The News Of Pakistan

A man was found dead in Orangi Town on Sunday. Police officials said the body was found at a house in the town’s Zia Colony within the limits of the Mominabad police station. Volunteers from a welfare organisation reached the site of the incident and took the body to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where he was identified as 45-year-old Sher Zaman. Mominabad SHO Asif Munawar said the body was found bound up, adding that the man was apparently tortured to death over a personal dispute. from The News International - Karachi https://ift.tt/2RLcHzc

The body of a man who had drowned off Gadani was found on Sunday. Police officials said the deceased had been identified as 25-year-old Huffaz, son of Saeedur Rehman, a resident of Baldia Town.They said the man and his friends were picnicking at the Gadani beach, but while bathing in the sea, he drowned, adding that his friend had also almost drowned, but the lifeguards managed to rescue him.Huffaz’s body, however, was found 36 hours later. It was shifted to the Civil Hospital Karachi and later handed over to the family for the funeral and burial.Teenage girl electrocutedA teenage girl was electrocuted to death in the Manghopir area. Police officials said the incident took place when 14-year-old Saima Omar was working at her house in Kunwari Colony. She fell unconscious and was taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where the doctors pronounced her dead on arrival. The family took her body away without completing all the medico-legal formalities.Woman ‘commits suicide’A newly-wed woman ...

The Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) organised two batches of a student volunteer program during the current summer vacation of educational institutions in which students participated in voluntary community service at the health facility.The first summer batch, i.e. Batch 52, was held from June 17 to 22 and the second one from June 24 to June, 2019, respectively. The certificate-awarding ceremony of the 53rd batch was held the SIUT on Saturday.The SIUT has been organising these programs for the past 13 years to initiate and motivate the young generation of the country towards getting an insight into the realities of life faced by our underprivileged population at large as well as into how one can contribute their part to alleviating these issues.Prof Adib Rizvi said that he was very pleased that this program had been well-recognised by students, parents and teachers and had received a tremendous response, which was realised every year by the exceeded number of appl...

Karachi University in its syndicate meeting on Saturday unanimously approved the name of Institute of Sustainable Halophyte Utilisation (ISHU) after the varsity’s late vice chancellor Professor Dr Muhammad Ajmal Khan.VC Professor Dr Khalid Mahmood Iraqi chaired the meeting held at the VC Secretariat. The meeting also made new appointments to key positions in various departments. The syndicate decided to declare the previous selection board of the mass communication department null and void. The selection board for the post of lecturer and assistant professor for the department was held on May 2.The meeting appointed Professor Dr Samina Khalil as the director of the Applied Economics Research Centre and also gave approval to the appointment of chairmen/chairpersons for the next three years in various departments.As per the syndicate resolution, Dr Naeem Ahmed would be the new chairman for the Department of International Relations, Professor Dr Shahina Naz would be the chairperson of the...

As the funeral service for The News International senior staffer Anil Datta, fondly called Datta sahib, ended at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Saddar on a calm and cloudy Sunday evening, a couple, apparently in their 50s, sitting on the benches at one entrance of the Gora Qabristan was already waiting for the procession to arrive.They were talking about Datta sahib to a family sitting next to them who had come to visit the grave of their loved one. “He was such a nice man,” the woman said to the family. The woman knew Datta sahib from the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology in Clifton where he used to go to cover events. She is a receptionist there. “He would always talk so politely. Like a real gentleman.”Then one day she met him at a Sunday mass at the cathedral where he was a regular. She also introduced him to her husband. “It was then that I came to know he was a Christian. I used to think that he was a Hindu.” She smiled. “He was usually quiet, but rev...

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has issued notices to the provincial transport department and others on a petition of the All Pakistan CNG Association challenging the government’s ban on the use of CNG in intercity buses and school and college transport vehicles.The All Pakistan CNG Association challenged the decision of the Sindh government in which it banned the use of CNG kits in intercity buses and school and college vans. The petitioner’s counsel said that the ban on the use of CNG kits in intercity buses and schools and college transport vehicles had crippled their businesses, and that they had invested billions of rupees for the installation of CNG kits.He said that instead of taking action against substandard CNG kits, the government had completely banned the use of CNG in intercity buses and school and college vans, which he claimed was illegal and against the right of the businesses of the petitioners.The counsel said that the CNG sector was introduced to minimise the use of petro...

The Koel Gallery is hosting Shaukat Ali Khokhar’s solo art exhibition titled ‘Labyrinth’ until July 5, according to a statement that was released by the gallery.Khokhar was born in 1970 in the village of Mitho Dero near Larkana, reads the statement. He loved to draw the streets of his village for some time, and later he painted pigeons, which originated from his childhood memories.He joined the National College of Arts in Lahore and graduated with an MA (Hons) in visual arts, where his work evolved towards minimalism. With a sound theoretical base, he created his paintings using simple dots.“From the beginning to the finished work of art, the dot is an essential element in my work,” says Khokhar in his artist statement. “I had always been a great admirer of the dot used repetitively, just like Daedalus created the labyrinth for King Minos.“I remained involved in making intricate patterns based on my thought process. However, every work has a simple beginning but ends in forming complex...

The Full Circle Gallery is hosting Hoor Imad Sherpao’s solo art exhibition titled ‘Face to Face’ until July 8. Call 0303-2239038 for more information.Parde Mein Rehne DoThe Sanat Initiative is hosting Ghulam Hussain’s solo art exhibition titled ‘Parde Mein Rehne Do’ from July 2 to July 10. Call 0300-8208108 for more information.If You Have A Garden In Your Library -IIThe AAN Gandhara Art Space is hosting Cyra Ali, Samya Arif, Sara Khan and Onaiz Taji’s art exhibition titled ‘If You Have A Garden In Your Library - II’ from July 4. Call 021-35821462 for more information.NauTarangThe All Pakistan Music Conference and the Alliance Française are hosting ‘NauTarang’ at 8:30pm on July 5 at the Alliance Française. The programme features Anina Fida Jatoi and Farzana Rasheed (students of Ustad Shahid Hameed) as well as Imtezaaj. Call 0321-2381236 for more information.LabyrinthThe Koel Gallery is hosting Shaukat Ali’s solo art exhibition titled ‘Labyrinth’ until July 5. Call 021-35831292 for more...

Rawalpindi : Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) Chairman Muhammad Arif Abbasi stressed that the materialization of Ghazi Barotha Project is the only and best solution to overcome water problem for the next 40 to 50 years.Giving the details, he said that present population of Rawalpindi city is 2.6 million including WASA served area of 1.6 million people.The present demand of water in WASA area is 64 million gallons per day (mgd) whereas current production is 51 mgd.Major sources of water for Rawalpindi are Rawal Dam, Khanpur Dam and tube-wells.Due to massive depletion of ground water tube-wells are not feasible to meet future requirements of water.Otherwise the present resources like tube-wells are failing to provide good results because of depletion of ground water level to a greater extent and climate change phenomena. The storage capacity of Rawal Dam and Khanpur Dam is also substantially reduced over the period of time.Currently Wasa is already facing a shortfall of 13 mgd which is...

Islamabad : The Government of Pakistan attaches great importance to the Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (Comsats) - an inter-governmental organisation based in Islamabad. An indication of this is the designation of the Federal Minister for Science and Technology, Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, as ex-officio Chairperson of Comsats Consultative Committee (which was previously chaired by the Federal Secretary) , says a press release.This development has raised the level of the Committee in order to provide maximum support and patronage to the programmes and undertakings of the organization. During a recent visit to Comsats Headquarters, the Federal Minister stated that he considers Comsats a potent platform for South-South cooperation in science and technology.A brain-child of Pakistani Nobel Laureate, Prof. Dr. Abdus Salam, Comsats is working for sustainable socio-economic uplift of the developing countries through judicious application of science a...

Rawalpindi : The City Police Officer (CPO) Rawalpindi, DIG Muhammad Faisal Rana has directed the officers concerned to take strict action against those involved in publishing hate material, illegal wall-chalking and uploading hate speech on social media.According to a police spokesman, the CPO had instructed the police officers to implement National Action Plan in letter and spirit and the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) issued by Punjab Interior Department should also be strictly followed.DIG Faisal Rana directed the police officers not to tolerate any activity which could disturb the peace and create law and order situation.He said that the society could not afford the hate speech and hate material against any sect.He said, strict action in accordance with the law should be taken against those who add fuel to the fire.The CPO directed all the Station House Officers of Rawalpindi Police to take action against those who promote hate speech, illegal wall-chalking and uploading hate...

Veiled surprises in food ordered from their favorite roadside eateries, fast food chains or even some restaurants are not new to Pindiites. They have spotted dead creepy-crawlies, cockroaches and house flies in their plates. Even rats have been detected in their kitchens. Some cases have been brought to light by the media about the ‘extra nutrition’ food lovers are being served, others choose to keep mum.“Recently, I bought a pizza from a high-scale fast food chain. When I cut it into pieces at home a fried cockroach was found there. The situation is no different, rather worse, at unlicensed roadside eateries. Though many eateries proudly claim hygienic conditions, a glance inside the cooking area is enough to shock the strongest hearts,” says Saad Ali.Kamal Haider says: “Authorities claim that as they receive complaints, food inspectors swing into action, inspect the place and slap fines on eateries. However, charging paltry amounts as fines doesn’t serve as a strong deterrent for the...

Islamabad: Inspector General of Police (IGP) Islamabad Muhammad Aamir Zulfiqar Khan has appreciated a team of Industrial area police station which recovered two abducted girls.According to details, Industrial area police received a complaint regarding abduction of two girls following which IGP Islamabad directed SP (Industrial Zone) Sayed Aziz to ensure their immediate recovery. He constituted a special police team which succeeded to recover both kidnapped girls. One of the girl Reeba Ilyas was recovered from Karachi while other Ira Ilyan from Punjab. Both have been shifted to Protection Center and further investigation is underway.IGP Islamabad said that such abduction cases are very much sensitive and police must ensure immediate help to the affected families. Police officials must realize the pain of parents in such cases and should do utmost efforts to resolve them.He appreciated the performance of police team including SHO Industrial Area police station which succeeded to recover ...

Islamabad: Prime Minister Imran Khan has formally approved the launch of 33-member National Youth Council (NYC) for uplift of youth of the country.“As per decision, the program Patron in chief will be Prime Minister Imran Khan while chairman will be PMYA’s adviser (Prime Minister Youth Affairs ) Usman Dar”, an official told this agency.He said that it is a remarkable initiative to ensure active participation of young professionals in national development.He said that it would be a devised scheme to economically empower the youth who had deprived of better livelihood and income opportunities.He told that prominent figures from various fields including Education, Sports, Religion, Economy and Arts will part of NYC.He said that Ghazi from operation Zarb-e-Azb Major Tanveer Shafi, Cricketer Hassan Ali, Sana Meer, Actor Hamza Ali Abbassi , Mahira khan, Samina Baig and Muniba Mizari will be part of the program.Youth Ministers from all provinces will be also part of NYC and National heroes an...

Islamabad : Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has planned to evaluate the performance of all public and private medical and dental colleges to have their annual quality categorisation and pointing out loopholes in the system.According to an official of PMDC, all medical and dental colleges will be graded into five categories from A+ to D based on performance and facilities and faculty basis with a purpose to assist students in making their choices as well as enabling colleges to improve their quality.As a first step the council has decided to inspect all existing public and private medical and dental colleges in the single largest inspection ever undertaken where all 167 colleges will be inspected on the new frameworks this year.He said the inspection system has been developed to provide for a transparent and merit based system.He added inspections will be carried out on a periodical basis of the colleges on an annual or two or three year basis.He said that a new organogram of...

Islamabad : A three-day national painting exhibition Sunday concluded after a successful display at Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) organised by Pakistan Peace Collective (PPC), a project of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.The last day of the exhibition was attributed to public display so the locals can come and enjoy the paintings by students from 24 universities across the country themed around interfaith harmony and religious tolerance.Talking to APP, PNCA Director VAD, Amna Pataudi said this exhibition received over 3000 entries from across the country and a jury of distinguished judges selected the best among them for display at PNCA.She said universities that participated in this event included National College of Arts Rawalpindi, Fatima Jinnah University Rawalpindi, Institute of Arts and Designs University Jamshoro, Sardar Bahadur Khan Women University Quetta and Karachi school of Arts.The exhibition attracted crowds of art enthusiasts who expressed pro...

Islamabad : Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) has announced that it will receive applications for appointment of part-time tutors till July 5.The eligible persons have been asked to get them enrolled by the stipulated date through the prescribed E-registration process.For the tutorship from the next semester, the re-registration is required both by previous and fresh ones.The qualification and experience, set for the tutors will be strictly followed, as per the directives of Vice Chancellor Professor Dr. Zia-Ul-Qayyum.The University through its digital transformation process has created an online portal for the e-registration of the part-time tutors.According to Director Regional Services, Dr. Inamullah Sheikh, this step is also in line with the initiative taken by the Vice Chancellor, focusing on latest methods and technology for appointing qualified tutors.This is also aimed at providing efficient teaching support to their over 1.4 million students for ensuring quality education.Th...

Islamabad : A survey conducted by Punjab Commission on Status of Women (PCSW ) on Women’s Economic and Social Wellbeing revealed that unemployment rate of women in the Punjab was 10.9 per cent.According to the survey, the rate in rural areas (9.7) is lower than urban areas with 14.3 per cent and unemployment rate is lowest for currently married women with 10.0 per cent followed by never married women with 11.5 per cent.However, it is much higher for widowed, divorced or separated women with19.2 per cent and unemployment rate for the disabled was significantly higher with 26.9 per cent as compared to women with no disability with10.0 per cent.In Punjab, among all employed women of aged 15-64 years 58.3 per cent were part time workers who were working less than 35 hours and the proportion of women were part time varies from 59.8 per cent in rural areas to 54.0 per cent in urban areas, it said.The overall under unemployment rate of the currently economically active women aged 15-64 years ...

Rawalpindi : The City Traffic Police (CTP) Rawalpindi received more than 650 phone calls from road users seeking help or guidance during the last month.According to details, the calls related to complaints of public service vehicles overcharging, road accidents, one wheeling by youngsters and serious traffic violations.Chief Traffic Officer (CTO) Muhammad Bin Ashraf said that strict action would be taken against the violators and no one would be allowed to violate rule of law.He said that obnoxious calls create problems for the staff, adding that citizens should behave as responsible citizens and abide by the law.He directed the Wardens to ensure traffic flow on city roads. He urged citizens to register their complaints on 051-9272616 and 051-9272839 for guidance. from The News International - Islamabad https://ift.tt/2Je9C76

Rawalpindi : Over 18,000 homeless people have been provided free accommodation facility in Fawara Chowk Shelter Home during last seven months.According to focal person, Shelter Home/Sub-Registrar Cantonment Hafiz Muhammad Imran, 1002 homeless persons were accommodated in December 2018, 2511 in January 2019 and 2862 in February.Similarly, 3145 persons were registered in March, 3302 in April and 2732 in May while 2509 homeless persons were accommodated in the shelter home during June.He said, the Punjab government on the directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan established a shelter home here to provide proper accommodation facility to the homeless and poor citizens.He said that initially, arrangements were made for 80 persons in the basement of Raja Bazaar Parking Plaza; however, the facility had been enhanced for 125 persons.The basement was being used as a shelter home temporarily while a proper shelter home’s building would be constructed after pointing out a suitable place for the pu...

Very often one has witnessed common people in various towns discussing interest and national interest. Unlike leaders they come to terms over a cup of home-grown tea and decide to work together for everybody's benefit.In matters that are economic, financial or commercial, or in any way connected with trade and industry, the word 'interest' means the extra money that we pay back when we borrow money from someone, that is, we pay interest on a loan. How much 'interest' in billions have we paid to foreign lenders so far and how much we've yet to pay to loan sharks is a big question lurking in the people's mind.Experts say every newly born Pakistani child carries an 'interest' burden of Rs60/70,000 over his/her head.Interest also means benefit, for instance, to look after one's interests, or use one's interest with any institution or any person or group of persons in power. A notable example of such an activity has been set by leaders of self-int...

Rawalpindi : The Excise and Taxation (E&T) Rawalpindi impounded 1,300 vehicles of token tax defaulters and collected revenue amounting to over Rs19 million during last six months.According to an E & T officer, total 42 general hold ups were conducted against the defaulters, improper number plates and unregistered vehicles during the period.He said, special teams were formed for the general hold up which conducted operations simultaneously in different areas of the district.The unregistered vehicles were also impounded during the operations, he added.A team led by Assistant Excise and Taxation Officer Sohail Shahzad conducted special checking of vehicles in the city while excise inspectors led the other teams which were deployed in different areas.As many as 10,780 vehicles were issued challan slips, he said.The authorities concerned had strictly ordered to tighten noose around the defaulters of vehicle of token and other taxes defaulters, he added.He said the citizens should he...

MULTAN: Eight members of a family were killed and set on fire in an honour-related incident at  Hassanabad area of Multan on Sunday night.Rescue officials told media that six of the deceased were gunned down while two of them were burnt alive inside a room. Multan’s Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) was reported to have said that Ajmal allegedly killed his wife and seven in-laws over the honour issue, adding that the assailant, along with his brother and father Zafar, broke into his in-laws' house  and opened fire at his wife, mother-in-law and other family members. Resultantly six family members were killed on-the-spot. Later, the suspects allegedly locked two others in a room and set them on fire, he added. According to the police, Ajmal had returned from Saudi Arabia few days earlier and he had suspicions about character of his wife. Two of the  alleged assailants have been arrested, while police were trying to apprehend a brother of the accused, who had fle...

The capital market fell 3.5 percent in the outgoing week, 12 percent in the fourth quarter of this fiscal and overall 19 percent from July 2018 to June 2019 amid growing political volatility and macroeconomic uncertainties.The stock market remained under selling pressure during the outgoing week because of the number of negative developments such as increase in gas price, talks that cement dealers would go on strike, lower growth forecast by an international rating agency, and expectation of higher inflation rate. Fitch solutions in its latest report revised its stance on Pakistan’s GDP forecast for the year FY19/20 to 3.2 percent/2.7 percent.During the last trading session, the index managed to close positive primarily due to rupee appreciation of 2.4 percent. The benchmark KSE-100 shares index closed at 33,902 points, declining by 1,223 points or 3.5 percent, whereas volumes were around 147 million shares on average compared with 127 million shares.Topline Securities CEO Mohammad Soh...

KARACHI: The Karachi Tax Bar Association (PTBA) has urged the government to extend the deadline for availing tax amnesty scheme for at least a month, as many intending declarants may not be able to avail the scheme by June 30, 2019, the last date set by the government.In a letter sent to Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday, KTBA said the last date to avail the Assets Declaration Scheme 2019 (Amnesty Scheme 2019) is expiring in the next two days, while there still lies innumerable cases of taxpayers who are yet to file their undeclared assets, but failed to doso because of the paucity of time and extremely slow speed of the IRIS software of the FBR.KTBA said the Foreign Amnesty Scheme was launched by the government through an ordinance on May 14, 2019; whereby, a 47 days window was available to declare foreign and local assets and expenditure.Though the ordinance was promulgated on May 14, 2019, the filing under the scheme accelerated only after the launch of the online Citizen Profil...

ISLAMABAD: Members of audit committees of public interest companies have ranked sector expertise, auditor’s capacity in terms of staff and branch offices, and past experience with an audit firm as the three most important factors in theappointment of auditors, findings of a study showed on Saturday.A statement said Audit Oversight Board (AOB) conducted this first of its kind online survey focusing on enhancing audit quality during May and June 2019.The survey was sent to 85 audit committee members of public interest companies and the response rate was 35 percent.It said the average experience of respondents as audit committee member was a little over seven years.Regarding the extended audit report especially the introduction of Key Audit Matters, 87 percent respondents said it had made audit reporting more useful for stakeholders.A little over 70 percent of the respondents were in the favour that the majority of audit committee members should be financially literate for financial servi...

LAHORE: The current economic situation appears hopeless for the poor people of Pakistan, whose difficulties have been multiplying decade after decade, while the policy maker live a life of comfort and luxury on perks and privileges.Planners say that we need reforms that will bring hardship on masses, which they must bear in the larger interest of the country.But why are they not sharing this burden of difficulties with the poorer segments of Pakistan? The salaries and perks of members of the assembly are so high that they will not be impacted by inflation, rupee decline, and rising prices.The ministers and advisors are also immune from these impacts. It is therefore very easy for them to preach austerity to the nation.We are emulating the Gulf rulers that live lavishly while their subjects suffer. We do not follow the Iran model where rulers and legislatures live modestly in small residences without pomp and show.Where the palaces left by former kings have been converted into museums. ...

KARACHI: KIA Lucky Motors Pakistan Limited (KLM), a subsidiary of Lucky Cement, has announced booking of ‘Sportage’ starting from June 30, 2019.In a letter to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday, KLM announced successful completion of commissioning of the equipment and pilot production.Recently it has commenced CKD (completely knocked down) operation at its plant located at Bin Qasim Industrial Park within the originally envisaged project timelines.The total project cost of the company amounts to Rs19.5 billion.KLM has the capacity to produce 50,000 vehicles per annum on a double shift basis.The booking of Sportage, an SUV, KLM’s first model, would start from June 30, 2019 and delivery would begin from the first week of August 2019.Kia has announced a price of Rs4.59 million for front-wheel drive and Rs4.99 million for all-wheel drive versions.The booking of Picanto hatchback being KLM’s second model is expected to start in August 2019 and delivery from October 2019. from The...

LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has urged the government to resolve the issues being faced by the artificial leather industry, a statement said on Saturday.Talking to a delegation of Pakistan Leather Importers and Merchants Association, which visited the chamber, LCCI Vice President Faheem-ur-Rehman Saigal said that the role of artificial leather industry in the provision of revenue to the state and employment to the people is of utmost importance.The delegation members discussed the issues of SRO 1125, valuation of invoices, surge in dollar prices, sales tax and duty rates.They informed the LCCI president that Customs duty is more than double after withdrawal of SRO 1125 and implementation of sales tax and it is almost impossible to continue their businesses.They demanded reduction in the duty rate on raw materials and to control rupee devaluation, saying that these issues have multiplied the input cost.Saigal said that 17 percent sales tax and increase in i...

Brussels: Eurozone inflation remained stable in June, data showed Friday, a month after a sharp drop had raised fears of an economic slowdown in Europe.The EU´s Eurostat agency said inflation this month was unchanged from May at 1.2 percent, in line with forecasts of analysts surveyed by data company Factset.The number is still far short of the ECB´s target rate of just below 2.0 percent and will not quell expectations that the powerful central bank will relaunch stimulus to boost prices in Europe.Policy-makers at the European Central Bank are weighing whether to prop up the eurozone by slashing interest rates from their already historic lows or reactivating the central bank´s 2.6-trillion-euro ($3.0 trillion) "quantitative easing" (QE) bond-buying scheme.ECB chief Mario Draghi earlier this month said weak economic growth and sluggish inflation could prompt force the institution´s hand to reopen the money taps.His statement had drawn the ire of US President Donald Trump who a...

SAN FRANCISCO: Apple Inc is shifting manufacturing of its new Mac Pro desktop computer to China from the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.The move comes at a time when the Trump administration has threatened to impose new levies to cover nearly all imports from China and pressured Apple and other manufacturers to make their products in the United States if they want to avoid tariffs.Last week, Apple asked its major suppliers to assess the cost implications of moving 15% to 30% of their production capacity from China to Southeast Asia, according to a Nikkei report. “If true, suggests to me that Apple has tremendous confidence that the U.S. and China will be able to solve their trade dispute and do so in the near-future,” D.A. Davidson analyst Tom Forte said in an email.China is a key market for Apple as well as a major production center for its devices. The company got nearly 18% of its total revenue from Greater China in ...

Over the last couple of decades, work has increasingly been done by teams rather than by lone individuals. Surveys suggest that teams are central to engaging employees. Yet we know from years of psychology and management research, including pioneering studies by psychologist J Richard Hackman, that teams often don’t improve employee engagement or productivity. Among the biggest reasons: Leaders tend to dominate the conversation; they don’t listen and shut down others’ ideas. Consequently, team members are often too afraid, or simply too bored and disengaged, to contribute their own thoughts.In my academic research, I’ve looked at many different types of teams, at a wide variety of organisations all over the world. The group that communicated best, with everyone contributing and learning, wasn’t in a corporate office park; it was in an improv comedy class. I’d signed my husband and myself up for a 10-week course to break out of the usual dinner-and-a-movie date nights. To my surprise, t...

ISLAMABAD: The government had signed a $375 million syndicated loan agreement with banks in the United Arab Emirates, made up of conventional and Islamic banking tranches, sources said on Saturday.The loan agreement was signed in June and tranches were fully subscribed by a syndicate of leading UAE banks, they added.Emirates NBD Capital Limited is global coordinator while the transaction was anchored and arranged by Commercial Bank of Dubai, Emirates NBD Bank, Noor Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, Mashreqbank and Sharjah Islamic Bank.The loan, with a one-year maturity, would funds to offset a drop in foreign currency reserves and to stave off the pressure on balance of payments.The government would retire the loan an equivalent amount in local-currency borrowing, sources said. “The loan will change the debt profile but it will not increase overall debt,” one source added.In 2017, Pakistan raised a $2.5 billion bond a $1 billion sukuk and a $1.5 billion conventional bond.The country is very ac...

KARACHI: The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) has announced closure of 200 of its processing mills from Monday, July 1, as international buyers rejected export deliveries of the mills due to price increase.APTMA in a press statement said a meeting of around 200 mills was held in Karachi on Saturday, where members said that their buyers had refused to pay the new prices for their orders. Thus, the millers had decided to shut down their operations from the first day of the new fiscal year.Earlier, APTMA Sindh-Balochistan Region Chairman Zahid Mazhar had said that an increase in gas tariff by 31 percent was the last nail in the coffin of the general industry and the textile industry in particular.He said the textile sector was already facing unbearable costs of manufacturing, which were very high as compared to the regional competitors.Due to the high cost of doing business, inadequate supply of raw material, drastic increase in interest rate, and liquidity constraints due t...

Osaka, Japan: US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping struck a trade war truce on Saturday, as Washington vowed to hold off on further tariffs and declared negotiations with China "back on track".The ceasefire that halts damaging trade frictions came in a hotly anticipated meeting between the leaders of the world´s top two economies on the sidelines of the G20 summit.Trump hailed the meeting in the Japanese city of Osaka as "excellent"."We are right back on track," he added. There was little in the way of concrete details on what was agreed, but Trump confirmed Washington had committed not to impose any new tariffs on Beijing´s exports and that the two sides would continue talks."We won´t be adding an additional tremendous amount of $350 billion left which could be taxed or could be tariffed. We´re not doing that, we are going to work with China on where we left off to see if we can make a deal," Trump said at a press con...

KARACHI: All food items imported from other countries need to have at least 66 percent of the shelf-life, as the Ministry of Commerce has notified ban on the import of all short expiry edible products.According to a notification dated June 27, edible goods having less than 66 percent shelf-life could not be imported from July 1, 2019.Earlier, edible goods with 50 percent of the shelf-life were allowed to be imported. Shelf-life refers to the period between the date of manufacture and the date of expiry, as printed on the label.The move gains significance since there have been instances of foodstuff landing in Pakistan with very little time before their expiry.The government notified labelling requirements for the import of edible products in February this year.However, traders, importers and multinational companies dealing in fast moving consumer goods approached the Commerce Division, seeking more time for compliance with the new conditions.Consequently, the government put off the imp...

I’m not the only one in this room who does not read the (G20 final) communique (released on Saturday). Nobody in fact reads the communiqueJean-Claude JunckeEuropean Commission President from The News International - Business https://ift.tt/2KMP7S4

By MonitoringOsaka, Japan: Russia and Saudi Arabia have agreed to extend a deal to keep oil production low owing to abundant world supplies, President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday."We will extend this deal, both Russia and Saudi Arabia. For how long? We will think about that. For six or nine months. It is possible that it could be up to nine months," Putin told reporters after a G20 summit in Osaka.The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other producers, an alliance known as OPEC+, meet on July 1-2 to discuss the deal that involves curbing oil output by 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd). The pact expires after June 30.Putin, speaking after talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, said the deal would be extended in its current form and with the same volumes.“As far as the length of the extension is concerned, we have yet to decide whether it will be six or nine months,” said Putin said, who met the crown prince on the sidelines of a G20 summi...

KARACHI: Gold prices on Saturday fell by another Rs1,000/tola in the local market, but still remained under cost by Rs4,000, compared with the Dubai gold rates, dealers said.According to rates announced by the Karachi Saraf Association, gold price in the local market came down to Rs78,600/tola from Rs79,600/tola on Friday.Price of 10 gram gold moved down Rs857 to Rs67,387 from Rs68,244/10 grams a day ago.A decline in the gold prices in the international market and the rupee recovery in the local market resulted in a decline in local gold rates, a dealer said.“Appreciation in rupee value and a decline in local demand had weakened the gold prices,” another dealer said.However, he warned that prices might again move upward, as there was no improvement in the economic conditions of the country.In the international market, gold was traded at $1,410/ounce, down $4/ounce from $1,414 a day ago.Dealers said Russia and China have been developing their gold reserves, while its trade was under str...

The rupee may not be able to sustain against the dollar during the start of the next fiscal year, owing to weak economic indicators and heavy debt repayments.However, there may be respite for the local unit with the inflows under a bailout package, as the IMF board is likely to meet next week to review Pakistan’s loan programme.The local currency lost over Rs3 duringthe week (June 24 to 28) to end at Rs160.05 against the dollar in interbank foreign exchange market.During the outgoing week, the rupee fell to an all-time low of Rs164.06 against the greenback on June 27, following scheduled debt repayment, besides import and corporate payments.During the outgoing fiscal year, the local currency fell sharply by 31.7 percent, as the exchange rate stood at Rs121.53 against the dollar on June 29, 2018 to the current level of Rs160.05 as of June 28, 2019.Currency experts pointed out several reasons for deterioration of the local currency, of which the primary reason was quoted as over valuatio...

The capital market fell 3.5 percent in the outgoing week, 12 percent in the fourth quarter of this fiscal and overall 19 percent from July 2018 to June 2019 amid growing political volatility and macroeconomic uncertainties.The stock market remained under selling pressure during the outgoing week because of the number of negative developments such as increase in gas price, talks that cement dealers would go on strike, lower growth forecast by an international rating agency, and expectation of higher inflation rate. Fitch solutions in its latest report revised its stance on Pakistan’s GDP forecast for the year FY19/20 to 3.2 percent/2.7 percent.During the last trading session, the index managed to close positive primarily due to rupee appreciation of 2.4 percent. The benchmark KSE-100 shares index closed at 33,902 points, declining by 1,223 points or 3.5 percent, whereas volumes were around 147 million shares on average compared with 127 million shares.Topline Securities CEO Mohammad Soh...

KARACHI: The Karachi Tax Bar Association (PTBA) has urged the government to extend the deadline for availing tax amnesty scheme for at least a month, as many intending declarants may not be able to avail the scheme by June 30, 2019, the last date set by the government.In a letter sent to Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday, KTBA said the last date to avail the Assets Declaration Scheme 2019 (Amnesty Scheme 2019) is expiring in the next two days, while there still lies innumerable cases of taxpayers who are yet to file their undeclared assets, but failed to doso because of the paucity of time and extremely slow speed of the IRIS software of the FBR.KTBA said the Foreign Amnesty Scheme was launched by the government through an ordinance on May 14, 2019; whereby, a 47 days window was available to declare foreign and local assets and expenditure.Though the ordinance was promulgated on May 14, 2019, the filing under the scheme accelerated only after the launch of the online Citizen Profil...

ISLAMABAD: Members of audit committees of public interest companies have ranked sector expertise, auditor’s capacity in terms of staff and branch offices, and past experience with an audit firm as the three most important factors in theappointment of auditors, findings of a study showed on Saturday.A statement said Audit Oversight Board (AOB) conducted this first of its kind online survey focusing on enhancing audit quality during May and June 2019.The survey was sent to 85 audit committee members of public interest companies and the response rate was 35 percent.It said the average experience of respondents as audit committee member was a little over seven years.Regarding the extended audit report especially the introduction of Key Audit Matters, 87 percent respondents said it had made audit reporting more useful for stakeholders.A little over 70 percent of the respondents were in the favour that the majority of audit committee members should be financially literate for financial servi...

LAHORE: The current economic situation appears hopeless for the poor people of Pakistan, whose difficulties have been multiplying decade after decade, while the policy maker live a life of comfort and luxury on perks and privileges.Planners say that we need reforms that will bring hardship on masses, which they must bear in the larger interest of the country.But why are they not sharing this burden of difficulties with the poorer segments of Pakistan? The salaries and perks of members of the assembly are so high that they will not be impacted by inflation, rupee decline, and rising prices.The ministers and advisors are also immune from these impacts. It is therefore very easy for them to preach austerity to the nation.We are emulating the Gulf rulers that live lavishly while their subjects suffer. We do not follow the Iran model where rulers and legislatures live modestly in small residences without pomp and show.Where the palaces left by former kings have been converted into museums. ...

KARACHI: KIA Lucky Motors Pakistan Limited (KLM), a subsidiary of Lucky Cement, has announced booking of ‘Sportage’ starting from June 30, 2019.In a letter to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday, KLM announced successful completion of commissioning of the equipment and pilot production.Recently it has commenced CKD (completely knocked down) operation at its plant located at Bin Qasim Industrial Park within the originally envisaged project timelines.The total project cost of the company amounts to Rs19.5 billion.KLM has the capacity to produce 50,000 vehicles per annum on a double shift basis.The booking of Sportage, an SUV, KLM’s first model, would start from June 30, 2019 and delivery would begin from the first week of August 2019.Kia has announced a price of Rs4.59 million for front-wheel drive and Rs4.99 million for all-wheel drive versions.The booking of Picanto hatchback being KLM’s second model is expected to start in August 2019 and delivery from October 2019. from The...

MURREE: The operation to rescue the picnickers stranded in the Patriata chairlift, Murree has been completed after the area’s main attraction broke down on Saturday.“All 90 tourists stuck in the cable cars have been rescued to safety and all of them are safe and sound,” said Patriata cable car manager Mohsin Fazal, while talking to Geo News. “Whole cable car system will be checked before it is allowed operation. The cable car operation will remain on hold while.”As many as 90 people remained marooned in the air for ten hours. He said the help was sought from the district administration,  Rescue 1122, the Civil Defence and the Pakistan Army. DC Rawalpindi Chaudhry Muhammed Ali Randhawa said there were eight to nine people in every cable and none of the rescued is injured. “In first phase, we rescued 27 people from three cables that were easily accessible,” he told, adding it was very difficult to rescue the people as the other cables were on a height in a hilly area. So, we decided ...

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa lawmakers have proposed various changes to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Domestic Violence against Women (Prevention and Protection) Bill 2019 including seven years punishment or fine of one million rupees or both for a person who commits domestic violence.The lawmakers have proposed various amendments to the bill. These include replacement of chairperson of the District Committee on the Status of Women by District Officer Social Welfare and removal of a section imposing a heavy cost of Rs50,000 on a complainant if he or she fails to prove his/her case in a court of law.However, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Commission on the Status of Women (KPCSW) in its remarks has recommended some amendments. It showed disagreement to some amendments proposed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly select committee.Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani had referred the bill to the House's select committee for further amendments on February 11, 2019. This was done aft...