CLICK HERE FOR THOUSANDS OF FREE BLOGGER TEMPLATES »

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Action to be taken against milk sellers on overcharging: Nazim

4-2-2008_42436_l

KARACHI: City Nazim, Syed Mustafa Kamal Wednesday said strict action will be taken against the retailers and wholesalers selling milk at rates other than fixed by the government.
The Nazim directed the officers of City District Government Karachi’s Revenue Department to take action against those selling milk at higher than specified rates so that profiteers be discouraged, a CDGK statement said here.
He appealed to the people not to buy milk at higher rates and lodge complaints in this regard on phone number 1339 or their respective Town Administration, or DDO Revenue of the area.
Meanwhile, raids were undertaken in different areas of the city under the supervision of Additional EDO Revenue, Matanat Ali during which 103 milk sellers were fined with Rs95,000 and 59 others were sent to jail.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

FUTURE FLIGHT

Pentagon Admits Mistaken Arms Shipment

The U.S. Air Force mistakenly shipped fuses that are used in nuclear weapons to Taiwan in 2006, believing the crates contained helicopter batteries, officials at the Pentagon announced this morning.

The error -- undetected by the United States until last week, despite repeated inquiries by Taiwan -- raises questions about how carefully the Pentagon safeguards its weapons systems. It also exposes the United States to criticism from China, a staunch opponent of a militarized Taiwan.

Pentagon officials said Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has launched a full investigation. The devices -- which, when attached to a missile, help launch the detonating process -- have been returned to the United States, and President Bush has been briefed.

"There are multiple players; there are multiple parties involved," said Ryan Henry, principal deputy undersecretary of defense policy. "We'll do a thorough investigation, and those who are found responsible will be held accountable."

Among other things, officials will try to determine why no one noticed that the four boxes of components were missing, even though Pentagon policy requires inventory reconciliation every three months. The probe will also focus on whether any other material has been wrongly shipped or cannot be located. An initial evaluation suggests the devices were not tampered with while they were in Taiwan, officials said.

Henry, who called the error "disconcerting," said the government of Taiwan acted "very responsibly," quickly notifying the United States that the four boxes it received in fall 2006 did not appear to contain what had been ordered. However, both he and Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne added, more than a year passed before the United States realized what had been shipped and moved to get the fuses back.

"It wasn't until this week that we became aware that they had something akin to a nose-cone assembly," Ryan said. "There were early communications, but we thought we were hearing one thing, and in reality they were saying something different."

Ryan said U.S. officials have notified authorities in Beijing, which considers Taiwan to be part of China and opposes its independence. Neither he nor Wynne answered a reporter who asked how China responded.

"Our policy on Taiwan arm sales has not changed. This specific incident was an error in process only and was not indicative of a policy change," Henry said. "We made an error in execution, and we notified them as soon as we were aware of it."

Wynne described the devices as "the electrical firing mechanism that allows" an intercontinental ballistic missile "to detonate -- just like the fuse on a stick of dynamite." The fuses were manufactured for use on a Minuteman strategic nuclear missile but contain no nuclear materials.

The devices would not work on any other missile system, officials said.

The nose cones, designed for a missile system that dates to the 1960s, were declared excess in March 2005 and shipped to a warehouse on an Air Force base in Wyoming, officials said. It is unclear whether they were placed in a classified storage area or how they were eventually mistaken for crates of batteries.

In response to a question from a reporter, Wynne said the Pentagon is still analyzing whether the shipment violated U.S. law or any treaties regulating arms trade and nuclear weapons policies.

"If there was a violation, we are coming forth with it as soon as we became aware of it," Wynne said. "And if there was something that was amiss, it clearly was not intentional. The United States stands by its treaty obligations."

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Bernanke: Fed ready to act to boost economy

WASHINGTON - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned Congress that the nation is in for a period of sluggish business growth and sent a fresh signal Wednesday that interest rates will again be lowered to steady the teetering economy.

“The economic situation has become distinctly less favorable” since the summer, the Fed chief told the House Financial Services Committee.

Since Bernanke’s last such comprehensive assessment last summer, the housing slump has worsened, credit problems have intensified and the job market has deteriorated. Bernanke said that the confluence of these factors has turned people and businesses alike toward a more cautious attitude toward spending and investment. This, he said, has further weakened the economy.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Bush Enacts Economic Aid Package

WASHINGTON (Feb. 13) - The checks aren't in the mail, but they will be soon. President Bush signed legislation Wednesday to rush rebates ranging from $300 to $1,200 to millions of people, the centerpiece of government efforts to brace the wobbly economy. First, though, you must file your 2007 tax return.

President Bush enacts stimulus

 

With his signature, President Bush makes the $168 billion economic stimulus bill official. The package may not prevent a recession, but analysts generally believe it could help suppress an economic crisis.

Will News Corp ride to the rescue of Yahoo?

 

News Corporation (NYSE: NWS) is in talks with Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) in a deal that would combine the company's MySpace site and other Internet sites with the pioneering Internet portal, according to The Wall Street Journal [subscription required].
Under the terms of the deal, News Corp. would get a more than 20% stake in Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company. No doubt that Rupert Murdoch, New Corp's CEO, would want to buy all of Yahoo at some point, probably after it's completed the integration of Dow Jones, publisher of the Journal.
For now, the ball is in the court of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), whose $44.6 billion unsolicited bid for Yahoo was rejected as being being too low. Unless News Corp is prepared to buy the whole thing, Yahoo will have little choice but to agree to Microsoft's buyout. Murdoch, though, may have a few tricks up his sleeve.
"News Corp. has been reaching out to private equity firms since the day Microsoft's bid was first announced, according to one person familiar with the matter," the paper said. "The company had been originally reluctant to press forward with a deal until waiting for a sign from the Yahoo board that they were interested, according to another person."

Tags: interent media, InterentMedia, Internet advertising, InternetAdvertising, inthenews, msft, MySpace, nws, Rupert Murdoch, RupertMurdoch, yhoo

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Dollar gains ground against euro

LONDON: The dollar rose against the euro on Wednesday despite growing fears of a US recession and ahead of European interest rate decisions and a weekend meeting of world finance chiefs, dealers said. They said trade was muted as the markets monitored the results of the 'Super Tuesday' voting to nominate the candidates for the US presidential elections later this year. The dollar was finding some support on the view that despite the expected US slowdown, other countries will be equally affected and so the US currency still offered safe haven, defensive qualities at a time of great uncertainty.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Cloverfield' arrives--and it's a scream

The monster has landed and you should be very afraid. The new low-budget monster movie Cloverfield arrives in movie theaters Friday after months of secrecy and carefully leaked information and trailers. Its viral marketing caused an online sensation in the tradition of The Blair Witch Project and Snakes on a Plane. Prior to its release, fans looking for information about the movie were sent on a chase around the Web to phony sites containing clues to other sites. Director Matt Reeves calls it "a monster movie for the YouTube generation."

Cloverfield reviews are coming in and are generally very good. This warning though--shaky cameras could make you a little nauseous.

Friday, January 25, 2008

Oil price rises high in international market

oil

SINGAPORE: Oil prices rose 61 cents to 87.6 dollars a barrel after plunging over continued fears that U-S led global economic slowdown could decrease world’s energy demand.
Oil prices have shed about 12 percent since the start of this year when prices were beyond the 100-dollar mark.
Market players are awaiting the release of a U-S energy report, which is expected to show a gain of 1.8 million barrels in oil inventories.
Analysts say that the U-S fiscal stimulus package and interest rate cut will help spur consumer demand and oil prices will be seen on the rise again.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Equities under pressure, 100 Index sheds 68 points

1-24-2008_36018_l  

 

KARACHI: The local capital market witnessed selling pressure on Thursday suppressing the benchmark KSE-100 Index by 68 points to 13719.
The market opened positive to hit a day high of 13,836 but the momentum lost steam as energy shares fell following a decline in world crude oil prices.
But it wasn’t just the pressure from energy stocks, as dealers said political uncertainty also kept investors at bay.
Total trade volume shrank to 185 million shares, compared to an average of 238 million last week.
The broader market also stayed weak with 192 losers to 112 gainers.
Market analysts predict the market to stay in a narrow range on Friday, saying the investors are likely to stay on the sidelines.
However, they cautioned that any negative development on the political front may cause a further slide in the market.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

World stock markets up today

KK

 

KARACHI: Aiming to prevent the U-S economy from falling into a recession, the US Federal Reserve Bank has slashed its key short-term interest rate by a dramatic 3 quarters to 3.5 percent.
As a result, world stock markets opened today on positive trends.
The Asian markets also opened today on positive trends, with the The Hang Seng going up 1,150 points, the Nikkei up by 256.01 points while the sensex ended two days of heavy losses with a 772 point gain in morning trade.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

FDA says food from cloned animals safe-However, sales of meat and milk from clones won't begin right away

WASHINGTON - Meat and milk from cloned animals is as safe as that from their counterparts bred the old-fashioned way, the Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday — but sales still won’t begin right away.

The decision removes the last big U.S. regulatory hurdle to marketing products from cloned livestock, and puts the FDA in concert with recent safety assessments from European food regulators and several other nations.

“Meat and milk from cattle, swine and goat clones are as safe as food we eat every day,” said Dr. Stephen Sundloff, FDA’s food safety chief.

But the government has asked animal cloning companies to continue a voluntary moratorium on sales for a little longer — not for safety reasons, but marketing ones.

USDA Undersecretary Bruce Knight called it a transition period for “allowing the marketplace to adjust.” He wouldn’t say how long the moratorium should continue.

“This is about market acceptance,” Knight added, who said he would be calling a meeting of industry leaders to determine next steps.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Injaz Mena to lay foundation stone of $600m project

ABU DHABI: The investment inflows to Pakistan would not be affected, though some delays cannot be ruled out, says Shariq Azhar, Director-General of Injaz Mena.

"The south Asian country is second home to many top investors from GCC in general and the UAE in particular," Shariq said.

"Acts of terrorism, and lately the political turmoil is keeping Pakistan in the headline news, but the investors believe the country offers great returns on investment, the top executive of Abu Dhabi-based company said. Injaz Mena, a capital based investment firm, has made splashes during its three years of existence, and had announced last year, a mega real estate project with an end value of $600 million in Karachi.

Business is as usual for Shariq Azhar, as his company is going-on with its project and will lay the foundation stone sometimes this year.

"At present the designs work is being completed."

But, he believed uncertainty is one thing investors don't like.

In Pakistan, the encouraging thing was continuity of the political system.

The strong performance put up by a vibrant stock market has relieved many foreign investors, which did not crash not only during the judiciary-government stand-off but later also.

Shariq said Pakistan, which is world's sixth largest nation with 160 million population, has maintained a 6-7 per cent gross domestic product, in past three to four years.

“The high growth rate has boosted the sale of consumer goods and led to the phenomenal growth in consumer finances-mortgages, car loans and other loans, which has spurred production of automobiles, electrical and electronic goods,” he said.

"Any business or project that aims at exploiting the large consumer-base will definitely be a success and yield high return on investment."

"The investors will certainly hold-back their investment plans for a while, in present circumstances, until things clears-up,” he said.

"Next two quarters are important for any major investment related decision to be taken as far as private sector is concerned. However, it has never been an issue for public sector companies,” he said. - KT

Business News No structural risks to foreign investment

ABU DHABI: Pakistan's strong macro-economic indicators will help sustain the political crisis, and there is no risk to foreign investment, said Merrill Lynch. "Though in short-term jitters cannot be ruled out," world top investment bank said. In its analysis on Pakistan economy, it said that investment flows into Pakistan will sustain, driven by its young population and strong economy driven by private and public investments. Pakistan economy has a strong balance sheet, built up in the past five years.


Monday, January 14, 2008

IRS tightens charitable-gift rules-Charitable contributions are good for society and good for your tax bill. But the IRS is demanding more detail


Let's be honest.

Sometimes it really is better to receive. Indeed, the glory of a charitable contribution is that when you give, you get back as well.

Charitable donations are deductible. But, to get the deduction, you have to jump through a lot of Internal Revenue Service hoops. Tax provisions that took effect on Jan. 1, 2007, will increase the documentation all of us must keep in order to claim a charitable deduction.

How you win when you give
If you itemize your deductions for 2007, you get to deduct your charitable contributions. You'll itemize only if the total of your itemized deductions is greater than your standard deduction ($10,700 on a joint return, $5,350 for a single).

Congress has been talking about a charitable deduction for non-itemizers, but the provision has yet to be passed.

Each dollar you contribute gives you a tax benefit equal to your marginal tax bracket. Let's say you're in the 25% bracket. A $100 contribution saves you $25 dollars in tax. In the 35% bracket, you save $35. The real cost of your donation is only $65.

If you give more than 20% of your adjusted gross income (AGI) in any given year, you may start to be subject to deduction limits. How much? Let's say your AGI is $100,000, you spend practically nothing. and you have lots of cash that you want to give away to a fully accredited charity. Under that scenario, your deduction for the year would be limited to 50% of your AGI or $50,000.

The rules on 20% limits are complicated and convoluted. If your generosity exceeds that amount, check Publication 526, "Charitable Deductions," or consult with a tax adviser. If your donations are that substantial, you may be able to get free guidance from the charity's professional development officers.