'The Crown' depicted Queen Elizabeth as a 'countryside woman of limited intelligence'

Sara Ali Khan has come forth wishing her mother and actress Amrita Singh on Mother's Day

Salman Khan also extended wishes to all the mothers on Mother’s Day.

RAWALPINDI: Punjab Information Minister Fayyaz-ul-Hassan Chohan Saturday said that Information Department would give Rs100,000 to media worker affected by COVID-19 while in case of an unfortunate...

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PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Mahmood Khan has asked officials to ensure timely completion of Citizens Facilitation Centres projects in the provincial capital launched under the Digital Access Initiative...

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PESHAWAR: Confusion prevailed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa over cancellation of the board examinations and extension of school closure until July 15 as no decision could be taken at the provincial level...

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By Deaconess Sharon David McCart United Methodist Church  We are living in difficult times. The threat comes not only from Covid-19 but also from food shortages and extrajudicial killings, of being imprisoned (justly or unjustly) in overcrowded conditions. Too many of us know someone who has died during this pandemic. Too many of us are going…

The post Balik-Tanaw Sunday Gospel Reflection | 5th Sunday of Easter: Don’t Be Troubled appeared first on Bulatlat.

Three men have been arrested after an encounter in Korangi on Saturday.According to Awami Colony police, four suspects riding on two motorcycles were busy in looting a citizen when the cops carrying out routine patrolling reached the scene and tried to intercept the suspects.On seeing the police,...

The current coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown in its wake have given a freehand to fruit sellers to sell fruits at their own discretion this Ramazan. The provincial government, like every year, couldn’t establish Ramazan bachat bazaars in the city neither there was any fruit boycott...

Measures should be taken to help small businesses and industries in case the lockdown is eased so that they can resume their operations.Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar said this as he met a delegation of the Akbar Road Market shopkeepers at his office on Saturday. He told the delegation that business...

Three senior officials guiding the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic were in self-quarantine on Saturday after coming into contact with someone who had tested positive for the disease, their agencies and spokesmen said.

CARACAS: Venezuela has charged two former US soldiers with terrorism and conspiracy for allegedly taking part in a failed bid to topple President Nicolas Maduro, the attorney general said on Friday.Luke Alexander Denman, 34, and Airan Berry, 41, were among 17 people captured by the Venezuelan...

SRINAGAR: Indian authorities did not hand over the bodies of the slain Kashmiri fighters to their families under a new government policy designed to thwart large-scale funerals that have become a rallying point for anti-India protests, foreign media reported.Instead, they are being buried in...

BUENOS AIRES: Diego Maradona has lent a hand in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic in his hometown by autographing an Argentina national team jersey for a raffle. The sale raised money for an underprivileged area on the outskirts of Buenos Aires affected by quarantine rules....

AHMEDABAD, India: Indian security forces clashed with angry residents who flouted a pandemic lockdown in the city of Ahmedabad on Friday as the country saw a surge in coronavirus deaths and cases that is predicted to worsen. While authorities have insisted that the crisis is under control in the...

Washington: The United States has approved a $2.3 billion deal on attack helicopters for Egypt, but an official insisted Friday that Washington was still pressing on human rights concerns.President Donald Trump’s administration informed Congress on Thursday that it has given the green light...

CARACAS: Venezuela has charged two former US soldiers with terrorism and conspiracy for allegedly taking part in a failed bid to topple President Nicolas Maduro, the attorney general said on Friday. Luke Alexander Denman, 34, and Airan Berry, 41, were among 17 people captured by the Venezuelan...

MINSK: Thousands of troops paraded before crowds of spectators in Minsk Saturday to mark 75 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany as Belarus held a celebration of Victory Day despite the coronavirus pandemic.Neighbouring Russia cancelled its Victory Day parade over the pandemic and Belarus was...

CARACAS: Venezuela has charged two former US soldiers with terrorism and conspiracy for allegedly taking part in a failed bid to topple President Nicolas Maduro, the attorney general said on Friday.Luke Alexander Denman, 34, and Airan Berry, 41, were among 17 people captured by the Venezuelan...

EDINBURGH: Three people have been arrested and charged as more than £100,000 in stolen property was recovered.The items, including barbecues, bikes, lawn mowers and Christmas trees, were taken from Leslie’s Bike Store in Glenrothes, Fife, and two garden centres, one in Dunfermline,...

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon has delayed announcing its verdict in the case of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, previously set for mid-May, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the court said.

Islamabad : The business community welcomes the announcement of Prime Minister Imran Khan to lift countrywide lockdown in phases and reopen all construction related industries as well as shopping centres for five days in a week as it would help the businesses and industrial units to revive...

Islamabad : Industrial-Area police have arrested a wine dealer and recovered 115 bottles of wine and 150 litres liquor from him, a police spokesman said.He said that Deputy Inspector General of Police Waqar Uddin Syed assigned special task to SP Industrial Area Zubair Ahmed Sheikh, to ensure...

Islamabad : Parliamentarians and civil society representatives while participating in a virtual conference urged the government to urgently develop an integrated mechanism engaging different stakeholders and active civil society organizations to reach out to a variety of daily workers and...

Islamabad: Anti-Car Lifting Cell of Islamabad police busted an Afghan gang involved in bike lifting and recovered 10 motorcycles worth hundreds of thousands of rupees from them, the police spokesman said.DIG Waqar Ud din Syed assigned task to SP Dr. Syed Mustafa Tanveer to accelerate efforts...

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has drafted tax proposals for Budget 2020-21 mainly focusing on “simplification of laws and removing tax anomalies,” Dawn has learnt from knowledgeable sources.

Unconfirmed reports are that the government is likely to announce a ‘tax-free budget’, an official in the FBR told Dawn, adding a final decision will be taken after consulting with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after Eidul Fitr.

Also read: Govt, IMF agree to put on hold $6bn programme

Meanwhile, Finance Adviser Abdul Hafeez Shaikh has already termed the next year budget a ‘corona-budget’.

It will depend on the IMF whether it considers Pakistan’s proposal to lower tax target for TY21. The Fund had proposed a tax target of Rs5.1 trillion for the next year, which is higher by 30pc from the FY20’s proposed collection.

Consultation with IMF after Eidul Fitr

For the current year, the IMF has lowered the FBR tax target to Rs3.9tr, from Rs4.8tr to subside the impact of Covid-19 on businesses. However, achieving this benchmark also depends on the revival of activity before and after Eid and the entire June, the official added.

Another senior tax official told Dawn that the Fund officials meeting with Pakistani economic team will determine the direction of the next budget whether it will be tax-free or have some taxation to achieve the following year’s target.

The official said the FBR has already completed its homework on budget proposals for the next year and is currently working on identifying anomalies that should be removed.

“We are also working on simplification of tax laws to facilitate taxpayers,” the official said.

At the same time, the FBR is also engaging all stakeholders to identify problems related to taxation for redressal. “We will also consider tax incentives in the next budget for some sectors to help them revive their business,” they added.

Some of the proposals on the table from stakeholders are the revival of zero-rating for the five export-oriented sectors, allowing lower rates of sales tax on domestic sales of textile, clothing, waiver of CNIC conditions for traders and reducing the sales tax rate to 5pc from 17pc. “These are the demands of the stakeholders,” the official said.

Tax officials privy to budget-making said the FBR will try to avoid the introduction of new tax measures but will defend the continuation of those already in place. “It will be best to preserve our existing tax measures for now and see onward in the year how it progresses,” the officials commented.

At the moment, the focus is on the ease of doing business and facilitating taxpayers through information technology support. As the economy will revive, the FBR will support any new taxation proposals, they continued.

However, a senior tax official said the FBR cannot do away with maximum existing tax measures. “We need money for running the government machinery,” he said, adding other measures like printing of notes will add to inflationary pressure in the country.

The FBR has already worked out the impact of ongoing lockdown and closing down of businesses on the country’s revenue collection. The IMF has approved the incentive package for the construction sector on the request of Prime Minister Imran Khan to create employment.

“We are under an IMF programme so all budget proposals will be discussed with them,” the official said.

The FBR estimates a revenue loss of Rs450 billion in the first quarter (July-September) of next fiscal year in case the partial lockdown remains. It further projects that in case the partial lockdown extends, the tax body will see another shortfall in revenue realisation to the tune of Rs350bn.

According to the official, the FBR will try to recover some portion of the shortfall in the second half of the year. However, the government will have no other options but to seek a loan to bridge revenue shortfall. “You cannot bridge such a huge gap with new tax measures,” the source said.

Moreover, the FBR estimates also show that imports will remain on the lower side in the first half-year and so is the case of exports until orders revive. The domestic economy will revive to some extent while revenue collection from the services sector will be much lower from last year’s level.

Published in Dawn, May 10th, 2020

Foreign Office spokesperson Aisha Farooqui on Sunday said that Pakistan rejects the "baseless and inaccurate" allegations by Harish Salve, India's legal counsel in the Kulbushan Jadhav case.

In an online lecture on May 3, Salve, who had represented India in the case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), alleged that Pakistan refused to respond to Indian queries about how it would carry out the ICJ's judgement and review and reconsider Jadav's case.

"We have written four to five letters to Pakistan [...] but they just keep on denying. I think we have reached a point where we have to now decide whether we want to go back to ICJ for consequential directions because Pakistan has not moved ahead," Tribune India quoted Salve as saying.

He also alleged that Pakistan granted consular access to Jadhav "too late" and refused to share details of the case with India.

The Foreign Office, while refuting the allegations, said that Pakistan has "fully complied" with the international court's judgement. "Pakistan has granted India consular access to commander Jadhav and is processing measures for effective review and reconsideration as per the guidelines provided by ICJ in its judgment," a statement from the FO read.

The Foreign Office also said that Salve's statements were "regrettable and a misrepresentation of facts", adding that Pakistan followed "all its international obligations".

Read: Timeline: How the Kulbhushan Jadhav saga unfolded

The ICJ in its verdict in July 2019 had ruled that Jadhav be allowed consular access immediately and asked Pakistan to ensure "effective review and reconsideration of his conviction and sentences".

The ICJ had, however, rejected all other remedies sought by India, which included the annulment of the military court decision convicting Jadhav, restricting Pakistan from executing the sentence, securing Jadhav's release and ordering his return to India.

Arrest of Indian spy

Jadhav — a serving commander of the Indian Navy associated with Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing — was arrested on March 3, 2016, from Balochistan on allegations of espionage and terrorism.

Read: Transcript of RAW agent Kulbhushan’s confessional statement

In his subsequent trial at a military court, Jadhav had confessed to his involvement in terrorist plots.

The spy was subsequently sentenced to death in 2017. However, India insisted that Jadhav was not a spy and said he was kidnapped from Iran.

On April 10, 2017, Army Chief Gen Qamar Bajwa had endorsed the death penalty for Jadhav. In June 2017, the Indian spy had filed a mercy petition against the death penalty, in which he again confessed to his involvement in terrorist activities.

However, before Pakistani authorities could make a final decision, the ICJ, after being approached by India, had ordered a stay in his execution through an interim order.

CES 2014, LAS VEGAS – HARMAN today announced it will begin delivering targeted audio advertising to its users through a partnership between its Aha Radio and AdsWizz. A leading global technology provider of advertising solutions for the digital radio and audio industries, AdsWizz will be Aha Radio’s primary technology partner in enabling targeted audio advertising in vehicles and mobile phones through the Aha Radio app.This is the first time that the AdsWizz server-side Audio Injector for Streamers (AIS), built to be compatible with most of the market recognized streaming technologies, will be used in the vehicle audioadvertising space.

Palo Alto, CA – HARMAN announced today that its Aha Radio service will be a standard feature in all Subaru models and trims starting with the 2015 Legacy. Subaru of America, Inc. was one of the first automotive manufacturers to integrate the Aha Radio service into its vehicles. A partnership that was established through the availability of the service in 2014 Subaru Forester’s top trim levels has been consistently growing since then.

With the championship race in Brooklyn, New York over the weekend of July 14-15, Harman Kardon recently wrapped a second successful season partnering with BMW i and the MS&AD Andretti Formula E team. The ABB FIA Formula E Championship began in 2014 ...

Venezuela's military said it seized three abandoned Colombian light combat vessels that soldiers found on Saturday while patrolling the Orinoco river, several days after the government accused its neighbor of aiding a failed invasion.

Three senior officials guiding the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic were in self-quarantine on Saturday after coming into contact with someone who had tested positive for the disease, their agencies and spokesmen said.

Eleven-year-old Brazilian Gui Khury has made skateboarding history by becoming the first person to land a 1080 on a vertical ramp more than two decades after Tony Hawk completed the first 900.

U.S. soccer star Alex Morgan will celebrate her first Mother's Day on Sunday.

As the possibility of a season start date increases, Major League Baseball Players Association board members Chris Iannetta and Andrew Miller are concerned about pay and health.

As the NBA begins to allow practice facilities to reopen on a team-by-team basis, with state and local rules regarding reopening dictate which teams can welcome players back, one NFL coach wants his league to take a different approach when pro football gets back to work.

I've been using a Chromebook Pixel for the past two days and a single phrase comes to mind: blown away. Is it worth $1,299 or more? Take a look to see and then stack it up against your mobile computing needs.

Google's Chromebook Pixel is quite versatile after all. I can run Chrome OS and Linux at the same time, and switch between the two, allowing me to use Skype and other third party apps!

While the Chrome browser takes full advantage of the Chromebook Pixel's hardware, I thought it would interesting to see how video gaming works on the device. Quite well, with just a few small issues, it turns out.

How do we get the world's largest economies on the same page moving forward with regulation? CFTC Commissioner Jill Sommers outlines some of the progress and challenges the U.S. has had and Thomson Reuters CEO Tom Glocer touts Canada as a template for a great country in which to do business in.

Jan 19 - In an interview with Reuters Global Editor-at-Large Chrystia Freeland, GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt touts the conglomerate's success with joint ventures in China, but says GE has succeeded on its own.

Jan 19 - In an exclusive interview with Reuters Global Editor-at-Large Chrystia Freeland, GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt says a large and educated workforce is fueling China's strength and not simply a deflated yuan.

George Soros explains to Reuters' Chrystia Freeland how German Chancellor Angela Merkel's actions in 2008 could lead to the disintegration of the European Union. Consequently, a disorderly default of European sovereignties may lead to a global financial meltdown worse than 2008. He explains his analysis here.

* Q4 profit likely 5.2 trln won, vs 5 trln won analyst f'casts

Global smartphone leader Samsung Electronics Co Ltd on Thursday confirmed expectations for its first annual profit decline since 2011, although a pickup in the fourth quarter hinted that earnings may have stabilized in the short term.

Sony Corp will delay sales of the PlayStation 4 gaming console in China, originally scheduled for Jan. 11, due to "various factors", the company said in a statement on Thursday.

Sony Corp will delay sales of the PlayStation 4 gaming console in China, originally scheduled for Jan. 11, due to "various factors", the company said in a statement on Thursday.

Belgian publisher Roularta Media Group said it would negotiate exclusively with French businessman Patrick Drahi towards a sale of seven magazines including newsweekly L'Express.