ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) has decided to forward the Competition Commission of Pakistan’s (CCP) proposal to revise national cement standards for disclosure of “manufacturing/expiry dates” on cement bags to the PSQCA for deliberation in the Technical Committee. A CCP team, led by Member OFT Saeed Ahmad Nawaz, held a follow-up meeting with Ali Tahir, Additional Secretary (In-charge) of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST), to discuss the proposal to amend the National Cement Standards, making the ‘manufacturing/packaging and expiry/best before’ dates on cement bags mandatory. The proposal was sent to MoST and the Pakistan Standards…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
KARACHI: The government borrowed a record amount from banks at record high prices, which ate up 76 per cent of the tax revenue during the first nine months of the current fiscal year. The latest data released by the State Bank on Tuesday reveals that the present government has been borrowing heavily from banks despite the fact the cost of money is at its peak. The SBP reported that the government borrowed Rs5.736 trillion during July-April FY24 while it paid Rs5.517trn as markup on borrowing during July-March FY24. It shows the gravity of the situation. Borrowing made during the current…
COCULLO: Snakes are the highlight of an ancient religious procession held every May 1 that attracts thousands of visitors to a mountainous village in central Italy. Every year, villagers wrap a statue of Abbot Saint Dominic in snakes in the weeks leading up to the procession, before carrying it from the church and down Cocullo’s narrow streets. Abbot Dominic (951-1031), also known as Dominic of Sora, is the patron saint of snake bites, rabid dogs, and toothaches and lived in the region around the year 1000. Thousands of visitors flock from all over the peninsula and even abroad, to join…
ISTANBUL: Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Wednesday that Turkiye would join in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). “Upon completion of the legal text of our work, we will submit the declaration of official intervention before the ICJ with the objective of implementing this political decision,” Fidan said in a joint press conference with Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi in Ankara. “Turkiye will continue to support the Palestinian people in all circumstances,” he said. The ICJ ordered Israel in January to refrain from any acts that could fall under the Genocide…
BEIJING: China’s Fujian aircraft carrier took to the water for maiden sea trials on Wednesday, state media said, a key next step in a vast naval build-up by Beijing as it carves out a more assertive role for itself in the Pacific and beyond. The Fujian is China’s third aircraft carrier after the Liaoning and the Shandong vessels and is the Chinese navy’s largest-ever ship. It departed from eastern Shanghai’s Jiangnan Shipyard at around 8am, state news agency Xinhua said. The trials will “primarily test the reliability and stability of the aircraft carrier’s propulsion and electrical systems”, it added. China has stepped…
JAKARTA: Eruptions at a remote Indonesian volcano forced more than half a dozen airports to close with ash spreading as far as Malaysia, officials said on Wednesday, while authorities rushed to evacuate thousands due to tsunami fears. Mount Ruang erupted three times on Tuesday, spewing lava and ash more than five kilometres (three miles) into the sky and forcing authorities to issue evacuation orders for 12,000 locals. A rescue ship and a warship were dispatched to help move thousands from neighbouring Tagulandang island north to Siau island because of a warning about parts of the volcano falling into the sea…
GENEVA: Gaza stands filled with more debris and rubble than Ukraine, the UN stated on Wednesday. The mammoth task of clearing it has been made all the more costly and dangerous in the face of the sheer amount of asbestos and unexploded ordnance. Six months into the Israeli aggression, the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) has estimated the amount of debris in the Gaza Strip, at 37 million tonnes in mid-April, or 300 kilogrammes per square metre. “Gaza has more rubble than Ukraine, and to put that in perspective, the Ukrainian front line is 600 miles (nearly 1,000 kilometres)…
TEHRAN: Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday efforts underway to forge a normalisation of ties between Israel and Arab countries will not resolve the crisis in the Middle East. “Some people think that by forcing neighbouring countries to normalise their ties (with Israel) the problem will be solved,” said Khamenei. “They are wrong.” Khamenei’s remarks came after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington is nearly ready with a security package to offer Saudi Arabia if it normalises relations with Israel. Saudi Arabia had been in talks over a potential normalisation with Israel but they were…
BOGOTA: Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on Wednesday his country will sever diplomatic ties with Israel, whose leader he described as “genocidal” over its aggression in Gaza. “Tomorrow (Thursday) diplomatic relations with the state of Israel will be severed… for having a genocidal president,” Petro told a May Day rally in Bogota, referring to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Petro has taken a critical stance on the Gaza assault. In October, just days after the start of the crisis, Israel said it was “halting security exports” to Colombia after Petro accused Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant of using language about…
ISLAMABAD: While local refineries and oil marketing companies complain about falling capacity utilisation and sales, around 10 million litres of Iranian petrol and diesel are smuggled into Pakistan every day through land and sea routes, causing a more than Rs227 billion annual revenue loss. It was revealed in a joint report by intelligence agencies to the Petroleum Division. Sources said the report entailed complete identities, addresses and contact numbers of 100 black sheep in around a dozen law enforcement agencies (LEAs), owners and operators of 533 illegal petrol stations across the country and 105 smugglers of Iranian oil. The report…
