Kalistan

[Doc]

Kalistani News in Brief:  Empress Issues New Currency
New Government named; Kalistan acknowledges Lodamese Missile Tests
Kaliburg Free City,  Grand Duchy of Ananto
October 9, 5579


New Currency will be traded 1:1 through Central Bank Until December 31, 5584

New Imperial Currency issued
Her Imperial Majesty has approved designs for new Imperial currency to replace the long used Kalistani Ruble, which was a relic itself from Kalistan's Republican past.  The measure was approved by Her Imperial Majesty after it was revealed that the Kalistani ₭20 bill was among the most counterfeited bill in Terra, leading to higher than normal costs for capital control and enforcement.  "For a currency that is as tightly controlled as the Kalistani Ruble was, year after year we saw higher than expected amounts of Rubles returned through the Bank" said Lucas Reed, of the Ministry of Finance, Treasury Department.  "Last year, the Central Bank destroyed more than ₭43 million in counterfeit bills that came through processing, about 45% of them Kalistani 20s.  A redesign has been long overdue and now technology makes it possible to create notes that are significantly more difficult to reproduce.  It is our hope that clamping down on counterfeiting will reduce costs of maintaining the currency in Kalistan and will lead to additional follow on savings in other areas." 

The New Currency, issued and backed by the Ministry of Finance, is currently being exchanged on a 1:1 Basis by the Central Bank for all deposits, which can be withdrawn in Imperial Currency, and is legal to use across Kalistan as of last year.  The Old Currency will continue to be redeemed at 1:1 until December 31, 5584, when it will no longer be accepted by the Central Bank for deposits, and will become worthless.  All foreign holders of Kalistani Currency will be able to redeem older currency 1:1 at the Central Bank or one of its foreign cambios until December 31 5580, after which point ratio will drop from 1 Imperial to ₭1 to 1Imperial to ₭2, which represents a significant discount for the Empire, and a hopefully encourages foreign holders to trade the old sums in for the new bills sooner than later.  Those with electronic holdings will be automatically converted at no cost to them.

The new currency is brightly colored, and features a number of new security measures to prevent counterfeit.  In addition to intricate designs, the bills uses special fabric based paper, as opposed to standard currency paper, and contains watermarks that can be seen when held up to the light, ultraviolet coloration that reveal the currency's valuation under a black light, and a security inlay that can be both scanned under a RF-ID reader to reveal the authenticity of the bill as well as felt by those taking the bills.  On the 20, the 50, and the 100, there is actually 20k gold leaf inlaid in the currency, which, while not worth much in and of itself, will make counterfeiting those bills large scale very expensive to counterfeiters.  "Another feature is that the bills are all slightly different sizes," said Reed.  "It makes creating a template for large scale counterfeiting operations a lot more expensive, and counterfeits become a lot easier to spot if the money is a strange size."    

The designs were produced by professional artists in each of Kalistan's Free Cities, and feature famous political and cultural features. 
*  The Imperial One features a photo of Socialist Premier Omar Al-Khali, whose Administration kicked off the Kalistan's Age of Affluence, when Kalistan finally became a major regional power and a cultural force in Seleya, while the reverse shows poppy fields in Odufaray in the late afternoon. 
*  The Imperial 5 has a portrait of Jonas Bennots-Plum, who is considered to be the founder of Kalistani New Branch Brethrenism, which is the predominant brand of Brethrenism now practiced in Terra, while the reverse features a creative rendition of a street scene in Old Davon. 
*  The Imperial 10 features a photo of Jennifer Stepanov, who won FOMAT in Vascania, and is considered to be one of the greatest Kalistani songwriters, while the reverse features an artist's rendering of the Upper Zappa River Valley in Ananto. 
*  The Imperial 20 features a portrait of Socialist President Poppy Smith Bennots, who died in the defense of Ananto when the island was invaded by Indrala in the 3980s, and the reverse is a view of coastal Dulnerstaad, with their famous sea otters featured. 
*  The Imperial 50 contains a portrait of Emperor William I Ananto, whose reign was peaceful, but was the last Emperor before the Republican interregnum, with the back showing the impressive skyline of downtown Sulari, along with a small part of Port Elga in the foreground. 
*  The Imperial 100 Contains a portrait of Empress Nicolette I Ananto, considered The Great, with the reverse showing the Wilson Point Bridge that connects Wilson Point with Imperial City in Kaliburg and spans the entrance to Davon Bay.

New Government Named
Her Imperial Majesty has approved a new list of Ministers for the Government of the Anantonese Empire.  The bill will be put to the National Assembly for final passage.  The new Government, helmed by Her Imperial Majesty's Chancellor of the Empire, Sir Bradley Downs, includes, for the first time, Gaduri Nationals who represent Gaduri constituencies in the National Assembly.  "We re-districted last year to include additional seats for 10 Gaduri at large Assemblymembers," said the Chancellor.  "The Official bill to enlarge the Assembly comes with this bill, and the at large Gaduris, two from each Duchy will have full voting privileges.  The only requirement is that they join the Institutional Party, and faithfully represent the interests of their respective constituencies."  This act does not affect the action of Gaduri's Government or legislature in anyway, and in fact, Gaduris are forbidden to be seated in both legislatures.  "It is a way to ensure that there are Gaduri voices at the table as well, and that Gaduri Interests are fairly represented by Gaduri Nationals themselves.  And we wanted to also bring them into Government to demonstrate our commitment to Gaduri integration."  New faces include Marian Jones, the incoming Minister of Finance, who has already gone to work and was key to spearheading the new Currency Program, and Dr. Dena Alonzo, who has to date headed the Imperial Space and Communications Agency.  The new Government will meet with Her Imperial Majesty next month.

Kalistan Acknowledges Lodamese Missile Tests
Incoming Minister of Defense, Captain Jessica Miller officially confirmed Kalistan's acknowledgement of Lodamese Missile testing in the Karzon Strait.  "We thank the government of Lodamun for being willing to work with the Kalistani 4th Fleet over the missle tests.  Their early warning allowed us to shift our operations to both avoid the impact areas, and to coordinate with the Lodamese Navy to keep both military and civilian traffic safe through the Strait."  The Captain said that Kalistan recognizes that Lodamun plays a key role in Continental defense against modern weaponry that may be aimed at Seleya.  "The proliferation of missile technology in the world is troubling," said Captain Miller.  "But Lodamun's development and testing of defensive anti-missile missiles is a welcome development, should other nations wish to aime their weapons at Northern Seleya.  The Guardian Missile system that the Lodamese are developing will play a major role in Continental security, and Kalistan looks forward to seeing what Lodamun does with that weapons system." 

Captain Miller confirmed that Kalistan did not have a role in the Missle tests.  "No, Kalistan did not participate directly.  We were able to coordinate with the Lodamese Government in helping to direct civilian traffic to safe channels during the test, and served enthusiastically in an indirect, peacekeeping role to ensure that Lodamun could conduct its test successfully while keeping bystanders and merchant traffic safely out of harm's way."  The Captain reiterated that Kalistan's own rocket program will not produce missiles for military application.  "Lodamun can develop its missiles--in this they are not different from nations like Lourenne or Beiteynu, who have their own missle programs.  There is no difference we can see there.  As for Kalistan, we are content to launch satellites," said the Captain.