Community News (V11-I6)

Mohammed Grimeh appointed Standard Chartered Bank’s head of trading

NEW YORK, NY–Standard Chartered Bank appointed Mohammed Grimeh to the newly created position of head of trading and deputy head of global markets, America. He will be responsible for managing foreign exchange, interest rate, credit, and commodities trading across G10 countries and emerging markets.

Grimeh was most recently with Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc where he had been global head of emerging markets.

He started his career in 1990 as a Commodity Options trader at Societe Generale based in Paris. Mr. Grimeh graduated from Ecole Centrale de Paris with an Engineering Degree in Applied Mathematics.

Chicago street named after Benazir Bhutto

CHICAGO, IL–  portion of the famous Clark Street in Chicago’s Roger’s Park district has been named as “Benazir Bhutto Way” in recognition of her long struggle and services for promotion of democracy in Pakistan. The Pakistani-American community initiated the proposal and got it approved from the city through the support of Joe Moore, the local area alderman.

The unveiling ceremony of the plaque was jointly performed by Pakistan’s Consul-General in Chicago, Aman Rashid, Alderman Joe Moore and Senior Vice- President of Pakistan People’s Party (US) Ijaz Farrukh. A portion of the Devon Avenue, a major east-west thoroughfare in the Chicago metropolitan area, is named after Pakistan’s founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah.

San Joaquin Board approves Muslim prisoner settlement

The San Joaquin County Board approved  a $500 settlement to a state prison inmate who claimed that county jail personnel deprived him of his rights as a Muslim . Kifa Muhammad had claimed that Muslims at San Joaquin County Jail in French Camp were not allowed to keep a sack lunch in their cell during the holy Ramadan holiday in November 2001. Muslims fast during daylight hours during Ramadan.

Jail personnel at the time gave Muhammad and other Muslim inmates breakfast before dawn and dinner after sunset, according to Kristen Hegge, the county’s chief deputy county counsel.

Pakistani Americans ask Obama for an even handed policy

WASHINGTON D.C–The Pakistan American National Alliance (PANA), a US-wide coalition of Pakistani-American organizations,  held a press conference at National Press Club in DC on Monday, Jan 26 to urge the Obama Administration and the US Congress to shun the anti-Pakistan campaign  launched by Indian Task Force on Tuesday, Jan 27 to “demand” the US should “confront” Pakistan.

“We want to inform the Obama Administration that they should pursue US interest in the context of world peace and stability instead of lending credence to interests of any one community,” says PANA Chair Dr Muhammad Ashraf Toor.

By introducing an amendment to the Biden-Lugar Bill (S. 3263), the Indian Task Force is trying to acquire the capacity to micromanage Pakistan’s internal affairs.

PANA leadership contends that this anti-Pakistan campaign by the Indian Task Force will revive old hostilities, re-polarize Indian and Pakistani communities, jeopardize US interests, undermine prospects for peace in South Asia and weaken the centrist force while strengthening the extremists.

PANA has proposed a partnership for peace to eradicate violence and extremism by seeking to address their root causes.

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