DNA
ISLAMABAD, NOV 23: Madam Bushra Rehman President & Malik Sohail Hussain Secretary General Pakistan-Western Canada Trade Association PWCTA visited Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry and had a great and successful meeting with President Sialkot chamber of commerce and Industry, Abdul Ghafoor Malik & Acting President Sialkot Women Chamber Mrs Waqas Malik Awan and members of Sialkot Chamber.-DNA
DNA
Rawalpindi: On 22 Nov Fire exchange took place between own troops and terrorists, in general area Sararogha, South Waziristan District.
Own troops effectively engaged the terrorist’s location. During intense exchange of fire, Havaldar Umer Hayat (age 39 years, resident of Lachi, Kohat) having fought gallantly, embraced Shahadat.
Sanitization of the area is being carried out to eliminate any terrorists found in the area.
Pakistan Army is determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our brave soldiers further strengthen our resolve.
Comment
Ansar M Bhatti
Comment
Ansar M Bhatti
While everybody seems obsessed with the key appointment of the army chief, the country continues to slide towards economic crises that are getting deeper and deeper with the each passing day. Inflation has crossed 30 per cent mark while foreign exchange reserves have squeezed to all time low. Out of total $ eight billion reserves, half of them belong to friendly countries, which means if things does not go well as per the wishes of these friendly countries, including the ‘ key appointment’ Pakistan’s foreign reserves may witness a deadly blow.
Probably that is the reasons the key appointment got delayed. This is perhaps for the first time that this appointment has become center of attraction for all and sundry. Even the foreign diplomats based in Pakistan are seen so much curious about who is going to be the next chief of the army staff.
The situation ostensibly does not augur well in terms of reputation and credibility of the armed forces of Pakistan. Given the fact that Pakistan Army happens to be the most organized and disciplined force, people expect smooth transition of power. It is therefore hoped that once this process is completed the institution would carry out a thorough and inclusive soul searching drill in order to avoid such situations in future.
As regards the present imbroglio, the Prime Minister on Monday sent a letter to the Defence Ministry seeking a list of candidates for the post of the army chief. The Defence Ministry then forwarded that letter to the General Headquarters (GHQ). As reports suggest the prime minister received the summary from the Defence Ministry on Tuesday night. The summary includes names of six senior most candidates including Lt. Gen Asim Munir, Lt. Gen Sahir Shamshad, Lt. Gen Azhar Abbas, Lt. Gen Nauman, Lt. Gen Faiz Hameed and Lt. Gen Amir.
While the summary has already landed at the PM office, conspiracy theories that the GHQ may not send the summary before Nov 27 have subsided. Since the summary also includes name of Lt. Gen Asim Munir so legal experts are of the view that in order to appoint him as army chief the government has to first extend his term, which is expiring on November 22. There is yet another view that the government does not need to do so.
It may also be mentioned here that the government was not bound to make its decision on the basis of the summary. The prime minister could do it even if there was no summary but there was no such precedent before therefore probably the government wanted to avoid that situation and waited for the summary to arrive before making any decision.
There is a general perception that those generals who have a longer tenure of service left and qualify to be the army chief should be given priority. The three other strong contenders Lt General Sahir Shamshad, Lt General Azhar Abbas and Lt. Gen Nauman will otherwise retire next year. It is also a possibility that if they are not considered for this post then they might call it a day, as per the previous practice.
In the backdrop of these developments, Imran Khan’s announcement to reach Rawalpindi on November 26 carries significance. He certainly has a tip off about what would happen during this week. Since the government has made up its mind whom it intends to appoint as army chief therefore its (govt) desperation to get the summary sooner rather than later was quite understandable.
The role of the President is also being discussed when it comes to the appointment of the army chief. The prime minister after making his decision will send the advice to the President, under Article 48 of the Constitution has the prerogative to return the summary to the prime minister for a review. If the prime minister re-sends the same summary then it becomes binding on the president to approve it.
Summing up, it is in the interest of Pakistan that the stakeholders are able to develop a consensus on this issue. The country, as mentioned earlier, cannot afford to have any further instability. Economy is indeed in a bad shape thus taking a heavy toll on the hapless people. To make their both ends meet appears to be a daunting challenge for the majority of people. Pakistan has literally become a laughing stock in the eyes of many, especially our adversaries.
The situation therefore demands better sense to prevail. The leading political parties’ i.e PTI and PML N need to rise to the occasion. They have to shelve their personal liking and disliking for the greater interest of Pakistan. They must keep in mind that they would not get anything if things go out of control and non-political forces are left with no option but to make an immediate intervention.
DNA
BAKU: Rice imported from the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to Azerbaijan is exempted from a 15 percent import customs duty, Azerbaijani media reported on Tuesday.
The Cabinet of Ministers adopted the relevant decision in this regard. Rice from the Islamic Republic of Pakistan with the same origin is exempted from import customs duty until December 31, 2027.
Both Pakistan and Azerbaijan enjoy excellent brotherly relations. Both countries support each other on various regional as well international forums.
Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Pakistan Khazar Farhadov in his Tweet termed the decision very important. He said it would give considerable boost to trade and economic activity between the two countries.
ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar shared on Tuesday that he has received the interim report related to the leak of Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa’s income tax records, adding that they have traced some people involved in the act.
In an interview during Geo News programme ‘Capital Talk’, Dar repeated that leaking army chief’s income tax returns was “illegal”.
“I have seen the interim report. I hope to receive the final report today,” Dar told the host. He added that the government has found a few people behind the leak and the issue will reach its logical conclusion.
The finance czar shared that one person involved in the leak is from Lahore and another from Rawalpindi.
However, he added that there is a possibility that some of the individuals involved may have the authorisation to look at the income tax records as there a “circle” in Rawalpindi where assessments take place.
“These people are authorised to access [data] for their assessment,” said Dar.
The finance minister was of the view that if “illegal work” is allowed or a blind eye is turned towards it then a person will not be fulfilling their duty.
“The law does not allow the release of army chief or anyone else’s income tax returns without a court order,” said the finance minister.
Dar orders probe into ‘illegal, unwarranted’ leak of COAS Bajwa’s family tax records
A day earlier, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar took notice of the “illegal and unwarranted” leakage of tax information of Gen Bajwa’s family members.
“This is clearly a violation of the complete confidentiality of tax information that the law provides,” a statement from the Finance Division read. An immediate investigation into the violation of tax law and breach of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) data will be carried out, said the statement.
In view of this serious lapse on the part of to-date unknown functionaries, Dar had directed Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Revenue Tariq Mehmood Pasha to personally lead the probe, affix responsibility, and submit a report within 24 hours, it added.
KARACHI, NOV 22 (DNA) — Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has said that the only solution to the issues facing the country is free and transparent election and the government that comes with the majority should establish the rule of law.
Addressing a seminar in Karachi through video link on Tuesday, he said that the country’s situation was not good when his party came into power and the biggest his government faced was current account deficit.
He said no government in the past has focused on increasing exports and the situation would have worsened had the Saudi Arabia, China and United Arab Emirates did not help.
“Coronavirus was the biggest crisis during PTI government’s tenure and I was facing alot of pressure to impose lockdown,” Imran Khan said adding that he was criticized for not imposing lockdown but the people would have died of hunger, if his government had imposed a lockdown.
He went on to say that no one knows where we would be standing in a month but according to the Gallup survey, 88 percent of Pakistan s direction is not correct, adding that the country will not be stable unless elections are held.
On Monday, In an interview with a British newspaper The Telegraph, former PM and PTI chairman Imran Khan said that he would try to establish strong ties with neighbouring India, Afghanistan, Iran, China and the US if he is again elected as the prime minister.
He said that good relations are impossible in India as long as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) remains in power, but I want better relations with News Delhi.
Khan said that the potential economic benefits that establishing trade between the two arch rivals would bring but said these would never be realised until Delhi changes its stance on the disputed region of Indian-administered Kashmir.
“The benefits would be enormous. But, we are stuck on this issue and we need a strong roadmap to resolve it. I think it’s possible but the BJP government is so hardline, they have a nationalistic stance on issues,” he said.
The former prime minister said that the benefits from trade would be huge but Indian stand on Occupied Kashmir is the main obstacle because the attitude of the Indian ruling party is hardline, the BJP incites nationalist sentiments, causing the situation to spiral out of control.
“We want to solve the problem of Kashmir, for which there should be a road map,” he said and added we do not accept that Kashmiris are not given rights. When India ended the special status of Occupied Kashmir, the relations between the two countries became cold.
The PTI chairman said, “We really need a relationship with both countries. What I do not want is another Cold War situation when we are in blocks, like in the last Cold War we were allied with the United States.”
He said: “The whole of Central Asia, Afghanistan, became out of our orbit. My main concern for Pakistan is how to lift 120 million out of poverty and the best way to do that is if we can have a relationship with everyone, to trade with everyone, so we can help our population.” =DNA
Rawalpindi, NOV 22 /DNA/ – Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) Asif Mahmood Jah has said that complaints can be submitted to FTO online, WhatsApp and on plain paper. More than five thousand taxpayer’s complaints have been resolved in ten months. He was addressing at the cheques distribution ceremony of excess Sales Tax refund payment to the taxpayers in Suzuki Car cases in light of FTO’s decision by Hon’ble Federal Tax Ombudsman.
President Saqib Rafiq, Group Leader Sohail Altaf, Senior Vice President Muhammad Hamza Sarosh, Vice President Faisal Shehzad, Small Chamber President Tariq Jadoon, President Women Chamber Riffat Shaheen, Former President Zahid Latif Khan, Executive Members, and Chamber Members were also present on the occasion.
Federal Tax Ombudsman Asif Mahmood Jah said that there was a 17% tax on the booking of Suzuki cars, which was later reduced to 12% by the government, the customers who paid more than 5% tax was a huge amount which has been refunded to them.
Appeals of FBR against FTO decision were dismissed by the President, about 81 appeals were dismissed. On the complaints of vehicle owners, the Federal Tax Ombudsman returned 5% more tax to the owners, he added.
Earlier, Group Leader RCCI Sohail Altaf said that Asif Jah played an important role for the business community as a federal ombudsman, and acknowledged their efforts. DNA
LUSAIL: Unheralded Saudi Arabia notched one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history on Tuesday with a 2-1 win over Lionel Messi’s Argentina thanks to a scintillating second half come back.
On his fifth and final quest for the only major trophy to elude him, the 35-year-old Messi scored a 10th minute penalty in a dominant first half display where he and Lautaro Martinez also had three goals disallowed for offside.
But Saudi Arabia, the second-lowest ranked team in the tournament after Ghana, threw caution to the wind at the start of the second half, charging at Argentina’s defence in front of a frenzied 88,012 crowd.
Saleh Al-Shehri squeezed in a low shot in the 48th minute while Salem Al-Dawsari curled in a scorching strike from the edge of the penalty area in the 53rd minute to leave Argentina and Messi looking utterly shell-shocked in the Group C opener.
Despite plenty of possession after that, Argentina were unable to penetrate Saudi Arabia, who were competing in their sixth World Cup but had never previously won an opening game.
The entire game was played in an extraordinary atmosphere at the Lusail Stadium, with Argentina’s traditionally massive and raucous following matched by the thousands of Saudis who had come over the border to cheer on their team.
“Our team fulfils our dreams!” and “Where is Messi? We beat him!”, the green-clad Saudis chanted over and over in the Lusail Stadium, on their feet and greeting every clearance from their defence with a deafening roar.
Messi’s dream in doubt
Both teams have Mexico and Poland to come, with Argentina needing an immediate reaction if Messi is to have a realistic chance of matching Diego Maradona’s immortality in his homeland by bringing home the World Cup.
The result revived old question marks over Argentina’s defence and broke their amazing 36-match undefeated run. That stopped them from matching the previous international record of 37 games unbeaten held by Italy.
It also marred Messi’s achievement of becoming the first Argentinian to score in four World Cups on his 20th appearance in the tournament. Only Maradona has played more games for Argentina at the World Cup, 21 in all.
“This hurts a lot. We were dreaming of starting the World Cup with a win,” said Messi’s strike partner Martinez. “But it’s happened and now we have to train and think forward.
“We lost this game because of our own mistakes, most of all in the second half. There are details that make a difference and we need to correct our mistakes.”
It had all looked so different at the start when the marauding Messi nearly scored in the opening seconds, celebrated joyfully after sending Saudi goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Owais the wrong way with his penalty, then had another goal disallowed.
For the Saudis, the result buried their dismal history at the start of tournaments, including a 5-0 thrashing by hosts Russia in 2018 and an 8-0 pummelling by Germany in 2002.
Their feat against the twice World Cup-winners and current South American champions was all the more remarkable given the departure of their influential captain and midfielder Salman Al Faraj just after halftime, clutching a hamstring.
Argentina’s last defeat was by Brazil in the semi-finals of the Copa America in July 2019. They are ranked third, 48 places above Saudi Arabia, by world football’s governing body FIFA.
Argentina’s last defeat in their opening match at a World Cup was against Cameroon in 1990.
KARACHI, NOV 22 /DNA/ – Ambassador of Morocco Mohamed Karmoune has said that the existing trade volume was not enough so Morocco and Pakistan need to do more through enhanced interaction between the Chambers of Commerce and the business communities with a view to improve trade volume between the two brotherly countries.
Speaking at a meeting during his visit to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), the Moroccan Ambassador informed that preparations were underway for sending a Pakistani business delegation to Morocco in the month of December, which in addition to exploring opportunities for improving trade and investment cooperation, would also see how the Morocco and its economy have evolved. “I hope you’ll join this important delegation so that you could spread the message about trade and investment potential upon your return”, he added.
President KCCI Mohammed Tariq Yousuf, Senior Vice President Touseef Ahmed, Vice President Mohammad Haris Agar, Honorary Consul General of Morocco Mirza Ishtiaq Baig and KCCI Managing Committee Members also attended the meeting.
The Ambassador said that the kingdom of Morocco was one of the best destinations for tourism hence, Pakistan can learn greatly from Morocco’s experience in this area to promote its tourism opportunities. “Tourism is the driver of any economy in the world and same was the case with Morocco where tourism sector is performing very well and it also carries good investment opportunities for the business community of Pakistan”, he added.
He informed that Morocco holds around 70 percent of world’s phosphate reserves that was the main attraction towards the kingdom of Morocco which was also become a champion of solar energy. “This is particularly an area wherein our brotherly country can benefit from Moroccan knowhow in solar energy as Pakistan is also gifted with good summer season”, he said, adding that Pakistani business community can also take interest in Moroccan automobile sector which has been growing and most of the automobile products and spare parts were being exported to African countries which was rising at a pace of 10 percent every year.
He hoped that the existing relations and valuable trade will be enhanced more in the coming months in order to reinforce the bilateral relations between the two countries.
Earlier, President KCCI Tariq Yousuf, while welcoming the Moroccan Ambassador, stated that Pakistan views Morocco as an important partner which was the gateway to Africa and was an emerging market having free trade agreements with USA and Turkey. “In order to enhance and deepen connectivity between both countries, Pakistan’s Look Africa policy can help accelerate trade and strengthen economic ties which would pave way for Pakistan & Morocco’s businessmen to explore new dimensions for boosting bilateral trade.
He was of the view that Morocco was a potential market for Pakistani textiles and fabrics as it enjoys duty-free access from USA & EU. Both countries can exploit the available opportunities to boost trade and economic development.
Stressing the need for undertaking joint ventures, President KCCI said that Moroccan investors can capitalize on exciting investment opportunities in Pakistan’s various sectors such as agriculture, textile, renewable energy, food security, industrial & infrastructure development, sports, tourism and hospitality.
“Both countries can exchange innovative ideas in the field of tourism to promote and develop tourism economy through joint ventures & exploring the economic opportunities”, he added.
He noted that as Moroccan economy has a well-established Tangier port with a handling capacity of 9 million containers a year, Pakistan can learn from Moroccan experience to develop Gwadar port, which is the gateway to regional economic transformation.
Tariq Yousuf said that Pakistan has tremendous investment opportunities in Energy, Transport Infrastructure, Gwadar, Socio-Economic Development, Science & Technology & Agriculture Cooperation. “We want to further enhance, promote and deepen the business, trade and economic relationships of multi-domains between the two countries.”
DNA
ISLAMABAD, NOV 22: Pakistan Navy Ship TABUK visits Doha, Qatar for maritime security during FIFA World Cup 2022. Upon arrival at Doha, PNS TABUK was warmly received by officials from Qatari Emiri Navy and Pakistan Embassy at Qatar.
During the port visit, Commander Qatar Emiri Navy Maj Gen Abdullah Hassan Al Sulaiti visited aboard PNS TABUK. During the meeting with Commanding officer PNS TABUK, matters of mutual interest and cooperation in maritime domain were discussed.
Cdr Qatar Emeri Navy appreciated the efforts of Pakistan Navy in promoting peace and security in the region. On the occasion Commanding Officer of PN ship conveyed well wishes from Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi for the people of Qatar in general and Qatar Emeri Navy in particular for safe and successful conduct of FIFA World Cup 22.
Visit of PNS TABUK provided an opportunity to further enhance the existing close diplomatic ties and cordial relations with Qatar.
