Pakistan's Energy Crunch

Muhammad Saad Sarwar

Cheap and reliable sources of energy are the driving force for any economy. In the current climate of the world where the limited supply of fossil fuels and the high energy demands is already causing havoc to the world economy, it is about time we thought of alternate sources of energy as the only real option left.

A developing country like Pakistan can ill afford to ignore the importance of alternate sources of energy and the role hydel power can play for Pakistan if harnessed properly. Pakistan is naturally blessed with a terrain that boasts some of the highest mountain ranges in the world which also serve as the sources for all of its rivers. Pakistan possesses K2 which is the second highest point on the earth with the water going all the way to sea level through a course of hundreds of miles. Water coming from such high sources serves as huge repositories of potential energy which can be harnessed not only to produce cheap energy but also as water conservation projects for agriculture. Right now millions of cusecs of water is wasted in our rivers and thrown out straight to the sea without much use. It is high time Pakistan thought of constructing small dams and water reservoirs for electricity production and agricultural purposes all over the country. Even rain water should be conserved in special reservoirs purpose built for the monsoon season which can also serve to make deserts and vast areas of Baluchistan green. Pakistan should go all out for these energy projects so that none of the industrial units or houses and businesses in Pakistan are ever out of energy. Pakistan should set its energy target as double its actual needs in order to be the best growing economy in the world. Which it could easily be, if the cost of factors of production are lowered. Pakistani textile industry always complains of power outages and high costs of energy. If we use hydel power and alternate sources of energy we can even lower cost of utilities for all Pakistanis and give something back to our populace through better energy management thereby becoming a true welfare state.

Pakistan should also think about requiring all vehicles operating in Pakistan to run on electric power by the year 2010. Many countries have started initiatives of using electricity to power vehicles. In Nepal many companies have mushroomed that offer vehicles run on electricity using multiples of car batteries. Britain has submarines that are powered by batteries. Honda has introduced its very efficient Fuel Cell Vehicle that utilizes alternative fuel technologies. Pakistan should set itself a target of being oil free by the year 2020. If steps are taken right now for generating hydel-power along with alternate sources of energy, being oil free by 2020 is not too much to ask for.

Alternate sources of energy like wind and solar power have been exploited by many countries. China even offers a full range of wind turbines, from home turbines of various production capacities to industrial wind turbines. Pakistan can easily import and employ these on mass level to help the local populace develop energy for home use in their very own homes. Some can even sell excess capacity of electricity to the government like is done in the United States thereby lowering costs of production for the government. Most wind turbines only require sustained winds at low wind speeds which are suitable for many areas in Pakistan.

Pakistan is also blessed with plenty of sunshine which can be harnessed to produce solar energy. The first and foremost use of solar panels apart from home use in Pakistan could be the conversion of all the street lights with those powered by solar panels. Installing a solar panel with each street light would not only reduce the burden of the government to produce energy but would also result in saving costs associated with wiring of the street lights as lights with solar panels do not require an exorbitant amount of wiring due to the distance between the source(solar panel) and use(light) being small. Pakistan’s main artery, motorway M-2 is already fitted with solar panels that power emergency phones every few kilometers.

With the way the oil prices are rising everyday the day is not far away when we would be driving solar cars on highways lighted by solar energy into homes powered by alternate sources of energy like wind and solar power. The sooner Pakistan recognizes the potential of wind and solar power along with electric powered vehicles, the sooner Pakistan would become a world class economy whose citizens would enjoy cheap power and the country would rid itself of high current account deficits associated with high oil imports costs and low exports due to high utility costs.

Pakistan: A Case for Small Government: American Chronicle

As the subcontinental saying goes, "Every two miles the water doth change, and every four the dialect". It can be rephrased to represent the reality of Pakistani Government as well..."Every two mile the water doth change, and every four the (governmental) authority".

Muhammad Saad Sarwar

“Who will monitor the monitors?”, a famous quote from the movie “Enemy of the State” starring Will Smith fits well with the case for small governments all around the world. Pakistan’s way of dealing with its problems of ensuring quality is the same. Create one authority after another to monitor this or that in order to ensure quality. All around the world governments have given up the job of monitoring different businesses and services. They have instead handed the baton to the private corporations with the premise that they would be able to take care of their customer in a better way without much government involvement. Flat and lean structure of a modern private organization would also result in transparency which government departments seldom offer. Governments all around the world are filled with bureaucratic layers, which make workings of these organizations crawl even at the best of government speeds. This problem is even more pronounced in developing nations such as Pakistan.

The West, however, is also not immune to such problems. Voice is raised every now and then on curtailing the size of the government. Big governments can devour big budgets in no time and hard earned tax payer money is spent in a lost cause. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is an agency under the US Department of Health and Human Services charged with the regulatory oversight of many products that affect the health and lives of Americans. FDA has been under heavy criticism from many segments of the American society regarding its role in the approval and monitoring of drugs. It has also been criticized for being influenced and pressured by the American pharmaceutical industry for approval of certain drugs. Even in Pakistan the drug testing labs have been criticized for receiving kickbacks and allowing or disallowing a drug based on favors given to them by pharmaceutical companies rather than the merit of the drug.

The solution is to create non-profit independent organizations or give the lead to other private companies who can do that particular job in a better way. International organizations can also be developed which are independent of government or operate under the auspices of the United Nations. For approval or disapproval of drugs it could be any private company whether from Pakistan or around the world which is renowned for its independence, vigor, quality and integrity, whose seal of approval could be respected by customers all around the world. The website of this private company could display a list of approved drugs from all around the world, complete with relevant information about the medicine. Any customer should be able to go to its website and find out for him or herself about the nature of the drug and its validity.

International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is a practical example of such an international organization for the internet. It is designed to handover the administration of the internet from the government to private enterprise. It manages domain names and IP addresses for the internet and the World Wide Web for much of the world.

Regulation of Higher Education in the West, especially the US is another example that underlines the role of private enterprise in the garb of regulatory bodies. The public universities or state universities of different states in the US are governed by a board of regents or governors, many of whose members have ex-officio appointments. The respective board of regents of these states prescribe the standards, functions, course guidelines, degrees and funding for the public universities in the different states of the US. All financed through the US tax payer pocket. However, they have no control or authority over private universities operating in the state, which have their own board of governors or trustees. The private universities in the US are accredited by different non-governmental organizations such as the Southern Associate of Colleges and Schools (SACS) which is responsible for accreditation for the schools in the southern states such as Virginia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana etc.

The different departments in these schools are accredited by other non-profit non-governmental organizations such as Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) for engineering departments of the universities in the US. In fact, ABET also certifies the engineering departments all around the world. Engineering students, who are the customers of the colleges and universities would go into any school with an ABET stamp of accreditation on it whether in the US or abroad. If any Pakistani university gets accreditation from ABET for any of its engineering departments it would also be able to attract best students from all around the world who will be willing to join the university for the sake of an ABET accredited degree at a cheaper cost from a developing country. Similarly, Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) founded in 1916, a non-governmental organization was charged with accreditation of business schools world wide with Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, UPENN etc. (the IVY leagues) as founding members. Currently, none of the business schools in Pakistan is a member of AACSB, which is a shame. One of the biggest criteria for me to search for a business school for my business degree was also coincidently, AACSB accreditation which is recognized all over the world. Any student like the author who has been a graduate from AACSB accredited business schools can boast of such a qualification and is preferred over the rest for job applications. Even the ranking for the universities in the US is done by private corporations such as the Princeton Review or US News and World Report which helps give transparency and objectiveness to the rankings. The role of non-governmental organizations in regulating educational institutions can never be overestimated and can help keep the size of the government small.

An institution of higher learning can never be deemed legal or illegal, as is being done in Pakistan. Private universities should be encouraged to bud without the threat of sanction from any governmental regulatory body. The customer who is the student is smart in enough to judge for him or herself, whether the school he or she is joining has a good accreditation or none, as is the case in the US. Private enterprise should be allowed to flourish at all costs for the good of the country. Both, in the academic institution role as well as, in the role of the accreditation body. Similarly, other regulatory authorities in Pakistan should be non-governmental to ensure transparency, productivity and integrity of the different domains regulated. This would also result in the cost-effectiveness for our government and tax payer money could be well spent in some other area of development where funds are badly needed. The environmental blight of the green number plate cars would also be reduced while at the same time increasing private job opportunities for the populace where salaries and perks would be much more in congruence to the productivity exhibited by these private non-governmental organizations.

Original Link: Pakistan: A Case for Small Government

China, The World’s Factory: From a Producer to a Consumer Economy: American Chronicle

Muhammad Saad Sarwar

They say that making a thing is easy, but selling it is the more difficult part. China not only makes products for the entire world but sells it too. It is no surprise that China’s economy has been growing with a double digit growth rate for the past twenty years or so and shows no sign of abating. Resultantly, China has accumulated a big pile of reserves that would reach a figure of two trillion dollars in a couple of years time. Part of this increase can be attributed to China’s pegging of its currency, the Yuan to the US dollar. United States, which is running a big deficit to its trade with China has been influencing Beijing to ease the tight peg and let its currency float according to the dictates of the market. China has so far been largely reluctant to accede to the US demands and continues to accumulate reserves. China’s huge energy and other raw materials resources demands have made China the new colonial power according to the Economist. It has been building infrastructure all across Africa and most of the world in return for the badly need raw materials to run China’s factories. The local communities in these poor countries have been benefiting from China’s dominance in the world scene as an economic power with hospitals to stadiums being built by the endowments from the People’s Republic of China. Even the stadium where the Cricket World Cup 2007 was held in the Caribbean was built with China’s help. China has a long standing friendship with Pakistan, where it has historically been part of major infrastructural and energy related initiatives. From Karakorum highway to nuclear power plants along with the collaboration in defense fields, China has been part of the major developments in Pakistan. China’s thirst for the warm waters of the Arabian sea have led it to collaborate with Pakistan for building of the Gwadar seaport which would create a corridor for Chinese goods straight from the Arabian sea to China’s frontiers. Even a railroad project through one of the highest terrains in the world is underway which would greatly speed commerce between China and Pakistan and the world, where goods from the Gwadar seaport would reach China in no time. Economists are of the view that China’s economy is in the danger of overheating. Whatever their prerogative, it is about time China looked indoors rather than outside for selling its goods. Developing a local consumer economy would not only increase the standard of living of Chinese people but it would also help China to utilize its monies more effectively for the benefit of its own people. Accumulating trillions of dollars of reserves would be to the detriment of China especially at a time when the US dollar is virtually worthless for China. The world’s factory should finally look towards alleviating the plight of its factory workers rather than sell its products to supposedly rich outsiders (US) who might not be able to pay for the products they purchase due to huge fiscal trade deficits. China should gradually move from a producer economy to a consumer economy where the average Chinese citizen is a beneficiary to the economic boom that China has enjoyed at a macro level.

Original Link: China, The World's Factory: From a Producer to a Consumer Economy: American Chronicle

My Journey to Iowa (Part I): Dawn

Muhammad Saad Sarwar

My friend from high school had invited me to visit Iowa after he visited me in Oklahoma while I was studying in the University of Central Oklahoma. He had recently transferred to Iowa State University for a bachelor degree in Computer Engineering from Pakistan. My university on interstate I-35 was a good nine hours by car from Iowa State which was also located off I-35. On my way I had to cross Kansas and Missouri into Iowa. I had never been to Kansas or Iowa before although I had traveled through Missouri on my way to New York City on a previous trip. I had also not traveled north on I-35 from Oklahoma City while I had traveled south on I-35 from Oklahoma City to Dallas on the way to Houston. I-35 is a major interstate highway that runs all the way from Texas to Minnesota bisecting the US into half. Many famous universities are also located off I-35 like the University of Oklahoma, University of North Texas, Iowa State and University of Kansas to name a few. I-35 has also been called the drug route because of millions of dollars worth drug caches being caught sourced from Mexico on this major US artery.

The plan was to start the journey at night. Since I was traveling alone, I did not want to get caught in the Kansas City downtown (hood) at the middle of the night, which would have been the case had I started travel during the day. The black neighborhoods (hoods) can be very unfriendly places after dark. Also, it was my first ever journey to that part of the world so I was cautious. I slept during the day or tried to, to make up for the future loss of sleep at night. Also, so that I am alert for the night. I put the necessary belongings in my car, locked my apartment. Went to the neighborhood Wal-mart, got some food for the journey, which included cans of Pepsi and chips. I always drink Pepsi or Coke while traveling because of high caffeine content which I thought would keep me awake during the course of the journey. It would be a long drive for 600 miles almost, to Iowa.

I was thinking of starting the tourney a little after midnight but it was almost 2 o’ clock when I started. My car Mazda MX-6 which was later dubbed as “the Red-submarine” by my fellow international students in Indiana University of Pennsylvania would be my lone companion for the night. I like driving so it is always a good feeling when I have the wheel of my car in my hands especially for a long drive such as to Iowa. It adds to the enjoyment when there are little or no cars on the road such as night when I was driving and one can theoretically push the pedal to the metal if one is smart enough to know when to do so (watching out for the police of course if over-speeding so as not to get a ticket). Fortunately, I had figured out a way to drive fast (above the speed limit) without coming under the radar. The trick is not to drive fast while you are approaching a major city say for example Kansas City or Philadelphia. Cops usually operate in a radius around major cities. In between major cities you can potentially ignore speed limits while being cautious enough. I have traveled around 40 thousand miles in the US while I was a student and I never got an over-speeding ticket, which is a testament to the trick. My speed record with my Mazda was around 120 miles per hour while I was traveling through West Virginia. Not a mind-blowing speed but I think, it’s a decent one. Enough about driving fast. A word of caution though, driving fast once in a blue moon is fine, but if anybody makes it a habit, it would be a deadly game. So, drive fast at your own peril. Have seen many people being victims of such a bravado, so not advocating breaking speed limits as a hobby, especially if you own a motorbike.

Eight minutes drive from my university to I-35 and I was on my way. It was a moon lit night and I could see the plains of Oklahoma on either side of the highway. The highway was not in the best of shapes north of Oklahoma City and in Kansas it was a little worse. Not many towns in Oklahoma on my way to Kansas’ border. First town I came across was Guthrie a historic town, once capital of Oklahoma, famous for an old Free Masonic temple. Another town I passed by was Ponca City, only known for a famous restaurant by the airport where food loving people from all over Oklahoma and beyond would fly just to eat there.

In Kansas, the terrain changed from plain plains to curvy plains. It was a very unique kind of terrain. Kansas it seemed was not a well populated area. Driving at night could not see virtually anybody on the road. Bats were the only animate objects that I could see and thousands of them flew when I passed through any underpass. In a moonlit night, the whole ambiance had a surreal feel to it. Adding to it were the road side lakes or swamps might be a better word to describe those lakes. The trees were drowned one third of there heights in the water and the branches did not have many leaves on them. The reflection of the moon in the lake and the shadow of the branches of the trees would remind of Scooby-Dooby Do show. Signs of deer area and drive slow were also posted on the road in some segments. I narrowly avoided a dead deer while driving, apparently a road kill by an earlier car. In short, the experience was surreal.

Seeing a McDonald restaurant off the highway, I decided to pull over and take a break from the driving. Had the many urgencies of anatomy like food and rest-room. Also, I thought it would be good to make a call to my parents and let them know where I was. Apparently, I had not informed them about my drive to Iowa. Nobody was there to receive the call, so I called my uncle in Saudi Arabia instead. Feasted on a fish sandwich and I was on the road again.

Wichita, Kansas was the only major city I passed through during the night with the lights in the horizon signaling the onset of this city. The only thing I knew about this city was the university known as Wichita State University where some of the students I had known had come from.

An hour after dawn break I could see the small highway turning from four lane to six and more with the early morning traffic increasing every minute. I was approaching the suburbs of Kansas City. Although Kansas City seemed big but imposing it was not. The thing I feared most that is getting lost in the cris-crossing of roads in this major city did not happen. Kansas City roads clearly marked the I-35 route which led me to Missouri. There was also some kind of ship museum in Kansas that I vaguely remember passing through.

Missouri seemed to be mainly grassy plains. The only thing that happened while I drove through Missouri that I remembered was the over-speeding incident. I had been driving around 10 miles above speed limit which was legal in the US, when a cops car coming from the opposite direction suspected I must have been over-speeding a bit more. I had spotted the car through my rear view mirror and could see it turning through the grass in the middle of the two roads on to mine heading northbound. I reduced the speed to exactly the speed limit while the police car followed me for a couple of miles somewhat hiding behind another car. After observing me for sometime the cop turned again to the southbound I-35 lane and the speed ticket (although I was not technically over-speeding because ten miles above speed limit in the unwritten rule is OK, although some people still get ticketed) seemed avoided. On my way I passed through Kearney in Missouri, for a brief moment I thought I might be passing through Nebraska, since one campus of the University of Nebraska was in Kearney, adding to the tally to the number of states I had visited in the US. But then I realized it was a city in Missouri. Iowa was not too far away now.

Entering into Iowa I could see the plains turning to little hilly kind of lush green area. The architecture in Iowa also seemed a bit different. It was a sunny day and the sun beamed through intermittent clouds. Plenty of cars on the road, seemed kind of a holiday atmosphere. After a few hours of driving I was in Des Moines, Iowa, the capital of Iowa. The city seemed like any big city but the city did not have a feel of crampiness like Kansas City. The highways seemed to have plenty of land to wind through the open expanse of the city. Ames was not far away where Iowa State was located. A lot of construction was going on, on the highway which considerably slowed my progress. I called my friend to tell him about my approach and he guided me through the city of Ames to Iowa State. The university was big as most US universities are, known for its prowess in computers and engineering fields. I was guided right to his apartment where my friend was waiting waiving to me. The long journey had come to an end, for now.

Click here for a short version, published in the Dawn Magazine: GLOBETROTTING: Highway to Iowa

Pakistan's Currency's Downward Spiral

Muhammad Saad Sarwar

Pakistani rupee has been spiralling downwards against the dollar in the past few weeks touching Rs. 65 to a dollar. This at a time when most currencies in the world, including those of the developing countries are showing a rise in value to the dollar. Some of this decline can be attributed to Pakistan’s swelling trade deficit along with the price hike of oil touching an all time level of $120 to a barrel. This trend is difficult to arrest unless concrete measures are taken to stop the import of exotic food items which the general populace can live without, such as foreign juices, cheese, chocolates etc. Also, the import of items of luxury which do not directly take part in the development of the country should be somewhat limited and kept to an appropriate level per year. Pakistan also very desperately needs to diversify its reserves into a basket of currencies which should include the rising Euro and the British Pound amongst other rising currencies such as the Thai Baht, Turkish Lira and Brazilian Real. Warren Buffet the world’s most famous investor has also been reported to have invested a substantial amount of money in rising currencies such as the Brazilian Real away from the traditional stocks. It is about time Pakistan took the diversification of reserves seriously and pegged the Pakistani rupee to a more stable euro than a vulnerable dollar.

When I Was Your Age: A Senior High School Student Gives Advice to His Junior

When I was your age I was tender, young, imaginative and naive. I thought the whole world revolved around me because of the love my parents had given me. I was the center of attention for all in my family. However, studying in school made me realize that it is learning on top of love that is offered in school that would polish my capabilities to the true extent. It is the qualities of head and heart that makes as a true human being worthy of respect for all. School made me learn how to interact with people, make friends and above all how to excel in life. I learned that in order to gain respect we have to respect all our friends, family and each and every member of our society no matter rich or poor even good or bad. Good because we can learn a lot from good people and respect for bad because maybe we can make a difference in these people lives by reforming them. Maybe God Almighty has given us these privileges to help all those less privileged in life. I learnt that it is not only learning but experience that only comes with time and ripes with age that is a requisite for success. Experiences tough or easy, good or bad prepare us for the life ahead, if only one is able to ponder and learn from it, one can make better choices in the future. Tough experiences early on make our life easy at the latter hurdles and learning again is the important part. It is through age that comes experience and through experience comes wisdom and wisdom is something invaluable. Had I known a few things at your age that I have learnt now through experiences, maybe I had made even better choices. But some things are rites of passage and so is age. One cannot go to the next step without the previous one. Hence, I have come to the conclusion that those things were important and so is learning at every step. Everything good or bad comes to us from Almighty for our own good and to make us even better. I am sure you will be a success in life and a much better person worthy of respect from all if you take learning from school and learning from experience as arrows in your quiver and love from your loved ones to guide you and shield you from troubles. Head and heart my dear tender friend.

Honesty and Hard Work: My Message to the Senior Batches of NBS

I think there are two important qualities that might seem disparate but in fact are interrelated that are a requisite in one’s persona. These are hard work and honesty. People who have a habit to work hard are generally more honest because they believe that its their hard work and the Will of God Almighty alone that is responsible for their success. However, people who lack this important quality and instead resort to cheating or other despicable means for earning success never end up succeeding. Hardworking people are also more ethical by default while cheating in any shape, form or manifestation is the worst quality to have. Therefore, we should stay as much away from it as possible and instead work hard, be honest and ethical, not for the sake of other people but our own. I wish you all tremendous success and the very best of this life and hereafter that is on the offer.