| Exporters seek wheat supply control
KARACHI: Exporters have sought an end to the governments role in wheat supply meant for export, warning they may miss the target due to lethargic process of the commoditys transportation from the provincial food departments and Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Supplies Corporation (PASSCO).
In a recent communication between the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock and the wheat exporters, traders expressed serious concern over the policy of the authorities, which bound them to lift the commodity only from the food departments of Punjab and Sindh and the federally-administered PASSCO.
We have conveyed our reservations and now its up to the government to address such issues, said an exporter who held talks with senior officials in the ministry but asked not to be named.
SAARC needs inter-dependent relation
THE choice of connectivity as a theme of the 14th SAARC summit in New Delhi, India from April 3 to 4, 2007, was appropriate as the SAARC encompasses different nationalities, ethnicities, faiths and political beliefs.
Despite these diversities, they share common values such as democracy and the desire for having just and honest government for advancing the cause of peace and prosperity.
This theme is also quite reasonable for SAARC countries as this organisation is the largest regional organisation in the world by population, covering approximately 1.47 billion people.
Starting the journey on December 8, 1985, SAARC is now more mature with its new member Afghanistan having joined its founding seven members: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives and Bhutan.
US Economy: Pending Sales of Existing Homes Gain (Update3)
April 3 (Bloomberg) -- More Americans signed contracts to buy previously owned homes in February, easing concern the real- estate market will get even worse. The National Association of Realtors' index of signed purchase agreements rose 0.7 percent after dropping 4.2 percent in January. Economists had forecast a decline. The index was down 8.5 percent from a year earlier. Lower borrowing costs and falling house prices are tempting some buyers back into the market, which is suffering its worst recession since 1991, economists said. Stocks extended gains after the report, which is consistent with predictions by the Federal Reserve that the slump in residential real estate will be contained. ``The chance of another outsized drop in housing is dissipating,'' said Michael Englund, chief economist at Action Economics LLC in Boulder, Colorado.
Two-edged sword of values
Japans recent decision to develop a foreign policy based on support for universal values is a step forward in the development of a more coherent, strategic vision to pursue its national interests. The new policy is likely to make coordination with the United States easier and allow Tokyo to focus its efforts to compete with China for influence in areas such as Southeast Asia. Japan should, however, learn from US experience: asserting its values internationally will invite other countries to put Tokyos behaviour under the looking glass as well.
A major policy address by Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso in November 2006 along with subsequent statements by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during his recent tour of European countries indicate that Japan has decided to follow the path of value-oriented diplomacy and help establish the arc of freedom and prosperity along the outer rim of Eurasia.
Ideal Economy Meets Human Needs, says US Writer
Washington, Apr 2 (Prensa Latina) Bill McKibben, an accomplished author of 10 books says the number one problem with world economy is that growth fails the affluent, destroys communities and threatens the Earth, according to a Bloomberg report. "Deep Economy" is McKibbens most recent work, a critique on ther line of John Kenneth Galbraiths "The Affluent Society", where the famous economist already recognized half a century ago that wealth hasnt erased poverty or inequity. ``A single-minded focus on increasing wealth has driven the planet's ecological system to the brink of failure, without making us happier," writes McKibben. A scholar in residence in environmental studies at Middlebury College in Vermont, he isn't an economist, but he has clearly thought long and hard about the matters in his book, including economic development.
Agricultural policy reform vital for SA economy
The greatest challenge for the Department of Agriculture in South Africa is to establish policies which will ensure that agriculture contributes significantly to the national economy. The objectives of the policies should be focused on promoting economic growth; reducing income inequalities, especially along racial lines; and eliminating poverty. Agriculture, since time immemorial, in all industrialized nations, has always been a crucial sector and an important engine of growth for the rest of the economy. The USA, Canada, and the rest of the West have witnessed a growth in the production of poultry (which has overtaken red meat), eggs, fruit and vegetables. This is director indicator of successful agricultural policy reforms in these developed nations.
61 YEARS OF POLITICAL HISTORY
In an interview with Manop Thip-osod and Pradit Ruangdit, Democrat party secretary-general Suthep Thaugsuban talks about the ongoing election fraud trial and the coming election as the party today celebrates the 61st anniversary of its founding. Do you have a contingency plan in case the Constitution Tribunal rules against the party? There is no back-up plan because we know we are not in the wrong. We did not commit a crime against the democratic system under the monarchy. We found out about election fraud and subsequently filed a complaint. The other party, with its back against the wall, claims that we framed them and has demanded the Democrat party be dissolved. We nabbed a wrong-doer here, so how could they possibly punish us and throw us into jail for doing so? There have been attempts to stir up public sentiment about "true justice" - that is the Democrats must also meet the same fate if Thai Rak Thai is dissolved, and if the Democrat party is not dissolved, then Thai Rak Thai must not be either.
One year into term, Chile's leader tries to reverse slide
SANTIAGO, Chile: What Michelle Bachelet promised when she was sworn in as Chile's first female president a little over a year ago was social justice and continued economic stability. What Chile faces at the moment, though, is a nagging corruption scandal and chaos in the transportation system here in the capital, which have combined to sap her popularity. The corruption allegations, which involve a state sports agency and first emerged late last year, have been a boon to a right-wing opposition tainted by its links to the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. But the immediate cause of Bachelet's troubles is a costly new integrated subway and bus system that was supposed to be one of the most modern in the world. Instead, commuters here in the capital region, which is home to more than one-third of Chile's 16 million people, are wasting hours every day getting to work and back home.
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