PA calls for IRSA restructuring
LAHORE: The Punjab Assembly unanimously passed a resolution, calling for restructuring of Indus River System Authority (IRSA) to ensure fair distribution of water among provinces.
The resolution demands that the fifth member of the IRSA board should be selected from a neutral territory, either from Islamabad or Azad Kashmir.
In another resolution passed by the provincial assembly, the federal government has been asked to end the continuing gas outages for Punjab’s industries.
Speaking to reporters outside the assembly, Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said that the Punjab government has not been consulted about appointment of new governor.
Responding to a question, he said that PML-N has no objection to appointment of Babar Awan or any other person as Governor of Punjab. TrendPK
bergen record
April 21, 2010 by Trend PK
Filed under World News
POLICE OFFICERS have risky jobs. There is no telling when a routine traffic stop might turn deadly, or a criminal investigation violent.
But in this era of scrutinizing public worker salaries, police officer pay should not be exempt from review. Their jobs may be potentially dangerous as well as a great public service, but they are funded by the same strapped taxpayers who are shouldering municipal worker and teacher salaries, too.
One look at the take-home pay for officers employed in Bergen County reveals that their salaries not only dwarf those of public school teachers, the object of Governor Christie’s budget-cutting wrath, but, when overtime is factored in, can rival those of upper-level managers in the private sector. Towns are broke. Residents are broke. These salaries are not sustainable.
Bergen County police officers made an average base salary of $103,649 last year, Staff Writers Giovanna Fabiano and Dave Sheingold reported. The average police salary was $120,234 in Closter and $122,635 in Hasbrouck Heights. Without overtime pay. In Englewood, overtime among officers averaged $21,000 last year, with some earning more than $50,000 with overtime and extra perks.
Passaic County officers made less, but certainly nothing to sneeze at. The average base salary was $87,860, with Wayne police making around $118,000 and West Milford police $105,353.
Work in some municipalities is more dangerous than work in others — a night shift in Paterson is potentially more perilous than a night shift in Rochelle Park. Yet the pay is not commensurate. In fact, in general the pay is just the opposite. Paterson police earn, on average, almost $50,000 less than their colleagues in Rochelle Park, yet the violent crime rate in Paterson is about 13 times greater.
This topsy-turvy arrangement, coupled with the luxury benefits of longevity pay, sick-day payouts and muster pay in some towns, cries out for review. We are puzzled by the governor’s loud gusto when taking on teachers, but his at-least-until-now whispered approach to police. Citing law enforcement’s relative risk, higher pension contributions and lack of 4 and 5 percent annual raises is weak when staring at $120,000 base pay plus benefits for some one-square-mile towns with little crime. Especially when the highest pay generally is doled out in lower-crime areas.
ga lottery
April 21, 2010 by Trend PK
Filed under World News
The jackpot for Friday night’s Mega Millions drawing climbed to $166 million after no players matched all six numbers in Tuesday night’s game. Meanwhile, the top prize for tonight’s Powerball multi-state lottery is a whopping $252 million.The numbers in Tuesday night’s Mega Million lottery were 5, 8, 10, 34 and 42, and the “Mega Ball” was 25.
There were also no $250,000 second-prize winners in Georgia, although 12 players in other states matched the first five numbers but not the Mega Ball.
The Powerball jackpot has been steadily growing since March 13, when Sandra McNeil of Morristown, N.J., won a $211.7 million top prize.
According to a Georgia Lottery Corp. spokeswoman, a single winner matching all six numbers in tonight’s Powerball drawing would have the choice of $252 million paid over 29 years, or a single payment of approximately $121 million.
fiat chrysler
April 21, 2010 by Trend PK
Filed under World News
Italian car maker Fiat has reported further losses despite the recent recovery in the car market.
The company said it made a loss of 25m euros (£21.7m; $33.4m) for the first quarter of the year.
Meanwhile its US subsidiary Chrysler lost a further $197m (£128m) – adding to the massive $3.8bn it lost following bankruptcy last year.
Fiat is due to outline a new five-year business plan later, outlining closer integration with Chrysler.
Despite the losses, Fiat said its sales – which include trucks and farming equipment alongside cars – were up nearly 15% on the same period last year.
Car sales alone saw a 22% increase, thanks in part to the continuing impact of Europe’s car scrappage schemes.
But Fiat said it expected to be hit hard by the winding up of such schemes.
The end of the German scrappage scheme has already seen sales drop 73%, it said.
Fiat’s chief executive Sergio Marchionne also sought to sound optimistic over the prospects for Chrysler despite the heavy losses.
He pointed out that Chrysler actually made a profit of $143m for the first quarter, if tax and one-off costs were disregarded.
The US-brand was also seeing increased revenues, he said.
Rivals profit
There was better news for rival European car firm Volkswagen, however, which reported profits of 473m euros for the first three months of 2010 – nearly double the profits recorded a year earlier.
VW said sales of its cars – which include the Seat and Audi brands – rose 19%.
Meanwhile French car maker Peugeot Citroen said its sales jumped 27.5% in the first quarter, and said it hoped to see a positive impact on profits.
But the company said it still expected the European car market to decline by 9% this year.
Bollywood reaches Macau Hotels
Making it a first of sorts, Studio 18 has pushed the envelope on emerging rights by licensing the Hotel VoD rights of five top TIFC films for China & Macau – JAB WE MET, WELCOME, SINGH IS KINNG, KIDNAP and GOLMAAL RETURNS. The globalisation of Bollywood and the enormous tourist traffic in China is expected to trigger an uptake of these titles.
While Hollywood studios are known to place their blockbusters in hotel rooms for customers to pay and watch, Bollywood content had not made any significant breakthrough so far.
Conventionally, films sourced by established hotels in the region comprise adult and non-adult content from US, China, Japan, Europe and Korea. TIFC’s Indian titles will be placed on the interactive entertainment system of bedrooms in three of the topmost hotels of Macau – Venetian, Sands Casino and Four Seasons.
Remarked Tanuj Garg, Head of International Business, Studio 18, “This initiative with our preferred content aggregator is in line with our continuing endeavour to create new and unconventional revenue streams for the organisation’s library titles and keep their monetization active.”
32 People Wounded in Clash Between Insurgents and Peacekeepers
February 14, 2010 by Trend PK
Filed under World News
Somalia :32 people wounded in clash between insurgents and peacekeepers, As many as 32 Islamist insurgents have been wounded during a clash with African Union peacekeepers together with the Somali transitional federal government in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu.
Rebels from the al Shabaab group exchanged gun fire and artillery shelling with AMISOM peacekeeping troops and TFG troops in the latest wave of fighting. “In the last 24 hours, we have received 32 wounded civilians. Most of them are women and children as a result of the continuing mortar and artillery shelling. Some 21 of them are in serious conditions and were hospitalised but the others were sent back to their homes after we gave them the treatment they needed,” Medina hospital’s deputy chief doctor Duniyah Ali said. Thousands of civilians have fled the Somali capital fearing a government offensive against the attacking Islamist rebels. Violence in Somalia has killed 19,000 civilians since the start of 2007 and uprooted a further 1.5 million people, helping to trigger one of the world’s worst humanitarian emergencies.
32 People Wounded in Clash Between Insurgents and Peacekeepers was first posted on February 14, 2010 at 1:50 pm.
Musharraf Wanted to kill Nawaz: Qamar Zaman Kaira
January 3, 2010 by Trend PK
Filed under Breaking News
HAFIZABAD, Pakistan News: Federal Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said that Pervez Musharraf wanted to kill Nawaz Sharif and it was better for him to go on exile on friends’ request.
Addressing a ceremony in Hafiz Abad press club, he said that PPP always took responsibilities instead of rule and Asif Ali Zardari remained in the jail for eleven years on fake cases.
Should generals and judiciary not be held accountable, he questioned. He said that clash always remains between true democrats and dictators. Qamar Zaman said that PPP never came to government with the help of any third power. He said dictatorship weakened the federation and Benazir Bhutto sacrificed her life for the safety of federation.
Musharraf Wanted to kill Nawaz: Qamar Zaman Kaira was first posted on January 3, 2010 at 7:13 pm.
Musharraf Wanted to kill Nawaz: Qamar Zaman Kaira
January 3, 2010 by Trend PK
Filed under Breaking News
HAFIZABAD, Pakistan News: Federal Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said that Pervez Musharraf wanted to kill Nawaz Sharif and it was better for him to go on exile on friends’ request.
Addressing a ceremony in Hafiz Abad press club, he said that PPP always took responsibilities instead of rule and Asif Ali Zardari remained in the jail for eleven years on fake cases.
Should generals and judiciary not be held accountable, he questioned. He said that clash always remains between true democrats and dictators. Qamar Zaman said that PPP never came to government with the help of any third power. He said dictatorship weakened the federation and Benazir Bhutto sacrificed her life for the safety of federation.
Musharraf Wanted to kill Nawaz: Qamar Zaman Kaira was first posted on January 3, 2010 at 7:13 pm.
US Embassy in Yemen Closed on Terror Threat
January 3, 2010 by Trend PK
Filed under Breaking News
SANAA: The US today closed its embassy in Yemen, citing “ongoing threats” by al Qaeda, and asked Yemenis staff not to come on duty until embassy reopens. “The officials stopped us and asked us not to come to work”, says Yemenis staff workers. “The US embassy in San’a is closed today, January 3, 2010, in response to ongoing threats by al Qaeda in the Arabain Peninsula (AQAP) to attack American interests in Yemen, without any mention of the date to re-open,” the embassy posted the message on its website. The statement said that on Thursday, the embassy issued a message to American citizens in Yemen, urging them to remain vigilant amid “the continuing threat of terrorist actions and violence” against Americans throughout the world.
US Embassy in Yemen Closed on Terror Threat was first posted on January 3, 2010 at 7:21 pm.
US Embassy in Yemen Closed on Terror Threat
January 3, 2010 by Trend PK
Filed under Breaking News
SANAA: The US today closed its embassy in Yemen, citing “ongoing threats” by al Qaeda, and asked Yemenis staff not to come on duty until embassy reopens. “The officials stopped us and asked us not to come to work”, says Yemenis staff workers. “The US embassy in San’a is closed today, January 3, 2010, in response to ongoing threats by al Qaeda in the Arabain Peninsula (AQAP) to attack American interests in Yemen, without any mention of the date to re-open,” the embassy posted the message on its website. The statement said that on Thursday, the embassy issued a message to American citizens in Yemen, urging them to remain vigilant amid “the continuing threat of terrorist actions and violence” against Americans throughout the world.
US Embassy in Yemen Closed on Terror Threat was first posted on January 3, 2010 at 7:21 pm.
