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Masses asked to submit returns timely; training session for AUP employees arranged

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FBR
PESHAWAR, Sep 18 (APP): On the directives of the Inland Revenue Regional Tax Office Peshawar, Directorate of Finance, Agricultural University Peshawar (AUP) arranged a one-day training session for university employees on the topic “Taxation Management and E-Filing of Tax Returns”.
University employees including faculty, administrative officers and other supporting staff attended the training sessions in large numbers, said a press release issued here on Monday.
Inland Revenue representative Deputy Commissioner Usman Asif trained the employees on taxation management and e-filing of tax returns.
Vice-Chancellor AUP Professor Dr Jahan Bakht while welcoming the Deputy Commissioner of Inland Revenue and other participants emphasized that in the present era of computer and information technology, every individual should have to submit his/her returns timely while using the technology.
He said that apart from this, the university has to further develop the skills of the employees and make them aware of modern requirements and practices.
University Treasurer Dr Abdul Salam thanked Vice Chancellor, Deputy Commissioner Inland Revenue Usman Asif and the participants for their participation in the session.
The participants appreciated the training and said that it would be beneficial for them.

DPO City Zone meets minority delegation to strengthen security measures

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DPO Hassan Jehangir

ISLAMABAD, Sep 18 (APP): Divisional Police Officer (DPO) City Zone Hassan Jehangir has said that all security requirements for minority places of worship have been meticulously met and these arrangements would be further enhanced to ensure foolproof security.

In response to the special directives from Islamabad Capital City Police Officer (ICCPO) Dr. Akbar Nasir Khan, he conducted a meeting with a delegation representing minority communities.

The primary objective of this meeting was to bolster security measures for minority communities and their places of worship within the City Zone, as stated by a public relations officer.

Under the ICCPO’s guidance, rigorous efforts were put into place to ensure the foolproof security of minority communities and their places of worship throughout the Federal Capital.

During the meeting, the delegation engaged in comprehensive discussions about the safeguarding of minority rights and exchanged valuable insights for further enhancements.

To fortify security measures, the DPO City Zone implemented significant measures, including issuing clear orders to In-charge Police Stations to prioritize the safety and security of minority communities and their residential areas.

Additionally, the DPO City Zone ensured that all security requirements for minority places of worship were meticulously met, reassuring the unwavering support of the police force in this regard.

The minority delegation conveyed their heartfelt gratitude for the proactive steps taken by the Islamabad Capital Police to protect their community.

They expressed their appreciation for the police force’s steadfast commitment and willingness to collaborate in all aspects of security.

Exports increase by 22.45 percent to Rs.1.27 trillion in two months

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KPT

ISLAMABAD, Sep 18 (APP):The exports from the country in rupee term witnessed an increase of 22.45 percent during the first two months of current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of last year, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported.

Exports during July-August (2023-24) were recorded at Rs.1,276,238 million as against Rs.1,042,226 million during the corresponding period of last year, showing an increase of 22.45 percent, according to provisional data released by PBS.

On year-on-year basis, the exports during August 2023 increased by 26.75 percent and were recorded at Rs.695,136 million compared to the exports of Rs. 548,440 million in August 2022.

On month-on-month basis, the exports increased by 19.62 percent when compared to the exports of Rs. 581,102 million in July 2023.

Main commodities of exports during August, 2023 werek Knitwear (Rs. 117,892 million), readymade garments (Rs. 83,447 million), bed wear (Rs. 74,081 million), cotton cloth (Rs. 47,002 million), cotton yarn (Rs.30,793 million), towels (Rs.25,567 million), madeup articles, excluding towels & bedwear (Rs.18,377 million), rice others (Rs.18,073 million), rice basmati (Rs.16,271 million) and meat and meat preparations (Rs.11,210 million).

On the other hand, imports during July–August, (2023-24 totaled Rs. 2,371,596 million as against Rs. 2,430,313 million during the corresponding period of last year showing a decrease of 2.42%.

On year-on-year basis, imports into Pakistan during August, 2023 amounted to Rs. 1,330,458 million as against Rs. 1,337,189 million in August, 2022, showing decline of 0.50 percent.

On month-on-month basis, imports into the country witnessed an increase of 27.79 percent in August 2023 when compared to the imports of Rs. 1,041,138 million in July 2023.

The main commodities of imports during August, 2023 were petroleum products (Rs. 180,628 million), petroleum crude (Rs.119,438 million), natural gas, liquefied (Rs.89,854 million), palm oil (Rs. 80,346 million), plastic materials (Rs. 66,789 million), electric machinery & apparatus (Rs.48,536 million), iron & steel (Rs.47,489 million), mobile phones (Rs.32,712 million), iron & steel scrap (Rs.28,618 million) and medicinal products (Rs.24,592 million).

Fai urges world leaders gathered at UN to push for Kashmir resolution

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Dr Fai

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 18 (APP): As world leaders descended on New York to speak at the 78th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), a prominent Kashmiri leader Monday appealed for decisive steps to implement UN Resolutions on the Kashmir dispute that give Kashmiri people the right of self-determination to decide their destiny.

“The clock is ticking — every day that passes without resolution of the Kashmir dispute is one day closer to a cataclysm that will reach far beyond the borders of all countries involved,” Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai, Chairman of the World Forum for Peace & Justice, said in a statement referring to the heightening tensions between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan over the decades-old dispute.

“Kashmir has international legitimacy, having numerous UN Security Council resolutions which have given the right to self-determination to the people to decide their destiny,” he said, stressing that those resolutions should once and for all be honoured.

Dr. Fai said the silence of the world powers had emboldened India to unleash a chilling campaign of human rights atrocities against innocent Kashmiris, despite being the signatory to the UN Charter itself.

“It is a crime in Kashmir to salute the United Nations Charter or implementation of the Security Council plebiscite resolutions, a shocking affront to the UN General Assembly itself.”

Pointing out that Kashmir is the only nation surrounded by three nuclear powers – India, Pakistan & China – Dr Fai said a nuclear threat was ever present, and he urged the major powers to take this seriously.

IRSA releases 244,700 cusecs water

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IRSA

ISLAMABAD, Sep 18 (APP): Indus River System Authority (IRSA) on Monday released 244,700 cusecs water from various rim stations with inflow of 237,700 cusecs.

According to the data released by IRSA, water level in River Indus at Tarbela Dam was 1547.59 feet and was 149.59 feet higher than its dead level of 1,398 feet. Water inflow and outflow in the dam was recorded as 146,500 cusecs and 130,000 cusecs respectively.

The water level in River Jhelum at Mangla Dam was 1234.80 feet, which was 184.80 feet higher than its dead level of 1,050 feet.

The inflow and outflow of water was recorded 16,500 cusecs and 40,000 cusecs respectively.
The release of water at Kalabagh, Taunsa , Guddu and Sukkur was recorded as 132,500, 115,300, 95,400 and 38,400 cusecs respectively. Similarly, from River Kabul, a total of 26,200 cusecs of water released at Nowshera and 18,500 cusecs released from River Chenab at Marala.

China’s high-tech materials company to help renovate textile industry in Pakistan

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China-Pakistan

BEIJING, Sept. 18 (APP): A Chinese leading manufacturer specialize in textiles auxiliaries and organic silicone products has joint hands with local partners to bring technological innovation support to the textile printing and dyeing industry in Pakistan.

“As the pillar industry of Pakistan, textile industry is currently facing two major constraints, namely energy and cotton yarn shortage. The fabric categories of some local printing and dyeing factories are gradually transitioning to a large proportion of polyester.

Chinese chemical fiber suppliers can provide the most suitable chemical fiber raw materials for unique textile categories to match needs,” said Xing Pingping, Overseas Sales Manager of Ningbo Runhe High-tech Materials Co., Ltd.

More than 60 percent of Pakistan’s textile companies are concentrated in Punjab Province, and Faisalabad as the core textile industrial city here, with nearly 300 dyeing factories of all sizes.

According to Xing, recently, his company joined hands with Pakistani agent FairChem International to hold a textile seminar in Faisalabad, in which China and Pakistan partners jointly discussed the future direction of local textile printing and dyeing industry. More than 150 local practitioners participated it to explore new opportunities.

According to data released by Pakistan Customs, in fiscal year 2022, Pakistan’s total exports of textiles reached USD19.32 billion, a year-on-year increase of 25.3 percent from the previous fiscal year, and accounted for nearly 61 percent of Pakistan’s total merchandise exports. Pakistan, which has a relatively complete industry chain, owns more than 2,000 cotton binding, spinning, and textile factories, China Economic Net (CEN) reported.

However, “Pakistan’s textile category structure is obviously different from other countries in South Asia. Many major fabric categories use larger amounts of cotton, yet have lower profit margins,” Xing said, “Which has largely affected the competitiveness of Pakistani textiles in the international market.

“In response to the energy shortage I mentioned earlier, growth in the coming years will be driven largely by the digital textile printing market,” Xing emphasized, “the market for digital textile printing in Pakistan is increasing as it offers better and high-definition textile print design possibilities, lower water, effluent, emissions and energy use.

Besides, the technological level of Pakistani textile enterprises is increasing day by day, thus some small-scale factories also have advanced textile materials and technologies, such as polyurethane coating, aramid finishing, waterproof finishing, etc. There are also many printing and dyeing factories that have digital printing machinery.

Regarding current shortage of cotton yarn, local companies have generally increased the proportion of polyester applications. For these chemical fiber materials, our cutting-edge chemical fiber silicone emulsion can come in handy. In addition, professional chemical fiber finishing solutions and polyester cotton-like and wool-like finishing solutions can also provide assistance to our local partners.”

The Sales Manager pointed out that after officially starting to deeply expand Pakistani market in 2021, they have established a strong partnership with two chemical traders, FairChem, which specializes in dyes, and Biochem, a printing paste expert. Sometime later, an agreement was signed with Farbstoffe Intl, a comprehensive manufacturer and marketer of textile chemicals.

“In the next step, we will establish a laboratory in Pakistan, equipped with basic chemical property testing, fabric finishing, application R&D and warehouse modules. On the whole, our purpose is to not only establish testing and warehouse functions, R&D and local talent cultivation also will be our programme, by which we look forward to bringing technological innovation to Pakistan’s textile industry through joint efforts between the two countries.”

Exchange rates for currency notes

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Exchange rates

KARACHI, Sep 18 (APP): CURRENCY SELLING BUYING
USD 300.22 293.78
GBP 372.02 363.98
EUR 320.19 313.90
JPY 2.0324 1.9887
SAR 80.04 78.32
AED 81.74 80.53

LIBOR
LIBOR FOR CALCULATING INTEREST ON SPECIAL USD BONDS
LIBOR 1M 5.44505
LIBOR 3M 5.67170
LIBOR 6M 5.90593

US DOLLAR Indicative FBP Rates

CURRENCY SIGHT/
15 DAYS 1M 2M 3M 4M 5M 6M

USD 295.88 295.01 292.96 290.72 289.25 287.66 285.44

EUR 315.74 315.03 313.24 311.27 310.30 308.98 306.98

GBP 366.58 365.49 362.95 360.16 358.43 356.43 353.67

 

NBP exchange rates

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NBP

KARACHI, Sep 18 (APP): The Treasury Management Division of the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) on Monday issued the following exchange rates.

CURRENCY SYMBOL TT Selling TT Buying
U.S DOLLAR USD 297.25 296.75
EURO EUR 317.61 317.08
JAPANESE YEN JPY 2.0123 2.0089
BRITISH POUND GBP 368.34 367.72
SWISS FRANC CHF 331.28 330.72
CANADIAN DOLLAR CAD 219.92 219.55
AUSTRALIAN DOLAR AUD 191.52 191.19
SWEDISH KRONA SEK 26.72 26.67
NORWEGIAN KRONE NOK 27.61 27.56
DANISH KRONE DKK 42.50 42.43
NEWZEALAND DOLLAR NZD 175.76 175.47
SINGAPORE DOLLAR SGD 217.97 217.60
HONGKONG DOLLAR HKD 38.13 38.07
KOREAN WON KRW 0.2241 0.2237
CHINESE YUAN CNY 40.98 40.92
MALAYSIAN RINGGIT MYR 63.47 63.36
THAI BAHT THB 08.34 08.32
U.A.E DIRHAM AED 81.49 81.35
SAUDI RIYAL SAR 79.25 79.12
QATAR RIYAL QAR 81.55 81.41
KUWAITI DINAR KWD 962.29 960.67

CONVERSION RATE FOR FROZEN FCY DEPOSITS
USD 296.8045
GBP 368.8686
EUR 316.2749
JPY 2.0081

SETTLEMENT DATE: 20-09-2023

NA Speaker felicitates Qazi Faiz Isa for being sworn in as 29th Chief Justice of Pakistan

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NA Speaker

ISLAMABAD, Sep 17 (APP): Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervez Ashraf has extended warm felicitation to Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa for being sworn in as the 29th Chief Justice of Pakistan.

In his message, the Speaker said, ” Chief Justice Mr. Justice Qazi Faez Isa is a seasoned and most experienced legal expert.”He expressed his hope that the judiciary under his sagacious leadership, would dispense justice while upholding the Constitution and law of lands supreme.

Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervez Ashraf also expressed that all organs of state including Parliament, Executive and Judiciary should work in consonance to ameliorate the sufferings of ordinance citizens.

He also said that the country’s progress is hinged upon the supremacy of the Constitution and rule of law as a speedy dispensation of Justice would bring social order and harmony.

Crackdown: SNGPL removes 323 illegal connections, recovers over Rs75.4 mln

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SNGPL

ISLAMABAD, Sep 17 (APP): Determined to bring down the Unaccounted for Gas (UFG) ratio, the Regional Directorate of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) launched a massive crackdown on the elements involved in the theft of the scarce and precious commodity, which continues unabated.

During the ongoing anti-gas-theft operations, the raiding teams so far unearthed more than 323 illegal connections and recovered Rs75.4 million from defaulters.

Sharing details, Islamabad-Regional SNGPL General Manager Azhar Rashid Sheikh in an exclusive chat with APP informed the special teams not only identified but also removed more than 270 illegal meters and 53 direct connections and recovered millions of rupees from the defaulted consumers.

He vowed that the region-wide crackdown against the gas pilferage would continue till knocking down all the elements involved in illegal tapping, causing loss to the national economy and depriving the consumers of gas, which was already in shortage due to the fast depletion in the country’s existing hydrocarbon reserves and high-price in the international market.

Accordingly, he said a massive operation to curb gas theft, recover dues, and remove illegal connections was in full swing across the Islamabad-region on directives of the federal government.

So far, he said raids had been conducted in various areas including Chattah Bakhtawar, Gungal, G-7, I-14, E-18 Islamabad, Bhara Kahu, Tarlai Wah Cantt, Fateh Jang, and Attock.

“During the drive more than 270 illegal meters and 53 direct connections have been removed, FIRs (First Information Reports) have been lodged against 37 individuals. Gas thieves have been penalized with over Rs 90 million fines, and legal action has resulted in the recovery of Rs 75.4 million” he added.

To get the required results, GM Azhar Rashid said the company had increased the number of raiding teams to gear up the ongoing operations against gas theft and make more recoveries from the defaulters.

He praised that SNGPL Managing Director Aamir Tufail’s guidance had led to the establishment of a special task force in the Islamabad Region to step up action against gas theft. For this purpose additional resources had been allocated to get the support of law enforcement agencies, he added.

Answering a question, he reiterated that stringent actions were being taken against employees involved in any unlawful activities as so far 25 to 30 individuals had been blacklisted, while legal proceedings were underway against 40 to 50 officials.

To another question, the GM said the company was committed to ensuring uninterrupted services to domestic consumers throughout the year. Customer Service Centers were operating around-the-clock seven days a week, and any complaint related to illegal activities would be promptly addressed by SNGPL authorities.

Azhar Rashid emphasized that no hindrance should be tolerated in resolving consumer complaints, and any involvement in illegal activities should be reported to SNGPL authorities.

He highlighted the challenges posed by dwindling gas reserves, with a decline of 9 to 10 percent annually. While gas demand in Islamabad and Rawalpindi Division stands at 100 MMCFD (million cubic feet per day), against which only 50 MMCFD is currently available with the company, he added. This necessitates careful load management, with a focus on ensuring gas supply for domestic consumers during meal preparation times.

The GM highlighted the crucial role of the industrial sector in national development, emphasizing that the country could progress when industries thrive. “So, concerted efforts are being made to prioritize gas supply to industries,” he added.

In response to a question, he said that new gas connections were currently restricted but applications could still be submitted.

However, the SNGPL GM clarified that these applications would only be processed once the government lifted the ban on new connections.