Vladimir Putin “Anyone who does not regret the passing of the Soviet Union has no heart...”
Barack Obama “Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a poverty of ambition...”
LAHORE: Hamara to wazir-e-khazana ja raha hay (Our finance minister is leaving), Prime Minister Gilani was caught telling former finance minister Ishaq Dar, moments before the start of Monday’s press conference after his meeting with PML-N leaders. Perhaps not realising that at least one among the array of microphones on the table in front of [...]
TIANJIN: Chinese commuters in their millions are turning to electric bicycles — hailed as the environmentally-friendly future of personal transport in the country’s teeming cities. Up to 120 million e-bikes are estimated to be on the roads in China, making them already the top alternative to cars and public transport, according to recent figures published [...]
ISLAMABAD: The United States will begin disbursement of deferred Coalition Support Fund (CSF) payments to Pakistan next week, releasing $349 million in the first phase. US Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke told journalists here on Thursday that the CSF money “unfortunately held back” because of accounting reasons would be partially released next [...]
ISLAMABAD: Electricity rates are likely to go up by another 15 per cent or Rs1.20 per unit (kwh) on March 1, mainly because of uneconomic use of fuel and resultant rise in generation cost. “This will be the single highest increase in power tariff in more than 13-year history of Nepra (National Electric Power Regulatory [...]
KARACHI: Pakistan’s net foreign investment suffered a sharp decline during the current fiscal year, and massive fall was noticed even in most attractive sectors, like telecommunications and financial business. The State Bank of Pakistan reported on Monday that net foreign investment fell by 34.4 per cent to $1.466 billion during July-January against $2.234 billion in [...]
ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Friday directed provinces to ensure that sugar mills maintain 15 to 20 per cent stock and asked the interior ministry to check sugar smuggling at Khokhrapar, Torkham and Chaman borders to avert its shortage in future. The Sugar Advisory Board (SAB), in a meeting chaired by Federal Minister for Industries [...]
ISLAMABAD: The government would bring new services into the tax net in next year’s budget and generate meaningful revenue contribution from property, agricultural sector and stock markets, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin said on Friday. During a meeting with a task force on private sector development, the minister said the government would convert capital value tax [...]
ISLAMABAD: The Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly was surprised and shocked on Friday when it was told that officials of the Federal Board of Revenue had exonerated one of their colleagues found involved in an inadmissible tax refund of Rs140 million to a private pay-phone company, keeping in the dark both the Prime [...]
Measuring inflation is a tricky job. Controlling it is trickier. No government can come up with inflation data that is believable for all. And inflation cannot be checked effectively if the mechanism used for measuring it suffers from structural flaws. But efforts must be made to record changes in the actual cost of living of [...]
ISLAMABAD: The GDF Suez of France won on Tuesday a contract for the import of 3.75 million tons per annum of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for up to 20 years, but efforts continued to allow its competitor Shell to import an additional 2.5 million tons for the same period. The price of LNG to be [...]
ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly adopted a bill on Monday which drastically amends the Banking Companies Ordinance, 1962, and empowers the State Bank to change management of banks, impose losses on shareholders by writing down their capital, intervene and take control of banks and appoint administrators to manage banks or restructure banks when symptoms of crisis [...]
JAKARTA: Indonesia has sold more than 850 million dollars worth of Islamic bonds to domestic retail investors, exceeding its target by more than two and half times, officials said Monday. The bonds, or sukuk, will mature in three years and pay 8.7 per cent, finance ministry director for debt Rahmat Waluyanto told reporters. “The government [...]
ISLAMABAD: In a rather embarrassing development, the sovereign state of Pakistan has run afoul of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by galloping over the agreed limit of issuing sovereign guarantees to investors financing mega projects. Already, sovereign guarantees worth Rs 274.3 billion have been issued, amounting to 2.09% of the GDP, which stands at Rs [...]
PARIS: What began with worries about the solvency of Greece in the face of high deficits, fake budget figures and low growth has quickly become the most severe test of the 16-nation euro zone in its 11-year history. Anxiety about the health of the euro, which has spread from Greece to Portugal, Spain and Italy, [...]
NEW YORK: Google is teaming up with the US National Security Agency to battle cyber-attacks from China in a move that is causing disquiet on the internet. The alliance of the world’s largest internet search company and the world’s most powerful electronic surveillance agency has provoked concern among privacy advocates. The non-profit Electronic Privacy Information [...]
SINGAPORE: Pakistan is unlikely to enter another lending programme with the International Monetary Fund, but a final decision will be taken towards the end of the year, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin said on Thursday. Pakistan’s current IMF programme ends in November, its economy is struggling and it is battling Islamist militants in the northwest. “I [...]
ISLAMABAD: The federal government’s budget deficit stood at Rs223.7 billion against the target of Rs194 billion during the first quarter of current fiscal year highlighting a slippage of about Rs30 billion, mostly on account of lower-than-expected revenue collection. This was about 1.5 per cent of the projected GDP for the year, says the Fiscal Policy [...]
KARACHI: The current account deficit suffered a massive fall of over $12 billion mainly on account of sharp reduction on imports during the calendar year 2009. The latest official figures issued on Monday revealed that the government found much needed support from the enormous fall of current account deficit during the period under review enabling [...]
ISLAMABAD: The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) increased prices of petroleum products on Sunday by Rs3 to Rs7.4 per litre, or up to 9.37 per cent, with immediate effect in line with a rise in the international market. The government is receiving a juggernaut of 39 percent tax on a liter of petrol that [...]
ISLAMABAD: Despite Pakistan’s refusal to let Indian products be taken to Afghanistan through its territory under the Afghan Transit Trade (ATT), Indian goods are being taken to the country via Pakistan under the tags of ISAF and NATO. Documentary evidence placed in the National Assembly library may have failed to catch the attention of honourable [...]
Misbah-ul-Haq appointed Pak Test team captain
Swiss ‘Return of Illicit Assets Act’: Pakistan can get billions back!
Cricketer Muhammad Asif finally brings his bride Sana Hilal home, Veena Malik Shocked
Veena Malik seeks court’s help for registration of an FIR against Muhammad Asif
In mom’s wedding sari, Sania Mirza says “Nikah Kabul Hai”; it’s Sania Shoaib from now
What’s going on between Pak cricket legend Wasim Akram & Bollywood actress Sushmita Sen?
Potential to generate 50,000mw electricity from Thar coal field for 800 years
