| Unhappy CBR men mull early retirement
KARACHI: Many of the senior officers of Central Board of Revenue are not happy with the policies being introduced by the organization and have decided to retire early, sources told The News.
Many of them have already resigned and those who are young want to leave and join some other government departments, sources said.
A very senior officer of Customs said many officers currently serving the CBR want to join provincial government departments, as they are not happy with the working conditions in the single largest revenue collecting authority of the country.
A major factor of resentment among the officers is the induction of military officers on higher posts.
While many other government departments have got used to be directed by the military men, this is the first time that the military officers have made inroads in the CBR.
Hopefuls question pension funding
In recent campaign mailers, challengers vying for Lake Zurich mayor and three village board seats criticize the village's declining contributions to its police and fire pension funds. Mayoral candidate Rich Sustich, leading the Citizens United for a Responsible and Enduring Lake Zurich party, vows his group would fully fund employee pensions, if elected. "The trend is to no longer even make the required payment on a year-to-year basis," said Sustich. "What is the advantage to the residents of the village to no longer fund those at the level we were at before?" Acting Village President John Tolomei, leading a slate of incumbents under the Lake Zurich First Party banner, said the issue of pension funding is not so simple as challengers think. He said the village's contributions to the funds have gone up and down over the years, but there is nothing wrong with their overall health.
Bill opens Social Security access
TALLAHASSEE - Without debate, the Legislature is poised to pass a law that gives private companies continued access to individual Social Security numbers for business purposes. A bill that sped through a House council Wednesday re-enacts a 5-year-old law that restricts public access to Social Security numbers, and a similar bill awaits a Senate vote. Florida's public records exemptions are periodically reviewed and re-enacted by lawmakers. The 2007 version contains provisions favored by lobbyists for banks, credit card companies, news media organizations and for-profit data "aggregators" such as ChoicePoint and Lexis-Nexis. They depend on Social Security numbers found in all kinds of government records to provide accurate data to banks, police agencies and other clients.
Former commissioner denies any coverup in RCMP pension fund scandal
OTTAWA (CP) - Giuliano Zaccardelli, former commissioner of the RCMP, was accused Monday of lying under oath as he defended himself against charges that he promoted a coverup of the mishandling of the Mounties' pension and insurance fund.
Zaccardelli also told the Commons public accounts committee that he never punished a whistleblower with an unwanted transfer.
Ron Lewis, a retired RCMP staff sergeant, who originally raised the complaints about nepotism, contracting problems and misuse of pension funds, said Zaccardelli was lying in some of what he told the committee Monday.
Other witnesses flatly contradicted Zaccardelli on other issues.
At one point, as Zaccardelli denied there were ever any "punishment transfers" in the RCMP, an audible gasp of disbelief went through the audience.
Pension 'sparked hostage drama'
Cape Town - A gripe about pension legislation favouring women appears to have led to Thursday's hostage drama at the Human Rights Commission's (HRC) Cape Town office. HRC chief executive Tseliso Thipanyane said the hostage-taker earlier had lodged a complaint with the commission about the legislation. "He had previously asked the commission to intervene as he thought the legislation was a violation of the right to equality on the basis of age." The 61-year-old man was arrested by police after holding up the commission's Western Cape chairperson Ashraf Mohammed at gunpoint. The hostage-taker was said to have been protesting against the fact that women qualified for state pensions from the age of 60 while men had to be 65. Thipanyane said the commission believed his grievance was valid, although it strongly condemned the man's conduct.
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