Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada

ISLAMABAD: The first day of Senate Standing Committee on Finance meeting witnessed a heated debate on the Finance Supplementary Bill 2021, with a unanimous opinion that the proposed revenue measures will bring a tsunami of inflation in the country. The bill, which was laid before the house on Jan 4 with a ruling from the Senate chairman to finalise the recommendations at the earliest, was taken up by the committee on Wednesday. The meeting was chaired by committee chairman Senator Talha Mahmood. At the outset, the committee raised objections to the `unconstitutional’ order of the house to finalise the consideration…

Read More

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s trade deficit year-on-year widened by a sharp 106.4 per cent to $25.478 billion which was driven largely by a nearly triple increase in imports compared to exports, showed data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday. Upward reversing trend in trade deficit was witnessed for the six consecutive month owing to an unprecedented increase in the import values while the exports stagnated at between $2.5bn and $2.8bn a month — mostly semi-finished products or raw materials. Commerce Adviser Razak Dawood said in a statement that there were indications that the growth in imports had started to…

Read More

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange witnessed on Wednesday a range-bound session owing to investors’ concerns about the spread of the new variant of Covid-19, according to Topline Securities. The rising number of Omicron cases may lead to lockdowns and scaled-back economic activity going forward. It is spreading at a high pace in Karachi as 339 of the total 464 new cases in Sindh during the preceding 24 hours were reported from the metropolis. The benchmark index moved within a band of 200 points and closed at 45,407.89 points after adding 17.05 points or 0.04 per cent from a day ago.…

Read More

ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet on Wednesday approved import of 50,000 tonnes of urea from China on an immediate basis subject to clearance from the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority. A meeting of the ECC presided over by Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin allowed the import on a government-to-government basis and tasked the Trading Corporation of Pakistan with negotiating the price with a Chinese supplier authorised by the government of China for further import of urea. The fertiliser manufacturers welcomed the government’s decision to import 50,000 tonnes of urea to overcome its shortage…

Read More

SEOUL: North Korea fired what appeared to be a ballistic missile into the sea on Wednesday, South Korea and Japan said, in the first such launch by Pyongyang this year. In the decade since Kim Jong Un took power North Korea has made rapid progress in its military technology, at the risk of international sanctions. The nuclear-armed nation’s first apparent weapons launch of 2022 follows a year of major arms tests despite severe economic hardship during the coronavirus pandemic. The South Korean military said the North fired what is “presumed to be a ballistic missile” towards the sea east of…

Read More

PARIS: President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday faced anger from opponents and chaos in parliament after warning French people not yet vaccinated against Covid-19 that they would be squeezed out of key aspects of life. Macron, who has not yet formally declared his candidacy for re-election in April, came under fire from challengers already in the race, accusing him of overstepping the line with his remarks. The uproar prompted a new delay to legislation aimed at tightening France’s Covid rules at a time when the country is facing record daily infection rates fuelled by the Omicron strain of the virus. “As…

Read More

MOSCOW: Protesters in Kazakhstan’s largest city stormed the presidential residence and the mayor’s office on Wednesday and set both buildings on fire, according to new reports, as demonstrations sparked by a rise in fuel prices in the Central Asian nation escalated sharply. Police fired on some protesters at the presidential palace before fleeing. They have clashed repeatedly with demonstrators in recent days, deploying water cannons in the freezing weather, tear gas and concussion grenades. The government resigned in response to the unrest and the president vowed to take harsh measures to quell it. In possibly the first of those efforts,…

Read More

INDIAN Prime Minister Narendra Modi was trapped on a flyover for 20 minutes by protesters in East Punjab on Wednesday in what was being described as a security lapse, according to BBC. Mr Modi was on his way to a memorial in the northern state when the route was blocked by protesting farmers. They were demanding the resignation of a minister whose son has been accused over the deaths of farmers. “This was a major lapse in the security of the PM,” a statement from the federal home ministry said. Mr Modi was also scheduled to address an election rally in…

Read More

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on Wednesday finalised the Joint Action Plan for Strategic Dialogue (2022-26). The plan, in line with a memorandum of understanding on strategic dialogue, provides for an institutional approach to deepen cooperation in various fields, including political, security, trade and investment, agricultural and food security, transportation, energy, environment, health, culture and education. The action plan was finalised during a delegation-level meeting between Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and GCC Secretary General Dr Nayef Falah M. Al-Hajraf. During the talks, the two sides reviewed cooperation in diverse fields and explored new avenues for an…

Read More

A BRITISH court convicted Lord Nazir Ahmed, a former British parliamentarian of Pak­istan descent, on Wednesday of sexual offences against two children in the 1970s. According to the BBC, the court found Lord Ahmed guilty of a serious sexual assault against a boy and the attempted rape of a girl. The Sheffield Crown Court heard the repea­ted sexual abuse happened in Rotherham, Yorkshire, when the former MP was a teenager. The 64-year-old had denied the charges. Judge Mr Justice Lavender will decide later when Lord Ahmed will be sentenced. Prosecutor Tom Little told the court Nazir Ahmed had attempted to rape…

Read More