Sunday, January 9, 2011
Friday, August 27, 2010
NAB accuses corruption cases against five bureaucrats
ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau announced on Friday that it will file corruption cases against five bureaucrats, according to a DawnNews report.
The bureau, led by it acting chairman Irfan Nadeem also took the decision of not pursuing any action against politicians.
The bureaucrats included in the list are Mirza Abid Hussain Baig (former bureaucrat), Muhammad Afzal Gujjar (former DIG police), Irfan Elahi Johri (Services Cooperative Credit Corporation), Karim Baryali (Cooperative Housing Society) and Nawaz Ahmed (contractor).
Mirza Beg, an ex-secretary Punjab Workers Welfare Board and Saeed Zafar, ex-deputy secretary Labour and Man Power Department have been accused of misappropriating rupees 17.63 million from the funds of Punjab Workers Welfare Board, Lahore.
While Muhammad Afzal Gujjar, Ex-DIG police has been accused of making assets beyond his known sources of income and he also could not explain expenditures worth over 8.5 million and bank transactions amounting to over 6.5 million rupees.
The third reference is against Irfan Elahi Johri, Vice-Chairman of Service Cooperative Credit Corporation Limited and Imtiaz Elahi Johri, who had allegedly misused his authority to cause undue benefit to extend draft facility of rupees 10.63 million.
References were also filed against Abdul Karim Baryalai and others involved in illegal allotments and transfer of plots by the administration of the cooperative housing society.
The fifth corruption reference was filed against Nawaz Ahmad who has been allegedly involved in use of substandard material in installation of 20 Windmills at Pishin district of Balochistan.
The fifth corruption reference was filed against Nawaz Ahmad who has been allegedly involved in use of substandard material in installation of 20 Windmills at Pishin district of Balochistan.
Our Funny Money
The curse of price inflation haunts us. There seems to be no respite for the common man. Everything is becoming more and [...]
Time and Money Running Out for Pakistan
You wouldn't want to be the President of Pakistan: Even as the military finds itself embroiled in a war against militants that much of the country's elected leadership (and even more of the electorate) opposes, it's hard even to keep the lights on as the limits of the country's electricity supply mean daily blackouts in major cities. The economy, meanwhile, is in a perilous state, with inflation running rampant, the currency having lost a third of its value, and foreign currency reserves reduced to the point that they can finance no more than six weeks of imports. Pakistan, in fact, is in danger of defaulting on its substantial foreign debt if it can't get help either from its friends or from the IMF — and the price of such help will be politically unpopular: a stepped up effort against the Taliban and, perhaps, some tough domestic economic reforms.
No wonder, then, that the forthcoming U.S. National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Pakistan reportedly makes "bleak" reading. The NIE represents the consensus of the 16 U.S. intelligence agencies, and according to a McClatchy newspapers report, an official familiar with the contents of the document that will brief the next President says it warns that Pakistan has "no money, no energy, no government". Washington's primary concern remains al-Qaeda, which John Kringen, the CIA's director for intelligence, recently described as being "resurgent" and "well-settled" in Pakistan's tribal areas. But the presence of Bin Laden's group is enabled by an indigenous militant insurgency — the Pakistan Taliban — and Pakistani leaders remain divided over how to respond to this challenge.
President Asif Ali Zardari and his seven month-old civilian government have given priority to combating militancy, and having abandoned failed negotiations with the Pakistan Taliban, the army is currently fighting militants in the notorious arms manufacturing town of Darra Adam Khel, the scenic Swat Valley, and most visibly in the Bajaur tribal area. Although the U.S. NIE reportedly criticizes the Pakistan army for a "reluctance" to launch an all-out confrontation with the militants, military spokesmen point out that the Pakistan army has lost over 1,500 troops since it began confronting militants on its own soil. And they see the tide turning in their favor in the ten-week-old military operation in Bajaur, where they say the Taliban last week offered negotiations — a sign, say government officials, that the militants' resolve is weakening. "It was the first time that the government rejected an offer of peace," says Mehmood Shah, a former chief secretary for Pakistan's tribal areas.
Pakistani officials are also encouraged by the emergence of tribal militias who have turned on the Taliban. "We cleared them out of our area in a week," says Akhunzada Chettan, a lawmaker from a part of Bajaur, and there have been similar successes in Dir and, reportedly, Lakki Marwat. These developments are significant, officials say, because in the past the tribes had feared that the army would fail to protect them.
Although the current offensive in Bajaur and other areas has been applauded by Washington, Prime Minister Asif Zardari is having a harder time convincing his own people of the wisdom of waging war on the militants. While some had hoped that last month's horrific terror attack on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad would rally the nation to fight militancy, instead divisions have only deepened. Recent opinion polls still find a majority of Pakistanis opposed to their government's support for Washington's "war on terror" — despite their anger at the recent wave of suicide bombings, these Pakistanis believe the attacks are a consequence of Pakistan waging "America's war".
Zardari had hoped that holding a parliamentary debate on how to respond to militancy would help make the campaign "Pakistan's war" and give the military political support for its actions. But after more than two weeks of behind-closed-doors deliberations, parliament unanimously adopted a resolution urging a resumption of dialogue with the militants, and an end to military operations "as early as possible". Although the parliamentary debate reflected the power plays of a political culture in which parties rarely put the national interest above their own, it also reveals a profound difference in perspective even within the ruling coalition — Zardari's allies in the religious Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party demanded an end to military operations against the militants.
"The military wants political back up, and the government is supporting them, but I do not expect all the parties to unite," says military analyst Hasan Askari-Rizvi. "The political leaders seem too interested in settling scores against each other."
The absence of a consensus on fighting the militants compounds Zardari's difficulties in tackling the economic crisis he inherited — a crisis that, in turn, threatens to deepen the militant challenge. Rising world oil and food prices have sent the inflation rate soaring to 25% (and as much as four times that on basic foodstuffs), while the political uncertainty over the past 18 months fueled extensive capital flight that has weakened the rupee and depleted forex reserves. A failure to increase the capacity of electricity production now plunges Pakistan's main cities into darkness for up to ten hours a day, with longer periods in rural areas. Industrial output has shrunk with employers now laying off employees they can no longer afford to keep. And Pakistanis have begun to take their anger to the streets. In parts of Lahore on Monday, scores of protesters laid siege to the local office of the electricity utility, ransacking the building and burning their electricity bills. The mounting economic crisis is likely to fuel social unrest — "The general mood is one of despair," says Yousuf Nazar, a leading economic commentator. And despair and anger among Pakistan's poor are likely to swell the ranks of the militants.
The bleak economic situation has prompted Pakistan to desperately seek aid from such long-term allies as Saudi Arabia, Britain, the U.S. and China. Despite Zardari flying to those countries in recent weeks to make his case, he has yet to secure the loans needed to avoid a default on Pakistan's debt. Pakistani officials insist that they have no intention of defaulting, and the Pakistani rupee rose this week amid signs that the International Monetary Fund might step in to rescue this frontline state in the war on terror. The IMF confirmed Wednesday that it would soon enter discussions with Pakistan over ways to assist its economy. But help from the international community will almost surely be conditional on a more robust effort against the militants — an option that raises political problems for Zardari — and also on economic reforms that might prove unpopular. There are clear and challenging downsides to any of the choices available to Pakistan's leadership right now. And playing for time may not be an option in the face of that dwindling pile of foreign exchange reserves.
SBP in Oblivion over K2’s Name
Seems like every Pakistani child knows that its Karakoram Range and K-2 peak, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) doubtful though. On top of it, proof reading culture is not very popular in Pakistan. In the latest release of Rs 50 note the K2 peak has been written as the ‘Karakoram Peak’.
Earlier this month, SBP launched newer note of Rs. 50 and re-launched note of Rs. 5. The notes were approved by federal cabinet (I’m forgetting if this is the graduate cabinet or there are exceptions included?). A thorough briefing on security features embedded in notes was given by Dr. Shamshad Akhtar as well. The back side of Rs. 50 note displays a beautiful view of World’s second tallest peak and the all-famous K-2, situated in the Karakoram range. A sales executive in Peshawar raised the point and a very valid one. As The News report:
SBP should clarify the situation. Its efforts to promote Pakistan’s landmarks such as the K2 peak on its currency notes are praiseworthy, but it should be careful not to distort facts.Either its just an innocent mistake or we really do need to straighten out some facts here.
Pakistan Currency Notes & Coins
Thus from 14 August 1947 to 31 March 1948 the currency notes and coins issued by the Reserve Bank of India and Government of India were used. On 1 April 1948 the currency notes were inscribed with “"Government of Pakistan" both in Urdu and English, and placed into circulation under the responsibility of the Government of Pakistan. So, following a seven-month period where notes of the Reserve Bank of India and the Government of India continued to circulate in Pakistan, modified notes of the Reserve Bank of India in the denominations of 2, 5, 10 and 100 rupees were introduced as planned, along with modified 1-rupee notes of the Government of India. The Indian currency consisted of two inscriptions on the front of the notes: at the top of the white area reserved for viewing the watermark the words "GOVERNMENT OF PAKISTAN" were inscribed in English, while at the bottom of the white area the Urdu rendition of the same phrase appears, i.e. "Hakoomat-e-Pakistan". For these inscriptions, the printing plates were modified, instead of overprints to avoid forgery.
In the meantime, the Pakistan government tasked its Finance Ministry to set up the country's own state bank by 1 July 1948. Despite the scarcity of staff, since most of the non-Muslims workers had left for India and resources, the Pakistani staff took upon themselves it as a challenge to set up the state bank three months in advance of the dead date of September 1948. The government issued the "State Bank of Pakistan Order, 1948" on 12 May 1948 under the authority vested in the Governor General of Pakistan by the provisions of Section 9 of the Indian Independence Act, 1947. Once the State Bank had been established, the efforts intensified to issue Pakistan's own currency much before the given date.
The initial set of bank notes, in the denominations of 5, 10 and 100 rupees, was prepared by Thomas De La Rue & Company of Great Britain. The 5-rupee note was deep blue, the 10-rupee in red, and the 100-rupee note was in rich green colour. Until 1952 the notes produced for Pakistan had come from a variety of sources. The inscribed notes of the Reserve Bank of India, which were printed at the Government of India’s Security Printing Press at Nasik. The first issue of Rs. 5, 10 and 100-rupee notes was produced by Thomas De La Rue and Company in Great Britain, while the Re. 1 and Rs. 2 notes were produced in Great Britain by Bradbury Wilkinson and Company.
After settling down with the issue of the requisite currency, the next step was the setting up of the first Security Printing Press under the Pakistan Security Printing Corporation at Karachi. The press was owned partially by the British security printing company Thomas De La Rue & Co. Ltd. (40%) and partially by the Government of Pakistan (60%). The paid up capital for the Corporation was 7.5 million rupees. The foundation stone for the new printing works was laid in Karachi by the Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the Governor General of Pakistan, on 11 March 1949.
Till 1960, when Pakistan adopted the metric system, one Pakistani rupee had 16 ana and each ana having 4 paisa, i.e. one rupee having 64 paisas. And as for the coins, there were coins of one, two paisa, one ana, two ana, 4 ana, 8 ana and one rupia (rupee). Thus, one ana was the basic coin.
Then in 1960, the country switched to metric system and now one Pakistani rupee had 100 paisa. TAhe coins were of one, two, five, 10, 25, 50 paisa. Later a coin of one rupee was also added. Currency notes of 1,2,5,10,50,100 and 500 have been in use for quite sometime now.
The present currency notes in circulation are of Rs.5, 10, 20, 50,100, 500, 1000 and 5000 denominations. Lately, owing to the diminishing value of the sub divisions of one rupee, not only the currency notes of one, two and five have been replaced with coins, but also all coins of lower than one rupee have ceased to be of any value and are not in circulation anymore.
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