Loud Thinking

Archive for the ‘Corruption’ Category

Any chance of renaming PCB to PCGB…
Pakistan Cricket’s Garbage Board..?

Dawn just reports…!

Casino controversy: Shahryar says Moin sorry, chapter closed
SPORTS DESK UPDATED 24 minutes ago

Mr. Very Honourable Chairman PCB hope you know that this sojourn of the chief selector to New Zealand and Australia (for his dinner to a casino) cost the coffers of the board about PKR 5 million.

As such, the nation has a right to know that…

– Since you earlier admitted that you were responsible for the decision to send Moin Khan with the team to New Zealand and Australia, despite PCB issuing a press release on 27 December, 2014 that Moin Khan will NOT go to New Zealand with the team; will you please consider resigning (as a very honourable and respected personality of the country) or at least apologise with the nation (as all honourable men do all over the world) for YOUR this botched decision?

-Why Mr. Moin has been allowed to go Scot free in violation of the clause of his contract which stipulated “not to get involved in any such incident which could possibly defame the country”…?

– Why the PCB didn’t consider the facts, before closing the case of Mr. Moin Khan and retaining him as the chief selector, that Mr. Moin Khan’s change of explanations thrice, with regard to his visit to the casino was enough evidence, to NOT only dismiss him from the PCB job, but also reclaim all the expenses incurred on him by the board?

– Is the PCB hell bent on condoning the act of defaming the country?

– Is Mr. Moin Khan’s status larger than the country’s image?

-Is the reputation of Pakistan smaller than the ego of Mr. Moin Khan?

– Also please inform of what benefit the chief selector’s visit with the team proved during his stay abroad?

– Who will be charged for this huge expenditure incurred on the PAID HOLIDAY of Mr. Moin Khan or the amount will debited to the Board as World Cup expenditure incurred on the chief selector for his personal excursion?

Punishment for cricket match fixing in the eyes of Sir Vivian Richards

Dear Mr. Prime Minister,

AoA.

Sir,

Since the news of Moin Khan’s late night visit to a casino in NewZealand broke in Pakistan, a debate is raging in every section of the society to send the cases of all the Pakistani cricket players and PCB officials, found guilty of match fixing, during the ongoing World Cup cricket matches, for their trial in military courts.

In this regard, the views on punishment for match fixing, of the world’s most famous cricketer, Sir Vivian Richards, are reproduced below for your kind perusal please.

Sir Vivian Richards, writing at page 219 in his book titled “Sir Vivian The Definitive Autobiography” states:

“The problem (match-fixing) needs to be taken more seriously and be throughly investigated. Anyone caught and proved beyond doubt to be involved in match-fixing should be given the maximum punishment, both within the game and under the laws of the country in which it happens. In my view, it is a kind of treason, selling your country out. At one time that would have meant being put in front of a firing squad! How can anyone sell out his or her country for a few bucks? It is beyond my comprehension.”

Best Regards,

Syed Nayyar Uddin Ahmad

Mr. Prime Minister please don’t allow anyone to sell Pakistan with impunity and the traitors must NOT be allowed to go unpunished..!

Media is reporting as a breaking news that Moin Khan found for about four hours, in a casino (where you obviously go to indulge in betting) in NewZealand, before the match vs West Indies, after which Pakistan lost the match in the most humiliating manner.

It is a known fact that the chairman PCB, Mr. Shahryar Khan, never wanted to send Moin Khan with the team, but as per reports, Mr. Najam Sethi convinced him to allow Moin Khan to go with the team on tour for the World Cup, incurring an additional expenditure of Rs.44 lacs, for the trip of the chief selector, who was earlier sacked himself by Mr. Najam Sethi, after the Dhaka debacle; and then again hired by Mr. Najam Sethi, for the twin positions of manager and chief selector.

Now, It is high time that the PM Pakistan must immediately orders a formation of JIT (consisting of ISI, MI, Police, FIA and NAB officials) to investigate the links of betting of PCB officials (in Pakistan and with the team) and cricket team players along with the entire coaching staff, in favour of Pakistan’s defeat vs India and West Indies.

In this regard, if anyone is found guilty, he should tried in military court for treason against the country.

Moreover, during the inquiry period of the JIT, all suspects be put on the ECL and arrested so that they are unable to destroy any evidences of their crime against the country.

Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif,

Honourable Prime Minister of Pakistan,

Dear Sir,

Please remember that MAN IS MORTAL HIS GOOD DEEDS ARE IMMORTAL.

Kindly peruse below a news item published on 16 November, 2014 by the Times of India, which reflects that the Indian PM is talking nothing at the G20 summit in Australia, except about the BLACK MONEY repatriation to India.

Mr. Prime Minister, we are very surprised that although, bringing back the BLACK and STOLEN money of Pakistan stashed in the foreign countries, was the main agenda of the PMLN’s Elections 2013 campaign with the famous election slogan:

اےطائر لا ھوتی اس رذق سے موت اچھی. جس رذق سے آتی ہو پرواز میں کوتاہی

yet, you have personally never ever talked on this issue, since you became the PM in June 2013.

Your Excellency, the nation demands that your government must seriously fulfil its promises on bringing back nations looted money from abroad; and also fulfil another extremely important promise of breaking the bowl of foreign loans.

Moreover, please also ask your finance minister that he should remember that he was the minister of the Pakistani government and not appointed by either the IMF or the Swiss government. He should not callously tell the nation that looted money repatriation from abroad was well neigh impossible; and at the same time our government officials are continuing excursion trips of Switzerland, as if they were employed by the nation to have joy rides.

Everyone going abroad on state expenses, must inform on return to the nation that what tangible benefits materialised for Pakistan, due to his foreign trip.

Mr. Prime Minister, please also stop your ministers and officials from taking the nation on a ride.

Mian Sahab, the nation wants results on your promises of bringing back the black money from abroad and breaking the bowl of the curse of the foreign loans. We Pakistanis do not want to be burdened with useless statements and more and more IMF and world bank loans, repayment of which is now eating up a very major and alarmingly high chunk of the nation’s revenues.

Kindly give the following ONLY Two tasks to Mr. Ishaq Dar for completion, during your current tenure:

– To get rid of Pakistan from the entire foreign debt, either by getting it written off or by any other way.

– Bring back the ENTIRE looted money of Pakistan of ANYONE and EVERYONE, parked anywhere in the world.

And, if the finance minister says that he can not accomplish these two assignments or to him these two tasks looks impossible … then please appointment someone else, as the finance minister, with these monumental assignments, which if achieved, will make the tenure of your current rule not only MONUMENTAL but IMMORTAL as well.

Mian Sahab, history will NOT judge you for how many times you became the PM, but it will remember you for your services to the nation, as is the example of the famous ruler of India, namely Sher Shah Soori. No one knows for how much time he ruled, but he is remembered for his monumental achievement of building the Grand Trunk Road.

MAN IS MORTAL HIS GOOD DEEDS ARE IMMORTAL.

Times of India news report published on 16 November, 2014, is as below:

“G20 summit: Narendra Modi calls for ‘close coordination’ on black money
BRISBANE: As India makes attempts to recover black money from abroad, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday asked every country, especially tax havens, to provide information for tax purposes in accordance with treaty obligations.
Raising the pitch on the black money issue, Modi in his intervention at the summit of the Group of 20 industrialized and major emerging economies called for close global coordination to address the challenge posed by it.
Modi voiced India’s support for a new global standard on automatic exchange of tax information, saying it would be instrumental in getting information relating to unaccounted money hoarded abroad and enable its eventual repatriation. He also extended India’s backing for all initiatives to facilitate exchange of information and mutual assistance in tax policy and administration.
The prime minister made the remarks at the plenary session on the subject of “Delivering Global Economic resilience” on the second and final day of the summit held at the Brisbane Exhibition and Convention centre.
He also expressed the hope that Base Erosion and Profit Sharing (BEPS) system would fully address concerns of developing and developed economies.
BEPS is a technical term referring to the effect of tax avoidance strategies used by multinational companies on countries’ tax basis. BEPS is known more commonly as “Transfer pricing”
This term is used in a project headed by the OECD that is said to be an attempt by the world’s major economies to try to rewrite the rules on corporate taxation to address the widespread perception that the corporations don’t pay their fair share of taxes.
The prime minister also said that increased mobility of capital and technology have created new opportunities for avoiding tax and profit shifting.
Modi underpinned the need for the world community to take coordinated decisions although each country has its domestic priority.
“Need for policy coordination among major economies remains strong,” he said.
“Close coordination is important not just for addressing the challenge of black money but also security issues like terrorism, drug trafficking and arms smuggling,” he said.
Touching upon the resilience of the financial system in the world, Modi said it will also depend on cyber security.”

Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif,

Honourable Prime Minister of Pakistan,

Dear Sir,

Please remember that MAN IS MORTAL HIS GOOD DEEDS ARE IMMORTAL.

Kindly peruse below a news item published today by the Times of India, which reflects that the Indian PM is talking nothing at the G20 summit in Australia, except about the BLACK MONEY repatriation to India.

Mr. Prime Minister, we are very surprised that although, BLACK MONEY was the main agenda of the PMLN’s Elections 2013 campaign, yet, you have personally never ever talked on this issue, since you became the PM in June 2013.

Your Excellency, the nation demands that your government must seriously fulfil its promises on bringing back nations looted money from abroad; and also fulfil another extremely important promise of breaking the bowl of foreign loans.

Moreover, please also ask your finance minister that he should remember that he was the minister of the Pakistani government and not appointed by either the IMF or the Swiss government. He should not ruthlessly tell the nation that looted money repatriation from abroad was well neigh impossible; and at the same time our government officials are continuing excursion trips of Switzerland, as if they were employed by the nation to have joy rides.

Everyone going abroad on state expenses, must inform on return to the nation that what tangible benefits materialised for Pakistan, due to his foreign trip.

Mr. Prime Minister, please also stop your ministers and officials from taking the nation on a ride.

Mian Sahab, the nation wants results on your promises of bringing back the black money from abroad and breaking the bowl of the curse of the foreign loans. We Pakistanis do not want to be burdened with useless statements and more and more IMF loans.

Kindly give the following ONLY Two tasks to Mr. Ishaq Dar for completion, during your current tenure:

– To get rid of Pakistan from the entire foreign debt, either by getting it written off or by any other way.

– Bring back the ENTIRE looted money of Pakistan of ANYONE and EVERYONE, parked anywhere in the world.

And if the finance minister says that he can not accomplish these two assignments or to him these two tasks looks impossible … then please appointment someone else, as the finance minister with these monumental assignments, which if achieved, will make the tenure of your current rule IMMORTAL.

Mian Sahab, remember MAN IS MORTAL HIS GOOD DEEDS ARE IMMORTAL.

Times of India news report published today, is as below:

G20 summit: Narendra Modi calls for ‘close coordination’ on black money

BRISBANE: As India makes attempts to recover black money from abroad, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday asked every country, especially tax havens, to provide information for tax purposes in accordance with treaty obligations.

Raising the pitch on the black money issue, Modi in his intervention at the summit of the Group of 20 industrialized and major emerging economies called for close global coordination to address the challenge posed by it.

Modi voiced India’s support for a new global standard on automatic exchange of tax information, saying it would be instrumental in getting information relating to unaccounted money hoarded abroad and enable its eventual repatriation. He also extended India’s backing for all initiatives to facilitate exchange of information and mutual assistance in tax policy and administration.

The prime minister made the remarks at the plenary session on the subject of “Delivering Global Economic resilience” on the second and final day of the summit held at the Brisbane Exhibition and Convention centre.

He also expressed the hope that Base Erosion and Profit Sharing (BEPS) system would fully address concerns of developing and developed economies.

BEPS is a technical term referring to the effect of tax avoidance strategies used by multinational companies on countries’ tax basis. BEPS is known more commonly as “Transfer pricing”

This term is used in a project headed by the OECD that is said to be an attempt by the world’s major economies to try to rewrite the rules on corporate taxation to address the widespread perception that the corporations don’t pay their fair share of taxes.

The prime minister also said that increased mobility of capital and technology have created new opportunities for avoiding tax and profit shifting.

Modi underpinned the need for the world community to take coordinated decisions although each country has its domestic priority.

“Need for policy coordination among major economies remains strong,” he said.

“Close coordination is important not just for addressing the challenge of black money but also security issues like terrorism, drug trafficking and arms smuggling,” he said.

Touching upon the resilience of the financial system in the world, Modi said it will also depend on cyber security.

An article of 2 October 2012 is still waiting for answers from the past and present governments and parliamentarians of Pakistan.

Our rulers owe us answers to the following 6 questions:

Hope our rulers and parliamentarians are aware of a research which reveals that suicide rates have gone up in the countries taking loans from the IMF etc.

Our worthy MNA’s and Senators Must obtain the answers to the following questions from the former Minister of Finance Mr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh (who was also the key man in the privatisation of the PTCL) and also from the incumbent finance minister Mr. Ishaq Dar.

1. Pakistan is repaying $7.6 billion to the IMF. Did we receive exactly this much amount or the total sum was less than this figure?

2. How much amount of interest Pakistan will be paying over the principle sum of this loan of $7.6 billion from the IMF? Or the IMF will be charging interest on the whole sanctioned amount of $11.3 billion?

3. Did Pakistan pay and what was the total bill for the traveling, boarding and lodging of IMF delegations’s recent visit to UAE, for discussions with our economic team?

4. Besides the interest, how much service, handlers commission and or other charges were deducted by the IMF, on its loan of $7.6 billion to Pakistan? V V important question.

5. How much service charges or penalty was charged by the IMF to Pakistan, for not utilizing or obtaining the remaining $3.7 billion amount, from the originally sanctioned loan amount of $11.3 billion; because Pakistan got only $7.6 billion from IMF?

6. When will Pakistan get its overdue payment of $800 million from the Etisalat Telecom, which is controlling the whole PTCL management and other affairs, with a minority share holding? Why not reconsider the cancellation of the privatisation deal of the PTCL, in view of the serious default since the year 2006, by the UAE based telecom company ETISALAT? There is another option to resolve this problem by writing off this amount of $800 million (which in over 8 years must have grown over $3 billion) and treating it as gift, from the people of Pakistan to owners of the ETISALAT.

What else is corruption Mian Nawaz Sharif Sahab?

He (Mr. Zubair) said that the delay caused by a stay order granted by the Peshawar High Court on the petition of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf led provincial government and the sudden fall in oil prices in the international market reduced the government’s earnings.

Mr. Prime Minister, if the above statement of Mr. Zubair (MOS and Chairman Privatisation Commission of Pakistan) is true then it looks all the more unwise decision that the government has given a 6% discount on the previous day trading of the OGDCL shares at the Karachi Stock Exchange.

The discount would alone cause about Rs5 billion losses on last day’s trading.

Pakistanis beware of being gassed (those using gas of Rs.500/ month up till now may well be paying up to Rs.5000/month) in this Economy of loans & corruption .http://t.co/MFKF1ASCRU

Massive increase in gas tariff likely

Khaleeq Kiani

Published about 6 hours ago

.—AFP/File

ISLAMABAD: Amid a controversy over excessive power billing, the government is set to face another wave of public outcry as gas tariff for all categories of consumers, including domestic, is likely to be increased by three to five times in a month or so.
The phenomenal increase is anticipated in the wake of failure of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) and the federal government to notify consumer prices over the last four months.

“Our estimate is that a domestic consumer who receives a monthly bill of Rs500 will get a bill of about Rs5,000,” an Ogra official told Dawn.

Know more: PM orders fresh probe into overbilling

It could create a political crisis for the government as the people would forget power over-billing, he said.

A part of the surge would be caused by higher consumption in winter, but the major increase would come because of recovery of Ogra-determined revenue from consumers in eight months instead of 12 months.

The problem emanates from the inability of the government to advise the regulator how a Rs35 billion tariff increase be passed on to different categories of consumers within the stipulated time.

As a consequence, Ogra did not notify the consumer tariff by the deadline of July 1.
The Ogra law requires the government to advise the regulator about the adjustment in consumer tariff on the basis of prescribed price set by Ogra for two gas utilities. In case, the government fails to advise Ogra about the subsidy it wants to provide from the budget or through cross-subsidisation among different consumer categories in 15 days, the regulator is legally bound to issue a consumer tariff notification based on prices determined by it.

“Ogra has failed to meet its legal obligation for four months,” the official said. The private shareholders have started sending legal notices to the regulator and the government to take the matter to the court.

Informed sources said Ogra Chairman Saeed Ahmed Khan had repeatedly asked the government to advise it about the subsidy portion. Last week, he is reported to have written a strongly worded letter to the secretaries of the cabinet division and the petroleum ministry about the government’s inability to come up with an advice and the legal challenge arising out of the notices.

They said Mr Khan had warned that the regulator had determined around 14 per cent increase in average tariff on the basis of full year billing, but the average increase had now gone beyond 20pc because Rs50bn would now have to be recovered in eight months.
The sources said legal experts had advised Ogra to issue a notification in the first week of this month to avoid being dragged in the courts.

On top of that, Ogra will be required to notify consumer tariff at the rate of Rs470 per unit for each category of consumers irrespective of existing lowest tariff slab of Rs106 per unit for domestic consumers.

NEGATIVE EQUITY: According to an analyst, unless the increase is recovered from consumers, the capital market equities of the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) can turn into negative. The SNGPL’s equity has been estimated to be Rs15bn in the negative.

The sources said the managing directors of the two gas utilities had been interacting with the minister for petroleum and natural resources, but to no avail.

Recently, they had an ‘SOS’ meeting with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and told him that the balance sheets of the companies would be in the red and prices of their shares would plunge if the government did not immediately intervene.

Ogra had worked out 14pc increase in average gas rates in July on the basis of 4.5pc unaccounted for gas (UFG) losses to meet revenue requirements for 2013-14 through a public hearing.

This is in addition to Rs50bn the government had earlier asked Ogra to recover from consumers to meet losses of the two utilities for 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 on account of gas theft, non-recovery of dues because of law and order situation, increase in retail network and sabotage.

The ministry of petroleum and natural resources had recommended that the amount should be recovered through gas tariff by allowing higher UFG losses (up to 7pc) to bail out the gas companies.

In its estimates sent to the government, the Ogra had approved an increase of Rs58.29 per MMBTU (million British thermal unit) for the SNGPL and Rs22.90 per MMBTU for the SSGC with a maximum prescribed price of Rs469 per MMBTU.

Under the law, the government can advise Ogra to fix different rates for different consumer categories like domestic, commercial, industrial, power sector and cement but remaining within the average rate approved by the regulator.

Because of political considerations, the government has been passing on higher tariff increase to industrial and commercial consumers and lower tariff increase to domestic consumers through cross subsidisation.

Published in Dawn, November 4th , 2014.

What will it take …to improve your life? …for your children to be better off? …for mothers to be healthy? …for all to get a good education? …to end poverty?

More than 1.3 billion people around the globe live on less than $1.25 a day. Fighting poverty in times of crisis may be challenging, but we can’t take our eyes off the most vulnerable.

World Bank Group asked everyone a question, “What Will It Take?” and welcoming people to post their questions on Twitter using ‪#‎whatwillittake‬, and share their solutions with the hashtag#ittakes.

Link:- http://frd.asia/…/veteran-economist-syed-nayyar-uddin-ahmed/

Yet, since the question asked by the World Bank on Facebook on September 6, 2012, the veteran economist Syed Nayyar Uddin Ahmed replied:-

Quote. “Since, a recent study tells that countries which took loans from WB & IMF have experienced increasing suicide rates, there is hardly any answer required to the question, that what it will take to end hunger of those one billion people, who go to the bed hungry, every night. Your extremely hard and harsh loan terms are killing the poorest of the poor people in many ways, what to talk of hunger. Don’t forget that very soon WB & IMF, may be tried for crimes against humanity; because your loans not only breed and enhance corruption, they increase poverty, which also breeds terrorism. Kindly immediately revisit all the inhuman terms and conditions of your loans, particularly given to the poor and developing countries; and also consider writing off these loans which are in fact, sucking blood from the poorest of the poor, to serve the lavish life styles of your employees, consultants, advisers and contractors etc.”Unquote.

What do you think? Is World bank helping to fight against poverty, or they are the “murderer” ?

Posts about veteran economist Syed Nayyar Uddin Ahmed on Food.Asia

What will it take …to improve your life? …for your children to be better off? …for mothers to be healthy? …for all to get a good education? …to end poverty? More than 1.3 billion people around the globe live on less than $1.25 a day. Fighting poverty in times of crisis may be challenging, but we can’t take our eyes off the most vulnerable.

World Bank Group asked everyone a question, “What Will It Take?” and welcoming people to post their questions on Twitter using ‪#‎whatwillittake‬, and share their solutions with the hashtag#ittakes.
Link:- http://frd.asia/…/veteran-economist-syed-nayyar-uddin-ahmed/

Yet, since the question asked by the World Bank on Facebook on September 6, 2012, the veteran economist Syed Nayyar Uddin Ahmed replied:-

Quote. “Since, a recent study tells that countries which took loans from WB & IMF have experienced increasing suicide rates, there is hardly any answer required to the question, that what it will take to end hunger of those one billion people, who go to the bed hungry, every night. Your extremely hard and harsh loan terms are killing the poorest of the poor people in many ways, what to talk of hunger. Don’t forget that very soon WB & IMF, may be tried for crimes against humanity; because your loans not only breed and enhance corruption, they increase poverty, which also breeds terrorism. Kindly immediately revisit all the inhuman terms and conditions of your loans, particularly given to the poor and developing countries; and also consider writing off these loans which are in fact, sucking blood from the poorest of the poor, to serve the lavish life styles of your employees, consultants, advisers and contractors etc.”Unquote.

What do you think? Is World bank helping to fight against poverty, or they are the “murderer” ?

Posts about veteran economist Syed Nayyar Uddin Ahmed on Food.Asia