The Raqs Revival dance extravaganza

Raqs Revival was an all-encompassing dance extravaganza, held at the Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA) on Friday evening. PHOTOS: MYRA IQBAL/EXPRESS

ISLAMABAD: 

Why should dance be limited to weddings, studio classes or flash mobs? Perhaps, it is time to break that streak and celebrate the art form for its own sake. This is exactly what Raqs Revival was all about. It was an all-encompassing dance extravaganza, held at the Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA) on Friday evening.

Blending classical and contemporary styles in thematic performances, three dance troupes — the PNCA Dance Group, Mazmoon-e-Shauq and Faizaan Ahab Choreography and Design Solutions (FACDS) — had the audience simmering with excitement and anticipation. The idea of having such diverse dancers perform under one roof was a novelty in itself.

On the other hand, kathak dancer Asim Sharif, who had come from Lahore to perform Amir Khusro’s Raag Hameer, had to forego his performance owing to last-minute technical glitches in the sound equipment.

Dealing with the situation tactfully, the candid hosts Rehan Sheikh and Hareem Farooq kept the show going with impromptu humour and witticisms from the likes of Brazilian writer Paula Coelho on being footloose. “I don’t know much about dance except when Shahid Afridi strikes a sixer, I dance a little,” joked Sheikh while opening the show.

Swathed in a blue-green sari and ghungroos announcing her every step, Sumbal Arshad shone in the limelight, as she gracefully eased into Sur Tal, a combination of sur (melody) and taal (tempo), using the elements of the classical dances of the subcontinent, primarilyManipuri and Kathak. The PNCA trio performed in sync to the melody of Nazir Hussian Sheela.

Brimming with energy and exuding command over their craft, the four dancers of Muzmoon-e-Shauq; Amna Mawaz Khan, Ayesha Iqbal, Feriyal Aslam, Iftikhar Maseeh and Marlies de Groot, came together to perform Jathi and Swaram Raag Maala, a traditional technicalBharatnatyam dance with different rhythms set against the basic 14-beat music. These then run through a medley of modes revived by the legendary classical dancer Indu Mitha. From their regal attire, lively expression and deftly-coordinated moves, they flowed effortlessly from one sequence to the next.

In the poignant dance drama Kashmir, the PNCA and Musmoon-e-Shauq dancers coalesced to narrate two accounts of people travelling on a bus, each coming home to a land that has been divided, reminiscent of the Kashmir that once was. The dancers comprising of Mitha, Aslam and the PNCA Dance Troupe, moved to the rhythms  of indigenous Kashmiri instruments from the late Mukhtar Sahib group and flute by Salman Adil.

The second-half of the show was a fusion of eclectic cultures. From Mughlai Tarana to Mitha’s composition of Sari Sunehri to Encounter, drawing on Bharatnatyam, ballet and Indonesia dance, the performances were refreshingly powerful.

In fluid, psychedelic moves, the dancers from FACDS namely Faizaan Ahab, Osman Khalid Butt, Ameer Gilani, Komal Jamil and Verdah Khan performed the dramatic dance narrativeMirror, Mirror on the track How Many Will It Take by Cornelius Duffalo and Kinan Azmeh. The dancers were one with the story of a man whose vanity consumes him, leading to a deathly downfall. Props, expression and movement set the stage for a memorable performance.

They wrapped up the show with an intense rendition of AR Rehman’s Haye Rama, performed by Ahab, Jamil and Butt, who stole the show with their chemistry and stage presence.

“This was amazing,” remarked Shireen, an audience member, as she was leaving the hall. “I’d have to say we should have more of such performances since there is obviously a thirst for them and it’s not that people don’t realise their value. It’s in our culture and our blood.”

10 Restaurants With Breathtaking Views In The World

Restaurants are generally known after the food quality and the ambiance, they offer. But there are few restaurants on our planet that also offer unique views of the surrounding areas. We are featuring today 10 of such restaurants in the world that attract public with breathtaking views of the surroundings. Starting-off from number 10.

10. El Tovar, Arizona

This restaurant overlooks the two-billion years old geological history of Grand Canyon, Arizona. The menu includes south western and Scottish flavors.

9. Saidpur Village, Pakistan

This restaurant provides the deep cultural values of Pakistan. It is built right into a village named Saidpur; you can enjoy traditional food and the life of common people. Do not forget to see the mud train in a small shop in the center of the village.

8. Boucan, West Indies

If you ever dreamt of going to Charlie’s Chocolate Factory, this place might just be for you. It is famous for its cocoa production and is a heaven for chocolate lovers. Every last thing on its menu is composed of chocolate.

7. Rosellinis, Italy

This restaurant  over looks cliffs, cloves and fishing boats on a Mediterranean sea. It provides southern Italian menu on the plate.

6. Baan Rim Pa, Thailand

This open air two-story teak house overlooks a cliff of Andaman Sea. The beautiful sunset and waves crushing the rocks adds to the scenery. This restaurant serves the menu of Thailand’s Grand Palace.

5. Le Jules Verne, France

You might have seen Eiffel Tower in Paris, but have you seen Paris from the Eiffel Tower? This restaurant is hosted at 410 feet above the ground on the Eiffel Tower. You can enjoy the view of  the city of light while having delicious traditional French menu.  If you want to visit this place, do not forget to reserve three months in advance.

4. Ngorongoro Crater Lodge, Tanzania

This restaurant seems to come right out of a fairy tale. It is located on the edge of the largest unbroken volcanic mountains in the world. The wild life in this natural habitat enhances its beauty. It serves Pan-African dishes.

3. Eagle’s Eye Resturant, Canada

This restaurant is known as Canada’s most elevated spot. It is located at 7,700 feet above sea level with snow-capped peaks and rocky mountains along the horizon. It brings French menu to the table including beef, salmons, whipped potatoes and fresh vegetables.

2. Ithaa, Maldives

This restaurant will definitely catch your eye. It is located 16 feet below the surface of Indian Ocean. You can have 180 degrees of panoramic view of sea through tunnel shaped glass walls. This restaurant offers European Cuisines. It can be booked for weddings and other special occasions as well.

1. Monal, Pakistan

This restaurant overlooks the entire capital city of Pakistan, Islamabad from beautiful Margalla Hills surrounding the city. After a long hike all the way from Daman-e-Koh at the bottom to Monal at the top, the views are known for refreshing your mind and soul. The restaurant’s menu includes both traditional and foreign dishes especially Italian.

Ending the international income apartheid

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In most developing countries, income distribution changed in favour of the rich which meant that growth was actually anti-poor. DESIGN: CREATIVE COMMON

NEW DEHLI: For the last three decades, focus on poverty alleviation has been the mantra of development communities. This was connected with the thesis of non-convergence at the World Bank in the seventies.

In late seventies, Robert S. McNamara, then World Bank president, argued, “Given the immense differences in the capital and technological base of the industrialised nations as compared with that of the developing countries, it [closing the gap] was simply not a feasible goal … for the developing nations to make it their primary objective is simply a prescription for needless frustration.”

International income apartheid was thus declared an inescapable reality and poverty alleviation emerged as the consolation prize for the developing countries.

This theme of focusing on poverty led to ritualism and hypocrisy in defining development objectives. Most of the developing countries were ruled by elite who wanted to get closer to their counterparts in the developed countries. They had little genuine interest in the poor.

Poverty line was defined at a very low level and pro-poor strategy was defined as any growth that reduces poverty ratio. By these distorted criteria, the elite could pretend to be working for the poor and keep the international development community happy. However, in substance, development programmes became schizophrenic — the declared focus on poverty alleviation versus the real interest of the elite in catching up with the developed countries. Growth rates were generally poor and progress in poverty alleviation modest. In most developing countries, income distribution changed in favour of the rich which meant that growth was actually anti-poor.

An alternative we propose is that developing countries should aim at ending the income apartheid and catching up with the developed countries within the 21st century. If they succeed in catching up in income levels, absolute poverty elimination will be a byproduct. In this strategy, the elite will be working in line with their true intentions and will be able to perform better. In fact, both the pace of growth and poverty alleviation will be accelerated.

This alternative theme is supported by these arguments — the logic of factor-price equalisation theorem and the development experience of China over the last 30 years and of developing countries in general.

The basic logic of convergence is provided by the factor price equalisation theorem Simply, the theorem says that when the prices of the output goods are equalised between countries as they move towards free trade, then the prices of the factors (capital and labour) will also be equalised. The working of this theorem is of course subject to a large number of conditions. However, more of these conditions are being met and scope of income convergence has increased because of the current tradability of services due to the ICT revolution.

The empirical validity of this is what China has done in the last 30 years and is set to do in the next 40. China achieved GDP growth of about 10% per year and is now the world’s largest exporter and manufacturer. Income distribution changed in favour of the non-poor and thus, growth strategy was not pro-poor. Yet, over 500 million people were lifted out of poverty. By 2050, China will in all probability catch up with the developed countries in per capita incomes and would have largely eliminated absolute poverty.

In the first decade of the 21st century, the convergence process seems to have started with real earnest for most developing countries. During the first 10 years of the 21st century, per capita income of developing countries has been growing at about 4.7% per year, 3.8% points more than that of the developed countries. Relative income gap of developing countries, which was 10.8% in 2000, was 15.1% in 2009 with the gap closing at the rate of 3.8% per year. If this differential rate persists, the income gap will be closed in 51 years. However, the world economic environment has changed.

The developed countries can no longer work as locomotives for developing country exports and there are not enough natural resources and carbon space for developing countries to replicate the lifestyle of their developed counterparts. Our research on India shows that for catching up, it will have to design its own road. Growth will be led by the service sector rather than manufacturing and it will a low-carbon economy in consumption and production. Good news is that the low carbon lifestyle would be healthier for human beings.

In the context of this theme of Great Convergence through low carbon growth, other South Asian countries – Bangladesh, Pakistan Sri Lanka and Nepal – should also design their own programs and policies by which they can catch up with the developed countries during this century. The dream of a world without poverty should be replaced by a world with prosperity for all. By that strategy, we will remove poverty faster and also fulfill the dreams of the emerging youth in our countries.

Default threat: Bubble behind the Chinese Wall

The real Chinese debt-GDP ratio is a staggering 230%, which has spiralled in the last five years.

ISLAMABAD: In China, a bubble is about to burst.

In early January, China Credit Trust, a major non-banking financial institution, warned its investors that it may not be able to repay when one of its wealth management products worth $469 million was about to mature.

Days before its maturity, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) – the largest Chinese lender – rescued the trust by announcing that the bank would be able to recoup the money investor had put in by selling to “unidentified buyers”.

This transaction might have rescued few investors at the cost of a more vibrant financial industry, which rewards good performance and penalises poor results with equal force. But this bailout is just a tip of the iceberg.

The Chinese banking system is dominated by state-owned commercial banks including Bank of China – which specialises in foreign exchange transaction and trade finance – China Construction Bank – which focuses on medium to long-term credit for long-term projects – the Agricultural Bank of China – which provides financing facilities to the agriculture sector and the ICBC.

Of these, the ICBC is the largest bank by assets, employees and customers and is the second in foreign exchange business.

The ‘Big Four’ were transformed from specialised banks into commercial entities during the 1994 banking reforms and were liberalised to the extent of floating shares on Hong Kong and Shanghai Stock Exchanges. But the state still maintained majority stakes in these banks.

Due to state control, the Big Four are a source of subsidising loans to state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and other arms of the government. For the past few years, stagnation of SOEs produced negative real returns on the capital employed, increasing non-performing loans (NPLs) for these banks. It is noteworthy that hundreds, if not thousands of SOEs, have already gone bankrupt.

Crisis triggers shadow banking

Shadow banking sector has been on the rise, particularly investment in ‘wealth-management products’ because of the official ceiling on deposit rates where savers make little return on their bank deposits.

In a recent column in The Times of India, William Pesek equates Chinese shadow banking system with Enron whose real business was not energy or commodities, but book-cooking.

The rise in shadow banking was triggered after the 2008 financial crisis when Chinese government allowed banks and other lending institutions to extend credit lines. Private domestic credit has increased from $9 trillion to $23 trillion, an increase of 2.5 times in five years.

The concern here is that credit has reached a point where it is no longer generating economic returns and the government is not allowing market forces to take their toll on poorly performed credit products. In freely functioning financial markets, the poorly performing assets should be allowed to be written off instead of being bailed out.

According to Professor Feng Xingyuan of Unirule Institute of Economics, the credit policies are decided by the National Development and Reform Commission of the State Council, together with the central bank and the China Banking Regulatory Commission, instead of commercial banks.

This has led to a significant distortion in credit market leading to reflective investors like George Soros to possibly go short on yuan. For Soros, who has amassed billions by correctly predicting various financial crises at least three times, the main risk facing the world isn’t the euro, the US Congress or a Japanese asset bubble, but a Chinese debt disaster that’s unfolding in plain sight.

Debt-GDP ratio spirals

So is the Chinese debt-to-GDP ratio going out of hands? It depends on how you define debt, as the central government is comfortable at 21.3% debt-GDP ratio as per the IMF in 2013. However, when one adds debt from local governments, SOEs and government-run banks into that mix, the situation becomes suddenly bleak.

The real Chinese debt-GDP ratio is a staggering 230%, which has spiralled in the last five years. If history is any guide, Chinese trade surplus and its forex reserves may not prove reliable defence.

Thus, the Chinese financial system faces a triple challenge: decreasing return on capital due to bloated credit distribution, swapping of commercial bank deposits with investment in shadow banks and an exponential growth in cheap private credit.

Investment flow to Pakistan

As a long-standing friend of Pakistan, Chinese investment in our country offers opportunities – but mainly for China itself. As the rate of return on credit-run capital on investment made for ghost cities and empty bridges in China dwindles, it can find greener pastures in infrastructure-hungry Pakistan, on the back of a rising middle class and its ever increasing geostrategic importance.

And to those who claim for Chinese banks that there has never been a default, the answer is “there is always a first time”.

The writers work at Policy Research Institute of Market Economy (PRIME), a public policy think tank based in Islamabad

Carefully treading trade with India

Under invoicing, mis-declaration and dumping will be carried out abundantly, especially if import is through Wagah. PHOTO: AFP/FILE

KARACHI: With talks of liberalising trade with India doing the rounds, it would be timely to review the present situation.

India gave Pakistan the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status in 1996. Yet Pakistan’s exports to India have been pitiful, around $300 million, while Indian exports have been 5 times higher, clocking in at $1.6 billion. This has happened despite Pakistan not giving India the MFN status.

Now we want to give Non-Discriminatory Market Access (NDMA) to India and yet say that exports would rise. Not at least till India removes the non-tarrif and technical barriers to trade.

Let’s be clear that Pakistan is clearing the road for Indian imports and not, in the true sense, bilateral trade. Why should Pakistan want that? Why should the country offer its markets without having the ability to gain an entry into India’s? In the 80s and even early 90s, it would have made eminent sense as Pakistan’s per capita income was higher than India’s while per capita production was at par.

Now India is miles ahead and moving further, while Pakistan is floundering. UNCTAD’s 2008 survey states that India has a track record of being the most prolific user of anti-dumping remedies. Their overall Trade Restrictive Index is 46.7, while Pakistan’s is 22.2.

Let’s talk about the automotive industry, which has a profound impact on economy because of its backward and forward linkages, employment capability and technical prowess. India has protected it well as they, proudly, announced during a recent conference I attended. Their custom levy on new built-up vehicles is higher than Pakistan’s and even higher on used vehicles. Malaysia has included the automotive industry in its manufacturing ++ industries. It has been called the mother industry as well as the “Industry of Industries” by no less a person than Peter Drukker, the famous management guru.

India has done well to understand this and protected it in all the Free Trade Agreements signed, even the latest one with the EU. No built-up, new or used vehicles, are allowed easy access to its market.

The transport engineering department of India has 1,085 standards of which 554 pertain to auto and parts — we have none. They have a process of testing before allowing anything in, which is time consuming and is called homologation. Pakistan does not have any facilities with the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQSA) to carry out any homologation in the country. India also has a robust licencing arrangement for allowing vehicle import.

They have emission standards, Bharat 3 & 4, which are unique and more challenging than Euro 3 & 4. Pakistan is still at Euro 2 only in petrol and zero in diesel. Hence, access to their market is obviously denied unless Pakistan improves its standards.

Why we are at such a low level is because our fuel is not good enough for higher levels. The refineries must invest to deliver better fuel. It is obvious that Pakistan needs to have better standards, testing equipment and regulation before we allow access to our automotive market — both National Tariff Commission & PSQSA’s capability has to be substantially enhanced. India is a member of the UN WP29 Agreement of 1998 which does not compel it to accept a third country’s testing as the Agreement of 1958 did, of which India is not a member. India, thus, does not allow mutual recognition. Their standards are unique and they would like Pakistan to adopt their standards. India has dexterously done its homework.

To top it all, Pakistan is considering opening the Wagah border for all items. Currently, only 137 products can come through. This will make Pakistan and India one market and foreign direct investment would naturally flow into India because Pakistan is besieged with insecurity. What a loss that it will be? Under invoicing, mis-declaration and dumping will be carried out abundantly, especially if import is through Wagah. Wagah must not be opened up. It will be disastrous.

The way forward

Let the automotive associations in both countries talk to each other and finalise the modality of business, leading to managed trade along the lines of Mercusor Agreement on automotive trade between Argentina and Brazil or the agreement between US and Canada.

To make ourselves competitive, raw materials, machinery, tooling and technology may be made available from India as the first step. To improve competitiveness, joint ventures in Pakistan or investment by Indian firms in Pakistan may also be allowed. With the low value of Pakistani currency and labour cost, they may make products cheaper in Pakistan.

Let India play the role of the big brother and give more leeway to Pakistan like reducing the Pakistan sensitive list to 300 for the time being, while India reduces it to 100. Allow Pakistan time to get more competitive and then remove lines progressively.

The writer is Paapam’s first  chairman and is closely  associated to the auto industry

Paul Smith shoes and cultural appropriation

Paul Smith's new design 'Robert Sandals' seems similar to our Peshawari slipper.

Paul Smith has come up with a fabulous new design for shoes, check them out. They call them the ‘Robert Sandals’ and you can buy them here online for GBP 300.

Source: Paul Smith website

Except oops, wait a second, this isn’t an original design by Paul Smith!

They are in fact Peshawari chappals (slippers) that have been made and sold in Pakistan for the last, oh, 200 years?

Here is a fine example of the Peshawari chappal from Zalmay, a Peshawar shoe store. They make these shoes to sell abroad, given the price in GBP, 27 pounds. Zalmay doesn’t have a monopoly on this design either – it is ubiquitous. But I bet all the shoemakers in Pakistan are wishing they’d applied a trademark to this design right about now…

Source: Zalmay

It’s true that fashion designers have been inspired by different cultures and traditions throughout time.  But it is important to acknowledge the source of the inspiration which Paul Smith can easily do by noting that the design of the Robert Sandal is not original but in fact worn by Pashtun men all over Pakistan. You couldn’t exactly call it intellectual property but at least credit would have been given where credit was due.

Even more ethical would be for Paul Smith to work with local shoemakers to source the shoes directly from Pakistan. It would also have boosted the local economy and could have been a great example of British-Pakistani cooperation in trade.

Still, though, when this has been done in the past, local craftspeople get paid a pittance for their work – in India, sometimes less than 100 rupees a day, where the Kohlapuri chappal has been similarly claimed by western fashion designers.

In the same vein, western companies have also patented basmati rice and turmeric in order to turn huge profits because of these items’ popularity and possible health benefits for developed nations.

There’s nothing wrong with appreciating what we produce indigenously or even wearing it out of admiration for its beauty. But we in Pakistan need to learn to protect our local customs, traditions and products from being exploited by those who claim that nothing good can come of our culture. They cannibalise the best of it in order to make money and nothing good can come of that for us at all.

You may call it a Paul Smith original or a Peshawari chappal, but you know what I call it?

Cultural appropriation.

Or, in layman’s terms, ‘stealing our cultural icons and pretending that you came up with them for huge profits without acknowledging, or renumerating, the source, or inspiration, of your design’.

Sharp gains: Rupee strengthens swiftly in sentiment-driven rally

An inflow of investment in fiscal year 2013-14 also helped shift market sentiments in favour of the rupee. PHOTO: FILE

KARACHI: 

Word on McLeod Road has it that the dollar is going to sell at Rs100 by the end of the current fiscal year in June.

If recent movement in the foreign exchange market is anything to go by, the idea of the rupee-dollar parity reaching Rs98 seems quite plausible.

After all, strengthening from Rs108.31 a dollar on November 28, the rupee-dollar parity now stands at Rs102.37 in the interbank market, which reflects a substantial 5.4% gain over just 14 weeks.

Moreover, the rupee has gained 2.78% against the greenback during the last one month alone.

So what’s causing the gains although fundamentals of the economy – such as the current account deficit, low foreign exchange reserves, etc – remain largely the same?

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Standard Chartered Bank Senior Economist Sayem Ali said the rally is driven more by sentiments, as macros remain largely weak.

“Sentiments have shifted due to positive IMF staff reviews, expectations of significant aid and investment inflows in 2014, and interventions by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) through the forward/swap market,” Ali said.

Foreign currency reserves held by the SBP stood at $3.92 billion on February 28, up 1.29% from the preceding week, according to latest data released by the central bank. These reserves give an import cover for only 1.1 months.

“Importantly, oil import payments, which account for roughly 40% of total imports, have now been moved out of the interbank and are instead being paid from FE25 loans,” Ali said while referring to the trade loan facility for exporters and importers, which is essentially a deferred payment.

No wonder, these measures have helped reduce the demand for the dollar in the interbank, thus bringing down the value of the greenback against the rupee.

An inflow of investment in fiscal year 2013-14 also helped shift market sentiments in favour of the rupee. According to the SBP, Pakistan received foreign direct investment (FDI) of $523 million in the first seven months of 2013-14. FDI amounted to $106.9 million in January alone.

Similarly, foreign portfolio investment (FPI) in January amounted to $31.5 million, which is 27% of the total FPI that the country has received in the first seven months of the current fiscal year.

In addition, the expected receipt of $550 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), along with the launch of Eurobonds amounting to $500 million likely next month, has also led to positivity in the foreign exchange market.

Ali said most exporters now prefer to book forwards at the prevailing rate in anticipation of a lower currency exchange rate three months down the line. Similarly, importers are staying away from booking forwards in anticipation of a further appreciation in the value of the rupee against the dollar in the next three months, he added.

As per the law, exporters must surrender dollars within 130 days. Typically, they hold on to foreign currency for that period hoping to sell at a higher exchange rate.

According to Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan Chairman Malik Bostan, the dollar is expected to be at Rs100 in the next few months. While appreciation of the rupee will contain inflation, a stronger currency will inevitably make exports less competitive.

“Hence, a widening trade gap will put more pressure on foreign exchange reserves, forcing the SBP to readjust the rupee to equilibrium levels,” Ali noted