Major part of remittances into Pak illegal, admits financial Advisor

September 25th, 2009 NYC mayor: Taking copter to U2 show not so 'green'NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg admits that taking a helicopter to the U2 show might not have been the most environmentally friendly way to travel. The billionaire — who likes to portray himself as a national environmental leader — travels frequently by helicopter and private plane, but rarely talks about it.

September 17th, 2009 UNITED NATIONS - The Cuban government considers US President Barack Obama's decision to end restrictions on Cuban-Americans' travel and remittances to the island to be "insufficient", Havana's diplomatic representatives said here. "The media and diplomatic offensive implemented by the US government could induce some, mistakenly, to believe that the dismantling of the embargo has begun," Cuba's delegation to the UN said in a statement.

September 5th, 2009 LONDON - Britain's Justice secretary Jack Straw has admitted for the first time that trade and oil deals with Libya played a very big part in the handling of the Lockerbie bomber's case. He said trade was a major influence on his decision to include Abdelbaset Al Megrahi in a prisoner transfer agreement with Libya signed two years ago, just as BP was seeking a multi-billion pound deal there.

August 27th, 2009 LONDON - Pakistan and Britain have agreed to facilitate the return of thousands of Pakistanis who are detained or living illegally in the United Kingdom. Interacting with media persons after a meeting with British Home Secretary Allan Johnson here, Pakistan Interior Advisor Rehman Malik said both countries have reached an accord to facilitate the return of the illegal migrants.

July 30th, 2009 DHAKA - Bangladesh could receive $10.87 billion in remittances in the current fiscal from its vast manpower employed abroad if the global oil price does not fall, the World Bank has said. It has said that remittance inflow increases when a country's economy goes through hardship.

July 23rd, 2009 UNITED NATIONS - The UN Security Council Thursday decided to extend its mission in Nepal by six months until January next year. The decision was taken through a vote by the Security Council members.

July 13th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The worldwide recession has led immigrants in wealthy countries to cut back sharply on how much money they send back to their home countries, according to a World Bank report released Monday. Remittances to developing countries jumped 15 percent in 2008 to $328 billion, but will plummet 7.3 percent in 2009, the World Bank predicted, revising its earlier forecast of a 5-percent decline this year.

July 12th, 2009 DHAKA - Bangladeshs trade deficit with its principal partners India and China will cross $5.5 billion this fiscal, keeping up the pattern of higher imports and lower exports. The economy would, however, be helped by remittances from its large manpower working abroad and the government is trying hard to sustain in the face of the global downturn, officials of Bangladesh Bank predict.

June 26th, 2009 LONDON - Lord West, a Security Advisor to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, has warned that people owning high-tech mobile phones may be at risk of having their personal information hacked. He said that he himself used a "Stone Age" Nokia handset to avoid any security risks.

June 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Senior associate editor and bureau chief of The Hindu Harish Khare will be the media advisor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said reliable sources. Khare, 62, has a Phd in political science from Yale University and has an illustrious career in journalism for over 35 years.

May 24th, 2009 CHENNAI - National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.

May 12th, 2009 Ex-political fundraiser goes on trial in NYCNEW YORK — A federal prosecutor in New York City has accused former top Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu (SHU) of forcing others to make illegal political contributions. Assistant U.S.

March 26th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - An interim investigation report over the terror attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore has indicated that there was a complete security lapse which led to the Lankan players being sprayed with bullets. The report also points out towards a possible involvement of a foreign hand in the attack, however, it does not have anything substantial which could unveil the perpetrators.

February 5th, 2009 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan Friday asked the central government to help the large number of the state's diaspora who have lost their jobs in the Middle East.

December 24th, 2008 CHANDIGARH - The Congress party and the mayor of the city Thursday demanded that S.F. Rodrigues, the administrator of the union territory of Chandigarh immediately step down and a central agency probe be initiated to look into all the major deals carried out during his tenure.