LOS ANGELES: Brazil’s poor performance in their goalless draw against Costa Rica in their Copa America Group ‘D’ opener on Monday has dampened the enthusiasm surrounding their new manager and a revamped squad headlined by Vinicius Jr. After a gritty 1-0 win over England at Wembley and a hard-fought draw 3-3 with Spain at the Bernabeu earlier this year, fans were optimistic that Brazil had turned a corner under Dorival Jr but his side had no answers to Costa Rica’s five-man defence at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. As the clock ticked down and the five-time world champions’ frustrations…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
KARACHI: While rejecting the federal budget 2024-25, almost all the key chambers and trade associations have asked the government to abolish the Final Tax Regime (FTR) and other anti-exports taxation measures. They believe that these measures will have disastrous consequences, leading to a decline in precious foreign exchange earnings and adversely affecting revenue generation for the national exchequer and urban employment for millions of people. Addressing a press conference at the PHMA House on Tuesday, which was virtually attended by representatives of various associations from other stations across the country, Chief Coordinator and Spokesman of All Exports Associations of Pakistan (AEAP) Muhammad…
ISLAMABAD: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has approved the acquisition of two pharmaceutical products from Tokyo-based Eisai by Hilton Pharma. The acquisition includes the rights to manufacture and commercialise the drugs Methycobal and Myonal in Pakistan. The transaction involves the transfer of trademarks, know-how and records related to these products under an asset purchase agreement signed between the two companies. This agreement aims to facilitate the production and distribution of these medications within Pakistan. Hilton Pharma, established in 1989, has been manufacturing and distributing medicinal products in the country. The company is authorised by the Drug Regulatory Authority of…
ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has claimed that nearly 50,000 individuals filed their returns for the tax year 2023 after their mobile SIMs were blocked and retailers were registered as part of an effort to broaden the tax base. To enforce tax laws, the government has implemented a new regulation that permits blocking mobile SIMs and requires retailers to register under the Tajir Dost Scheme (TDS). This move aims to enable the suspension of cellular services for individuals who do not adhere to the country’s tax regulations. Since May 14, the FBR has sent around 165,000 CNICs of non-filers to three major…
KARACHI: Yielding to pressure from luxury automakers, the government has withdrawn the proposal to impose a 25 per cent sales tax on hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and restored the existing 8.5pc in the Finance Bill 2024, resulting in a loss of a whopping Rs30 billion to the national exchequer on an annualised basis. While wrapping up discussions on the budget 2024-25 in the National Assembly on Tuesday, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb surprised everyone by announcing that the current reduced sales tax rate would continue to apply to HEVs mentioned in Schedule 8 and Serial No 73. Market experts believe this GST concession…
NEW DELHI: The speaker of the Lok Sabha has been always elected by consensus, but on Wednesday, a miffed Indian opposition plans to field a rival candidate to contest Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s handpicked man. In what is turning at the outset into a polarised lower house even during the initial swearing in of the new MPs, the opposition has accused Mr Modi of violating parliamentary conventions to impose his choice even of the temporary “protem” speaker. Mr Modi broke the con vention by getting a BJP MP nominated by President Darupadi Murmu as the protem speaker instead of naming…
LONDON: Five more police officers allegedly placed bets on the timing of the UK general election, a force spokesperson said on Tuesday, as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak withdrew support from two Conservative candidates over the escalating scandal. The row has overshadowed the closing stretch of the election campaign as Sunak struggles to close his party’s 21-point average poll deficit to Keir Starmer’s Labour opposition before the July 4 vote. London’s Metropolitan Police said the Gambling Commission had informed it that five additional officers and a member of Sunak’s protection team were believed to have gambled on the election date. The…
PARIS: The failure of rich countries to tax the world’s billionaires has made it necessary to introduce a global minimum tax rate on the world’s richest, argued a G20-commissioned report published on Tuesday. The idea of a global tax on the richest is already supported at the G20 by Brazil, France, Spain and South Africa — although the United States has opposed it. Tuesday’s report by economist Gabriel Zucman calls for a coordinated minimum tax standard for ultra-high net worth individuals, arguing that “the very wealthy benefit from a gigantic tax privilege. “They pay much less in tax than all…
THE HAGUE: The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday said it had issued arrest warrants for Russia’s army chief and ex-defence minister over strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure that constituted alleged war crimes. The ICC warrants are the latest in a series of actions by the court over the Ukraine war, including an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin. The warrants, issued on Monday but made public on Tuesday, concerned the Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, and former defence minister Sergei Shoigu. The pair are accused of the war crimes of directing attacks at civilian targets and causing excessive incidental…
JERUSALEM: Israel’s top court ruled unanimously on Tuesday that the state must draft ultra-Orthodox Jewish men into military service, potentially destabilising Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition. The High Court of Justice’s decision on the politically charged issue comes as calls grow for ultra-Orthodox men, historically exempt from mandatory service, to enlist as Israel wages war on Hamas in Gaza and prepares for potential fighting in Lebanon. “The executive branch has no authority to order not to enforce the Security Service Law for yeshiva students in the absence of an appropriate legislative framework”, the court said. The justices ruled that…
