India and Mauritius are set to revive talks for a free trade agreement (FTA), following a revision of the bilateral tax treaty last year that gave India the right to impose the capital gains tax on investments routed through the island nation. More than economic significance, the trade talks are of strategic importance to strengthen New Delhi’s presence in the Indian Ocean region to counter China’s mega investment plans through its one-belt-one-road (OBOR) initiative.
Import of mobile phones hikes by 40% in first two months of FY
ISLAMABAD, OCT 12 (DNA) : The imports of mobile phones into the country increased by 39.57 percent during the first two months of current fiscal year when compared to the imports of the corresponding period of last year. Mobile phones worth $129.329 million were imported into the country during July-August (2017-18) compared to the imports of $92.707 million during July-August (2016-17), according to the data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). The overall imports of telecoms sector increased by 35.30 percent by going up from $170.667 last year to $230.920 million during the current fiscal year, the data revealed.
Turkish President gifts Holy Quran to Bollywood superstar
Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan is currently on a promotional tour for his upcoming movie ‘Secret Superstar’. Recently, he visited Turkey and was quite surprised to find out that he has a huge fan following in the country. A video has gone viral where a Turkish vendor played some neat and super cool tricks on Khan as he prepared the ice-cream. Where Aamir got indulged in Turkish delights and looked mesmerized by the beauty of Turkey, the actor didn’t miss a chance of meeting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. At the occasion, Turkish government presented Aamir with the gift of the sacred Holy Quran.
Gloves off as Japan election campaign starts
Tokyo’s popular governor Yuriko Koike launched a bitter attack on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Tuesday as the gloves came off for the official start of a snap election campaign in the world’s third-largest economy. Conservative premier Abe, 63, is facing an unexpected and fierce challenge from the media-savvy Koike, who has upended the sleepy world of Japanese politics with her upstart “Party of Hope.” Addressing hundreds of commuters at a busy Tokyo station via loudspeaker, Koike called on supporters to “end the politics of Abe,” lashing out at the long-serving premier over recent scandals that have weighed on his popularity.
World leaders ask UN to resolve Kashmir conflict
NEW YORK, OCT 08 (DNA) – In a memorandum submitted to the secretary general of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, the former prime minister of Azad Kashmir, Barrister Sultan Mehmood Choudhary, and the secretary general of the World Kashmir Awareness Forum, Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai, urged the United Nations to play the leadership card in resolving the 70-year-old Kashmir conflict. The memorandum read that the Kashmir conflict is perhaps the most dangerous conflict in the world, because of the spiraling nuclear and missile race between India and Pakistan, coupled with historical enmities that have occasioned three wars between the two rivals.
Somalia months away from having new currency
WASHINGTON, OCT 06 (DNA) – The Somali Minister of Finance says the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is taking the lead in helping Somalia with a grant to print new currency before the end of this year. Abdirahman Duale Beileh says the IMF will work with the Somali government. “IMF is ready, from wherever they going to get that money, to help us,” he said. “There are other sources, but we are going to go through IMF.” Beileh said the Somali government needs $100 million, half of which will go directly toward printing the new money, and the other half to keep the value of the currency when it circulates.
Istanbul’s 3rd airport to welcome 1st plane by Feb 2018
ANKARA, OCT 06 (DNA) – Istanbul’s third airport will welcome its first plane before February of next year, according to Turkey’s transport, maritime, and communications minister. Ahmet Arslan said: “We will land the first plane at Istanbul’s third airport before February 2018.” The official opening of the new under-construction airport in Istanbul, the first phase, will be on Oct. 29 of next year, he said. Oct. 29 is the day Turkey marks Republic Day, commemorating the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923.
Uzbekistan, Pakistan relations growing at a fast speed: Furqat Sidiqov
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Uzbekistan
Talks to Centreline and Diplomatic News Agency (DNA)
Ansar Mahmood Bhatti
Q: Would you please tell us about successes of Uzbekistan during the years of Independence?
A: After gaining Independence Uzbekistan was able to achieve rapid development of its industrial sector in short period of time. The Government of Uzbekistan has paid special attention to the development of oil and gas, chemical, automobile and electrical industries as well as other most important sectors of economy. Nowadays Uzbekistan is holding leading positions in the world by the speed of development of its industrial sector. To achieve these results the Government of Uzbekistan has created all necessary economic, legal and investment conditions for attracting foreign investors to the real sectors of economy.
Health experts see camels as solution to fight deadly MERS virus
GENEVA, OCT 03 (DNA) – The fight against the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), which has killed at least 722 people over the past five years, is honing in on its target: camels. MERS coronavirus (MERS-CoV), a member of a virus family ranging from the common cold to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, appears to have emerged in humans in Saudi Arabia in 2012, but has now been traced back in camels to at least 1983. Almost all the outbreaks so far originated in the Arabian Gulf, but MERS-CoV could infect humans wherever there are one-humped dromedary camels – two-humped bactrians are not affected.
EU to kick off mid-term GSP Plus review this month
ISLAMABAD, OCT 03 (DNA) – The European Union, with the assistance of Pakistan, will undertake a mid-term review of the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) Plus status by the middle of current month in a bid to assess the required measures already taken and the future plan of action designed by Islamabad. “Pakistan has improved its position on human development indicators over the past three years (since winning GSP Plus trade preference status in January 2014) and has shown impressive performance and extraordinary recovery in key competitiveness indicators,” a senior official of the Ministry of Commerce and Textile told.
