Forex reserves increase to USD16.311bn

KARACHI – Pakistan’s gross foreign exchange reserves rise by $207 million to $16.311 billion in the week ended on May 18, 2012 from $16.104 billion the last week, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported on Thursday.

Foreign exchange reserves controlled by SBP rise by $152 million to $11.936 billion throughout the week under review from $11.784 billion a week earlier, while those forex reserves controlled by commercial banks increased to $4.375 billion from $4.319 billion. Syed Wasimuddin, the SBP chief spokesman, said that the rise in forex reserves in due to the multilateral inflows and remittances. During the current month until May 18, 2012, acknowledgements from multilaterals totaled to $94 million. He highlighted that in the current fiscal year until May 18, 2012, Pakistan has made debt payments counting to $2.53 billion (inclusive of $809million to IMF) and other multifaceted payments of $1.52 billion, while acknowledgements from multilaterals and others came to $1.21 billion. Pakistan had paid the first installment under International Monetary Fund (IMF)/Standby Arrangement (SBA) facility of $399 million in the week ended on February 24, 2012, whereas the second installment under IMF/SBA facility amounting to $394 million has also been successfully paid at May 25, 2012

KESC offers investment bonds

KARACHI – The Karachi Electric Supply Company has offered finance certificate worth Rs. 2 billion to the general public which made KESC the second company to offer bonds after Engro Corporation.
Term Finance Certificates (TFC) is collective bonds issued by companies to bring forth short and medium-term funds. The officials said, “Investments received will be utilized for financing KESC’s permanent working capital requirements.” The bond issue was first expected in November 2010. The certificate is available in three maturities. Profit rate for the 13-month issue is 13.00% per year, 14.75% per year for the three-year issue and 15.50% per year for the five-year issue. The 13-month issue’s profit is collectable monthly while the other two issues will be collectable quarterly. Lower limit investment has been determined at Rs. 10,000 in order to grant for broad-based participation in the project. Engro Corporation raised Rs. 8 billion in two offers. They proposed just one period of three years for its bond with a profit rate of 14.5%. The minimum investment level was Rs25,000, more than double KESC’s offering. Subscription of KESC bonds to the public is available from May 25, 2012 until August 24, 2012.

WAPDA engineers saved Rs200 million

LAHORE – Water and Power Development Authority’s (WAPDA) Power Transformer Engineering Service Unit (PTESU) has accomplished a landmark by reusing a high voltage 515 kilovolt (KV) transformer in their workshop.

The saved transformer is now productively operating and providing electricity to the national grid. likewise building the in-house capacity, the renewal also preserved Rs. 200 million which is the price of a new transformer of same specifications. The said 515KV transformer was firstly set up at Barotha power complex where it originated a serious defect. The initial review of the salvage disclosed the burns and damage on tap wrapping, whereas the bordering parts were also struck due to the heat. As an outcome the transformer became dead. Since the required facilities for repairing and examining were not available at the Barotha power complex, it was moved to PTESU workshop in Lahore where the engineers and staff after studying the position, talking over its design, selecting the proper method of operation for repair, and improvising fixed the high voltage transformer. After the process the transformer had to pass sensitive stage of technical tests, judged by the team of Barotha power complex. The repaired transformer was moved back to Barotha and installed at the generating unit. As of yet, the transformer is operating optimally.

Commercial rocket sent to space

FLORIDA — A ship built by a billionaire businessman accelerated towards the International Space Station loaded up of groceries and other supplies Tuesday after an outstanding middle-night shot.

The set up of the Falcon 9 rocket and its remote-controlled Dragon capsule scored the first in a commercial spacecraft has been sent to the revolving outpost. Tracing a impassioned arc across the night sky, the rocket airlifted just before 4 a.m. and smoothly supercharged the capsule into orbit. The capsule is expected to assignation with the space station within days, bearing a half-ton of provisions for its six crew members. It is conceived just a test flight. in fact the capsule was bundled with only inessential items, in case something went calamitously wrong but if all goes well with this mission and others like it. “Falcon flew perfectly!!” billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, founder of the SpaceX Company, said via Twitter. He said, “Feels like a giant weight just came off my back, for us, it’s like winning the Super Bowl.”

The White House offered felicitations:

John Holdren, President Barack Obama’s chief science adviser, said, “Every launch into space is a thrilling event, but this one is especially exciting, This expanded role for the private sector will free up more of NASA’s resources to do what NASA does best — tackle the most demanding technological challenges in space, including those of human spaceflight beyond low-Earth orbit.”

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Pakistan to face severe water shortage

NATIONAL – Engr. Mumtaz Ahmed Khan, Chairman of Kalabagh dam movement said Pakistan is leading towards severe water shortfall as Indian government has decided to construct seven dams on rivers running into Pakistan for held Kashmir.

He said that Pakistan has the right to contradict Indian dam projects as well fighting Kishanganga project because its diversion will dilute more than 20 percent of the power production capacity of the 975 megawatts (MW) Neelum-Jhelum power project on the same river downstream Muzaffarabad in Azad Kashmir. Ha also said that Pakistan has sheer rights on these rivers, as it falls in Pakistan and under the Indus Water Treaty India is breaching the agreement. He said the government should raise voice on an international platform so that Indian government cannot breach the contract by building dams on the river flowing into Pakistan. He further said that the country is moving forward blindly and will have to face severe water deficit in the near future because of poor water management and storage capacity.
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LSE officials met students

LAHORE — Students of University of Central Punjab visited the Lahore Stock Exchange where they were given perceptiveness about practical aspects of the financial institutions by industry professionals which was part of the nationwide Campus Outreach Program founded by the LSE.

The platform is part of the Financial Literacy Initiative for promotion of financial skills and knowledge of common citizens, and to promote broader comprehension in the financial system. As part of the Program, instructive institutions are joining hand with LSE to take part in series of sessions on financial literacy. The purpose of visit was to permit the students to move with several financial industry practitioners in a stock exchange setting and get an opportunity to inspect different financial institutions all at one location. The jury of professionals included Mr. Zafar Iqbal from Central Depository Company (CDC) and Mr. Waqas Ahmad Khan Senior Manager, from Askari Investment Management along with LSE officials. Mr. Zafar Iqbal instructed the students on the need for setting up CDC and various facilities being offered by CDC not only to add efficiency but also for increased transparency & investors trust. Mr. Waqas Ahmad Khan also dealt the students and communicated them about local mutual funds industry and products being offered. He informed the students that mutual funds could be an effective approach for people to begin investments offering risk diversification and good returns through professional fund management. Mr. Nadeem Asghar, Head of Investors Relation-LSE also conveyed words to the students about various investment opportunities and market dynamics.

Doctors must differentiate in healing and curing

ISLAMABAD — Dr. Nadir Ali Syed, an eminent Consultant Neurologist and previous Head of Neurology Department at Agha Khan University Hospital, Karachi has appealed the young doctors to differentiate between healing and curing.
He added that curing is to handle a disorder in the body but healing the disease conducts the patient to live a full life. We need to think of the patient as the ultimate focal point of all our efforts. He was speaking to the participants of 6th annual neurology research day coordinated at Shifa International Hospital (SIH) on Monday. A large number of doctors, postgraduate residents of neurology departments from different hospitals of the twin cities and senior consultants accompanied the event. The aim of carrying annual research day was to encourage neurological research in the country. Head Neurology Department SIH Dr. Arsalan Ahmad and Consultant Neurologist Dr. Maimoona Siddiqui organized the event.

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Pakistan shortly bans Twitter

NATIONAL – Pakistan banned access to Twitter on Sunday because of “blasphemous” material but normal service was resumed after 12 hours.

The government did not define which users or messages had motivated the ban on the micro-blogging site or why it was permitted to access again so promptly. Any representation of the Prophet Mohammad (S.A.W.) is viewed as un-Islamic and blasphemous by many Muslims, who make up the overwhelming bulk in Pakistan. Pakistan blocked access to Facebook in May 2010 for nearly two weeks because of users conducting a competition on drawing Mohammad. Twitter, YouTube and about 1,000 other websites were also stopped for carrying blasphemous content. The Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan said its members had been asked to block Twitter indefinitely, but no reason was provided by the government. Interior Minister Rehman Malik, an regular Twitter user, said on the website Sunday night that he had interfered and demanded the prime minister to order an end to the ban.

How much the currency rate is important?

A currency exchange rate can be considered as the value of one country’s currency in terms of another currency. The monetary values of various currencies are decided by the foreign exchange market. Foreign exchange market is a financial market for merchandizing currencies. With the help of foreign currency rate countries assist international trade and investment among various international buyers and sellers. These services are rendered by the foreign exchange market. A wide range of factors affect the international forex rates. These factors include change in prices, national and international trade, capital movements, speculations, economic strength, government policies, stock exchange operations, political factors, etc. Moreover, even the value of currency of a country keeps varying which also results in the variation of foreign exchange rates.

1 of 3 people worldwide has high BP

GLOBAL – The United Nations data represents that globally one in three adults has high Blood Pressure (hypertension) and this condition affects about half of adult population in Africa.
 
The released health data gives clear evidence of the increase in chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease from developed nations to poorer regions such as Africa, as lifestyles and diets changes there. World Health Organization (WHO) said in an annual report on global health that ten percent of adults worldwide have diabetes which costs them billion of dollars and puts them on the verge of severe diseases such as heart disease, kidney failure and blindness.

Most deaths occur in middle income countries.  The inveterate diseases like diabetes, heart disease and cancer are often believed of as maladies which chiefly affect people in moneyed nations, where high fat diets, alcohol consumption and smoking are major health risks but the WHO said nearly 80% of deaths from such diseases now occur in low- and middle-income countries. WHO’s director general Margaret Chan said, “This report is further evidence of the dramatic increase in the conditions that trigger heart disease and other chronic illnesses, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, in some African countries, as much as half the adult population has high blood pressure.”

USAID project to create 1.3m jobs

KARACHI — Andrew Sisson Mission Director USAID (United States Agency for International Development) has stated that various agribusiness projects will create 1.3 million jobs.
 
The projects will be funded by the American people and enforced by the Agribusiness Support Fund (ASF). Andres Sisson signed a memorandum of understanding with Sindh Enterprise Development Fund (SEDF) on behalf of USAID’s ASF to assure the cooperation in the fields of agriculture & agribusiness with the due concentration on small and medium size enterprises. He noted that though 21% GDP, 44% labour force & 70% of Pakistan’s exchange profits was associated with agriculture. He stressed the need to adopt new agricultural techniques and technological conception. He also informed that USAID has just signed an agreement with HEC to set up three centers in three universities for agriculture, water and energy studies (these universities would be linked with American universities so that they could share knowledge).

Cement price descends by Rs 10-12 per bag

ISLAMABAD — The price of cement in the country descended by Rs. 10-12 per bag to Rs. 418-420 per bag because of the decline in construction activities of throughout the country.
 
Zaheer Ahmad, Stock analyst, said that the price decline was due to sluggish construction activities as most of the labor was hired for harvesting wheat. He further said that the cement is available in surplus amount at the industries and the industrialists want to cash them soon. He depicted that the decrease in cement prices is for a short period and it will again boost up to Rs. 430-432 per bag. He said as the government will increase budget allocation in public sector which will give rise to the construction activities. The exports to India are expected to rise because of the removal of non-tariff barriers (NTBs) between the two countries.

FCCI serves disabled persons

FAISALABAD — Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) has distributed 50 tricycles among jobless disabled persons with the help of Libard and Turk International Cooperation Agency (TICA).
 
Muzammal Sulta, President Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) addressed the tri-cycle distribution ceremony and said that FCCI is playing a key role in the progressing the business activities in the country by enabling the young and talented with their required resources and facilities. He said the tricycle distribution will help those jobless disabled persons to live a productive life in the society who finds it difficult to travel in town. Muhammad Naeem Anwar Chief Coordinator Libard, Rehan Naseem Bharara FCCI Vice President and Shahid Pervaiz Sheikh Chairman social welfare committee Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) also share their views on the occasion.

One million Americans to go bankrupt

GLOBAL – The National Bureau of Economic Research has reported that anywhere from 200,000 to 1 million Americans are “too poor” to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

 

Filing bankruptcy will allow millions of Americans to write off their debts and live a debt free life. This debt protection will cost more than $1500 to the individual that’s why Americans are waiting for the refundable amount of tax before filing for bankruptcy. The National Bureau of Economic Research conducted the study in collaboration of Columbia University, the University of Chicago and Washington University in St. Louis who found that nearly 200,000 people would not have the money required to file if they didn’t use a tax refund specifically for filing bankruptcy. The study revealed that the documentation costs for this purpose is only $300 but the remaining $1200 goes to the law firms who represent their clients.

Attempt of smuggling foreign currency foiled

RAWALPINDI – The Airport Security Force (ASF) at Benazir Bhutto International Airport on Thursday grabbed a passenger for attempting to smuggle huge amount of foreign currency equivalent to over Rs162.5 million
 
Jamshaid Alam, an expat settled in Dubai, was handed over to the Customs Department after the foreign currency was retrieved from his belongings during security check-in. Arbab Qaisir, Deputy Collector Customs Investigation Wing, said, “The scope of investigation has been expanded after getting the mobile phone data of the passenger who had been a frequent traveler.” He further said, “We will interrogate on different lines to assure whether the amount is being smuggled out of the country for financial backing of the terror groups or it is a money laundering case.” He said the scanning machine indicated the currency covered in a plastic sheet when the passenger reached the ASF security check-in and placed his belongings in the scanning machine.

Details of the foreign currency

After the indication of scanning machine the customs officer took the luggage into hands and recovered 5.4 million Saudi riyals, 667,520 UAE dirham, 61,645 Qatari riyals, 28,940 British pounds, 3,465 euros, 75,650 Kuwait dinars, 7,140 Omani riyals, 2,300 French francs, 11,984 US dollars, 327 Bahraini dinars and 965 Canadian dollars. Arbab Qaisir is on the mission to reach the real culprit as he said, “We will try to trace the real owner of the currency”.

Mobile subscriptions on the rise

NATIONAL – The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has revealed that mobile subscribers in Pakistan have reached 118.3 Million as at March 31, 2012.

 

PTA has been updating its database regularly for the past few months and found an increase of one million subscribers in three quarters of the current financial year. The general teledensity continues to be driven by the cellular teledensity. As of March 2012, total teledensity reached 71.6 percent, as the cellular mobile teledensity stood up to 68.2 percent. The teledensities in fixed and wireless local loop remained steady, at 1.8 and 1.6 percent, respectively. According to estimates, the mobile industry is imparting over three million subscribers every month of which ten to fifteen percent are first time users.

However, due to the developments like multiple-sim and mobile number portability, the active customers are believed to be somewhere between 70-80 percent of total subscriptions.

Urdu should be regarded as National language

ISLAMABAD — Former Naval chief Iftikhar Ahmad Serohi and other Scholars at Shura Hamdard asked the government to apply Urdu as a National Language.

 

Iftikhar Ahmad and his companions said that Urdu should be applied and accepted formally as our National Language because the Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah has referred Urdu as National Language of Pakistan but regrettably the people who follow English don’t want Urdu as National Language.  They said the backwardness of the nation is the because of ignoring Urdu as our National language. The impotance of National language and its role in the development of the country was discussed at the monthly Ijlas of Shura Hamdard which was commanded by President Hamdard Foundation and Shura Hamdard Sadia Rashid.

Nation should be prepared for load shedding

ISLAMABAD – Nation should be prepared for the upcoming intense load shedding as the government notified the increase in power shortfall.

 

Syed Naveed Qamar, Federal Minister for water and power, said Pakistani nation is bearing load shedding because of the 6,000 megawatt shortfall but they should be prepared for further load shedding as the shortfall is about to increase in the near future with the increase in demand. He said the shortfall is because of the gap in demand and supply of electricity. At the second day of meeting with China-Pak Joint Energy Working Group, he said that the government is devoted to settle the prevalent energy crises with the co-operation if it’s supporting countries especially China.  He said apart from the challenges Pakistan is facing in energy sector, Chinese investors can avail a lot of investment opportunities to take benefit from.

Tattoo that can keep an eye on your Sugar level

GLOBAL – A nano-particle ink tattoo that can keep an eye on your sugar levels without taking pain of pinching for blood samples and testing on a paper strip.
These nano-particles are injected into the skin in form of a tattoo which can observe glucose levels.  The tattoo will change the color either yellow or orange.  The more dark color represents the lower sugar level. The colors that are used in the diabetic tattoo are glucose sensible that can monitor by sugar level by glowing the color light or dark if it can be viewed closely through infrared light. It is one of the easy ways for diabetic patients to monitor and control their sugar level in an effective way.

Pakistan Air Force to shoot down drones

PESHAWAR – A Pakistan-based legal charity has attempted court to sought injunctions for the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) to shoot down American drones flying in the territory of Pakistan.
 
Foundation for Fundamental Rights (FFR) has registered two petitions in front of the Peshawar High Court on behalf of victims of the drone strike carried out on March 17 2011. The petitions mentioned the federation of Pakistan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Defense among others as its responders. One of the suitors is Noor Khan, the surviving son of Malik Daud Khan, who was the head of a North Waziristan Jirga and was killed along with 50 other tribal seniors and luminaries by CIA operated drones last year. A US drone fired missiles on March 17, 2011 which brutally killed 50 people including Malik Daud Khan, five members of the Khasadar force, and a young boy.
The suitors are seeking court orders asking the federal government to highlight the issue before the United Nations Security Council, International Court of Justice and UNHRC. They also stated that the central government should order the Pakistan Air Force to shoot down drones flying inside Pakistani territory to ensure the security of its citizens.

Exhibition of youngest photographer

KARACHI: Daniyal Ali Azfar, a two years old Pakistani child has displayed his photography collection titled, title “The World As I See It”, on 5th May 2012 at Fine Arts Pakistan Gallery, Karachi.

Dr. Ishrat Hussain, former governor State Bank and Dean of IBA, inaugurated the exhibition ceremony of the young photographer in Karachi. The God-gifted child prodigy was born on May 7, 2010 and soon taking snaps when he managed to hold a camera in his tiny hands. His works are omen of the setting new standards in world records. Daniyal became Pakistan’s youngest photographer at the age of 1 year and 364 days. The work of Danial Ali Azfer is also being sent to Guinness Book of World Records to register the record. By breaking the world record, Daniyal will surely make the country proud, just as Arfa Karim and Babar Iqbal made Pakistan’s name prominent in the world by setting records in the  IT industry.

Iran condemns Google for naming the Persian Gulf

IRAN- Iran has assaulted Google for leaving the body of water unnamed in Google maps that separates the country from Arabian land
As in the past the body of water was referred as Persian Gulf. However there was a conflict between Iran and Arab nations on this name. The Arabian nations wanted to name it Arabian Gulf. Because of the conflict the Google Inc. left the body of water nameless but it was highly criticized by Iranian authorities. According to an Iranian News Agency, Fars news agency, the Persian Gulf has been recognized as an integral part of Iran’s national identity. Furthermore, an Iranian official criticized Google for the misrepresentation of the area in maps. He said Google may lose its fame and trust in the middle east for providing misleading information. Bahman Dorri, Deputy Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, told the Islamic republic news agency, “Google fabricating lies… will not have any outcome but for its users to lose trust in the data the company provides. Documents in the UN and the UNESCO show the name of this body of water has always been ‘Persian Gulf’ since a long time ago.”

Chaudhary among 100 influential people

GLOBAL – As per Times magazine, the Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Ahmad Chaudhary is one of the hundred influential people of the world. 
The judiciary which is mostly used as the weapon to cover up the illegal deeds of the ruling class in most of the under developed countries is not performing the same in the Pakistan. The Chief Justice has played well in giving the due respect and honor to the judiciary. He has suffered detention of about six months along with his family in Musharraf’s rule. The countrywide movement of lawyers an judges made Zardari to reinstate him in the same position of Chief Justice. His brave stance can also be witnessed in the Prime Minister Contempt case when the Prime Minister was standing as a culprit in front of the Chief Justice.

Textile Industry to meet exports shortfall

LAHORE – Mohsin Aziz, chairman of the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) said that the textile industry is strong enough to meet the export shortfalls.

He said that the industry has borne a loss of $1 Billion in the first 3 quarters of the current financial year comparable to the same quarters of the preceding financial year. He blamed the energy crisis and financial barriers for the loss industry suffered. The same has reflected in the export of the textile industry which fell by 10 percent in monetary terms while 30 percent in terms of quantity. he said if the energy crisis were not there then the industry would have crossed the exports more than $12 Billion which is currently $9 Billion. He said the industry has potential to reach the previous year’s benchmark as well as the flung more higher than this if and only if they are being provided with uninterrupted energy supply, both electricity and gas.

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Indian Railways to equip the trains with internet

INDIA – Indian railway will provide its passengers with the uninterrupted facility to use internet during their travelling adventure.

The travelers who wanted to use internet during their travelling at train but could not avail the facility in train because of the poor connectivity of their network providers will now use the internet facility on board hosted by the Indian Railways. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has permitter the Indian Railways to use the KU band frequency and link its satellite to provide Internet. The said service has been announced two years back but its way delayed because of the permission from ISRO. The travelers can use the internet in the train by dialing a specific number that can be granted by the TT after that the user will be provided with to password to connect to the internet world. for further news . click here