Bulls continued their stampede at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday as shares gained more than 1,200 points to briefly cross the 80,000 level — a day after it closed at a now-broken all-time high. The benchmark KSE-100 index gained 1238.54 points, or 1.57 per cent, to stand at 80,059.87 — a record high — from the previous close of 78,801.53 points at 9:47am. It, however, then receded to 78,847.57 at 11:36am — a gain of mere 46.04 points, or 0.06pc, from the previous close. Tahir Abbas, head of research at Arif Habib Limited, said, “The market continues its positive momentum…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue Chairman Zubair Tiwana drew flak for an increase in taxes and punitive measures for non-filers, as the Senate Standing Committee on Finance deliberated on the Finance Bill 2024 on Thursday. In addition to a proposed raise in taxes on imported electric vehicles, reservations about hikes in other sectors, such as cement, telecom and beverages, were also discussed, and senators observed that abrupt taxation measures were not conducive to investment. A war of words between independent Senator Faisal Vawda and the FBR chairman was also witnessed. Senator Vawda, who is also in the same business, said he knew who dictated the tax increase…
ISLAMABAD: While telecom operators and mobile phone manufacturers have expressed concerns over taxation measures and the subsequent hike in service and set costs after the budget is approved, traders have already started charging higher prices for the current stocks. Telecom Association of Pakistan (TOA) has challenged the proposed Finance Bill 2024-25 in a letter to IT and Telecom State Minister Shaza Fatima. The letter highlights issues, including the proposed 75 per cent advance tax collection on mobile services for non-filers, terming it impractical due to existing infrastructure limitations. The association comprises all existing cellular mobile operators, long-distance international operators, wireless local loop…
PESHAWAR: National and provincial lawmakers from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa continued to forcibly enter grid stations and turn on power supply on Thursday even as the utility company warned such actions could seriously damage the transmission infrastructure. The provincial home and tribal affairs department has also directed district administrations to ensure no unscheduled loadshedding is carried out. This is the latest development in the row between KP and Centre on loadshedding, that had ostensibly settled last month, but resurrected this week after KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and a number of his party lawmakers barged into grid stations across the province during the Eid holidays. They forcibly turned…
VATICAN CITY: Carlo Maria Vigano, a former Catholic Church diplomat and virulent critic of Pope Francis, said on Thursday the Vatican was putting him on trial for denying the pontiff’s legitimacy. The 83-year-old ultra-conservative, who was the Vatican’s US ambassador from 2011-2016, said the powerful department of doctrine had summoned him to hear the charges. In a blog posting he publicised in several languages on X, Vigano said the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith set out accusations “of having committed the crime of schism”, meaning splitting the Catholic Church. He was also charged with “having denied…
BARCELONA: A cruise ship rescued 68 migrants from a fishing boat spotted adrift south of Spain’s Canary Islands with five bodies on board, Spanish authorities and the ship’s operator said on Thursday. Rescuers were alerted on Wednesday afternoon to the vessel drifting in the Atlantic some 800 kilometres south of the island of Tenerife. The cruise ship, the Insignia, was sailing in the area and was called on to head to the boat’s location to pick up the survivors, Spain’s maritime rescue service said in a statement. It took on board 68 sub-Saharan African migrants, including three women and three…
NEW DELHI: An Indian court granted bail on Thursday to one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s chief opponents, who was first detained over a long-running corruption probe in March. Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi and the leader of the opposition Aam Aadmi party, denies the charges as a “political conspiracy” by Modi and his Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He was released from detention to campaign partway through the country’s weeks-long national election but returned to jail after voting ended earlier this month. Modi’s BJP lost its overall parliamentary majority in the poll and now leads a coalition government. “Truth alone…
MANILA: The Philippines accused Chinese coast guard sailors of brandishing knives, an axe and other weapons in a clash with its naval vessels near a strategic reef in the South China Sea. The clash took place on Monday as Philippine forces attempted to resupply marines stationed on a derelict warship that was deliberately grounded atop the disputed Second Thomas Shoal in 1999 to assert Manila’s territorial claims. It was the latest in a series of escalating confrontations between Chinese and Philippine ships in recent months as Beijing steps up efforts to push its claims to the disputed area. Philippine military chief General…
LONDON: The man who made headlines less than two years ago for being the United Kingdom’s richest and first non-White prime minister will now go down in history as a symbol of failure. This week, a new poll forecast that the Conservatives will face a wipeout in London at the general election, and that Rishi Sunak will lose his own seat — a prediction that, if proven true, would be the first time that a sitting prime minister lost his own seat at the polls. The Savanta and Electoral Calculus poll for The Telegraph predicted that the Conservative party could be left with…
HANOI: The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, says he wants to build a “reliable security architecture”, in the Asia-Pacific region. He made these remarks on Thursday, during a state visit to Vietnam, which is part of a ‘two-nation’ trip to Asia, viewed by many “as [a] show of defiance to the West”. A day after signing a mutual defence agreement with North Korea, Putin received a 21-gun salute at a military ceremony, in Vietnam. He was embraced by two of its Communist leaders and lavishly praised by one of them. Putin’s visit has drawn criticism from the United States and its allies,…
