ABAD URGES DAR FOR REMOVAL OF EXISTING 30% RD ON IMPORT OF STEEL BARS

ISLAMABAD

S h a h z a d pa R ac h a

WI T H the federal budget around the corner everyone is out worried for their fate in the coming year The finance ministry has tried to mitigate the market sentiment time and again but the market, by and large, is trying its best to protect its own interests, with or without the government’s help

In a similar attempt to protect their bottom line the Association of Builders and Developers of Pakistan (ABAD) has asked Federal Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar for removal of the existing 30 % regulatory duty on import of steel bars in next year ’s budget

According to the Finance ministry A delegation of ABAD called on Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar at FBR on Budget 2023-24 proposals g DELEGATION ALSO ASKS THE GOVERNMENT TO EX TEND THE DATE OF COMPLETION OF PROJEC TS UNDER 100 C AND 100 D

The delegates from ABAD apprised the Finance Minister of the challenges being currently faced by the construction industry and presented their proposals for the upcoming Federal Budget The delegation also assured to support the Government in its efforts for overcoming the economic challenges and to boost the economic and business activities in the country

According to details, ABAD in its budget proposals requested the Finance minister for removal of the existing 30 % regulatory duty on import of steel bars for revival of the construction industry

They informed that due to the imposition of regulatory duty the cartel of large scale steel manufacturers are having undue advantage and have jacked up steel bar prices to

Rs 300 000 per metric ton

ABAD also asked the government to extend the date of completion of projects under 100 C and 100 D The completion dates of projects under the above sections are 30th September 2023 However due to prevailing difficult economic conditions which has resulted in a 200 % increase in the price of construction material and an increase in bank borrowing cost, the construction activities have slowed down to a great extent Resultantly it has become almost impossible to complete the projects before 30 September 2023

ABAD also asked the federal government to remove double taxation on projects registered under section 100C and 100D They also asked to be charged 10% Capital gain tax if the property is sold within 1

Finance Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar appreciated the proposals presented by the delegation and assured them that the government is taking concrete steps to overcome the economic challenges and for

President direc ts repayment of three wrongly auc tioned impor ted vehicles

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t President Dr Arif Alvi has directed Fede r a l B o a r d o f R e v e n u e ( F B R ) t o a p o l og i z e a n d m a k e p a y m e n t t o a c i t i z e n whose three imported vehicles were mish a n d l e d b y C u s t o m s D e p a r t m e n t , wrongly auctioned by Custom officials at a low price of almost Rs 3 million without any notice to him and the Customs Duty paid by him was refunded to some u n a u t h o r i z e d c l e a r i n g a g e n t s w h o l a t e r disappeared with the money

The President directed FBR to verify all receipts/documents, refund the amount as per the assessed value of the vehicles and refund the duties/charges paid in favour of importers/owners He also directed the citizen to provide all documents and reconcile with Customs Department enabling FBR to make payment within 30 days He further observed that interest should be added to the payment since the auction money was lying with the exchequer

The President gave these directions while accepting a representation filed by Mr Iftikhar Ahmed Awan (the complainant) against the orders of the Wafaqi Mohtasib The complainant had stated that overseas Pakistanis living in Japan legally imported three vehicles for the personal use of their families and the freight against the vehicles was paid However FBR didn t release the vehicles and sold the three cars in an auction at a low price of Rs

3,019,385 Feeling aggrieved, the complainant approached the Wafaqi Mohtasib who directed FBR to make payment of sale proceeds of vehicles to owners after veri-

Elec tions to be held on time: Ahsan Iqbal

LAHORE S ta f f R e p o R t Federal Minister for Planning Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal has said that elections in the country will be held on time

Talking to the media here on Monday he said in a sarcastic vein that “revolutionists could not bear with jails for one or two days He said The way Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf is shattering reminds us of an English language phrase, the house of cards He said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leadership faced jails even in tough situations but never raised hue and cry Ahsan Iqbal said there were many people in the PTI who did not support the politics of its leadership and the one being promoted on the PTI’s social media He said that no patriotic person could support fication as to why they were being paid such a low amount The complainant then filed a representation with the President praying that Customs Department should be ordered to make payment of sale proceeds of the vehicles at prevailing market rates as well as refund all the duties/charges which were paid

During the proceedings, it was pointed out that after the completion of all formalities, the ship carrying the vehicles landed at another terminal and the Customs Department auctioned the vehicles without any notice to the importer and that the Customs Duty was refunded to unauthorized clearing agents, which resulted in huge financial loss to the importers/owners During the hearing, FBR’s representative admitted the fault of the Customs personnel in handling the matter due to a lack of communication and system barriers He said that as per Customs Rules if the goods were not cleared within 15 days of the date of arrival at a Customs Station, the same could be sold in an auction

The FBR’s representative further informed that the FBR had initiated discipli- nary proceedings against the delinquent officials involved in mishandling the matter and they had also been served a charge sheet in pursuance of the order of the Mohtasib He added that the licences of the agents who disappeared with the money had also been cancelled The President concluded that mishandling of the imported vehicles on the part of the Customs Department was not denied and maladministration had been established He said that due to the negligence of officials importers/owners suffered a huge financial loss and mental agony He added that it was a fact that financial loss occurred due to negligence, lack of communication, and deviation from the established clearing system of the Customs The President said that the citizen was aggrieved by the wrong committed by Custom Officials and not due to fault of his own therefore his representation was accepted and FBR was directed to refund the amount as per the value assessed, duties/charges paid in favour of importers/owners, and add interest to the payment

Senate Body passes Emigration Amendment Bill 2023

negative propaganda being promoted by the PTI overseas social media against country’s defence institutions Ahsan Iqbal said that if burning of residence of Quaid-i-Azam in Ziarat could be termed terrorism then burning of Jinnah House in Lahore could not be ignored by terming it political protest Attacks on country’s institutions could not be termed political protest he said adding that if red line had been crossed and terrorism had been committed then it would be called terrorism He said that if any political worker would play role within the parameters of politics and democracy, then he would be considered as part of democracy To a question he said Pakistan had met all conditions of International Monetary Fund and he hoped that soon matters with the IMF would be finalised which would definitely end uncertainty in the market

The Senate Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development on Monday unanimously passed the Bill titled The Emigration (Amendment) Bill 2023 Meeting of Senate Body was held at Parliament House with Senator Anwar ul Haq Kakar in Chair Senator Shahadat Awan apprised that the Bill aimed to provide ease to emigrants by allowing them to appear in person or virtually for registration of names by their protectors While reviewing the expenses and disputes of EOBI, Senator Shahadat Awan stated that it was informed that the total expense of EOBI is around 1 97 Billion strengthening the economy of the country

He further reiterated that the Government will try to provide a business friendly budget in order to support the masses and for the economic progress and development in the country The delegation thanked the Finance Minister for considering their budget proposals

Country’s every wall becomes ‘Imran Khan’s Wall’ now: Zulfi

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader Sayed Zulfi Bukhari on Monday said that a few anti-Imran Khan s posters and walls made with tax payers money would not serve their purpose, as they did not know that every road every city every village of Pakistan has now become ‘Imran Khan’s Wall’ While sharing a video on his twitter handle of an artist drawing PTI Chairman Imran Khan picture on a roadside wall, he said that a few posters and walls made with tax payers money would not have the desired result unfortunately “No victimization tactic can lessen the love of PTI Chairman Imran Khan from hears of people ” he added Zulfi Bukhari said Entire PTI leadership including party chief condemned the May 9 vandalism But different techniques are being used to defame Imran but they will be useless The PTI s senior leader suggested, It is high time to come together and think of Pakistan first ” S ta f f R e p o Rt

BHC grants week to file reply in high treason case against Imran

QUETTA: While accepting a federal government request on Monday the Balochistan High Court granted more time to file a reply during the hearing of a high treason petition against PTI Chairman Imran Khan Appearing before a divisional bench of Chief Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Mohammad Amir Rana additional Attorney General for Pakistan requested for some time saying he will submit a reply in a matter for initiating Article 6 proceedings against PTI Chairman Imran Khan Representing Imran Khan before the bench Advocate Amanullah Kanrani appeared in court Additional Attorney General Hafiz Rauf Atta and Deputy Attorney General Mohammad Naseem Kasi representing the federal government, requested the court for some time to file a reply Advocate Kanrani said the government will create a special tribunal like the one against the late former president Gen Pervez Musharraf The court will leave it to the government to proceed as it did in 2013 The Balochistan High Court adjourned the hearing on the high treason petition till June 7 t Lt p

First Chinese student completes PhD in Histor y from PU

LAHORE: Mr Tian Shooting a student of Punjab University Department of History and Pakistan Studies has completed his PhD degree in History He is the first Chinese student to receive this honor He completed his research paper under the supervision of Chairman Department of History Prof Dr Mahboob Hussain The title of his research paper was History of Higher Education in Pakistan: A Special Study of Punjab University The teachers and students of the history department congratulated Mr Tian Shooting and Dr Mahboob Hussain for this achievement S ta f f R e p o Rt

’ Imran K han’s narrative of vic timhood bound to fail: M arriyum

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Monday debunked another narrative of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf

(PTI) Chairman Imran Khan that the female workers of his party were being harassed in prisons as totally baseless A certified liar who says men are not robots and advocates attacks on women and young girls because of wearing short clothes, is now cooking up a new lie to play the victim in the aftermath of public response to the May 9 tragedy ” the minister said in a long thread in Urdu language on her Twitter handle She was particularly referring to Imran Khan s statement which he made in an interview with a foreign media outlet that If a woman is wearing very few clothes, it will have an impact on the men, unless they’re robots I mean it is common sense”

Marriyum alleged that Tayyba Gul who reached out Imran Khan for justice in a case against the then National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman, was abducted and held hostage in the Prime Minister s House The evidence, she provided, was then used to blackmail the NAB chairman so that the then opposition leaders could be put in death cells All the limits were crossed during Imran

Khan’s government to maltreat the women journalists she said adding the PTI chairman did not even stop there and alleged that the female media persons deliberately sneaked into male-concentrated gatherings This malicious ploy to mislead overseas Pakistanis and the world is bound to fail like Cypher and other dramas,” the minister said while asking Imran Khan to present evidence of his new propaganda of female workers harassment Either present evidence or keep your mouth shut she advised the chief This is a very serious allegation which we cannot tolerate in any case Your era of blackmailing and apathy is no more ” Branding

Khan as a “media predator she said it was only the PTI leader who could dare to make such horrendous accusations without any evidence However he got exposed every other day with his lies, fabricated videos and pictures, she added