Tag: topnews

  • Shutdown FBR, it’s a burden on country: SC

    Shutdown FBR, it’s a burden on country: SC

    Justice Gulzar Ahmad on Thursday has said that the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) is a burden on the country and trillions of rupees from national exchequer are sacrificed every year, Capital TV reported.

    According to the details, Justice Gulzar while hearing an appeal filed by an employee of the bureau concerning service matters said, “Put an end to FBR […] and you will see how much money is collected”.

    “Trillions of rupees are lost every year […] what kind of recovery FBR’s army of 22,000 people can make,” he remarked, adding that out that 80% of the [total] tax collected was through indirect means.

    Justice Gulzar also said that for recovering 20% of tax the bureau has hired 22,000 people.

  • Pakistani lawyer Jalila Haider named in BBC’s 100 Women of 2019

    Pakistani lawyer Jalila Haider named in BBC’s 100 Women of 2019

    Pakistani lawyer Jalila Haider was named in British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)’s 100 women of 2019 list.

    The Hazara-based human rights lawyer specialises in defending women’s rights in Pakistan and provides free legal services to women in poverty across the country. 

    She is also the founder of We the Humans, a non-profit organisation working with local communities to provide opportunities for women and children. 

    As per reports, she is the first female lawyer from the Hazara community, and in 2018 she went on a hunger strike demanding protection for her people.

    Taking to the social media platform, Haider expressed deep joy and said it was an honour for her to represent Pakistan on the list. 

    Other women on the list include Precious Adams from the United States, Parveena Ahanger from Indian-occupied Kashmir, and Jasmine Akter from the Rohingya community. 

  • Pakistan to get $1 billion investment from Egypt

    Pakistan to get $1 billion investment from Egypt

    Egyptian Ambassador Ahmed Fadel Yacoub has said that Egypt is keen to invest $1 billion in Pakistan over the next one year in different sectors including energy, infrastructure, halal food and tourism, The Express Tribune reported.

    According to the details, the envoy, while speaking at the Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) said that bilateral trade had been on an uptrend and it currently stood at $260 million per annum compared to $200 million last year.

    The envoy told the meeting that Egypt would be declared Hepatitis-free country by 2020 and urged Pakistan businessmen to establish joint ventures in pharmaceutical and health sectors, stressing that Egypt could help Pakistan completely get rid of Hepatitis C.

    “Both countries are enjoying good relations and there is a need to further increase exchange of delegations and information,” the ambassador added.

    Ministry of Commerce Joint Secretary Maria Kazi has said that special incentives would be provided to Pakistani companies for participating in trade fairs in Africa under the ‘Look Africa’ initiative.

    She also urged the private sector to focus on exporting a higher volume of merchandise to Africa.

  • US carried out secret cyber strike on Iran following Saudi oil attack: report

    US carried out secret cyber strike on Iran following Saudi oil attack: report

    The United States (US) carried out a secret cyber operation against Iran in the wake of the September 14 attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities, which Washington and Riyadh blame on Tehran, Dawn has reported.

    According to the details, the operation took place in late September and took aim at Tehran’s ability to spread “propaganda”. The strike only affected physical hardware and did not provide further details.

    The attack appears more limited than other such operations against Iran this year after the downing of an American drone in June and an alleged attack by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on oil tankers in the Gulf in May.

    US, Saudi Arabia, Britain, France and Germany have publicly blamed Iran for the Sept 14 attack, which denied involvement in the strike. The Iran-aligned Houthi militant group in Yemen later claimed responsibility for the attack.

    Publicly, the Pentagon has responded by sending thousands of additional troops and equipment to bolster Saudi defences, which is the latest US deployment to the region this year.

    Tensions in the Gulf have escalated sharply since May 2018, when Trump withdrew from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Tehran that put limits on its nuclear program in exchange for the easing of sanctions.

  • Cash-strapped PIA promotes 1,000 officers while even fuel supply remains terminated

    Cash-strapped PIA promotes 1,000 officers while even fuel supply remains terminated

    Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has promoted 1,000 officers to the next grades amid a halt in flight operations after PSO terminated fuel supply to the national carrier due to the non-payment of impending dues, The News International reported.

    According to the details, out of the total 1,000 crew members, almost 750 have been promoted from group 4 to 5, and 121 from group 5 to 6. Similarly, 84 out of 280 flight pursers working in group 6 have been promoted to group 7 as senior pursers.

    The top management of PIA, mostly on deputation from Pakistan Air Force (PAF) believes the promotions will motivate the already demoralised staff to perform well and get the PIA out of this financial quagmire.

    The reports, however, claim that the management has promoted such a large number of employees from group 4 so that it could get the maximum number of officials out of the PIA unions.

    The employees from group 1 to 4 can become a member of PIA unions because from group 4 onwards ‘officer category’ starts, which restricts them from being a member of the PIA unions.

    Adding to the already piled up problems of PIA, a disturbance in the flight operation at Allama Iqbal International Airport was caused when flights PK-305 (Lahore-Karachi) and PK-652 (Lahore-Islamabad) were canceled due to non-availability of fuel.

    PIA spokesperson Mashood Tajwar has said that the flights were stopped due to non-provision of oil, adding that both national organizations are holding talks to resolve the conflict.

  • Govt announces action against Fazlur Rehman’s stick-wielding platoon

    Govt announces action against Fazlur Rehman’s stick-wielding platoon

    The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has announced initiating legal action against Jamiat Ulemae Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s stick-wielding army, the constitution of which it says is in “violation of both the law of the land and the National Action Plan (NAP)”.

    Volunteers of the religio-political party’s Salar Force earlier this week presented a guard of honour to Fazl, taking an oath to safeguard their leadership even at the cost of their lives.

    The demo came as the JUI-F gears up to take on the federal government as part of its Azadi March to Islamabad on October 31; with plans of locking down the capital in protest against the “fake” Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    Reacting to the march and the creation of the force, KP Information Minister Shaukat Yousafzai on Wednesday warned the JUI-F against stick-wielding, uniformed workers marching on the roads.

    “When you are marching on roads in uniforms it means that you are erecting a force. This is a violation of the NAP and will not be tolerated,” Yousufzai said.

    “I know who is pushing [Fazlur] Rehman; money is pushing him. He is threatening institutions, he is trying to use seminary students,” the minister said.

    The information minister added that the JUI-F chief was struggling to get incarcerated former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and former president Asif Ali Zardari out of jail.

  • VIDEO: Journalist trolls Imran Khan for ‘another broken promise’

    VIDEO: Journalist trolls Imran Khan for ‘another broken promise’

    Journalist and anchorperson Shahzeb Khanzada has tolled Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan over “another broken promise”, and it’s hilarious.

    Khanzada, in his show last night, aired an old video of PM Imran promising that he will create such opportunities in Pakistan that people from foreign countries will be seeking jobs in the country.

    He also said that former Finance Minister Asad Umar had earlier claimed that people from foreign countries were already seeking executive positions in Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM), but in reality, the positions were still vacant and PSM was still inoperational.

    Continuing his brutal trolling of premier and his aides, Khanzada also aired a video of Finance Adviser Abdul Hafeez Sheikh saying, “Our government’s target is to increase foreign employment of Pakistani citizens”.

    He was heard as adding that this year from January to August, the government had sent around 373,000 people from Pakistan to foreign countries for employment.

    Shahzeb then said that the government instead of providing job opportunities was now taking credit for sending people abroad for jobs.

  • Who did Princess Diana wear on her Pakistan tour?

    Who did Princess Diana wear on her Pakistan tour?

    Jemima Khan called the designer and asked to design a dress for a celebrity whose name she yet reveals in 1996. Rizwan Beyg shares the story behind dressing the most famous and most photographed woman: Diana, Princess of Wales.

    Princess Diana visited Pakistan in 1996 on Imran Khan’s invitation to help raise funds for Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital. Diana was accompanied by Lady Annabel Goldsmith, the mother of Khan’s wife at the time, Jemima Khan, and Jemima’s cousin Cosima Somerse.

  • ‘60% of recent railways appointments from minister, his nephew’s own constituencies’

    ‘60% of recent railways appointments from minister, his nephew’s own constituencies’

    The Lahore High Court (LHC) has issued a stay order on 845 recent appointments in Pakis­tan Railways (PR) through “balloting” — a move that had earlier been challenged by PR Employees (PREM) Union, journalist Asad Malik tweeted Tuesday.

    According to Dawn, the PREM Union had last week pointed out that a majority of the newly appointed staff belonged to the two Rawalpindi constituencies of Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed and his nephew Sheikh Rasheed Shafiq.

    Filing the petition before the Rawal­pindi bench of the LHC through its counsel Imran Shafique, the union had requested the court to set aside the inductions.

    PR authorities had advertised 322 posts of different categories in BS-1 to BS-5 in October 2018, according to the petition. Another advertisement was published only a month later, with the number of vacant positions being increased from 323 to 845, the court was informed.

    The petition said thousands of people had applied for the posts, but the appointments were made through balloting rather than on the basis of merit.

    “The candidates who secured highest marks in the skill/written test and proved their mettle in the interviews deserved to be appointed on the basis of open merit, but the railways authorities, while changing the criteria, placed all successful candidates in the same position and decided their fate on the basis of draws/balloting,” it added.

    Informing the court that more than half of the so-called successful candidates belonged to the constituency of the incumbent railways minister and his nephew, MNA Shafiq, the petition said it was unfortunate how “secret balloting was staged to select the blue-eyed ones”.

    The LHC was informed that 58 per cent seats were to be filled on the basis of open merit, 20 per cent quota was reserved for the children of railways employees, 10 per cent was reserved for ex-employees, 5 per cent for orphans and handicapped, and 2 per cent for disabled persons.

    However, the petition maintained, even those quotas were not taken into consideration during the induction through balloting.

    When approached, PR Chairperson Sikandar Sultan Raja told Dawn that the directions to fill the vacancies from BS-1 to BS-4 through balloting were issued by the federal government.

  • Happy Birthday Babar Azam: Lord’s wishes ‘one of the finest in the world’

    Happy Birthday Babar Azam: Lord’s wishes ‘one of the finest in the world’

    It’s Pakistani Cricketer Babar Azam’s birthday today and with all of the wishes pouring in for the batsman, Lord’s, which is considered as the “Home of Cricket”, has also forwarded its greetings to the vice-captain of the men-in-green.

    Lord’s Cricket ground from its Twitter handle has posted a video of Babar Azam playing in a Test match and wrote, “One of the finest in the world at the moment Wishing Babar Azam a very happy birthday!”.

    The video shows right-handed batsman playing during a test match in Lord’s cricket ground between Pakistan and England in 2018.

    A day earlier, Lord’s cricket ground from its account had also wished Pakistan’s former cricketer and right-arm off-spin bowler, in which they wrote, “Here’s a throwback to his battle with Adam Gilchrist in the Lord’s Bicentenary Match in 2014”.