LAHORE: Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan barred 11 opposition members from attending the next 15 sittings of the house for resorting to “rowdyism” during the speech of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz in the house on Friday. An annoyed speaker also put off the discussion on supplementary budget for Saturday, contrary to the agreed schedule. The suspended MPAs belonging …
ISLAMABAD: The government has extended exemptions in specific sectors while announcing new tax measures in several areas to generate additional revenue in the coming fiscal year to meet the International Monetary Fund’s criteria. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb announced the new measures in the National Assembly on Friday. These include introducing a capital value tax on property in Islamabad and implementing new tax measures on …
WASHINGTON: Pakistan’s envoy to the US, Masood Khan, has urged Washington to provide small arms and modern equipment to the country to ensure the success of Operation Azm-i-Istehkam, a newly approved counter-terrorism initiative. The federal government recently greenlit the reinvigorated national counter-terrorism drive, however, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif clarified that this initiative would not be a large-scale military operation and would …
ISLAMABAD: A day after Omar Ayub Khan stepped down as PTI’s secretary general, the party’s top leaders reposed confidence in him and urged him to continue in the role. A meeting of PTI’s parliamentary party on Friday “unanimously” expressed confidence in Mr Ayub, who is also the opposition leader in National Assembly. “The parliamentary party unanimously resolves that his resignation may not …
ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Friday announced the appointment of Rizwan Saeed Sheikh as the new ambassador to the United States and Asim Iftikhar as Pakistan’s additional permanent representative to the United Nations in New York. “The Government of Pakistan has decided to appoint Additional Foreign Secretary (Middle East and SIFC) Ambassador Rizwan Saeed Sheikh as Pakistan’s new ambassador to …
ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Friday passed a resolution with a majority vote terming the June 25 resolution adopted by the US House of Representatives — seeking probe into the alleged irregularities in the Feb 8 elections — “an interference” in Pakistan’s internal affairs amid noisy protest by the opposition PTI members who voted against it. After passage of the resolution, the treasury …
BEIJING: The Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence were proposed 70 years ago. Having emerged in a complex historical context, the five principles have been gradually accepted by countries worldwide and become fundamental norms for maintaining international peace and security and promoting friendly relations among nations. At a commemorative conference marking 70 years of the principles, held by China on Friday, …
BEIJING: Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu on Thursday stated China’s stance on the Taiwan question, Xizang, the South China Sea issue and the Ukraine crisis in a phone call with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell. During the phone conversation, Ma demanded that the United States translate the “five-no” commitments made by U.S. President Joe Biden into real …
ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Friday passed the government’s tax-heavy finance bill for the coming fiscal year ahead of more talks on a new International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout as it seeks to avert a debt default for an economy growing at the slowest pace in South Asia. The government presented the tax-loaded budget two weeks ago, drawing sharp criticism from opposition parties, especially the PTI, as well as coalition …
LAHORE / GUJRAT: Qaisera Elahi, the wife of former Punjab chief minister and PTI president Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, has rejected reports of family reconciliation. She said PML-Q chief Chaudhary Shujaat Hussain had no role in the release of her spouse. “We did not have any kind of family reconciliation, all these things are based on lies,” she said in a …