Twenty years ago, Haider Ali was a teenager from Gujranwala living with Cerebral Palsy. He didn’t know he’d be a Paralympic champion someday, but today, he’s going in to defend his title in the Men’s Discus Throw F37. The journey to this point has been a long one, but Ali has been well-supported every step of the way. It was 2005 when Ali’s talent caught the eye of sports officials at a training camp in Faisalabad. After being classified for para sports by national classifier Dr Rabab, Ali was given comprehensive training as a track and field athlete, particularly in…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
KARACHI: The domestic debt of the central government increased by Rs537 billion in July, reflecting the surging expenditure of the state machinery. Experts in the media have been stating that heavy borrowing will be necessary due to a revenue shortfall that started from the first day of 2024-25. The country is caught in a double debt trap, with domestic and foreign debt servicing consuming almost all tax revenue, forcing the government to rely solely on borrowing to survive. Further details show that the country’s total debt rose to Rs69.604tr at the end of July from Rs68.914tr in June, a rise…
LONDON: Opec+ has agreed to delay a planned oil output increase for October and November, the producers group said on Thursday after crude prices hit their lowest in nine months, adding that it could further pause or reverse the hikes if needed. Oil prices have been falling along with other asset classes on concerns about a weak global economy and soft data from China, the world’s biggest oil importer. Oil prices held near a 14-month low on Thursday. Brent futures were down 18 cents, or 0.3 per cent, to $72.52 a barrel by 1739 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate…
ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has notified procedures for developers and builders to collect and pay duty on allotments and transfers of property. The FBR has also issued the Computerised Payment Receipt (CPR-FE) for payment of Federal Excise Duty (FED) through a notification SRO1376 of 2024 issued on Thursday. The amendments were made to the Federal Excise Rules 2005. Through the notification, the FBR defined a developer as someone who develops land for conversion into residential or commercial plots and then sells it. This will include a housing society, a cooperative society, a development authority, or another entity…
KARACHI: Due to tax-driven price increases and a construction slowdown during the monsoon season, local cement sales plunged by 27.54 per cent year-on-year to 2.752 million tonnes in August. Cement exports also fell 16pc to Rs613,857 tonnes compared to 730,755 tonnes in August 2023. As a result, overall cement despatches (local sales and exports) tumbled by 26pc to 3.366m tonnes from 4.528m tonnes in August 2023. According to data released by the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA), total cement despatches during 2MFY25 were 6.375m tonnes, down 18pc from 7.758m tonnes in the corresponding period last fiscal year. Overall despatches…
Up to 50 per cent of all vehicles bought in Pakistan by 2030 will be electrified in some form in line with global targets, BYD Pakistan, a partnership between China’s BYD and Pakistani car group Mega Motors, said. Warren Buffett-backed Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD last month announced its entry into Pakistan, making the South Asian nation of 250 million people one of its newest markets. The partnership has announced plans to open an assembly plant in early 2026 but will introduce vehicles for sale later this year, after launching three models in August. “I see conversion to new energy vehicles NEV at up…
GUJRAT: In a shocking incident, the case of rape of at least five underage schoolgirls by the husband of their schoolteacher at a government school has surfaced in Saleem Colony (Therri Sansi) of Gujranwala. Reports said the suspect was running a canteen at the non-formal literacy centre where his wife was a teacher. The suspect had been raping the minor girls, belonging to the age group of 11 to 14 years, for quite some time. He would also make the pictures and videos of the victim girls in compromising condition to blackmail them to keep them silent. However, one of…
ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan on Thursday claimed that he was being “victimised” for “standing up to powerful” quarters by exposing the cipher conspiracy. While talking to reporters after the proceedings of the accountability court, Mr Khan vowed he would “never surrender in the face of tyranny”. I would prefer to die in the dungeon than to surrender before a tyrant, he said, adding that his wife, Bushra Bibi, has been detained for seven months to teach him a lesson. While referring to the victory of PTI-backed independent candidates in the February 8 general election, Mr Khan said it was…
ISLAMABAD: As the Senate on Thursday passed a controversial bill proposing up to three years imprisonment for participants of an unauthorised assembly in the federal capital, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar told the house that the permission granted to the PTI to hold a rally in Islamabad was intact “as of now”. The rules were suspended for the immediate consideration of the ‘Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Bill 2024’ bill seeking to empower the district magistrate to regulate and ban public gatherings in Islamabad. As soon as Senate Standing Committee on Interior Chairman Saleem Rehman introduced a report of the committee on the bill PML-N parliamentary…
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has constituted 38 teams to verify all crucial forms of the Feb 8 elections uploaded on its official website. According to the terms of reference spelt out in an office order issued with the approval of Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, a copy of which is available with Dawn, the teams will verify that all Forms-45 and Forms-46 are uploaded as per final list of polling stations. The teams will identify missing Form-45 and Form-46 and prepare their details on the prescribed form to be provided by the Elections Wing. The teams will…
