AG says govt cannot risk removing Musharraf’s name from ECL

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court heard a petition pertaining to removing the name of former President General (retd) Pervez Musharraf from the Exit Control List (ECL).

The petition was heard by a two member bench headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar.

In his arguments, Attorney General Salman Aslam Butt said the government could not risk removing the name of the former president from the ECL.

The SHC has reserved its decision on removing Musharraf’s name from the ECL till May 31 stating that the lawyers of the parties should submit their documents in the court.

Defence budget cannot be revisited: Dar

 

WASHINGTON: Federal Minister for Finance Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar said on Monday that the defence budget could not be revisited and it was incumbent upon the government to broaden the tax net.
He announced the expanding of the tax net immediately after having successfully negotiated fresh loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank here.Addressing a press conference at the Pakistan Embassy following his four-day US tour, Dar said if taxes were not raised, more loans would have to be taken.

The finance minister said loans had to be re-paid and, as such, there was no option but to broaden the tax net. Revisiting the defence budget was not possible, while salaries and pensions of government employees were already quite low and there was no room for any cuts.

In this backdrop, Dar said the only option left for the government was to increase the tax net.A spokesman for the finance ministry, meanwhile, said that the priority of the government was to increase tax revenue by broadening the tax net and by including into the system people who were not paying their due taxes. He said in the first nine months of the currentyear, the government achieved around 17 percent increase in the tax collection as compared to the last year.

Ishaq Dar also said that things were shaping up for Pakistan’s economic boost as macroeconomic stability had earned the country huge confidence of international investors and financial institutions.

Wrapping up a hectic visit to Washington, during which he had a series of meetings with World Bank, IMF and US officials, Dar said that major financial institutions now agreed with Islamabad that Pakistan’s GDP growth would surpass their earlier projections.

“The World Bank and the IMF now agree that the country would chalk up a better economic growth than earlier projections and our projection for the year is 4 percent plus,” he told Washington-based Pakistani journalists.

Earlier, Ishaq Dar held a very productive meeting with Ms Justine Greening, British Secretary of State for International Development in the World Bank, at Washington DC on Monday.Ms Greening expressed her pleasure on the overall progress Pakistan was making particularly in the taxation sector.

Defence budget cannot be revisited: Dar

 

WASHINGTON: Federal Minister for Finance Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar said on Monday that the defence budget could not be revisited and it was incumbent upon the government to broaden the tax net.
He announced the expanding of the tax net immediately after having successfully negotiated fresh loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank here.Addressing a press conference at the Pakistan Embassy following his four-day US tour, Dar said if taxes were not raised, more loans would have to be taken.

The finance minister said loans had to be re-paid and, as such, there was no option but to broaden the tax net. Revisiting the defence budget was not possible, while salaries and pensions of government employees were already quite low and there was no room for any cuts.

In this backdrop, Dar said the only option left for the government was to increase the tax net.A spokesman for the finance ministry, meanwhile, said that the priority of the government was to increase tax revenue by broadening the tax net and by including into the system people who were not paying their due taxes. He said in the first nine months of the currentyear, the government achieved around 17 percent increase in the tax collection as compared to the last year.

Ishaq Dar also said that things were shaping up for Pakistan’s economic boost as macroeconomic stability had earned the country huge confidence of international investors and financial institutions.

Wrapping up a hectic visit to Washington, during which he had a series of meetings with World Bank, IMF and US officials, Dar said that major financial institutions now agreed with Islamabad that Pakistan’s GDP growth would surpass their earlier projections.

“The World Bank and the IMF now agree that the country would chalk up a better economic growth than earlier projections and our projection for the year is 4 percent plus,” he told Washington-based Pakistani journalists.

Earlier, Ishaq Dar held a very productive meeting with Ms Justine Greening, British Secretary of State for International Development in the World Bank, at Washington DC on Monday.Ms Greening expressed her pleasure on the overall progress Pakistan was making particularly in the taxation sector.

Sussanne: You cannot blame Arjun Rampal for my separation from Hrithik Roshan

Sussanne has put to rest all the buzz surrounding her relationship with good friend Arjun

Hrithik Roshan and Sussanne’s separation took their family, friends and fans by surprise. When Hrithik issued a statement to the media announcing his split with wife Sussanne, there were also rumours doing rounds about the reason why the once ‘it’ couple of B-town was heading for a separation. Reports suggested that Sussanne growing proximity with Hrithik’s good friend Arjun Rampal was what caused trouble in their marriage. However soon after this Arjun Rampal too issued a statement denying all these reports. Rumour mills were pouring out details of how Arjun’s wifey Mehr Jessia was mighty pissed with her hubby and even suspected that her husband had gotten too close for comfort with friend Sussanne on the pretext of supporting her during tough times.

However yesterday’s scene at Bandra 190 store launch had stark contrast to all that was said and heard in the last few days. Friends of the Roshans came in full support of Sussanne everyone from Arjun Rampal-Mehr Jessia, Shahrukh and Gauri Khan, Salman Khan, Arbaaz and Malaika Arora Khan were present. Not only that, Sussanne also decided to clear Arjun’s name from the rumours, she said, “You can’t blame anyone for this. It is sad to blame anyone. We are close-knit friends. It’s not right to blame anyone. There is no reason. Sometimes you have to do this because of a situation.”

The Rock On!! actor too decided to take this opportunity and clear his name, the actor told reporters, “If Sussanne and Hrithik are happy staying separately they should, one should close and old chapter and start a new one. I have stood by Sussanne because she is like my family member.”

Minister admits Iran cannot block Facebook forever

TEHRAN: Iran will not be able to keep up forever its ban on legal access to Internet hubs such as Facebook, which has four million Iranian users, Culture Minister Ali Janati said Sunday.
Such remarks by an Iranian official would have been unimaginable before President Hassan Rouhani, a reputed moderate, took office in August with a vow for more freedom.
"Four million Iranians are on Facebook, and we have restricted it," said Janati.
"We cannot restrict the advance of (such technology) under the pretext of protecting Islamic values," said the minister.
Access to the popular social networking site -- along with others which Iranian authorities regard as un-Islamic, immoral or undermining the Islamic establishment -- is obstructed by a massive filtering mechanism.
But tech-savvy Iranians have resorted to measures, known as anti-filters, to circumvent the restrictions.
Janati drew a parallel with a ban on fax machines and video tapes and players imposed the 1979 Islamic revolution.
"If we look back, we see many of the actions we took after the revolution were ridiculous."
Rouhani has adopted a policy that promises greater tolerance on social, cultural and media issues -- a vow that helped him beat his conservative opponents in the presidential election last year.
But the government has faced resistance from hardliners resisting a reversal in such policies.
A committee of 13 members determines what online content can be reached on Iran's Internet, which is notoriously slow.
Unapproved sites are put under the filtering system. The ban includes Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and numerous other sites, including blogs.
On Sunday, Janati suggested that the government was working to remove the online constraints.
"The six ministers who are members of the (filtering) committee have clearly stated that we cannot continue to isolate ourselves from the world," he said.
But, he added it would take time.
"However, (filtering) is one of those issues whose solution requires time. And it will be resolved in time," Janati said.
Despite the bans, several Iranian officials are active on social networking sites.
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has attracted nearly 850,000 Facebook followers by posting regular updates in Persian, and he operates the only "verified" account of an Iranian official on Twitter.
He also has a YouTube channel.
Several pages are also apparently run by Iranian officials, including a popular Twitter account, @HassanRouhani, believed to belong to the president's office.
Iran's ultimate authority, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, also has an online presence, with a Twitter account in Farsi and a Facebook page (facebook.com/www.Khamenei.ir) dedicated to him.