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  • Pakistan decides to ease visa regulation policy for Afghans

    Pakistan decides to ease visa regulation policy for Afghans

    In a federal cabinet meeting held on June 28, the government decided to ease the visa regulation policy for Afghans to encourage bilateral trade with Afghanistan in the hopes that this would benefit both the country’s economies.

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif was presiding over the federal cabinet meeting.

    PM Shehbaz issued orders that six-month multiple-entry visas be given to the transporters from Afghanistan. The interior ministry has been given the power to extend this period to one year.

    A sub-category will also be introduced under the work visa category in the online visa system. The visa applications will be assessed on the basis of their existing passports and nationalities instead of their country of origin.

    The federal cabinet noted that this decision comes in an effort to promote bilateral trade with Afghanistan.

  • Video: Bride breaks down after finding dead father at her wedding

    Video: Bride breaks down after finding dead father at her wedding

    A man in India gifted his sister a wax statue of their late father at her wedding. The video of the bride’s emotional reaction after finding the statue of her dead father has gone viral on social media.

    In the viral video, the bride can be seen giving her father’s statue a tender kiss before performing her wedding rituals.

    The video has received at least eight million views on YouTube. The guests present at the wedding were also moved by this gesture.

    The bride’s father lost his life to Covid last year.

    “I was with him in the hospital for three days where I could not meet him or talk to him as he was on a ventilator,” said the bride’s brother.

  • FBR collects highest-ever tax of Rs6 trillion in FY22

    FBR collects highest-ever tax of Rs6 trillion in FY22

    The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) achieved a significant feat by collecting a record Rs6,000 billion in revenue during the previous fiscal year 2021–2022.

    The FBR reported that during the current fiscal year, it collected Rs2,205 billion in income tax, Rs2,773 billion in sales tax, and Rs1,007 billion in customs duty. The organisation in charge of collecting taxes also released Rs305 billion in refunds during that time.

    According to former finance minister Shaukat Tarin, the government of Imran Khan’s policies and the country’s economic growth allowed FBR to meet its revenue goals.

    Tarin insisted that the government should continue enforcing the prior administration’s tax laws. According to Tarin, the government shouldn’t impose additional taxes on the current taxpayers. Heavy taxes shouldn’t be imposed on the economy’s productive sectors, he continued.

    The government has given the general public significant tax breaks on a number of necessities, but the FBR claims that these tax breaks haven’t prevented revenue collection from continuing on an unprecedented and constant growth trajectory. Sales tax on all POL products has been eliminated for the first time in the nation’s history, costing the FBR Rs45 billion per month.

    In order to maximise revenue potential through digitization, transparency, and taxpayer facilitation, the FBR has implemented a number of novel interventions at both the policy and operational levels. In addition to ensuring transparency, facilitating taxpayers, and making business easier, this has led to a steady increase in revenue collection.

  • Met department predicts monsoon rains from tomorrow, warns of urban flooding

    Met department predicts monsoon rains from tomorrow, warns of urban flooding

    Monsoon rain-wind/thundershowers are expected in most parts of Pakistan starting from Thursday (June 30), according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD).

    Rainfall is expected in Islamabad, Kashmir, Gilgit Baltistan, Swat, Mansehra, Kohistan, Abbottabad, Haripur, Peshawar, Mardan, Swabi, Nowshera, Rawalpindi, Murree, Attock, Chakwal, Jhelum, Sargodha, Hafizabad, M. B Din, Sialkot, Narowal, Lahore, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Sheikhupura, Faisalabad, Jhang, T.T Singh, Okara, Sahiwal and Bahawalnagar from June 30 to July 4. Isolated heavy falls are also expected during the period.

    PMD has warned that heavy falls may generate urban flooding in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Gujranwala, Sialkot, and Faisalabad from July 2 to July 4 and in Karachi and Hyderabad from July 3 to July 5.

  • ‘Speed allowed should be more’: Afridi responds to fine for overspeeding by motorway police

    ‘Speed allowed should be more’: Afridi responds to fine for overspeeding by motorway police

    Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi continues to stay in the headlines even after retirement.

    Lala was fined by the Motorway Police for exceeding the speed limit. According to details, while travelling from Lahore to Karachi, Afridi was fined Rs 1,500 for violating the speed limit on the Motorway.

    Afridi gladly paid the fine and thanked the highway police for treating all citizens equally. Lala also took selfies with Motorway Police personnel.

    Lala made a suggestion to the Motorway authorities and tweeted, “My humble suggestion is we have very good highways, the speed allowed should be more than 120kph!”

  • Vintage camera auctioned for PKR 3.1 billion

    Vintage camera auctioned for PKR 3.1 billion

    Leica’s inventor Oskar Barnack’s camera was up for bids and was anticipated to bring in a nice little PKR 753 million ($3 million). The Leica 0-Series Model 105 owned by Barnack has now sold for PKR 3.1 billion ($15 million), that is five times the original bid making it the priciest camera ever sold.

    According to RobbReport, the camera owned by Oskar Barnack was put up for auction and was predicted to fetch $3 million.

    The company released the 0-Series to test the market two years prior to the release of the Leica A. Only about 22 were ever produced, and today there are fewer than 12 left, according to the Leitz Auction.

    Oskar Barnack, the man who created Leica, owned camera number 105; his name is inscribed on the Galilean viewfinder. (This is the kind of viewfinder found in older cameras.)

    This camera was reportedly used by Barnack until 1930, when he gave it to his son Conrad and switched to the Leica I Model C, which has interchangeable lenses. The 0-Series Model 105 was still in Barnack’s family up until 1960, when it was acquired by an American collector.

    With the anticipation that the camera would bring in around three million euros, bidding started at one million euros. A little over $15 million, or 14.4 million euros, was the final selling price. It surpasses the old best set by the auction house, which realised $2.5 million from the sale of a Leica 0-Series no. 122 in 2018.

    In addition to the heavily altered camera (which Barnack used for photographic research), the wealthy buyer will also get the original leather lens cap, an aluminium cap personalised with Barnack’s initials, and correspondence related to the Model 105.

    There were plenty of other intriguing pieces of Leica equipment and memorabilia up for auction, though none have been quite as remarkable as the Model 105.

    A black-paint Leica MP brought in $100,000, while one of Barnack’s original prints created in 1914 on an Ur-Leica sold for $9,400. Leica MP Unique Gold, another object about which we had previously written, sold for just over $75,000 at auction.

  • ‘High hopes from youth and women’: Khan reveals plan for 2 July rally

    ‘High hopes from youth and women’: Khan reveals plan for 2 July rally

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan revealed his plans to lead the July 2 protest at the Islamabad Parade Ground against the “imported government” in a meeting of the party’s political committee.

    Khan said that he had high hopes from the youth and women of the country, urging them to register for the “tiger force”. He said that the youth and women were now politically more mature than ever, as is evident from their reaction against the ousting of his government.

    The meeting also had PTI’s Central Secretary General Asad Umar, Pervez Khattak, and Aamir Mehmood Kiyani in attendance.

    This is Khan’s second call for a protest since Azadi March.

  • Video: Karachiites protest against load-shedding, clashes erupt between police protesters

    Video: Karachiites protest against load-shedding, clashes erupt between police protesters

    Residents of Karachi came out on the streets in the late hours of Monday to protest against the unannounced and prolonged load-shedding in their areas.

    On Tuesday morning, the police used tear gas and baton-charged protestors in an effort to disperse the crowd, which resulted in a clash between the two.

    According to Dawn, the demonstrators have been protesting since last night, burnt tyres, and blocked the road for traffic, which has caused traffic problems.

    The chairman of the All Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters, Importers and Merchants Association (PFVA) Aslam Pakhali said that over 100 shipping containers carrying mangoes and potatoes are worth an estimated Rs250 million were stuck in traffic since Monday evening.

    https://twitter.com/nshz22/status/1541682874750947328?s=20&t=OIuOxKPZe5onCToMDfxlBw

    According to Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Asif Bughio, electricity in several areas of Lyari has been suspended since 4pm yesterday (Monday). He claimed that the police tried to negotiate with them but they attacked the law enforcers with stones.

    Their protest has continued for more than 20 hours now.

    According to media reports, in Karachi’s Gadap Town, the load-shedding time has gone up to 18 hours in a day. Similarly, Shah Faisal Colony, Malir, Surjani Town, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, and other areas are seeing power outages of 14 hours or more.

    Following the incidents, Sindh Energy Minister Imtiaz Ahmad Shaikh contacted K-Electric Chief Executive Moonis Alvi. He noted that load-shedding has made the lives of people miserable.

    “Due to persistent load-shedding, the security situation is deteriorating,” he told the KE official.

    A day earlier, Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif warned the nation that they might face increased load-shedding in the coming month of July.

  • Four dead in attack on polio team in North Waziristan

    Four dead in attack on polio team in North Waziristan

    One polio worker and three others have been killed as a result of an attack on the polio team in North Waziristan.

    According to North Waziristan DSP Traffic Sher Wali Khan, during a polio vaccination drive in the Dand Kali neighbourhood of Tehsil Datta Khel, unknown assailants opened fire on the polio team, killing two police officers, one polio worker, and a passerby. The incident happened as the polio worker was giving a young patient the oral polio vaccine (OPV).

    Pakistan has reported at least six cases of polio this year, As per the World Health Organisation (WHO), Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two polio-endemic nations in the world.

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif has expressed his grief over the incident and has ordered an inquiry.