CHRISTOPHER M. MATTHEWS and SHIRA OVIDE Microsoft Bribe Probe Reaches into Pakistan, Russia Deals Justice Department Reviewing Allegations Involving Deals in Five Countries A U.S. investigation into Microsoft Corp.'s relationships with business partners that allegedly bribed foreign officials in return for contracts includes activity in Russia and Pakistan, a sign that the probe is wider reaching than previously known, according to people familiar with the matter. The Wall Street Journal reported this year lawyers from the U.S. Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission had been conducting a preliminary investigation into kickback allegations made by a former Microsoft representative in China, as well as the c...
September 12, 2013 at 12:07 pm | News Desk
Tausif Ur Rehman As the Final countdown begins for the right to host World Expo 2020, the diplomatic players of respective countries have also become active behind the stage and are making extensive efforts to get maximum support in the form of votes, and the host will be decided in November 2013. All the four most potential candidate cities i.e. Dubai (UAE), Sao Paulo (Brazil), Yekaterinburg (Russia) and Izmir (Turkey) have already submitted their final presentations/proposals to Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) whereas Thailand has been disqualified. The UAE’s strategic position as a bridge between East and West, and North and South, provides a powerful platform for the world to come together and unlock the potential of ...
September 12, 2013 at 11:39 am | News Desk
Brig (Retired) Samson Simon Sharaf Somehow, I live with the hypothesis that Pakistan’s bureaucracy, technocrats and the military operate in exclusive hard shelled bubbles in chagrin to long term strategic and economic interests of Pakistan. The imperatives of a broad policy spectrum with synergised instrumentalism never formed the basis of any brainstorming or analysis. Inevitably, the bubbles burst, compromising Pakistan’s national security. In the quest for short term advantages and strings tied with international financial institutions, the bureaucracy and technocrats have remained content in putting the national interests on the back burner. Due to absence of operational research and system analysis including SWOT, the end res...
September 12, 2013 at 11:14 am | News Desk
Helena Lobato da Jornada In the late 1990’s, Brazil endured a rigorous blackout, which left almost 90 million people in the dark for some hours. It was the first precursor of the chink in Brazilian energy system’s armor, caused by a combination of drought, bad planning and years of lack of serious investment in the energy structure of the country. With a series of massive investments and a wide-spread public awareness campaign, Brazil was able to overcome those “dark moments” and now, a decade later, enjoys a very comfortable energy situation. Pakistan could certainly take benefit from some of the Brazilian examples to overcome its energy crisis. Brazil has done it, Pakistan can also do it. Brazil, as Pakistan, has many differ...
September 12, 2013 at 10:55 am | News Desk
NEW YORK: War-weary Americans on Wednesday marked the 12th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, as President Barack Obama — for now holding fire on Syria — said force alone cannot “build the world we seek.” In New York, Washington and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, relatives of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the plane attacks gathered for somber remembrance ceremonies. “Our hearts still ache for the futures snatched away, the lives that might have been,” Obama said at the Pentagon, where 184 died when a hijacked airliner struck the building. “They left this Earth. They slipped from our grasp.” US troops invaded Afghanistan shortly after the 9/11 attacks to oust the Taliban ...
September 12, 2013 at 1:04 am | News Desk
PARIS: French media and telecoms giant Vivendi said Wednesday it is planning to split its businesses into two entities, essentially separating its internet and mobile phone unit SFR from its media operations which include Universal Music. “The final decision of this split could be made at the beginning of next year and put to the 2014 annual general meeting,” the group said in a statement. The group posted a 11.2 percent slump in net profit to 1.03 billion euros ($1.37 billion) in the first six months of the year, set back mainly by poor performance by SFR. SFR, like other mobile phone operators in France, has been hard hit by the arrival of cut-price operator Free. The group’s Universal Music division however, has seen in...
September 12, 2013 at 1:04 am | News Desk
Cast: Karan Kundra, Nishant Malkani, Hasan Zaidi, Aparna Bajpai, Radhika Menon, Nandini Vaid, Ravish Desai Directed by: Ayush Raina Review By: Faisal Saif Ratings: * * * 1/2 As usual, Before starting up the Review, Let me “Warn” you that Horror Story is definitely not for people with Weak Hearts, Blood Pressure and Heart problems. This movie is also not suitable for the audience who looks out for Romance or a Love Story in a Film. But if you are a “Horror” film fans, Trust me you really cannot afford to miss Horror Story at any cost. Horror Story tells a Horror Story of seven college friends Achint (Nishant Malkani), Maghesh (Ravish Desai), Samrat (Hasan Zaidi), Maggie (Aparna Bajpai), Neena (Radh...
September 12, 2013 at 1:04 am | News Desk
PARIS: Finnish Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen will rejoin the Ferrari stable from the 2014 season, the team announced on Wednesday. Raikkonen, 33, the 2007 world champion, will drive alongside Spain’s Fernando Alonso, the man who replaced him at the Italian stable in 2009. “Welcome back, Kimi! read a headline on the team website. “Scuderia Ferrari announces that it has reached an agreement with Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn will join Fernando Alonso in the driver line-up for the next two racing seasons,” continued the statement. He will take over from Brazilian Felipe Massa to form an experienced partnership who can boast more than 50 Grands Prix wins — 32 for Alonso and 20 for Raikkonen — and three world t...
September 12, 2013 at 1:04 am | News Desk
SKOPJE: A 59-year-old Bulgarian man has swum more than two kilometres (1.25 miles) completely tied up in a bag in a bid to enter into the Guinness World Records book. Wrapped in an orange, porous bag with his arms and legs strapped to his body, Jane Petkov swam “on his back, like a dolphin” to cross Lake Ohrid in southern Macedonia, said Saso Tockov, one of the event organisers. “It took him two hours and 55 minutes, with an average speed of 0.7 kilometres per hour,” Tockov told AFP. There were no representatives from Guinness World Records present for the swim but organisers said they had met all the requirements needed for the unusual feat to be considered a record attempt. The News Tribe – UK-based bilingua...
September 12, 2013 at 1:04 am | News Desk
Javid Husain The Egyptian army’s coup in July to overthrow the country’s first democratically elected President, Muhammad Morsi, and the subsequent clashes in which hundreds of his supporters have been brutally killed by the Egyptian security forces reflect the battle being fought for the soul of Egypt. Arrayed on one side in this battle are the forces defending the authoritarian rule of the Egyptian army, which has already lasted more than six decades, and its vested economic and commercial interests. They are supported by the westernized and the so-called liberal classes of the Egyptian society who, while championing democracy and human rights, fail to see anything wrong in the military coup against a freely elected government an...
September 11, 2013 at 11:41 pm | News Desk
Pakistan Rupee Exchange Rate