 during the first tenure of PMLN (http://www2.adb.org/Documents/PCRs/PAK/pcr-pak-26409.pdf).

Other than the above mentioned huge projects three new units each of 432 MW were installed at Tarbela that uplifted the installed capacity to a total of 3478 MW. The feasibility study of GolanGol hydro power project (106 MW) was also carried out during the tenure of PMLN. According to WAPDA feasibility study completed by HEPO/GTZ in 1997 which was later updated in 2005. 

IPPs Commissioned 


Power generation by IPPs also boasted during PMLN tenure that reflects the investment friendly policies of PMLN. The IPPs that were given contract / commissioned during PMLN tenures are given below (http://www.ppib.gov.pk/N_commissioned_ipps.htm  http://www.pepco.gov.pk/ipps.php )
  • Hub Power Project 1200MW agreement in 1992, commissioned on March 31, 1997 
  • Kohinoor Energy Power Project 126 MW commissioned on 20th June 1997
  • Gul Ahmed Power Project 125 MW commissioned on 3rd Nov, 1997
  • Tapal Energy power project 120 MW commissioned on 20th June 1997
  • AES lalpir Power Project 350 MW commissioned on 6th Nov, 1997
  • AES Pakgen Power Project 350 MW commissioned on 1st Feb,1998
  • Habibullah Coastal Power Project 126 MW commissioned on 11th Sept, 1999
  • Southern Electric Power 119 MW commissioned on 10th March, 1999
Three other IPPs that were worked by PMLN but later commissioned during the martial law of Gen. Musharraf . These are also listed below (http://www.pepco.gov.pk/ipps.php)
  • Fauji Kabirwala 151 MW commissioned on 21st Oct, 1999
  • Rousch Power 395 MW commissioned on 11th Dec, 1999
  • Saba Power 126 MW commissioned on 31st Dec, 1999
After the 18th amendment in the constitution , power generation is now a provincial matter. What are the efforts of PMLN lead Punjab govt. in this regard will be presented in the sequel of this blog post, and will be posted soon.

~Hadeed Ahmed Sher



Saturday, August 4, 2012

Why a delay of 17 days to answer India's adventure ?


Episode 2 | Timeline of Nuclear Pakistan 

A question one may ask that why there was a delay of 17 days from Pakistan to respond India. However, there are various reasons for this appropriate response time. First Pakistani scientists were not ready to conduct nuclear tests at a notice of 1 day. They need to adjust the nuclear testing sites for carrying out the tests. According to a news report published on 12th MAY,1998 our scientists were in need of at least 7 days to conduct a nuclear test. The headline of that news report is mentioned here for reference.
First reason for delay

It must also be kept in mind that prior to Indian tests all the defense forces of Pakistan were in the state of peace and no formal operational strategy had been planned as they use to do under alarming conditions. Therefore defense forces of Pakistan and all paramilitary forces needed time to prepare in case of an all out attack by the Indians. All the forces were in routine formation and time was required to relocate the positions of Pakistani troops. Jahangir Karamat, then COAS visited the front lines several times during that tense time. one such newspaper clip depicts his visit to LOC for inspection of defense line of Pakistan on May 24, 1998


Second reason was nation wide consensus. A nation wide consensus was necessary for this important issue. Important regional and national leaders were contacted so that we can tell the world that we stand as a nation in these testing times. Several leaders were not in favor of tests. CM Balauchistan Sardar Akhtar Mengal was not in favor of nuclear tests he was rather stressing for economic development.

Consensus was to build up all along the country
Therefore, a committee was setup to meet different political forces of the country. The political leaders that were contacted were from different parties including the ANP, BNP, JI, JUP, MQM, and PPP. An interesting photo in this regard was published in local newspaper showing FM gohar Ayub meeting PPP chairperson Late Benazir Bhutto. She assured her party support to the govt.



The third major reason was that Pakistan wanted to see the world's reaction. We wanted to see that will the world act justifiably or not. We did not want to show that Pakistan's reaction was a tit for tat policy. Our aim was to convince our friends that world has not stopped India from endangering the regional peace therefore we need to act accordingly to ensure our safety. This strategy was appropriate but required time. Therefore in wake of India's action although the leadership was mentally prepared for tests but delayed for 17 days to see the world's response.

The fourth important reason was that Pakistan wanted to consult the friends. In order to setup with the world, delegations were sent to different friendly states. In such attempt the state minister for foreign affairs Siddique Kanjo went to USA and secretary foreign affairs went to china on 18th May 1998.


Several other parliamentarians and officials were sent to Muslim states in gulf. On May 19,1998 the PM had a telephonic conversation with brotherly Muslim gulf states and told them about the high-rise tensions in the region.


These delegations were sent to get assurance in favor of Pakistan and they did a successful job. Foreign Secretary Mr. Shamshad  came back from china with their assurance and it was reported in the newspapers of May 20,1998.

On 22nd May 1998 PM Nawaz Sharif while meeting the editors of Pak newspapers proved the above mentioned reasons of delay and following lines were reported by Fahd Hussain of The NATION on May 22,1998

"It was a good decision not to retaliate immediately. He said he has used this time to consult friendly countries and seek their advice on what course of action to adopt. He said he was glad that all political parties in Pakistan were saying the same thing"
     


Javed Hashmi in his book revealed some facts about the nuclear tests and told that Mian Nawaz Sharif stood firm during those testing days. I end this blog post by posting the extract from his book ہاں میں باغی ہوں 


~Hadeed Ahmed Sher