ISLAMABAD: The power division conceded on Thursday its earlier path to circular debt reduction was unrealistic, as the previous projection for the ongoing fiscal year was underestimated by Rs450 billion and required higher tariff increases than anticipated. Based on revised estimates, the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE) approved a revised circular debt management plan (CDMP) that would need about Rs2.17 per unit increase in base uniform national electricity tariff in July 2022. This will be in addition to about 65 paisa per unit increase in base tariff by the end of current month for which the National Electric Power Regulatory…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin informed the Senate on Friday that Pakistan has to return $3 billion — that was placed in the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) account following an agreement with the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) in 2021 — within a year. Saudi Arabia had in October last year agreed to revive its financial support to Pakistan, including about $3 billion in safe deposits and $1.2bn to $1.5bn worth of oil supplies on deferred payments. The facility was expected to help Pakistan convince the International Monetary Fund (IMF) about its financing plan. Sharing the details of the deal during the Senate session…
A court in the southern Indian state of Karnataka told students on Thursday not to wear any religious clothing until it delivers a verdict on petitions seeking to overturn a ban on hijabs, headscarves used by Muslim women. The court in Karnataka state is considering petitions filed by students challenging a ban on hijabs that some schools have implemented in recent weeks. “We will pass an order. But till the matter is resolved, no student should insist on wearing religious dress,” the Press Trust of India news agency quoted Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi as saying. The advocates appearing for the petitioners objected…
WASHINGTON: Documents ripped up, stuffed down the toilet or carted off to Florida — the list of former US leader Donald Trump’s alleged flouting of laws on preserving presidential papers grew longer and more bizarre on Thursday. Trump’s shredding of many previously accepted norms of presidential decorum was part of his populist attraction to Republican supporters. But now the National Archives, which is in charge of preserving presidential records, reportedly wants Trump investigated over, among other things, his habit of literally tearing up White House papers while in office. According to The Washington Post, the Archives requested the Justice Department open…
WASHINGTON: Film star Angelina Jolie was back on Capitol Hill on Wednesday pleading with US lawmakers to immediately pass measures to combat domestic violence. At a press briefing in the US Capitol, Jolie expressed support for renewing legislation that would provide victims of such abuse with medical and legal assistance, as well as support to children who have been exposed to violence in the home. “The ugly truth is that violence in homes is normalised in our country,” said the filmmaker and Academy Award winning actress. “I want to acknowledge the children who are terrified and suffering at this moment,…
KABUL: Only five hospitals in Afghanistan still offer Covid-19 treatment, with 33 others having been forced to close in recent months for lack of doctors, medicines and even heating. This comes as the economically devastated nation is hit by a steep rise in the number of reported coronavirus cases. At Kabul’s only Covid-19 treatment hospital, staff can only heat the building at night because of lack of fuel, even as winter temperatures drop below freezing during the day. Patients are bundled under heavy blankets. Its director, Dr Mohammed Gul Liwal, said they need everything, from oxygen to medicine supplies. The…
PARIS: France’s gender equality minister threw her support on Thursday behind Muslim women footballers who are seeking to overturn a ban on players wearing headscarves on the pitch. Rules set by the French Football Federation currently prevent players taking part in competitive matches from wearing religious symbols such as Muslim headscarves or the Jewish kippa (a skullcap). A women’s collective known as “les Hijabeuses” launched a legal challenge to the rules in November, claiming they were discriminatory and infringed their right to practise their religion. “The law says that these young women can wear a headscarf and play football. On…
LONDON: British ex-premier John Major on Thursday accused Prime Minister Boris Johnson of breaking Covid laws and fostering public “contempt” for politics, as police prepared to grill Downing Street party-goers. The unusually blunt attack from Major on his Conservative colleague underlined the political jeopardy Johnson faces with several lawmakers from the ruling party calling publicly for his resignation. Police are now reviewing a December 2020 event in Downing Street, after the Daily Mirror printed a photo of Johnson and two colleagues — one draped in tinsel — near an open bottle of sparkling wine. On a visit to Nato headquarters in Brussels,…
MOSCOW: Russia rolled its tanks across Belarus on Thursday for live-fire drills that drew an ominous warning from Nato and added urgency to Western efforts to avert a feared invasion of Ukraine. Nato said Russia’s deployment of missiles, heavy armour and machine-gun toting soldiers marked a “dangerous moment” for Europe some three decades after the Soviet Union’s collapse. The war games — set to run until February 20 — followed a gradual Russian military buildup around Ukraine that some US estimates say has reached 130,000 soldiers grouped in dozens of combat brigades. Western leaders have been shuttling to Moscow in…
WASHINGTON: The US government has had “a number of conversations” with Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers on plans to counter the Khorasan faction of the militant Islamic State (IS) group, according to officials. At a news briefing in Washington on Thursday, they said the Taliban could also benefit from the two $10 million reward offers, announced on Wednesday, for catching the Khorasan chief and his associates. “We are in communication with the Taliban, and we have been since the Doha agreement (2020) and certainly negotiations leading up to that,” one of the two US officials who briefed the media said. “And we’ve…
