Tag: Corruption

BERLIN - Despite some improvements, oil and gas firms must do more to help stop corruption in the poor but resource-rich countries where they operate, watchdog Transparency International (TI) said on Tuesday. "Two-thirds of the world's poor live in resource-rich countries. They have a right to know how much money their governments get from companies to exploit these resources," Berlin-based TI said as it published a new report.
"It is good news that transparency is improving,

ISLAMABAD - Former Pakistan Test captain Salman Butt and paceman Mohammad Amir have lodged appeals against their bans for corruption at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, lawyers said Saturday. "We have filed a statement of appeal in the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport against the ban by the International Cricket Council anti-corruption tribunal," Butt's lawyer Yasin Patel told AFP by email.
Opening batsman Butt and fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Amir were all

ISLAMABAD - Despite the passage of over three months, a sub-committee of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Education has failed to submit its report to the committee on irregularities in the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) during recruitment of teachers.
The said sub-committee was constituted under Dr Nadeem Ehsan to look into various irregularities made by the FDE in recruitment of the teaching staff in MTT and TUGT cadre and other matter. However, the

KARACHI - The government is set to face another corruption scandal involving federal government officials and their relatives in a case involving fraudulently refunding billions of rupees on exports that never happened.
The allegations are carried in a letter sent to top government officials as well as the Prime Minister's House written by a concerned citizen, Muhammad Khalid Usman. He stated that the export companies involved in the case are registered under the name of Atif

PESHAWAR - The Peshawar Accountability Court on Monday indicted former commandant of Frontier Constabulary Malik Naveed and 2 other officials on charges of illegal appointments and alleged embezzlement in weapons purchase. Accountability Court Judge Syed Afsar Shah indicted Malik Naveed, ex FC chief and former provincial chief Ghaniur Rehman Wazir, the then deputy commandant and Hamid Hassan in the NAB reference.

DOHA - The bans given to Pakistan trio Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir for spot-fixing "will act as a strong deterrent" to others from corrupting the sport, the ICC said Sunday. The trio were found guilty of corruption by an ICC tribunal and former captain Butt was banned for 10 years, five of them suspended. Asif, 28, was banned for seven years with two suspended, while 18-year-old Amir was given a straight five-year ban.
"While I am deeply saddened that this case

ISLAMABAD - Leveling serious charges against the prime minister, former minister Azam Khan Swati said in the Senate on Monday that around Rs 10 billion were being embezzled every year in the Utility Stores Corporation (USC) because of mismanagement and corruption.
Swati said his attempts to contact the managing director had gone to waste since he refused to share any information, adding that this attitude of the MD should be referred to the Standing Committee of the Senate on

LAHORE - Punjab government's Anti Corruption Establishment (ACE) has started an inquiry against Punjab Text Book Board (PTB) Curriculum Wing Director Chiragh Din Arif for committing corruption and financial irregularities and making millions through favouring private publishers.
Sources in ACE disclosed that Chirgah Din Arif misused his powers and favoured private publishers to amass million and ACE in this connection had received an application which revealed Curriculum Wing

LAHORE - The Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab (TDCP) has become a corruption hub for which credit goes to the Punjab tourism secretary and Finance general manager who have caused losses and administrative setbacks under supervision of close aides of the Punjab CM, Pakistan Today has learnt.
In an attempt to control the damage, the Punjab CM, who is also chairman of the TDCP, has approved merger of the TDCP in the Punjab Forest Department on February 1. But Punjab Tourism

ISLAMABAD - An Indian Army court on Saturday convicted serving Lt General PK Rath in the Sukna land scam. Lt Gen Rath is the highest-ranking serving officer ever to be convicted in a court martial in India.
The Indian court ordered his court martial on three counts -for providing a no-objection certificate (NOC) for the construction of the building next to the army headquarters in Sukna, for signing a memorandum of understand (MoU) with a private builder and for not informing the

ISLAMABAD - The FIA has cleared former minister for religious affairs Hamid Kazmi from corruption allegations levelled on him regarding the Haj scam. According to an FIA report, former Haj director general Rao Shakil and middleman Ahmad Faiz did not transfer any amount in Kazmi's bank account therefore he was cleared of the charges.
The 21-page report stated that there was no evidence that Shakil and Faiz had transferred any amount in Kazmi's accounts in Muslim Commercial Bank

NEW DELHI - A growing scandal over Hindu militants linked to bombings in India has highlighted how the ruling Congress party and the main opposition are increasingly exchanging bitter barbs ahead of key state elections this year.
Congress, stung by graft allegations and food inflation that have hit its approval ratings, hopes to gain the initiative over the Bharatya Janata Party (BJP) after a report linking alleged Hindu militant bombers with its ideological parent organisation.

ISLAMABAD - Corruption, mismanagement and unauthorised practices turn out to be the prime features of the whole mechanism for the assessment, collection and disbursement of central zakat fund to the poor and needy of the country.
According to a report available with Pakistan Today, the lack of internal control is leading to the leakage of funds and improper utilisation of Zakat money. The report said the Central Zakat Administration (CZA) is not carrying out reconciliation of

LAHORE - Lahore High Court Chief Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry urged bar associations and lawyers to cooperate in eradication of bribery and corruption from courts and government departments with the same passion that was seen during the lawyers' movement for the restoration of independent judiciary. CJ Ijaz Chaudhry, while talking to a delegation of Tax Bar Association (TBA) Lahore, said, "If lawyers start pointing out corrupt elements with a national mission, they can root out the

NEW DELHI - Indian police on Wednesday questioned the top organiser of the Delhi Commonwealth Games as part of a widening corruption probe into the tainted October event. Suresh Kalmadi arrived mid-morning at the headquarters of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in New Delhi, where detectives quizzed him over suspect contracts for most of the day.
The Games, which were marred by venue delays and poor organisation, were also hit by claims of massive financial

BEIJING - China on Wednesday admitted its corruption problem was "still very serious" and pledged to work harder to crush widespread official graft and win the public's confidence.
In a new govt report on the anti-corruption drive, the communist rulers in Beijing reiterated that the country's "harmony and stability" depended on efforts to build a clean govt. It said the ruling party had shifted its efforts to stamp out graft in the past decade to focus on senior officials who

LAHORE - Former Foreign Affairs minister minister Khursheed Mahmood Kasuri has said that the rampant corruption has inflicted bigger losses to the economy than the three wars the country fought with India.
He was addressing a cake-cutting ceremony held in connection with Quaid-e-Azam's 134th birth anniversary in Lahore on Saturday. Kasuri said Pakistan might have reached its destiny if the rulers followed in footsteps of the country's founder.
He also alleged that the PML-N