Central Asia Star

The United Nations has scheduled a date for the exiting of NATO bodies inside Afghanistan on 2014. Before this date, the NATO officers will be training the Afghan military and provide them the essentials that would help boost their capabilities. As the deadline approaches, many citizens fear for the worst that can happen.

Recently, a police officer’s two children were shot to death by the Taliban. The police officer is one of the many security officials in Afghanistan who receive death threats should they not quit their job. Political analysts state that this might be a plan of the Taliban to weaken the government security structures in many areas so that they can easily take over once NATO leaves.

Citizens also fear that NATO’s withdrawal can ease the fears of many Taliban Warlords, who continue to hide in pockets of resistance in the area. However, Afghan authorities say citizens do not need to worry about their own security

Since the U.N. mission on Afghanistan, the Taliban were pushed back from their earlier state of domination in many regions of Afghanistan, to the mountains and caves of the desert, out of the cities. The Taliban were known for their brutality, often shooting women and their medieval treatment of women. They have also banned television and music in the territories they control and impose a harsh rule over their captured towns.

Source: NBC

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PPI Claims Can Rise Up To £16 Billion In Total

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What PPI Claims Management Companies Can Offer You

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) continues to battle 1,500 claims on a daily basis. Including valid, rejected claims, banks may face up to £16 billion in total for the compensation of all PPI in the UK today.

The FOS mentions that it has rented contractual spaces and hired new manpower to help deal with the PPI crisis. They recently reached the 500,000th mark of PPI claims in total. However, they mention that if banks continue to “drag their feet” in compensating claims, the costs become higher for both sides.

After their third quarter financial report, some banks may be driven in the red. The Royal Bank of Scotland declared an additional £400 million for PPI compensation, bringing their total bill up to £1.7 billion. HSBC continues to fight PPI setbacks amidst a £1 billion expenses shoot third quarter and may add more money to their already existing £1.1 bill. Lloyds leads the roster with over £5.3 billion in total for compensation being the biggest PPI mis seller in the country today.

Banks continue to blame claims management companies (CMC) such as PPICo.org and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) for the rising number of PPI claims in the country. However, CMCs mention that they are only helping hands and they look through each claim carefully to verify its authenticity before they process it to the FOS. The FSA recently called upon banks to invite their potentially mis sold customers to make a claim.

However, Natalie Ceeney, Chief Ombudsman of the FOS, states that banks should avoid complaining as it is their fault in the first place. The mis selling led to the exposure of bad banking practices. FSA’s managing director Martin Wheatley mentioned that banks will be subject to a reform in the banking incentives system, pointed out by Wheatley to be the core of PPI mis selling.

The outstanding peace and the continuous efforts of nation building in the central Asian countries has swept India to connect and build productive ties with its countries. India has recently made strategic agreements with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan namely with security agencies and defense forces in laying ground for further economic growth.

Indiain Vice President Hamid Ansari stated Wednesday that it is willing to help tackle the issues concerning the problems in Afghanistan’s nation building. They are ready to work with Afghanistan with regards to building a cooperative regional economic and security framework to ensure the economy’s growth, social harmony, democracy and rule of law is properly observed.

Analysts see that the easy way to build ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan, and India, would be depending on human wisdom and divine intervention because the two countries seemed to be avoiding and elusive of India itself.

Part of the Central Asian ties revolved around the fact that Punjab farmers can actually help develop the farms and other uncultivated land in the central Asian countries. Farmers in central Asia were scarce and Indian farmers only have small land holdings. Indian Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal stated that India and central Asia can benefit one another through this effort.

Badal also stated that Amritsar could be the center of Indian business in the entire Central Asian region.

Source: Hindustan Times

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Over 2.2 million claims for payment protection insurance have surfaced in the United Kingdom for the past six months this year alone. Due to the figures, the consumer group Which? states that PPI is the biggest financial scandal in the UK from history. The Financial Services Authority continues its crack down on bonus chasing banks and the Financial Ombudsman continues to deal with 1,500 claims a day.

Yes, you read the number right. It is indeed 1,500 claims that need addressing each day, all payment protection insurance claims. If you’re going to file your PPI claim today, you’ll find that you’ll need a bit more effort to ensure that your one in a million chance to get your repayments really works and gets you back all the money you’ve paid for the insurance.

The FOS’ customer services reports that it has fallen down a few numbers. Today, from 9/10 last year, it decides favor for customers around 7/10 cases. Not really a bad number, but Natalie Ceeney, the chief ombudsman states that bogus claims, which are part of the claims that they process, means that those filing their claims might lack evidence, or do not exactly know if they purchased the insurance in reality.

Claims management companies, such as PPIco.org, try to help customers know about their financing and if they might be mis sold the insurance policy. The FSA even states that PPI was mis sold in large numbers by financial advisers themselves. The so called “bonus chasers” have used ways to ensure that customers purchased high-rated products and additional products, such as PPI, and they were even trained for it. This left customers purchasing an insurance policy that they cannot make use of, and the pain of having to make a claim to get back their repayments.

Ensure that you can get back 100% of your PPI repayments. Consult with a claims expert today.

It was in June 2010 that Southern Kyrgyzstan majorities clashed with Uzbek minorities in the area. Around 500 were killed counting both sides and thousands lost their homes in the Osh and Jalal-Abad regions resulting from the clashes. Many of the victims were ethnic Uzbekistanis and members of minorities. Many of them were also sentenced to long prison terms.

The June 2010 incident was met with critical debate as to how the government provides equal justice for the minority groups in the Southern Kyrgyzstan region.

Elmurad Kasym states that the authorities of Kyrgyzstan intentionally wanted to remove the Uzbeks from the public. Preceding the violence were the closing of Uzbek schools in the area and many schools were slated to have a Kyrgyz curriculum. Uzbek children were now educated in the Kyrgyz language. It was stated by the local newspaper that local residents have suggested the curriculum.

This brought the attention of Uzbek and Tajik minorities to the issue. They state that Uzbek education, language and culture, along with Tajiks, are important to be taught to their children as much as the Kyrgyz language. However, authorities stated that while they are in Kyrgyzstan, one mode of respect is to speak their language.

Reports of Uzbek properties in cafes and restaurants were deserted by former owners and were taken over by Kyrgyz owners, now bearing Kyrgyz names. Some reports stated that the owners were forced out by criminals.

Analaysts state that clearly there is “something wrong” in the treatment of Uzbeks, which are clear signifiers of cultural oppression for the minority group.

Source: Asia Times Online

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Moves continue apace to deepen international trade links and ties between the United Arab Emirates and trading superpower China.

Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the financial and business hub connecting the region’s emerging markets with the markets of Europe, Asia and the Americas, says it has encountered positive interest from Chinese companies in its latest trip to China.

Equally, UAE-based companies are turning ever eastwards as they eye the growing international business opportunity which this latter-day “Silk Road” re-emergence represents. Indeed, a number of major national and international banks in Dubai are already offering banking services denominated in yuan.

As a first step, however, UAE import/export companies looking to do business with their Chinese counterparts would be well advised to check out import financing from HSBC UAE, for example, a bank which first opened its doors for business in Hong Kong in 1865!

The DIFC trip, which saw delegates visit Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, was led by Jeffrey Singer, Chief Executive Officer, DIFC Authority. Discussions centred on the role of Dubai as a financial and logistical hub for Chinese investment into the Middle East and Africa.

Mr Singer said that since its inception, DIFC had attracted major Chinese financial firms, who over the years had achieved significant growth in the region. He continued, “In our recent visit to China, we saw great interest from Chinese institutions looking to come into the region to benefit from the promising growth opportunities. DIFC is committed to growing business and trade relationships between

China and the Middle East, and to be a catalyst in the development of the new Silk Road. “China and the Middle East have been important trade and investment partners for centuries, but it was only relatively recently that volumes have risen dramatically. With the advent of high-technology, the scale today is many thousands of times greater and more complex, and DIFC is the ideal jurisdiction to access this opportunity.”

The trip to China was part of the New Silk Road Conference Series organised by Latham & Watkins in partnership with DIFC and with the support of Falcon & Associates and the Financial Times. Those who attended included major Chinese corporations across different industries with existing operations or planned expansion in the Middle East.

Since its launch in 2004, DIFC, a purpose-built financial free zone, has been committed to encouraging economic growth and development in the region through its strong financial and business infrastructure.

Currently, DIFC’s client base comprises almost 900 active registered firms, including 17 of the world’s top 25 banks, eight of the world’s 10 largest insurers, eight out of 15 top law firms, 10 of the top 20 money managers and seven of the top 10 consultant companies in the world.

Around 13,000 employees operate in an open environment complemented by international legal and regulatory standards.
DIFC offers its member companies benefits such as 100% foreign ownership, 0% tax rate, with no restriction on capital convertibility or profit repatriation.

It has its own independent financial and ancillary services regulatory body, the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA). It also has the DIFC Courts, which is an independent common law judiciary based in DIFC with jurisdiction over civil and commercial disputes in or relating to the Centre.

HSBC has more than 146 years of experience in Hong Kong and mainland China where it operates the largest branch network of any foreign bank. Talk to them about documentary credits, or factoring, or about any other aspect of international trade.
Click here for all the latest news from the Dubai International Financial Centre.

Recently, the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has declared that it had been receiving 1,500 claims a day for mis sold payment protection insurance claims. Among the giant UK banks, Barclays and Lloyds are the banks with the biggest claims received. Barclays had received over 19,000 claims this month while Lloyds arrived at 22,000.

Payment protection insurance has become the biggest financial scandal in ever in the UK states Which? CEO Peter Vicary-Smith. At the present rate, the £9 billion compensation package of Barclays, Lloyds, HSBC, RBS, Santander and other banks in the UK, the banks will need to set aside more money for compensation. Lloyd’s high amount of claims may deplete its reserves before the end of November.

Martin Wheatley, the managing director of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) states that financial advisers and a faulty incentives system is the main cause of mis sold PPI. Based on the FSA’s investigation regarding mis sold PPI, around 70% of claims states that financial advisers telling customers to purchase the insurance. Because of this, Wheatley will form the Financial Conduct Authority tasked with observing the incentives system and ensuring the customers get a fair deal from their financial institutions.

PPI or payment protection insurance intends to protect customers from outstanding debt if they can’t work because of accidents or unemployment. Given the nature of mis selling, the exclusions have rendered many mis sold PPI holders unable to claim. The high court urged the banks to refund everyone mis sold PPI after ruling in favor of customers.

The FSA estimates that the mis sold PPI crisis may last for two more years before it actually reduces and “lightens” up its load. The FOS has registered more than 600 employees to help customers deal with their situation and process the claims faster this year.

If you have a mis sold PPI claim, you will be contending with millions of payment protection insurance claims from different people. It is not just you who is troubled with the thousands of pounds you’ve lost. It is advised that you seek help from payment protection insurance claims experts such as www.PPIClaims.co to help you in making your claim ensure its success.

Reports from Russia indicate that it has re-assessed its military positions in Central Asia by leasing Russian military facilities in Kyrgyzstan while securing the shutdown of U.S. bases in the country as well. Kyrgyztan agreed and Russia gave $500 million for Kyrgyzstan’s debt to help its poor economic situation.

On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the agreement in his visit to Kyrgyzstan. The agreement entails the lease of the Russian airbase in Kant and other facilities until 2017. Kyrgyzstan is guaranteed ownership for 15 years including an option to extend such for five years.

Kyrgyzstan’s intention to remove the U.S. airbase near the Manas international airport near Bishek was confirmed by the signing of the agreement. Russia agreed to turn the Manas airport into a cargo transit hub for trade with Asia and Europe, which would be beneficial for the country’s economic development plans.

Russia and Kyrgyzstan will also be building and operating joint hydroelectric power stations in the country for $5 billion. Russia’s hand in the internal affairs of Kyrgyzstan concerning water shortages will be defined by this particular deal. Russia also promises the country help in developing its mining industry and agriculture and open trade routes with Russian markets through a membership in the Customs Union of former Soviet states.

Source: The Hindu

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In Kyrgyztan, medical services cost much more than they should. A new medical project intended to help HIV/AIDS victims has helped shed light on the issue. The project of the Global Fund, which has spent $62 million in Kyrgyztan since 2003, may be money adjusting to inflation, or may have been siphoned off by corruption.

During 2003 and 2010, the Global Fund directly delivered donations to the Kyrgyz government in the Health Ministry’s Republican Aids center. In February of 2011, the Global Fund shifted its money to the United Nations Development Program out of concerns of money spending by the Kyrgyzstan government.

Transparency International, the world corruption watchdog, states that Kyrygyzstan is a country that ranks in 126 out of 146 countries that suffer from corruption. An anonymous trade expert stated that a $7.5 million Asian Development Bank trade streamlining projet was lost to stalls on reforms while trying to get more money by subcontracting and payrolls.

The UNDP actually saved more money by contracting other suppliers and contractors other than those Kyrygyzstan has. The Republican AIDS Center has actually overspent $5 million of the Global Fund money due to the high prices of 22 medical suppliers, which were 300 percent higher when purchased by the Kyrygyzstan government.

However, the government of Kyrgyzstan states that the market changes affected the prices in the recent years. As the Global Fund only adjusted to the UNDP in 2011, the prices of medical supplies were still high.

Source: Eurasianet.org

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Iran, accused by western states for making nuclear weapons, encourages developing nations to oppose all sanctions coming from western countries pertaining to their nuclear program aimed at providing civilian benefits for energy and livelihood.

On Sunday, Iran welcomed 120 delegates to its Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) developing nations summit. Iran Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi stated at the start of the summit that opposing economic sanctions for non-aligned countries must be enacted.

The NAM had high security. The meeting, held in Tehran, had police and security units going around the entire district to beware of protests and prevent the 2009 catastrophe where millions caused riots in the streets.

Among the participants were fifty heads of government from other countries and eighty foreign ministers and higher. Iran aims to develop and grow Tehran-Cairo relations, which is greatly juxtaposed to their cultural roots as Shiite Iran is in opposition to Sunni Egypt.

The Irani Nuclear Program, which was reportedly attacked several times by viruses and other covert and electronic software, aims to provide energy to meet the demanding needs of the country. U.S. and most of the U.N. security council deem that the nuclear program is only a front for Iran to develop a nuclear weapons research program.

Source: Reuters

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