Tag: topnews

  • Army Chief inaugurates new NUST campus in Quetta

    Army Chief inaugurates new NUST campus in Quetta

    Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa inaugurated the newly-established NUST Campus in Quetta along with Chief Minister Balochistan Jam Kamal Kha. The project had been announced in 2017 and completed over a period of two years.

    In the first batch, 550 students will study BE (Bachelor of Engineering) in Civil Engineering and Computer Sciences and MS disciplines including Water Resource Engineering Management, Tunneling/Mining Engineering and Computer and Allied Sciences programs.

    The new campus has been built as part of Khushal Balochistan Program. The COAS appreciated the efforts of the armed forces and other law enforcement agencies (LEAs) for maintaining law and order situation in the province and facilitating the completion of development projects.

    Addressing students of various educational institutions of Balochistan, the army chief appreciated and encouraged the youth and urged students to equip themselves for upcoming opportunities in different fields.

  • Punjab govt misses tax collection target by over Rs20 billion

    Punjab govt misses tax collection target by over Rs20 billion

    The Punjab government has missed its tax collection target in July, costing the provincial exchequer an amount of Rs20.45billion, The Express Tribune reported.

    According to reports, the provincial government collected Rs11.91billion, down by 63 per cent from its target of Rs32.33billion, and economic experts associate the reduction in tax collections with the fiscal crisis that currently grips the country.

    “If the economy remains in this condition, revenue will continue to fall,” the report quoted an expert as saying.

    Several factors, including lower than usual property tax, irrigation tax, income tax, and land revue, contributed to the overall shortfall. During July, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) collection under stamp duty, property tax, irrigation tax, income tax, and land revenue fell by 20.41 per cent, due to which the tax authority was only able to bag Rs5.38billion instead of Rs6.76billion.

    Similarly, a reduction of 22.16 per cent in property transfer, professional tax, professional excise, and other indirect taxes resulted in a shortfall of Rs0.73 billion.

    The provincial exchequer received another blow in lower than expected collection of sales tax and other indirect taxes. Out of the Rs13.87billion, only Rs318.6million ended up in the provincial coffers.

    Experts believe slowing economic growth will result in lower revenues for the government. And if current trends continue, the government revenue receipts will fail to match the budgeted targets.

    Official sources, on the other hand, confirmed the English daily that the targets were not being met due to the current economic crisis. However, they were hopeful that the coming year would yield better results and bring in greater revenue through taxation.

  • New policy of Bahira University prohibits male, female students from sitting together

    New policy of Bahira University prohibits male, female students from sitting together

    Bahria University has introduced a new policy according to
    which, male and female students have been banned from sitting together or
    forming groups.

    Seating of male and female students be separated in classes. Apart from that station visits and grouping in projects is also to be done separately.

    The notice received flak on social media, as people thought the measures were unnecessary.

    https://twitter.com/ChAmirZkhan/status/1172781713451356160

    The university has not elaborated on the notice.

    Earlier this week, the University of Engineering and Technology had passed a similar notice but it was retracted a few hours later due to the backlash received on social media.

  • Rabi Pirzada faces jail time for posing with reptiles

    Rabi Pirzada faces jail time for posing with reptiles

    The Punjab Wildlife Protection and Parks Department has submitted a challan in court against singer Rabi Pirzada for taking pictures and videos with reptiles including snakes and crocodiles and keeping them at her salon in Lahore.

    Under the Punjab Wildlife (Protection, Conservation and Management) Act of 1974 possession of these animals is considered illegal and can lead up to imprisonment and fine.

    Rabi’s reptile collection came to light on September 2 when she uploaded a video on her YouTube channel in which she can be seen with the snakes and a crocodile in the frame.

    She starts the video by saying that a Kashmiri woman and her snakes are ready to take on India and all these gifts are for Indian PM Narendra Modi and her reptiles will feast on him.

    Following the media reports, Rabi took to Twitter to say that she was being framed by “Modi’s friends” because she spoke up for Kashmir. Rabi asserted that she has been shooting with animals for the past five years but no one took notice of it till now.

    Previously, Rabi had also released a song with her snakes and a crocodile.

  • Brothers hold woman captive for 10 years

    Brothers hold woman captive for 10 years

    Punjab police rescued a woman from Hafizabad who had been held captive in a small room for almost ten years by her brothers over an inheritance dispute.

    According to reports, her neighbours, who couldn’t sleep because of her heart-wrenching screams, gave the details of her location to the police who rescued her.

    The police revealed that Naila Bibi’s brother gave her food only once a week and did not clean her room. When she was rescued, her bed was covered with her own excrement.

    While some reports state that one brother has been arrested, others say that two brothers have been arrested by the police.

    Naila Bibi was sent to the hospital for a medical check-up with the help of a neighbour. She appeared to be suffering from significant physical and psychological trauma from the captivity.

  • PM claims 58 countries’ support at UNHRC, it has 47 members

    PM claims 58 countries’ support at UNHRC, it has 47 members

    In yet another incident of miscalculation, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has said that Pakistan enjoys the support of 58 member countries of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) against Indian actions in held Kashmir, while the global rights body only has 47 members.

    “I commend the 58 countries that joined Pakistan in Human Rights Council on 10 Sept reinforcing demands of int community for India to stop use of force, lift siege, remove other restrictions, respect & protect Kashmiris’ rights & resolve Kashmir dispute through UNSC resolutions [sic],” the premier tweeted Thursday.

    He also welcomed “the EU’s call in the Human Rights Council for a peaceful solution of the Kashmir dispute in line with UNSC resolutions, int law and bilateral agreements”.

    Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar also made the same mistake and said that Pakistan has the support of 58 member countries.

    Twitterati, however, didn’t spare the premier. Expectedly, within a short time, several people started pointing out the error and poking fun at him. Here’s what they tweeted:

    https://twitter.com/freakykalin/status/1172140643608481793

    Previously, PM Imran had found himself in a similar soup when, at a conference, he said that Germany and Japan are immediate neighbours who share a border.

    “Germany and Japan killed millions of their civilians until after the Second World War when they decided that they would have, on the border region of Germany and Japan, joint industries,” he had said.

  • VIDEO: ‘Cow’s dung,urine prevents nuclear radiation’, claims Indian researcher

    VIDEO: ‘Cow’s dung,urine prevents nuclear radiation’, claims Indian researcher

    We all know that Cows are sacred for Hindus but now an Indian expert has come forward to claim that covering yourself with its dung or urine can save you from nuclear radiations.

    The expert claims that NASA’s research has proved what he’s saying, and you can also google it. He further went on to claim that cow’s dung, urine, its breath, and everything is pure and purity gives birth to purity.

  • Buzdar’s mouthpiece resigns from office

    Buzdar’s mouthpiece resigns from office

    Amid reports claiming that Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar will soon be sacked by Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, his spokesperson, Dr Shahbaz Gill, has resigned from office.

    “I hereby resign from the post of official spokesperson to Punjab CM,” Gill stated in a handwritten note submitted to the office of the provincial chief executive.

    Initially, Gill did not cite any reason behind his abrupt decision, however, reports quoted the former spokesperson as saying that “it was difficult for him to defend the poor performance of the Punjab government”.

    In a tweet posted earlier in the day, Gill had said that he would be sharing an “important decision” very soon.

    Rumour has it that Gill will be replacing Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan as the special assistant to the PM on information and broadcasting.

    Meanwhile, PM Imran’s close aide Awn Chaudhry has reportedly been removed as the advisor to Punjab CM as well. He has been replaced by Asif Mehmood.

  • Peshawar airport bans use of phones

    Peshawar airport bans use of phones

    The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has banned the use of mobile phones in Peshawar’s Bacha Khan Airport’s restricted areas, the apron (where the planes are parked, unloaded or loaded, refuelled, or boarded) and lounges.

    The new rule has been introduced after a video showing passengers climbing onto the luggage conveyor belt and crossing over into the baggage area went viral. The passengers, who had landed in Peshawar from Saudi Arabia, were impatient for their bottles of Ab-e-Zamzam and decided the airport staff was taking too long to give it to them. Hence, they decided to climb onto the conveyor belts.

    According to the CAA notification, “not obeying this new rule will result in airport entry passes being confiscated. The matter will [also] be taken up with the higher authorities of the concerned department/functionary”

  • State Bank’s foreign exchange reserves jump to $8.46 billion

    State Bank’s foreign exchange reserves jump to $8.46 billion

    The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) increased 2.2 per cent on a weekly basis, data released by the central bank has revealed.

    According to The Express Tribune, the reserves had earlier spiralled downwards, falling below the $7 billion mark, which raised concern over Pakistan’s ability to meet its financing requirements. However, financial assistance from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and other friendly nations helped shore up the foreign exchange reserves.

    On September 6, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $8,462.3 million, up by $181.8 million compared with $8,280.5 million in the previous week. The central bank cited official inflows as the reason for the increase in reserves.

    Overall, liquid foreign currency reserves, held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $15,751.7 million. Net reserves held by banks amounted to $7,289.4 million.

    Pakistan received the first loan tranche of $991.4 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on July 9, which helped bolster the reserves. Previously, the reserves had jumped on account of $2.5 billion in inflows from China.

    Over time, the declining reserves have forced the central bank to let the rupee depreciate massively, sparking concern about the country’s ability to finance a hefty import bill as well as meet debt obligations in coming months.