PAKISTAN AMERICAN BUSINESS ASSOCIATION

PABA NEWS Issue No. 15 March , 2015

For most, if not all, buying ones’ own home is a life-time dream, especially so if this is your first. But, this

dream could well turn into a nightmare if you have not done your homework properly and made necessary financial

calculations.

It is very important to set your priorities while making a final decision which should be made only when you are

financially prepared to do so, rather than doing so on the considerations of interest rate and low house prices.

There are arguments for and against about buying a house on cash rather than on mortgage as it will save you

from paying interest on the loan, besides doing away with many closing costs such as appraisal fees etc. Buying a

home through financing has its own benefits, especially so if your preferences are not to tie up too much cash to real

estate, which is a long-term saving.

But, if mortgage is the only option, as is the case with most of the people, it is

very important to understand how mortgage rates work to avoid being landed in a situa-

tion where you find itself struggling with making monthly payments. It is therefore,

essential, to keep certain things in mind.

Calculating Your Monthly Mortgage Payments: One of the most important

factors to consider when buying a new home is affordability. As a general rule, mort-

gage payments should not exceed 25-30 percent of your monthly take-home pay.

Also in this Issue

Millennials & Politics

Oscar Award

Pakistani Scientists

Pakistan Briefs

Continued …….. P - 2

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By Haseeb Javed

Buying a House: Calculating

Your Mortgage Payments

…..Continued from P - 1

The best way to know what you can afford is to determine the possible payment range by comparing

the price of the home with other essential ingredients.

Figure Out How Much You Want To Borrow: Your first step to calculating your monthly mortgage

payment is knowing how much you want to borrow. This can be determined by subtracting your down payment amount

from the purchase price of the home, which will give you the amount that you will need to request from a lender.

Know Your Rates: The next step is to determine the current interest rates for the purchase of a home. Rates

vary and may change often, so check with your lender for cur-

rent rates. It's worth noting that the interest rates you re-

ceive will, in part, be based on your credit history. This means

that knowing your FICO score and credit rating will give you a

good idea as to how your interest rates will be calculated.

Choose Your Loan Term: Your monthly mort-

gage payments will be determined by a number of factors, in-

cluding the term of your loan. If you were to borrow $250,000,

your monthly payments would be less with a 30-year mort-

gage than with a 15-year mortgage. The reason is because it

would take larger monthly payments to get the loan paid off

quicker, which is why you will need to select a loan term be-

fore calculating your payments.

Additional Costs To Consider : Your total mort-

gage payment will include taxes, homeowner's insurance and

possibly even private mortgage insurance (PMI) if you provide

less than 20 percent down and your loan requires it.

Facts & Figures: Now that you know how much you need to borrow, have chosen your loan term and are

familiar with the current interest rates, it's time to calculate your payment. Most lenders offer a mortgage calculator on

their Web site or you can get an estimate by speaking with your lender. If you still need help in calculating your poten-

tial monthly mortgage payments, don't hesitate to ask your REALTOR, mortgage broker or lender.

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Haseeb Javed is associated with Keller Williams Realty, licensed in Virginia.

Please contact him for any information for information and guidance. He is also the

member of PABA. His contact number is 703-850-7621. haseebrealty@gmail.com

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Most millennials are not familiar with party structures they just want to be involved. So, it is im-

portant for us to find non-conventional

ways to get millennials involved in the

sometimes-mundane party processes

especially on the state levels.

Whether it’s happy hours, forums

on topics that millennials are passionate

about, or just group discussions- we are

out on the ground listening to the con-

cerns of millennials at every turn, because

we are the future.

National party leaders have re-

sponded very well with our generations’

concerns but more can always be done in

terms of addressing issues to young

voters.

The biggest issues I hear are: the

economy, jobs, and student loan debt. One might ask why? I believe, students are graduating from college with very

bleak job prospects and in most cases very high debt; which forces them (if they can) to enter into the work force in

an awkward place.

I think millennials are tired of the status quo. We are running the risk of being the first generation that may not

do better than our parents’ generation. And though many may call our generation impatient, the fact of the matter is:

we're smart, we’re results driven, and we're ready to take our seat at the table.

Our leaders are responding to our issues by certainly listening, but it’s now incumbent upon them to act.

Simply put, our generation wants leaders to focus on the economy, jobs and reform on issues such as student loan

debt and school choice.

We are seeing these issues being addressed in many policies and bi-partisan initiatives that have been put out

by leaders in both parties. Many of our elected officials have the capacity and policies in place to make good change.

However, I think that the political process of governing has become polarizing and extremely convoluted due to the

24/7 news media cycle, talk radio, social media, and the instantaneous sound bites that come out and fire up the ex-

treme sides of both parties.

It’s important to remind our elected officials that as leaders they have a tremendous opportunity to impact

positive change for issues that we all believe in --as long as they get results; even if that sometimes means compro-

mising.

Reminding them that leadership: is doing the right thing at the right time so that opportunities aren’t missed to

enact policies that are good for millennials and the future of the country as a whole. So if you’re a millennial get in-

volved! If you know one, encourage them, because millennials are the future and the future is now.

Challenges Facing Millennials in Modern Day Political Parties By Garrison R. Coward

Garrison R. Coward is the Campaign Manger for Congressman Rob Wittman (VA-01). Before joining

Congressman Wittman, Garrison served as the Political Director for the Republican Party of Virginia. He

graduated Hampden-Sydney College with a degree in Economics and is currently pursuing his Master’s

Degree from The George Washington University.

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Two Americans of Pakistani descent will be running for U.S. Congress in 2016, a year that will elect

the country’s new President in November.

Ali Mirza, a political consultant, is a Democratic candidate from New York and will contest the 5th Congres-

sional District. Dean H. Malik, a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, is a Republican candidate and will vie for the 8th

Congressional District of Pennsylvania.

The United States is in the midst of a lengthy

electoral process to elect the next president and both

the Republican and the Democratic Party are holding

their primaries and caucuses to choose their nominees

for the White House.

“I am first and foremost, an American. I am

running for Congress as an expression of my love of

country and belief in service, “said Malik on his web-

site. He wants to fight for reform in electoral and legis-

lative processes and wants to the government to work

for all the American people, “not just for the wealthy

and will connected”.

His parents are professors at Villanova Univer-

sity. Malik is also a former criminal prosecutor and a

lawyer in practice. He served in the Iraq War in 2007

and was deployed again to the Horn of African to plan

counter-terrorism training missions with African allies

in the Global war on terror. His wife is an nursing stu-

dent and their four children attend school in the Central

Bucks District.

According to Mirza’s website, he holds a bache-

lorette degree in International Relations. After moving

from Pakistan to the United States, Mirza Developed a

successful small business that grew into a multi-million

dollar company, according to his website.

“But he soon realized that not everyone had the

same opportunities to succeed as he had. Whether

through discrimination, economic hardship, or political

disenfranchisement, too many people were denied their

chance to achieve the American Dream, and he was determined to help.”

He founded both the Pakistani American Democratic Club of NY and Americans of Pakistani Heritage,

organizations that sought to establish ties between elected officials and Pakistani-Americans as well as help them

assimilate into American culture.

He also coordinated interfaith services for the Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities before and after the

9/11 events, providing a sense of unity in the wake of that tragedy.

Two 2016 Congressional Candidates Are American-Pakistanis

Dean H. Malik (Source: Malik’s website )

Ali Mirza (Source: Mirza’s website)

Filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy made a history this month by

becoming the first Pakistani woman to win two Oscar awards.

Chinoy’s film “A Girl in the River – The Price of Forgiveness” bagged the

coveted award for highlighting the issue of honor killings, a malaise that

has plagued the Pakistani society for decades.

She first won the Oscar in 2012 for her documentary “Saving Face” which

highlighted the issue of acid attacks, yet another social ill that has inflicted

untold miseries on thousands of Pakistani women.

Her 2016 Oscar-winner documentary is a story about an 18-year woman

who survived the heinous tradition of honor-killing , when her family mem-

bers shot and dumped her into river, to tell her story. Many families consid-

er it as an insult to family for a woman to fall in love and choose her own

husband.

Chinoy informed the audience that she met Pakistan’s Prime Minister Na-

waz Sharif in February who, after watching the documentary, said that he will change the law on honor killing. “That

is the power of film.”

Born in Karachi in 1978, Chinoy did her early schooling at the Karachi Grammar School and later studied

mass communications at Stanford University in the U.S.

Nergis Mavalvala, a Pakistani-American profes-

sor, was member of a team of scientists and engineers that

discovered gravitational waves in space, something that

Albert Einstein had predicted nearly a century ago but

had not been proven yet.

Being dubbed as discovery of the century, the discov-

ery by Mavalvala and her team at Massachusetts Institute of

Technology (MIT) has years of investment and support and

opens up new avenues of exploring cosmos.

The landmark discovery of gravitational waves, firs

detected by scientists last September, came about using a pair

of giant laser detectors located in the states of Louisiana and

Washington. They are called Laster International Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO).

Mavalvala migrated from Pakistan to the U.S. as a teen and attended Wellesley College where she made her

mark in the physics department.

Another Pakistani scientist, Imran Khan, also contributed to the discovery. He is a PhD candidate at Italy’s

Gran Sasso Science Institute, one of several institutes which were involved in the research.

Pakistan-born Scientist Shares Honor in Gravitational Waves Discovery

Pakistani Filmmaker Wins Second Oscar

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Samir Iqbal, a Pakistani-

origin Texas University electrical

engineer, has developed a device

that can help diagnose the fatal dis-

ease of cancer at its early stages and

make it possible to start an early

treatment.

Cancer defies detection in early

stages and is the second leading cause

of death in the United States. Nearly

one million people are diagnosed with

this disease in the United States alone, according to the American Cancer Society. About

14 million new cases and 8.2 million cancer-related deaths were

reported in 2012.

Iqbal and his team used the inherent properties of the

human cell walls to create a nanotextured wall that fools blood

samples into believing they it is an actual tissue, a statement of

University of Texas, Arlington quoted Iqbal as saying. “The

cancer cells behave differently as they come into contact with

the nanotextured walls. They dance.”

Iqbal said that identifying those dancing cells will help detect cancer cells at a very

early stage and it would be possible to start the treatment earlier than allowed by the cur-

rent technology. (Cell image courtesy of Renjith Krishnan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net )

Pakistani Engineer Makes Device For Detecting Cancer

The Chairman of the Pakistan American Business

Association, Mr. M. Siddique Sheikh, called on Pakistan’s

Ambassador to the United States, Jalil Abbas Jilian, and dis-

cussed matters relating to the Pakistani-American community.

Ambassador Jilnai told Mr. Sheikh said the government of

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif holds the overseas Pakistani commu-

nity in high esteem and fully acknowledges their contribution to the

welfare and development of their motherland.

The Ambassador said the government is working on several

initiatives to encourage Pakistani expatriates to invest in Pakistan which offers best

incentives to foreign investors in the region.

Mr. Sheikh shared with the Ambassador various projects PABA is working to help

American Pakistanis and motivate them to unite and become an effective voice in the

American society. The Ambassador appreciated the efforts and assured his full support in

this regard.

Chairman PABA Meets Pakistan’s Ambassador Jilani

*Overseas Ministry Planning Event For Expatriates The Board of Governors of Overseas Pakistan Foundation has decided to hold convention of

overseas Pakistanis in 2017 to address their concerns and attract them to invest in Pakistan.

Prominent members of the Pakistani diasphora including prominent businessmen, philanthro-

pists, professionals and Pakistani investors will be invited from all over the world to participate in the convention.

* Pakistan Launches Online Complaint System for Expatriates The Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis has launched a 3-years project titled “Online Complaint

Management System for Migrant Workers and Overseas Pakistanis” to resolve issues and problems being faced by mi-

grant workers and overseas Pakistanis. The project was launched on Feb. 10. The project is being supported by the Eu-

ropean Union and the International Labour Organization. The project aims to address the grievances of overseas Paki-

stanis on fast track basis. There are an estimated 8 million Pakistanis living in different countries.

* Pakistan Mulls Law For Settlement of Int’ Trade Disputes

Pakistan’s Commerce Ministry plans to soon introduce a draft of Trade Dispute Resolution Organization (TDRO) in

the Parliament this year. The proposed Law is designed to introduce a state-of-the-art, comprehensive regime for the

swift, efficient and effective resolution of international import and export complaints and disputes. The new Law will

bridge the trust deficit between local and foreign businessmen and will have linkages with the international trade dis-

pute resolution organizations and departments, a government minister said.

* U.S. Energy Delegation Visits Pakistan

A US Energy expert delegation led by Mr. Jonathan Elkind Advisor to US Mission on Energy met Pakistan’s minister

for Water and Power, Khawaja Muhammad Asif in Islamabad and discussed ways and means for cooperation in the

field of energy. The meeting especially focused on energy conservation and renewable energy resources. The US gov-

ernment is helping Pakistan overcome its chronic energy shortages and has helped in many projects to boost power

supplies.

*WB President Lauds Pakistan For Improving Economy

Dr. Jim Yong Kim, President World Bank visited Pakistan on Feb. 9 to discuss ongoing cooperation between Pakistan

and the Bank. In his meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, he expressed his full support for the government’s

tough economic decisions. Dr. Jim told the Prime Minister said under his leadership, Pakistan has witnessed phenome-

nal improvements in three key areas – security, energy and macroeconomic stability. The president of World Bank said

that the country’s important strategic location between the world’s two largest consumers markets offers unique oppor-

tunities to Pakistan for further economic development.

*VimpelCom CEO Explores Pakistan’s Telecom Market The Chief Executive Officer of VimpelCom, the world’s largest telecommunications provider, met Pakistan’s Prime

Minister Nawaz Shari at his official residence in the capital Islamabad and discussed with matters pertaining to telecom

industry in Pakistan. Pakistan is one of the largest telecom market in the South Asian region and many international

companies are operating in the country of nearly 190 million people.

*Pakistan, U.S. Holds Sixth Round of Strategic Dialogue The sixth round of Ministerial level Pakistan-US Strategic Dialogue was held in Washington on Feb.9-March to review

the progress made so far in the process aimed to further strengthen ties between the two countries. The Adviser to the

Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz, and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry led their respective sides at the

meeting. T

Pakistan Briefs

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Editorial Team :

M. Siddique Sheikh

Shakeel Tufail

Augustine Anthony

Khalid Noufal

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