Daily Times: Cheaters And Plagiarizers

So I posted a story from the Daily Times earlier today for its fairly strange and incomprehensible headline, "Pakistan a ticking time bomb or does it just have any problem?" At first I thought it was funny, which is why I posted it. AKS, however, has alerted us to the fact that the article has been directly lifted from a Forbes magazine story. What's worse is that they've done a terrible job of it, making the headline and some of the story slightly nonsensical. Here's the Daily Times story (dated January 29th) in full:

Pakistan a ticking bomb or does it just have any problem?

Daily Times Monitor

Western investors that have poured billions into Pakistan must be wondering: Is the country a ticking bomb or does it just have any problem.

Pakistan is not only a foreign policy imbroglio for the US, particularly, but also a potential investment agony for Americans if the tumult following Benazir Bhutto’s assassination deteriorates into a decidedly anti-Western and anti commercial rabble.

President Pervez Musharraf’s policies may not be doing much to promote political stability and democracy, but they’ve been pushing growth and investment. “Pakistan has had economic stability for the last seven years,” says Reza Rahim, head of JPMorgan Chase in Karachi. Investment from abroad almost doubled in the year ending June 30. GDP was racing ahead 7% a year, and the stock market has surged 900% since 2000.

But since political opponents of Musharraf took to the streets in March to protest the suspension of the country’s top judge, most arrows have been pointing down. Foreign inflows into the stock market plunged by 88% from July through November last year, the Pakistani central bank said, just as suicide bombings emerged and the political rhetoric got inflamed. Standard & Poor’s put the country on credit watch late last month If further privatizations stall, that will discourage the multinational banks.

But it’s not so easy to pull out of a power plant or move a factory. American companies have poured more than $1 billion into Pakistan and contribute 8% to the country’s exchequer, according to the US Department of Commerce. Pfizer, Abbott, Wyeth and Merck all have plants in Pakistan. These are some of Pakistan’s earliest investors; some have been in the country for decades and have subsidiaries listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange. So does Colgate-Palmolive, which makes and sells toothpaste and detergent with a Pakistani partner. Philip Morris bought out its joint venture partner last year. AIG underwrites property and auto insurance policies there. Coca-Cola bottles and distributes soft drinks through a wholly owned subsidiary.

AES, the Arlington, Virginia power company, has two power plants in Pakistan where increased production was largely responsible for a 23% boost in Asia revenues in the third quarter. The company, one of the largest US investors in the country, says Pakistan is “one of our greatest success stories” and is in discussion to build another coal-burning plant there.

The instability in Pakistan might dent plans of a few other U.S. companies, even the ones that don’t own many Pakistani-based assets. General Electric (GE), for example, sold more than 500 gas turbine generators in the country, but GE does not maintain much of a presence on the ground there. Kentucky Fried Chicken and Caterpillar also sell from a distance, franchising or distributing products through local partners.

But for the heartiest investors, eventual domestic peace could reopen opportunities in a market of 165 million customers. And if Western companies refrain from investing, Chinese and Middle Eastern companies will. They have already bought most of Pakistan’s telecom assets.

Rahim insists things are not as bad as they look overseas. “The extremists are coming in from Afghanistan, far away from the urban centers where most businesses are located.”

“There are no tanks on the streets here in Karachi. But the government is not organized enough to go out and portray the softer side of Pakistan.”, he added.

And here's the Forbes story (dated January 28th) in full:

Caught in the Crossfire
Deborah Orr 01.28.08

Western investors that have poured billions into Pakistan must be wondering: Is the country a ticking bomb or does it just have a p.r. problem?

Pakistan is not only a foreign policy imbroglio for the U.S., particularly, but also a potential investment agony for Americans if the tumult following Benazir Bhutto's assassination deteriorates into a decidedly anti-Western and anticommercial rabble.

President Pervez Musharraf's policies may not be doing much to promote political stability and democracy, but they've been pushing growth and investment. "Pakistan has had economic stability for the last seven years," says Reza Rahim, a member of one of the country's family business dynasties and head of JPMorgan Chase in Karachi, which has helped the government privatize telecom and oil assets. Investment from abroad almost doubled in the year ending June 30. GDP was racing ahead 7% a year, and the stock market has surged 900% since 2000.

But since political opponents of Musharraf took to the streets in March to protest the suspension of the country's top judge, most arrows have been pointing down. Foreign inflows into the stock market plunged by 88% from July through November last year, the Pakistani central bank said, just as suicide bombings emerged and the political rhetoric got inflamed. Standard & Poor's put the country on credit watch late last month.

But it's not so easy to pull out of a power plant or move a factory. American companies have poured more than $1 billion into Pakistan and contribute 8% to the country's exchequer, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Pfizer (nyse: PFE - news - people ), Abbott, Wyeth and Merck (nyse: MRK - news - people ) all have plants in Pakistan. These are some of Pakistan's earliest investors; some have been in the country for decades and have subsidiaries listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange. So does Colgate-Palmolive (nyse: CL - news - people ), which makes and sells toothpaste and detergent with a Pakistani partner. Philip Morris bought out its joint venture partner last year. AIG underwrites property and auto insurance policies there. Coca-Cola (nyse: KO - news - people ) bottles and distributes soft drinks through a wholly owned subsidiary.

AES, the Arlington, Virginia power company, has two power plants in Pakistan where increased production was largely responsible for a 23% boost in Asia revenues in the third quarter. The company, one of the largest U.S. investors in the country, says Pakistan is "one of our greatest success stories" and is in discussion to build another coal-burning plant there.

The instability in Pakistan might dent plans of a few other U.S. companies, even the ones that don't own many Pakistani-based assets. General Electric (nyse: GE - news - people ), for example, sold more than 500 gas turbine generators in the country, but ge doesn't maintain much of a presence on the ground there. Kentucky Fried Chicken and Caterpillar (nyse: CAT - news - people ) also sell from a distance, franchising or distributing products through local partners.

If further privatizations stall, that'll discourage the multinational banks.

But for the heartiest investors, eventual domestic peace could reopen opportunities in a market of 165 million customers. And if Western companies don't invest, Chinese and Middle Eastern companies will. They have already bought most of Pakistan's telecom assets--mobile subscribers jumped 79% in the year ending last June--while U.S. firms, for example, took a pass.

Rahim insists things aren't as bad as they look overseas. "The extremists are coming in from Afghanistan, far away from the urban centers where most businesses are located," says Rahim. "There are no tanks on the streets here in Karachi. But the government is not organized enough to go out and portray the softer side of Pakistan."

This is not the first time someone on this blog has caught the Daily Times cheating. Three years ago, at the conclusion of Pakistan's cricket tour of the West Indies, one Mr. Muhammad Ali "wrote" an article titled "Beyond the Boundary: Pakistan conclude West Indies tour on pleasing note". The article was published on June 9, 2005. Here's the fourth paragraph of that article:

The second Test at Kingston gave Pakistan a comprehensive 136-run victory. Inzamam and his charges were at their best and walked all over their opponents. Inzamam and Younis hit centuries to help Pakistan post healthy totals in both innings while Danish Kaneria and Shabbir Ahmad ran through the top order in the second innings to draw the series 1-1. This was Inzamam’s 22nd Test century, and it is worth noting that 17 of these centuries have resulted in Pakistan wins. To take it one step further – two more of his centuries have resulted in draws. When Inzamam scores, and scores big, Pakistan just don’t lose. Pakistan were also lucky as the West Indies’ star batsman Lara, who played a dazzling knock of 153 in the first innings, did not click in the second.

Unfortunately for Mr. Muhammad Ali, I happened to read Anand Vasu's piece on Cricinfo, published two days earlier, on June 7th. Here's the third paragraph from that article:

But from that moment on, Inzamam blunted the West Indian attack. Slowly but surely he began to pile on the runs, unfurling the big shots often enough, even under pressure, to pick up 14 boundaries in an unbeaten innings of 117. This was Inzamam's 22nd Test century, and it is worth noting that 17 of these centuries have resulted in Pakistan wins. To take it one step further - two more of his centuries have resulted in draws. When Inzamam scores, and scores big, Pakistan just don't lose.

Since I don't read the Daily Times cover to cover, every day, I can only guess how many times they've cheated other writers out of their intellectual property. They deserve to be condemned in the strongest possible terms, and I (we) hope to see some action by their editorial staff.