Ramzan moon sighted

ISLAMABAD: The first of Ramazan will be on Tuesday, according to an announcement by Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee met with Mufti Muneebur Rehman in chair.

Following the meeting, Mufti Muneeb announced in a press conference that the committee received evidences of Ramazan's moon sighting from various parts of the country and the first day of the holy month will fall on August 2 (tomorrow).

Mufti Muneeb said that the meetings of provincial and district Ruet-e-Hilal committees were also held and the decision has been made after receiving the evidences from across the country.

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POL prices being revised upward

ISLAMABAD: The officials of Petroleum Ministry have once again decided to raise the prices of petroleum products, Geo News reported Sunday.

According to the officials of the Petroleum Ministry, the price of petrol is being raised by Rs1.9 per litre after which its price will climb to Rs84.80.

The rate of Kerosene oil is being increased to Rs1.97 per litre to Rs86.62; High Octane price will see a rise of Rs5.34 per litre; light diesel price is being jacked up by Rs2.13 per litre and; the price of High Speed Diesel is being kept unchanged at Rs92.10 per litre.

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Top military brass resign from posts

ANKARA: Turkey’s military command echelon resigned late Friday from their posts amid an ongoing spat with the government over the growing number of arrested generals. The mass resignations, which marked a first in the country’s history, immediately caused a state crisis.

Chief of General Staff Gen. Isik Kosaner, Land Forces Commander Gen. Erdal Ceylanoglu, Air Forces Commander Gen. Hasan Aksay and Naval Forces Commander Adm. Esref Ugur Yigit quit their posts days before the Supreme Military Council, or YAS, was supposed to meet to discuss key military promotions. Kosaner had another two years left in the office.

Gendarmerie Forces Commander Necdet Özel did not resign.

The resignations came hours after a prosecutor demanded the arrest of a top military official, Gen. Hüseyin Nusret Tasdeler, the commander of the Aegean Army. Sources said disagreements over promotions and the arrests of numerous generals peaked to an unacceptable level following the legal action against Tasdeler.

Tensions between the military and the government have been high in recent years as hundreds of high-ranking officers were put behind bars in the ongoing “Balyoz” (Sledgehammer) and Ergenekon coup-plot cases.

It was not yet sure as of late Friday whether this year’s YAS, set to begin Aug 1., would take place as scheduled.

Consecutive meetings between Kosaner, President Abdullah Gül and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the last 10 days were not sufficient to avert the crisis. Kosaner, Gül and Erdogan met Friday morning, after which Erdogan met with Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin. Gül tried unsuccessfully to calm down the tension through a statement he made Friday afternoon, before the resignations were announced.

“I hope that everything will be solved in a good way,” Gül told reporters after Friday prayers. Asked by a journalist if the recent meetings were “a sign of a problem” between the government and the military, the president said they were not.

Right after Gül made his statement Friday, however, an Istanbul court demanded the arrest of the commander of one of the country’s most strategic armies, threatening the efforts by the government and military to avert a crisis over the promotions of senior generals.

The 13th Istanbul Court for Serious Crimes on Friday unanimously accepted the indictment prepared by Prosecutor Cihan Kansiz, demanding a life sentence for Gen. Tasdeler, who served as Erdogan’s military advisor in 2007-2008.

Erdogan met with Ergin after the prosecutor’s demand was made public.

This year’s YAS was set to decide on key promotions to the positions of commander of the air and naval forces. Naval Forces commander Yigit, and Air Force commander Aksay were both scheduled to reach the end of their terms on Aug. 30.

The commander of the Turkish Land Forces, Gen. Ceylanoglu, had also been expected to retire due to age. However, filling the empty seats was already expected to cause problems with so many high-ranking and eligible generals behind bars in the Balyoz case. The only eligible candidate to replace Aksay had been considered to be is Lt. Gen. Mehmet Erten, who would have had to be promoted to the rank of general and then be appointed as the commander.

Balyoz is the code name for an alleged military coup plot against the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, drafted in 2003. According to the allegations, the military planned drastic measures to foment unrest in the country in order to remove the AKP from power.

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SBP cuts policy rate by 50 basis points

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Saturday slashed the discount rate by 50 basis points or 0.5 percent to 13.5 from 14, Geo News reported Saturday.

Acting Governor SBP Yasin Anwar while announcing the monetary police for the next two months here said the energy crisis and bad law and order situation adversely affected the growth and feared that the fiscal deficit could climb to 6.2 percent for the previous financial year.

He said the government debt is not an issue exclusively relating to 2011 rather it is a basic problem while the tax to GDP ratio presently stood at 8.6 percent which, he regretted, was at a very low level.

The acting governor of the central bank said improved exports and remittances helped make foreign payments and the trade deficit remained within a limit of 0.8 percent.

He said the foreign exchange reserves held by the SBP had surged to Rs14.8 billion while the rupee value slipped by 0.5 percent during the past fiscal year.

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50 dead in DR Congo shipwreck

KINSHASA: At least 50 people drowned and some 35 are reported missing after a boat accident on a river in the northwest of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Equateur province government said Friday.

The vessel, which was wrecked late Wednesday, was carrying at least 200 passengers and "up to yesterday (Thursday) we counted 115 survivors and 50 bodies fished from the water with difficulty," the government spokeswoman said. "The others are certainly lost or were dragged down by the water."

The large motorised barge, which was also carrying goods, collided during the night with another boat, which was empty, on the Tshuapa river, 115 kilometres (70 miles) east of the provincial capital Mbandaka, spokeswoman Rebecca Ebale Nguma said.

"The boat's manifesto indicated that 200 people were on board, but some of the survivors say there were about 350 people," Nguma added.

Overloading boats is a common practice in the DR Congo, and is also one of the main causes of the many shipwrecks in the vast central African country, which is studded with lakes and rivers. The mighty Congo river itself is one of the main transport routes.

Accidents are also caused by the bad or absent signposting of waterways, the inexperience of pilots and the lack of lights on boats. Many vessels carry no lifebelts or lifejackets.

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Good news for Seraiki areas this Ramzan: Babar

ISLAMABAD: Senator Babar Awan said Friday that the government would announce good news for Seraiki areas during this Ramzan and this would be a momentous event in the history of Pakistan, Geo News reported. Speaking to the media Awan added that the current government would implement orders of the Supreme Court and would complete its five year tenure.

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Seven devotees killed in Sariab road firing

QUETTA: At least seven devotees were killed and several others injured when unidentified armed men opened fire at them, rescue sources said.

According to sources, devotees were waiting for van at Sariab road when unidentified armed assailants opened fire killing four people on the spot while three succumbed to their injuries at the hospital.

The police said Kalashnikovs and pistols were using in the firing incident.

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World’s Most Beautiful Currency Notes

Have you ever been in another country and thought,” These folks really have some beautiful money?” Whether it was the colors, the portraits, or the overall design, good looking money is just a little more fun to spend.

So, what are the most beautiful currencies in the world? David Standish, author of The Art of Money , shares his comments and top picks. And even though he says the European Single Currency has driven many of the beautiful currency notes into extinction, he says there are still some spectacular notes to flash around.

Click ahead to see Standish’s thoughts on what he considers the most beautiful currencies.

A Costa Rican bank note for five colones. - It shows Rafael Yglesia Castro, president of Costa Rica from 1894 to 1902 and a Guaria Morada orchid, Costa Ricas national flower. The current series of bank notes is being replaced throughout 2010.

A Canadian bank note for five dollars, depicting children playing ice hockey. - The verse is from a Roch Carrier short story, and reads: "The winters of my childhood were long, long seasons. We lived in three places - the school, the church and the skating rink - but our real life was on the skating rink."

A colourful five dollar Australian note. - In 1965, Australia adopted the name "royal" for its currency, but it was later dropped in favour of the dollar.

A note for one Egyptian pound.

A 100 dirham note from the UAE, showing the World Trade Centre.

A five rupee note from Pakistan.

A five ringgit note from Malaysia

A 20 rand note from South Africa.

A colourful, floral 1000 note from French Polynesia

Thiland currency note.

Surinamese currency note

Bundras currency note

Newzealand currency note

Bahamas currency note

Libiya currency note

India currency note

Indonesia currency note

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Indian president voluntarily declares her assets

NEW DELHI: The largest democracy in the world India’s president Pratibha Patil has become the first president to voluntarily declare the details of her assets setting an example not only for the world but for the neighbouring countries also to emulate such worthy step taken by her.

Patil, who completed four years in office today, posted on her website www.presidentofindia.nic.in/assets.html the details of immovable properties worth Rs8.383 million and movable assets worth Rs16.6 million.

The president has a house in Amravati district of Maharashtra worth Rs3.96 million and a 3.82 hectares farm house worth Rs0.982 million. She has inherited 3.57 hectares agricultural land worth Rs0.781 million from her father in Jalgaon and another land worth Rs2 million in Dhule district.

Patil had purchased two agricultural plots of 1.19 hectares and 1.49 hectares in Jalgaon district in 1997-98 worth Rs0.364 million and Rs0.29 million respectively. For immovable properties, the president has primarily relied on traditional modes of investment like fixed deposits, PPF, gold and bonds of infrastructure companies.

She has fixed deposits in various banks worth Rs6.88 million, investment worth Rs2.9 million in Rural Electrification Corporation Limited bonds, Rs0.471 million in Post Office Savings Scheme and Rs1.26 million in Public Provident Fund of the State Bank of India, according to the property statement of March 31, 2011.

She has gold jewellery worth Rs3.1 million and silver articles worth Rs69,134 as well as Rs1.633 million in her savings bank accounts, besides Rs0.187 million cash in hand. As far as the share market is concerned, the president has invested only Rs21,775. She has also invested Rs66,640 in Sanjivini Savings and Investments Limited.

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Brooke Greenberg - Girl frozen in time may hold key to ageing

Brooke Greenberg (born January 8, 1993), is a now 17 year old girl from Reisterstown, Maryland, who has remained physically and cognitively similar to a toddler, despite her increasing age. She is about 30 inches (76 cm) tall, weighs about 16 pounds (7.3 kg), and has an estimated mental age of 9 months to 1 year.
Brooke's doctors have termed her condition Syndrome X. American scientists are keenly studying the DNA of a 17-year-old girl who still has the body and behaviour of a baby

Brooke - 17 years (left) and sister Carly - 14 years (right)

Scientists are hoping to gain new insights into the mysteries of ageing by sequencing the genome of a 17-year-old girl who has the body and behaviour of a tiny toddler.
Brooke Greenberg is old enough to drive a car and next year will be old enough to....

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Breastfeeding may cut asthma risk:

Exclusive breastfeeding appears to have another advantage -- it significantly cuts a child's risk of developing asthma, a new study has claimed.

The Dutch study of more than 5,000 children found that those who are not breastfed are up to 50 per cent more likely to exhibit asthmatic symptoms than those who are...

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