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New Islamabad Airport to open from 14th August 2016

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Associated Press of Pakistan

The new Islamabad international airport will be operational by Aug 14 next year as 82 per cent of the work on the project has been completed.

“I will inaugurate the new airport on Aug 14, 2017,” said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif while chairing a meeting on aviation affairs.

He was briefed on the status and progress of work on airports in different parts of the country, including Bannu and Mansehra.

The prime minister was informed that efforts were being made to complete the airport project within the allocated financial resources.

The project was divided into three main packages — airside, passenger terminal and landside.Read More »New Islamabad Airport to open from 14th August 2016

Pakistani elite must stop abusing power

If nation is to progress, says outgoing UNDP country chief

Marc-Andre Franche, the former country director for United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Pakistan, has said that a critical change in the country can happen only when the elite, the politicians and the wealthy sections of society sacrifice their short term goals and stop abusing their power to enrich themselves, or favour their friends and extended families.

Franche, who had been the UNDP country director for the last four years, bid farewell to Pakistan to take up the position of Chief of Financing at the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund. He made these remarks during an interview to a Pakistan daily shortly before his departure.

“If there is one thing I leave with, it is a sense that the only way a critical change will happen in Pakistan is when the elite of this country, the politicians and the wealthy sections of the society, will sacrifice their short term, individual and family interest, in the benefit of the nation,” Franche said.Read More »Pakistani elite must stop abusing power

Pakistan Property transfer business nosedives since last budget

The business of property transfers has nosedived since the announcement of the new evaluation system and imposition of fresh taxes on real estate sector in the budget for 2016-17.

Property dealers told The Nation on Sunday that the new system introduced by the federal government had totally halted registration of properties all over Pakistan, causing frustration among applicants and huge losses of revenue to the government.

Senior Vice Chairman of Association of Builders and Developers of Pakistan (ABAD) Arif Yousuf Jeewa said that the registration of properties had completely stopped throughout the country due to rigid attitude of the registrars, who now asked the applicants to produce stamp duty according to property valuation notified by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) instead of DC rates.

“All registrars, throughout the country, are rejecting those property cases presented on the basis of DC valuation, saying that they will only accept those applications having stamp duty according to immovable property valuation fixed by the FBR.Read More »Pakistan Property transfer business nosedives since last budget

BASELESS HOSTILITY AGAINST PAKISTAN

ALI SUKHANVER

Ali display picAfter Narendra Modi’s speech on August 15 this year, the severe reaction of brave people of Balochistan was neither unexpected nor strange. They were already in a state of rage and fury against the activities of R&AW in Balochistan and they no doubt hold Modi responsible for all such activities; Modi’s speech simply added fuel to fire. Unfortunately some Indian supported elements, very much active in Afghanistan, tried to exploit the situation in their favour. In response to public response in Balochistan against Modi’s speech a group of Afghan demonstrator not only burnt Pakistan’s flag but also attacked the friendship gate at Chaman. After this incident the border security forces of Pakistan closed the Pak-Afghan border to avert any untoward incident. The situation resulted in suspending the movement of trade shipments between two countries along with supplies for NATO forces in Afghanistan. According to different media reports there are long queues of vehicles on both sides of the border; with people on both sides facing problems as a result of the border closure but more in trouble are the people of Afghanistan. This situation could have been avoided if the Honourable president of Afghanistan Mr. Ashraf Ghani had played his role positively and sensibly.Read More »BASELESS HOSTILITY AGAINST PAKISTAN

Real Estate market insists on tax levy at provincial rates

LAHORE: The realty sector of Punjab has asked Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to levy taxes on property rates set by the province instead of evaluations made by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) as new assessments have increased the cost of property transactions by up to 400%.

“The realty sector is in chaos since the announcement of new taxes and revised property valuations,” said Mian Talat, former president of the Defence Housing Authority Estate Agents Association, Lahore.

The new taxes imposed by the federal government to boost its revenue stream had proved counter-productive for the national exchequer as fewer transactions in the current fiscal year led to a fall in the federal and provincial tax collections, he added.Read More »Real Estate market insists on tax levy at provincial rates

Google’s DUO app for video calling

AP

SAN FRANCISCO: Knock, knock, Google’s video chatting app has arrived.

The app, dubbed Duo, represents Google’s response to other popular video calling options, including Apple’s FaceTime, Microsoft’s Skype and Facebook’s Messenger app.

Duo isn’t much different from the other video chatting services, except that it gives a glimpse at who is making the call, helping the recipient decide whether to answer. Google calls this feature, “Knock, knock.“

The new app, announced in May, is being released Tuesday as a free service for phones running on Google’s Android operating system as well as Apple’s iPhones.Read More »Google’s DUO app for video calling

جشن آزادی مبارک

Happy independence day to all Pakistanis but let us not forget our martyrs who lost their lives to protect our independence.

QUETTA TERRORISM

ALI SUKHANVER

Ali display picThe recent terrorist attack in Quetta Hospital took lives of more than hundred innocent citizens and left so many seriously injured. The terrorists might be taking this attack as a successful episode but in the long run this brutality is going to get the people of Balochistan more united against every type of terrorism. The political leadership of Balochistan has openly said that this was an activity supervised and directed by the R&AW and the security forces have started a combing operation against the terrorists and their facilitators. Things would be soon in lime-light and the characters involved in this brutality shall be soon in grip of law but the actual thing is to search for the reasons behind such activities. Most of the analysts are of the opinion that since the beginning of 2016 or in other words, after seeing the CPEC project proceeding rapidly to its completion, the hostile intelligence agencies have become more active in Pakistan regarding terrorist activities. During the last seven months, the law-enforcement agencies of Pakistan arrested many agents of hostile intelligence agencies including an Indian spy Kul Bashan Yadav in Balochistan. Read More »QUETTA TERRORISM

Property transfer cost in Pakistan increases up to 200pc

The new property evaluation method based on actual market rate will increase the cost of properties transfer by at least 100 to 200 percent.

The property dealers said the business of property sale and purchase has nosedived since the announcement of this new system and imposition of fresh taxes on real estate sector as there is more than 80 to 200 percent difference between the actual property rates and DC rates.

“Now the buyer has to pay almost Rs300,000 for registration of a plot of five marla in a lower middle class locality in Lahore suburbs against earlier rates of Rs150,000 under DC rates,” Nasir, a property agent, said.Read More »Property transfer cost in Pakistan increases up to 200pc

FBR empowered to carry out property price evaluation

Pakistan government on Monday implemented new rates of taxes, through a presidential ordinance with immediate effect, which will apply to new valuation tables for the purpose of taxation of property in major cities.

The ordinance empowers the Fed­eral Board of Revenue (FBR) to determine the fair market value of properties of areas across the country. Ear­lier, this was a job for State Bank of Pakistan.

Similarly, it was also clarified that for areas where no valuation tables have yet been notified, the district officer revenue or provincial or any other authority authorized in this behalf for the purpose of stamp duty will apply for the collection of taxes.

The new valuation tables will only be used for the purpose of calculating Capital Gains Tax (CGT), withholding taxes and for the purposes of Section 111 of the Income Tax Ordinance 2001.Read More »FBR empowered to carry out property price evaluation