The Daily Times, Nov 2
NEW DELHI: When India’s central bank admitted discovering 400,000 fake notes in its currency reserves, many here woke up to the scale of the country’s counterfeit money problems.
Worse still, the embarrassing admission related to a survey from the last financial year to March 2009 and authorities say the problem has since got worse.
Police and the central bank have observed a tripling in the value of notes detected or seized in raids in recent years and authorities are convinced the source of the deluge is a …

By Khalid Mustafa
ISLAMABAD: The $11.3 billion Diamer-Bhasha Dam has hit snags due to 100-kilometre realignment of the Karakoram Highway (KKH), as the National High Authority (NHA) has jacked up its cost projections by a whopping 45 per cent, which is sure to increase the project cost manifold.
As a result, sources said, the Wapda had decided to go the course alone and show the door to the NHA. Wapda has also conveyed to the relevant authorities its intent to carry out the alignment itself and would involve the Frontier Works Organisation.
When …

When the latest 007 flick Quantum of Solace exploded on the world’s screens last year, its desert climax highlighted the fact that South America is not all steaming jungles and snowcapped peaks. The continent is also the site of the most arid place on earth — the stunning Atacama Desert in northern Chile.
The area is a fitting locale for part of the film’s plot, which involves the sinister Quantum organization in an attempt to cut off a country’s precious supply of fresh water. Only parts of Antarctica see less rainfall …