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LAHORE: The National Highways and Motorway Police (NH&MP) will further enhance the capacity and professionalism of the officers, and also adopt zero-tolerance policy against traffic violations.NH&MP Inspector General Muhammad Aamir Zulfiqar Khan said this during his first visit to the NH&MP Complex at Babu Sabu, Lahore. Zonal Commander DIG Ahmad Arslan Malik , DIG Mirza Faran Baig, DIG Mahboob Aslam, SSP Masrool Alam Kolachi, SSP Kamran Adil, SSP Hashmat Kamal and SSP Sulman were also present.IG Muhammad Aamir Zulfiqar directed the officers to take strict legal action against the vehicles involved in traffic violations and also imposed heavy fine on them. He directed the officers to perform their duty without fear and ensure equal and firm enforcement of law on motorways and national highways. He said the patrolling standards on the highways and motorways would be improved according to the international standards. The well-mannered conduct with traveller and indiscriminate

LAHORE: The chief traffic officer (CTO) dismissed a traffic warden from service on charges of forging 297 files of driving licences.A case against the accused warden, Fasihul Zaman, has also been registered at the Lower Mall police station. CTO: The chief traffic officer (CTO) addressed a Darbar of traffic wardens here on Friday.The CTO directed the traffic wardens to be polite with the citizens. He warned that no negligence in this regard would be tolerated. He said the problems being faced by the force members would be solved on priority.Workers: The working class has urged the caretaker government to get recovered taxes and written off loans from the big land owners. The members of the working class also demanded the federal and the provincial governments to raise the wages and pension of the workers. from The News International - Lahore https://ift.tt/2tGUOHb

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump denied Friday he is planning to withdraw the United States from the World Trade Organization."I´m not talking about pulling out," he told reporters on Air Force One when asked about reports he was planning an exit from the the global trading body.Trump has branded the WTO a "disaster" and flouted international trade norms by hitting key allies with stinging tariffs, and imposing crippling fees on Chinese goods in the name of US national security. from The News International - Business https://ift.tt/2lKXi2M

OTTAWA: Canada hit back at the United States on Friday with retaliatory tariffs on American summertime essentials such as Florida orange juice, ketchup and Kentucky bourbon in its opening salvo in a trade war with President Donald Trump.As temperatures and tensions increase, the measures targeting Can$16.6 billion (US$12.6 billion) in US steel, aluminum and consumer goods will take effect on Sunday, when Canadians celebrate a national holiday and just days before Americans celebrate Independence Day amid a heatwave expected in both countries.The tit-for-tat duties are a response to the punishing US steel and aluminum tariffs imposed at the start of June. Ottawa also unveiled Can$2 billion (US$1.5 billion) in aid for the two sectors and their 33,500 workers."Canada has no choice but to retaliate with a measured reciprocal dollar-for-dollar response," said Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, making the announcement at a steel facility in Hamilton, Ontario where she was flanked

Caretaker Minister for Transport and Mass Transit Col (retd) Dost Muhammad Chandio has expressed his serious annoyance at the slow pace of work in building the Orange Line section of Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) being funded and constructed by Sindh government.Chandio visited the site of the Orange Line section on Friday, which is being built from Orangi Town as it will merge with the under-construction federal government-funded Green Line section in Nazimabad.The caretaker minister expressed apprehension that the Orange Line section could not be completed in nearly two years time. The groundbreaking of the project was done in June, 2016.Expressing annoyance at the delay, Chandio said that if need be he would go along with officials and engineers of the project to China, where they would be sent for technical training. “It seems that engineers and other expert officials associated with the project themselves are not abreast with updates and details of the project,” he said. “Where e

The Sindh High Court on Friday directed a provincial law officer to file comments with regard to declaring the house of former SSP Rao Anwar in the Naqeebullah Mehsud murder case a sub-jail, including the record of his detention in prison.The court was hearing a petition against the home department’s notification that declared s sub-jail the house of Anwar, the prime suspect in Mehsud’s extrajudicial killing case, as sub-jail.The court inquired the provincial law officer under what law the former SSP was detained in his house instead of prison. It directed Anwar’s counsel to ensure his client’s appearance on July 2; otherwise, it would pass an order on the petition.Mohammad Khan submitted in the petition that Anwar and his subordinate policemen had been booked for murdering his 27-year-old son Naqeebullah Mehsud along with three other men in a fake encounter on January 13 in Shah Latif Town and the trial was pending before an anti-terrorism court.He remarked that malafide and criminal

Disgruntled constituents continued to express their displeasure on Friday with the performance of political leaders during electioneering in the city, Geo News reported.Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Dr Farooq Sattar was bombarded with complaints by unhappy voters as he left the Memon Masjid after offering Friday prayers. “Ask God for forgiveness” one voter shouted at the veteran politician.Another lamented about being harassed for animal hides on Eid days. “You have been snatching animal hides for the past 25 years by brandishing weapons. Now you’ve come here to ask for votes,” the voter remarked. As he tried to leave the mosque premises, Sattar vowed his party would try to serve the people better this time.Final decisionThe MQM-P leader, who visited the city courts earlier in the day to attend the proceedings of two cases in which he has been named as accused, told journalists that he was still confident that his party was going to win all seats in Karachi.Sattar re

The Anti-Violent Crime Cell (AVCC) of the Crime Investigation Agency Karachi on Friday claimed to have recovered a businessman who was kidnapped more than a month ago and arrested one of his abductors.According to AVCC SSP Irfan Ali Bahadur, Abdul Latif, a known builder, was kidnapped by three unidentified suspects from his office at Murtaza Commercial Area in DHA Phase-VIII.The suspects had used a fake registration plate on the vehicle that they used in the kidnapping. An FIR was ultimately lodged at the Sahil police station after Latif’s family received a call demanding Rs60 million in ransom for his release.The SSP further said that a joint investigation team was formed under his supervision comprising members of the AVCC and the Citizen Police Liaison Committee.The investigators carried out various raids on specific locations but remained unsuccessful in locating the kidnappers and Latif. They then began tracing Latif’s cell phone because the kidnappers were using it. They received

Sindh Chief Secretary (CS) Major (retd) Azam Suleman Khan directed the officials concerned to reconstitute a task force on the Supreme Court-mandated water commission and to take deputy commissioners of District Malir and South on board for better coordination in order to implement the recommendations made by the body.The directives were given during a meeting at the secretary’s office on Friday. The CS asked Dr Fazalullah Pechuho, the livestock and fisheries secretary, to take charge of the task force in preparing short and long-term strategy. He said visits to fish harbours should be made to undertake necessary short-term sanitation measures. from The News International - Karachi https://ift.tt/2lI0hsH

WASHINGTON:  The U.S. government said in a court filing on Friday that it has the right to detain children and parents caught crossing the U. S. border illegally for the duration of their immigration proceedings.A 1997 court settlement known as the Flores agreement has generally been interpreted to require the Department of Homeland Security to release illegal immigrant children from custody after 20 days.But Justice Department lawyers said in the filing in U.S. District Court in California on Friday that they now have no choice but to hold children for as long as it takes to resolve their immigration cases, because of a preliminary injunction issued on Tuesday in a separate immigration case.That case, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union in San Diego, challenged the recent government policy of separating families in order to detain parents for as long as necessary under President Donald Trump´s "zero-tolerance" policy.Since that policy was implemented in May, famili

WASHINGTON: A prank caller talking to the leader of the world´s most powerful country aboard Air Force One? It´s apparently possible.Posing as New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez, comedian John Melendez said he contacted President Donald Trump on Wednesday night while he was on the presidential plane.Melendez aired a recording of the conversation on his "The Stuttering John Podcast," in which a voice that appears to be Trump´s can be heard."You went through a tough, tough situation and I don´t think a very fair situation," he said to the "senator," who was investigated for corruption before the charges were eventually dropped.The two men then continued their conversation, moving from immigration to replacing Justice Anthony Kennedy, who is set to retire from the US Supreme Court.The comedian said he called the White House pretending to be an aide to the senator and was ultimately put in touch with the president on Air Force One, in a scenario that raises qu

 PARIS: An international group that monitors money laundering worldwide said on Friday Iran had until October to complete reforms that would bring it into line with global norms or face consequences that could further deter investors from the country. Tehran has tried to attract foreign investors after completing a landmark 2015 agreement with the United States, Russia, China, France, Germany and Britain under which a number of sanctions were lifted in exchange for Iran agreeing to curbs on its nuclear program. Iran has been trying to implement standards set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global group of government anti-money-laundering (AML) and counter financing of terrorism regimes (CFT), in the hope it will be removed from a blacklist that makes some foreign investors reluctant to deal with it. "The FATF is disappointed with Iran´s failure to implement its action plan to address its significant AML/CFT deficiencies," the organisation said in a statement afte

GAZA:  Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinians, one of them a 14 year-old boy, and wounded 415 others with live fire and tear gas during protests along the Gaza border on Friday, Gaza health officials said.Gaza medical officials said the boy, Yasser Abu Al-Naja and Mohammad Al-Hamayda, 24, were hit by live bullets. They added that four other men wounded by live fire were in critical condition. The Israeli military said in a statement that troops had used "large amounts of riot dispersal means".In some cases, when the non-lethal means proved ineffective, live fire was used "in accordance with the standard operating procedures".It said thousands of Palestinians had "participated in extremely violent riots", hurling a grenade and rocks at troops and the border fence and burning tyres.It said the reported death of the boy would be investigated and that legal action could be taken, if appropriate. Gaza officials say Israeli troops have killed at least 1

PYONGYANG: North Korean supremo Kim Jong Un has banned women from wearing of mini-skirts, floral-patterned tights and  fishnet stockings in the streets of his Kingdom in a bizarre crackdown.In a surprising move, North Korean supreme leader also banned the women  from dying their hair and watching South Korean movies, calling it 'anti-Socialist' behaviour.As per reports,  those showing too much leg by stepping out in skirts about the knee are being fined £3.Earlier this month, Kim reportedly instructed the officials to declare war on capitalist influences that also include copying the 'provocative' dance moves of South Korean K-pop groups.Owning foreign mobile phones, watching or listening to South Korean movies, dramas or pop music and 'provocative' dancing are also outlawed and being considered as anti-socialist acts. from The News International - World https://ift.tt/2Nd2gSj

OTTAWA: Canada hit back at the United States on Friday with retaliatory tariffs on American summertime essentials such as Florida orange juice, ketchup and Kentucky bourbon in its opening salvo in a trade war with President Donald Trump.As temperatures and tensions increase, the measures targeting Can$16.6 billion (US$12.6 billion) in US steel, aluminum and consumer goods will take effect on Sunday, when Canadians celebrate a national holiday and just days before Americans celebrate Independence Day amid a heatwave expected in both countries.The tit-for-tat duties are a response to the punishing US steel and aluminum tariffs imposed at the start of June. Ottawa also unveiled Can$2 billion (US$1.5 billion) in aid for the two sectors and their 33,500 workers."Canada has no choice but to retaliate with a measured reciprocal dollar-for-dollar response," said Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, making the announcement at a steel facility in Hamilton, Ontario where she was flanked

MANAMA: UNESCO added Saudi Arabia´s Al-Ahsa Oasis and Oman´s ancient city of Qalhat to its World Heritage List on Friday, the world cultural body said.Authorities in Riyadh, as well as Muscat, have put tourism high on their economic agendas as Gulf states look to diversify their oil-dependent economies.Saudi Arabia´s lush Al-Ahsa oasis is dotted with yet-to-be-excavated archeological sites, and carries traces of human occupation dating back to Neolithic times.Al-Ahsa "was a commercial centre for the Hajar territory of Bahrain," reads the Saudi submission to UNESCO."Archaeological evidence shows that it exchanged products from southern Arabia and Persia as well as throughout the Arabian Peninsula."Riyadh´s tourism drive, backed by reformist young Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has not shied from highlighting pre-Islamic heritage in the conservative Muslim kingdom.Oman´s Qalhat also dates back to pre-Islamic times. The port city on Oman´s Indian Ocean coast was onc

Gaza City, Palestinian Territories: Israeli troops shot dead two Palestinians, one in his early teens, in border clashes Friday in the southern Gaza Strip, health ministry said.Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told AFP a Palestinian youth aged about 13 was shot in the head near the town of Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip, without giving his name or exact age.He added that 24-year-old Mohammed al-Hamayda had died after being hit in the stomach by Israeli fire in a separate incident east of Rafah.The Israeli army gave no immediate comment.Since protests broke out along the Gaza border on March 30, at least 137 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire.The majority were involved in protests but others were seeking to breach or damage the border fence.No Israelis have been killed.On Thursday, Abdel Fattah Abu Azoum, 17, was hit in the head by fire from an Israeli tank near Rafah in southern Gaza.The Israeli army said he and a companion were trying to break through the border fence. fr

Srinagar: Indian troops in their fresh acts of state terrorism martyred five Kashmiris occupied Kashmir on Friday.Kashmir Media Service reported that the troops killed three youth in Thamuna area of Pulwama and one at Tunga-Kachama in Kupwara during cordon and search operations. The troops also destroyed a residential house at Thamuna.People took to the streets in Chatpora and Thamuna areas in Pulwama and staged forceful demonstrations against the operation. The troops fired bullets, pellets and teargas shells to disperse the protesters, triggering severe clashes. One more youth was martyred while several others were injured in the troops’ action. from The News International - World https://ift.tt/2yRmG0g

LONDON: A private investment group has launched “prosperous Pakistan” campaign on London’s iconic red double decker buses to project Pakistan’s position as an important and emerging player in the world economy.The CPIC, a privately held investment company which focuses on real estate investment opportunities within the $62 Billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), has placed on 100 buses the huge banner on the side carrying the words across and down from the middle “Prosperous Pakistan, #Pak2030, CPIC” for two weeks. The buses will run across a vast London network, including the central London zones, for two weeks, potentially having seen by tens of thousands of people. The campaign aims to remind commuters and tourists of London, both local and international, that the South Asian country is a land of boundless opportunity and potential. The beautiful campaign banner also refers to CPIC’s #Pak2030 site where extensive material has been carried on Pakistan’s new global position.T

Al-Hmidiya , Libya: The lifeless bodies of three babies were brought ashore in Libya on Friday, victims of a Mediterranean migrant shipwreck in which survivors say 100 people are still missing.Around 120 migrants were aboard the inflatable craft when it ran into trouble, according to survivors taken to Al-Hmidiya, east of the capital Tripoli.Sixteen people were rescued, while the missing included two babies and three children under the age of 12.Survivors told AFP the boat sank a few hours after its pre-dawn departure from Garaboulli, east of Tripoli, following an explosion on board.The motor then caught fire and the vessel began taking on water, they said.The passengers included several Moroccan families, none of whom survived."When I saw the number of people on the boat, I refused to get on board, because we had been told that we would be 20 (passengers)," said survivor Amri Swileh, from Yemen.Showing his bruised arms, the 26-year-old said he was threatened by smugglers and

New Delhi: Indian man had been worshipping US President Donald Trump, the 45th President of America, for over the past three years.According to Indian media, 31 years old Bussa Krishna hails from Telengana near the capital of Hyderabad, was inspired by Donald Trump’s ‘Make America Great’ election campaign.Bussa Krishna prays to Trump several times a day.He has also started a Facebook page to share his love of Trump with the world. Bussa regularly posts pictures and videos of himself worshiping at a shrine to the president.Meanwhile, Krishna said people in his village called him mad and suggested he visit a psychologist. from The News International - World https://ift.tt/2yUUg5s

MANAMA, Saudi Arabia: To celebrate the end of decades’ old ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia, a young woman named Leesa has released a rap song “We Are Driving”.In her  song, Leesa celebrates the glory of the historic 10/10 date that refers to the tenth day of the tenth month of the lunar calendar, the day when the ban was lifted. “Don’t forget that today is the tenth day and this means no need for taxis. I am not kidding, today I can serve (drive) myself,” she sings in the song. The momentous decision came after the Saudi Crown Prince introduced a range of egalitarian rules and regulations, catering to women specially, one of which involved enforcement of a strict anti-harassment law to ensure full safety of women drivers on roads.  from The News International - World https://ift.tt/2tFawlO

Rumours spread through Whatspp messages and videos have sparked mob attacks in India, killing a woman and injuring many other people in different parts of India over past few days.According to  a news agency, several attacks were triggered by a viral message spread trough Whatsapp alleging that hundreds of people have entered Gujarat to abduct and sell children.The videos doing the round on the Whatsapp also include one from Pakistan. The news agency reported that the Pakistani video is actually a road safety video that has been circulated by users . The video is of a child apparently being kidnapped by two men on motorbikes. A woman Shantidevi Nath was killed and three others injured an attack by 100 people in Ahmedabad.The same video triggered four other attacks in the same Indian state.Six people were injured in two separate incidents in Rajkot in Ahmedabad including a visiting family.The police have urged people not to believe false rumours spread through Whatsapp."Guys please

TOKYO: The United States and its regional allies will maintain a "strong collaborative defensive stance" on North Korea, despite ongoing negotiations to bring peace to the peninsula, Defense Secretary James Mattis said Friday.Mattis stressed that Washington´s alliance with Japan was a "cornerstone" of regional stability, as he wrapped up a four-day Asian visit in Tokyo following talks with his counterpart Itsunori Onodera aimed at reassuring partners in the region.Regional allies were caught wrong-footed by a decision from President Donald Trump to suspend joint military exercises between the US and South Korea that had previously been seen as a vital containing measure amid North Korean belligerence.Mattis said the decision was taken "to create space for our diplomats to negotiate strongly and increase the prospect for a peaceful solution on the peninsula.""At the same time, we maintain a strong collaborative defensive stance, to ensure our diplomats

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has given the reasons for dismissing the review petitions filed by owners of private educational institutions against the high court decision and regulations of the Private Schools Regulatory Authority on the decrease in fee.“The review petitions are dismissed not only being barred by time but no error apparent on the face of the record has been pointed out,” stated a detailed judgment of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) authored by Justice Nasir Mehfooz.The review petitions were filed on the grounds that the owners of the private educational institutions were not unheard of in the high court decision and prayed the court to review its decision on the decrease in fee.Abbas Khan Sangeen and Zahidullah Zahid appeared for the Peshawar Bar Association.Syed Zahir Ali Shah, Managing Director of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Private Schools Regulatory Authority, appeared as respondents. He defended the high court decision and regulations in the review petitions of th

PESHAWAR: Caretaker Chief Minister Justice (Retd) Dost Mohammad Khan on Friday hinted at the expansion of the provincial cabinet within days.He said this while presiding over a high-level meeting on the process and implementation Fata reforms at Chief Minister’s Secretariat Peshawar, said a handout.Finance Minister Abdur Rauf Khattak, chief secretary, provincial police chief, Planning and Development additional chief secretary, ACS Fata and administrative secretaries of departments concerned and others attended the meeting.The chief minister said the government had already formed a committee/task force to interact with the federal government for implementation of the overall recovery plan for the newly merged seven tribal districts.He said the overall recovery plan would include the infrastructure development, the rehabilitation and reconstruction plan and the systematic extension of public sector institutions to the seven newly merged districts.The chief minister said he himself as a

PESHAWAR: The capital city police officer has directed the force to implement the code of conduct by the Election Commission of Pakistan in letter and spirit and make all arrangements for holding peaceful polls on July 25.A meeting in this regard was held with CCPO Qazi Jamilur Rahman in the chair on Friday.Senior Superintendent of Plice Operations Javed Iqbal and all the circle SPs and DSPs attended the meeting.The CCPO said no brandishing of weapon to be allowed in any political rally and those creating law and order issue should be dealt strictly.He directed the officersto inspect the sensitive polling stations and areas in their jurisdiction and prepare recommendations to improve security. from The News International - Peshawar https://ift.tt/2tNdALW

PESHAWAR: As expected, the caretaker Chief Minister retired Justice Dost Mohammad Khan denied giving extension to the previous Board of Governors (BoGs) appointed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led government and decided to appoint new boards for all eight medical and teaching institutions of the province.Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Mian Saqib Nisar had expressed his disappointment over performance of the BoGs and ordered that these be disbanded on June 6, 2018.He had given three weeks to the previous boards to conclude work, which was supposed to end on June 30, 2018.“On account of unsatisfactory performance of the Board of Governors created for management of different hospitals, the same are dissolved and the Chief Secretary, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, is directed to prepare and move a summary for the purposes of constituting new boards. Till the time new government takes over such boards may even include any member of the present boards as decided by the caretaker chief minist

PESHAWAR: The board of directors of Water and Sanitation Services Peshawar (WSSP) Friday approved the budget for the fiscal year 2018-19 with a total outlay of Rs3.362 billion.The budget session of the board of directors was held with Engineer Tahir Azeem in the chair.The meeting was attended by other members of the board including Dr Mohammad Iqbal Khalil, Dr Rashid Rehan, Dr Bushra Khan, Syed Shah Nasir, Khurshed Khan, representative of finance and local government departments and chief executive of the company Engineer Khan Zeb.According to the budgetary estimates, an amount of Rs 2.7 billion has been allocated for operational charges and Rs650 million for development purposes. During the new financial year, the provincial government would provide funds amounting to Rs2.7 million to WSSP and Swiss Development Corporation would give Rs 80 million. The company would get a revenue of Rs582 million for its own resources.Likewise, an amount of Rs 40 million has been allocated for the hea

PESHAWAR: People from different walks of life on Friday paid glowing tributes to the late human rights activist Idrees Kamal.A function was arranged at the Peshawar Press Club to mark his fifth death anniversary. Academicians, politicians and members of the civil society attended the event.Senior politician and National Party provincial president Mukhtar Bacha said the vacuum created after the death of Idrees Kamal could not be filled even after five years.Dr Sarfaraz Khan said Idrees Kamal worked for the restoration of peace in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “Idrees Kamal was also an active student at the university. He strived for the rights of the underprivileged people,” he recalled.Other speakers said he raised his voice against extremism and advocated civil and political rights.They said he was known for unflinching commitment to peace, progress and prosperity. It was only Idrees Kamal who mobilised the civil society and organised a number of rallies under the banner of the Amn Tehreek, the

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Commission on Status of Women (KPCSW) has expressed concerns over the approach of political parties to nominating women members for reserved and general seats.The KPCSW chairperson, in a letter, addressed to the Provincial Election Commissioner KP, expressed concern over the manner in which political parties across the board had selected women candidates for reserved seats as well as the five per cent quota for women for the forthcoming general election 2018.She said by giving political parties complete discretion over the process of nomination and selection of women candidates without reference to any criteria to ensure merit or geographic representation, the principle of fair representation and voice has been compromised.The KPCSW chief said transparency in merit-based selection and prioritisation of women candidates in the party lists is a must.“Transparency and induction also dictate that political party parliamentary boards must have women’s repres

PESHAWAR: The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police arrested an alleged terrorist involved in the suicide attack on former provincial minister Israrullah Khan Gandapur, an official said on Friday.An official of the CTD said that Ali Mar Shah, a resident of Tank district, was arrested during an action in Dera Ismail Khan. The official said the accused was wanted by the police in connection with the suicide attack on the then provincial minister Israrullah Gandapur.The attack had taken place on October 16, 2013 in which Israrullah Gandapur was killed along with several other people. The Gandapur family has always asked the federal and provincial governments for arresting the perpetrators of the suicide attack that killed Israr Gandapur and others on the day of Eidul Azha.Inamullah Khan Gandapur, a brother of the slain minister, has approached the federal and provincial governments to work out the case in order to bring the perpetrators to justice. from The

PESHAWAR: Awami National Party (ANP) provincial president Ameer Haider Hoti on Friday criticised Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders for misguiding the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.Speaking at a public rally in Charpareza here, the ANP leader said that PML-N leaders were making claims of launching Punjab-like development projects in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.However, he added that the PML-N had ignored the province during their 30-year rule. Ameer Haider Hoti said that such promises were only meant to win election, adding that Pakhtuns were aware of the real motives of the PML-N leadership.The ANP leader said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders had started their political career on the pretext of eliminating corruption from Pakistan’s politics were involved in record corruption.“The PTI has assembled an army of turncoats whose past is tainted with all kind of corrupt practices in the country’s politics,” he said.He added that the ANP was the only party that had awarded ticket

PESHAWAR: The Jamaat-e-Islami Friday announced a list of the party candidate for 10 national and 37 provincial assembly seats in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from the platform of the Muttahidda Majlis-i- Amal (MMA).The announcement was made after a meeting held at the Al-Markaz-e-Islami with provincial president of the party and senior vice-president of the MMA Mushtaq Ahmad Khan in the chair.The meeting was attended by provincial secretary general of the party Abdul Wasi, vice-president of the party and general secretary of MMA Dr Mohammad Iqbal Khalil, Noorul Haq and others.The meeting also announced that the candidates of Jamaat-e-Islami would contest general elections on all the seats of the newly merged tribal districts in independent capacity.The JI candidates for the National Assembly are: NA-1, Chitral Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali, NA 2, Swat Naveed Iqbal, NA 5, Upper Dir Sahibzada Tariqullah, NA-6 Lower Dir Maulana Asadullah, NA 7, Lower Dir Sirajul Haq, NA 16 Abbottabad, Saeed Mughal,

KARACHI: A much-touted tax amnesty scheme, likely to conclude today, mostly attracted existing taxpayers who so far declared around two trillion rupees of their previously-hidden local and foreign assets, officials said on Friday.The officials said the compliant taxpayers form majority of the people who availed the tax amnesty for undisclosed foreign and domestic assets.“New taxpayers are very few in the total declarations filed so far under the amnesty scheme,” an official of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) said.“Most of existing taxpayers are availing the amnesty. And, it is surprising that industrialists and manufacturers, who are already on the tax net, are availing the scheme.”Paltry 1.3 million income tax returns were filed for the tax year of 2017.In April, the last government announced tax amnesty scheme for three months to give residents one-off tax benefits for repatriating undeclared local liquid assets with a five percent penalty, undeclared foreign liquid assets with a

ISLAMABAD: A senate body on Friday proposed the government to restore the tax exemptions given to industries in federally- and provincially-administered tribal areas before their merger into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.The Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue unanimously recommended restoration of the tax exemptions, which were being availed by FATA, PATA and Malakanddivision prior to 25th constitutional amendment that led to merger of the areas into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, for five years.The committee, however, recommended that the exemption should be given only to the industries which are operational.On provision of tax exemption to the new industries to be established during the next five years, the committee decided that it would visit the areas in the first week of August and hold meetings with all the stakeholders, including local chambers of commerce and industries to determine criteria in the regard.Senator Farooq Naik presided over the meeting that was attended by senators Mohs

KARACHI: Pakistan’s depleting foreign reserves brought the country’s import cover down to 1.8 months and the country may soon need to seek $10 to 15 billion of bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), analysts said on Friday.“Looking at history, it looks like Pakistan usually rushes to IMF when the forex reserves fall below 2 months of goods imports,” Executive Director - Research at Insight Securities Zeeshan Afzal said in an economic outlook. “Currently, the country has 1.8 months of import cover, and the finance managers have started hinting at possible negotiation with the IMF.”The country’s foreign exchange reserves fell 3.3 percent to $16.243 billion during the week ended June 22.Afzal expected the country to back to its usual lender of last resort for up to $15 billion bailout package, “which would also bring more loans flows from other lenders”.“However, the bailout would be contingent upon very strong commitment to reforms as under normal course IMF lends up

KARACHI: Pakistan has vowed to address the strategic deficiencies identified by the global financial system watchdog in the country’s compliance with the standards of anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT).The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Friday said Pakistan provided “a written high-level political commitment to address the identified deficiencies”.“The FATF calls on [Pakistan] to complete the implementation of action plan expeditiously and within the proposed timeframe,” said the taskforce that works to identify the risks to the international financial system.A Pakistani delegation attended the FATF six-day plenary meeting, which concluded on Friday, to submit its action plan to curb money laundering and terror financing. In February, the FATF decided to place the country on its grey list, but Pakistan managed to avert being placed on the black list.The country was previously part of high risk jurisdictions (blacklist) in 2008 and 2012, wh

KARACHI: Chinese automakers are set to kick-start their $100 million car assembling plant with annual production capacity of 30,000 units by the year-end, officials said on Friday.“We are excited to see the market potential in Pakistan as well as the export opportunities we can tap,” Wang Huanran, assistant president and general manager of Overseas Business Development at Changan Automobile told media.Changan Automobile signed an agreement with Master Motor Limited, an authorised assembler of Chinese auto brand in Pakistan and that is already assembling buses and trucks in Pakistan.The companies entered into a joint venture to contribute to the indigenisation of the local automobile industry.They would pool their resources and expertise to achieve the common goal of becoming Pakistan’s leading automobile company by 2025, Huanran said.Changan has selected Pakistan as the base country for making of right hand drive vehicles.Huanran said Changan is the largest selling Chinese auto brand i

ISLAMABAD: The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) based weekly inflation for the week ended on June 28 for the combined income groups witnessed increase of 0.07 percent as compared to the previous week.The SPI for the week under review in the above mentioned group was recorded at 230.25 points against 230.09 points last week, according todata released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday.As compared to the corresponding week of last year, the SPI for the combined group in the week under review witnessed increase of 4.02 percent. The weekly SPI has been computed with base 2007, 2008=100, covering 17 urban centres and 53 essential items for all income groups.Meanwhile, the SPI for the lowest income group up to Rs8,000 also increased by 0.24 percent as it went up from 216.31 points in the previous week to 216.83 points in the week under review.As compared to the last week, the SPI for the income groups from Rs8001 to Rs12,000, Rs12,001 to Rs18,000, and Rs18,001 to Rs35,000 in

LAHORE: Guard Group introduced auto brands to fight off foreign competition in the local market. It is also into production of lubricants and hybrid seeds. Here are the excerpts of an interview with the group’s Chairman Iftikhar Ali Malik.Q: What is the secret of Guard’s success?A: Our family remained focused on manufacturing. We never indulged into any speculative business. We have never invested in real estate or gold. We never accumulated dollars or ventured into stock market operations. Our business also suffers when there is a slump in the market, but we put in more efforts to keep up our growth even in the testing times.Today we are the exclusive supplier of oil and air filters to the original equipment manufacturers as well as auto aftermarket. We are also the largest supplier of hybrid rice seed in Pakistan and recently ventured into exports.Q: How did the company manage to compete with internationally-reputed auto brands?A: We produced better quality filters at very competitiv

Stocks closed flat on Friday as investors remained on the sidelines due to poor economic indicators, including external account vulnerability and rising circular debt, dealers said.Analyst Ahsan Mehanti from Arif Habib Corporation said stocks closed lower amid pressure in scrips across the board after Moody’s statement on external account vulnerability due to surging foreign debt.Investors showed concerns for hike in domestic gas prices and foreign outflows, whereas the pending energy sector circular debt also played a catalytic role in the bearish close, Mehanti added.Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 shares index shed 0.21 percent or 86.95 points to close at 41,910.90 points, whereas KSE-30 shares index lost 0.49 percent or 100.93 points to finish at 20,568.57 points.Of 341 active scrips, 170 advanced, 160 declined, and 11 remained unchanged. The ready market volumes stood at 166.083 billion shares compared to a turnover of 159.817 billion shares in the previous session

The increased uncertainty and risks will weigh on business confidence and investment, especially cross-border investment. There will be an impact on growth, in China, the US and elsewhereLouis Kuijs—Head of Asia economics at Oxford Economics from The News International - Business https://ift.tt/2tQrcWP

CHENGDU: In order to introduce cricket in China's province, a  tournament was organized by the  Sichuan University where Pakistani students  enthralled the spectators with their favorite game.The opening ceremony of the tournament kicked off by playing the national anthems of Pakistan and China. Pakistan’s flags were erected around the sprawling Sichuan stadium. Pakistani students mesmerized the Chinese crowd by singing famous cultural songs of Pakistan.As per format,  Seven teams from Sichuan province and one team from Chongqing participated in the tournament played at Sichuan University’s stadium.At the unveiling ceremony, members of the Sichuan University expressed their delight in introducing Pakistani sport in the University. Consul General of Pakistan, Muhammad Mudassir Tipu, thanked the Sichuan University, particularly the Pakistan Study Centre, for taking the initiative of organizing the first-ever cricket match and also thanked other Chinese universities for supporting the

TOKYO: Japan´s Sharp Corp scrapped a plan to issue up to $2 billion in new shares, changing its mind in a matter of weeks after the initial announcement prompted investors to dump its shares on fears of earnings per share dilution.In a statement on Friday, Sharp cited worries about trade frictions between the United States and China."Due to increasing market uncertainties, the company decided that carrying on with the plan to issue new shares would not yield maximum benefit for shareholders," it said.Sharp shares rose 17 percent by early afternoon as investors cheered the about-face.The plans to issue new shares, announced on June 5, had sparked a sell-off on the market as they would have eroded Sharp´s earnings per share by about 20 percent."The shares fell after the announcement, so they decided to quit. It´s that simple," said Masayuki Otani, chief market analyst at Securities Japan."To announce a new share issue, and then say ´we changed our mind´ because t

The rupee closed higher against the dollar on Friday on the back of soft dollar demand from importers, dealers said.The rupee closed at 121.49 to the dollar as compared to 121.54 in the interbank market. However, the currency lost ground in the open market due to fresh surge in the dollar demand. In the open market, the rupee ended at 124/124.50 against the dollar. It traded at 123.40/123.80 in the previous session.Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves fell 3.30 percent to $16.243 billion during the week ended June 22, according to the data released by the central bank on Thursday.The reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) decreased $602 million on weekly basis. The SBP’s reserves were $9.662 billion. The forex reserves of commercial banks rose to $6.581 billion as compared to $6.533 billion in the preceding week. from The News International - Business https://ift.tt/2tLlLZk

TOKYO: The dollar held firm versus the yen on Friday, supported by quarter-end buying as well as an absence of any fresh escalation in trade-related tensions between the United States and its major trading partners.Still, trade worries look set to dominate the market with traders increasingly worried about the impact of Sino-U.S. trade disputes on China´s economy.The dollar firmed to 110.49 yen, having made gains for the last three sessions and nearing this month´s high of 110.905, helped by seasonal buying at the end of quarter and half-year.The yen, which tends to be bought on signs of economic stress because of expectations of Japanese asset repatriation, also lost some support after U.S. President Donald Trump indicated he would take a softer approach on Chinese investments in U.S. technology companies.The dollar is also broadly supported thanks to the prospects of rising U.S. interest rates on the back of solid expansion in the U.S. economy.The dollar´s index against a basket of s