Radio Tax of Rs. 2 on Rs. 100 Mobile Card Proposed

Media reports are suggesting that a parliamentary committee on Information and Broadcasting is considering to impose Radio Tax of Rs. 2 per each Rs. 100 card to be deducted on all reloads.

Reportedly, Information Minister Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan was present in the committee meeting and that she was so concerned about national radio that she proposed Rs. 2 to be deducted from each card of Rs. 100 in account of Radio tax.

Media, citing Dr. Awan, said that this tax will be applicable after annual budget 2011-12.

Telecom industry has immediately responded and termed this kind of collection a nonsense. They said that Telecom industry isn’t responsible for an organization which is sinking for its own reasons.

“Telecom operators won’t become collection service for the government, we will severely oppose this”, said an official of a mobile company. He rather proposed government to use utility bills for any kind of charity collection.

If imposed, Telecom industry to going to get a hit on their businesses.

Mobile phone operators are already paying highest taxes in Pakistan, as compared to other sectors. In addition, mobile subscribers are also bearing several kind of service charges.

It merits mentioning here that telecom subscribers, last year, had to pay 1.5 percent additional withholding tax named as flood surcharge.

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Price hike: Petrol bomb expected in 7 days

Secretary Petroleum and Natural Resources Muhammad Ejaz Chaudhry on Wednesday revealed that petroleum prices will see a major hike in seven days. DESIGN: JAHANZAIB HAQUE

ISLAMABAD: Secretary Petroleum and Natural Resources Muhammad Ejaz Chaudhry on Wednesday revealed that petroleum prices will see a major hike in seven days, Express News reported.

Chaudhry was briefing the parliamentary committee on oil prices. The meeting was chaired by Rana Tanveer, who later walked out in protest over the upcoming price hike.

The petroleum secretary had informed the committee that keeping in view global prices, the government will have to raise the rates accordingly.

Tanveer said that the government gave them “lollipops” every time and the prices would still keep going up. He walked out of the meeting in protest.

Finance Minister Hafeez Sheikh then arrived and tried to take the committee into confidence over the decision.

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Two politicians beaten and stabbed to death in India

Two political leaders from a communist party in India’s eastern state of West Bengal were killed Wednesday, allegedly by activists from the ruling party, a news report said. The politicians, who belonged to the state’s opposition Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), were beaten and stabbed by a crowd in the Burdwan district, area police chief SH Mirza told the IANS news agency. Four people had been arrested in connection with the killings, Mirza said.

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قرآن کی شہادت پر احتجاج کرنے 15 افغانوں کو امریکی فوج نے شہید کردیا

افغانستان میں امریکی فوجیوں کے ہاتھوں قران پاک کی بے حرمتی پر ملک بھر میں امریکا مخالف مظاہرے جاری ہیں ،مظاہرے میں فائرنگ سے ہلاکتوں کی تعداد15 ہوگئی۔ حکام کے مطابق شنوار ضلع میں ملٹری بیس کے سامنے مظاہرین پر فائر کھول دئیے گئے ، جس سے 13افراد  شہید اور 10 سے زائد زخمی ہوئے، صوبائی ترجمان روشنا خالد کے مطابق احتجاج میں مشتعل مظاہرین نے پولیس پر پتھر پھینکے ، مشرقی شہر جلال آباد میں جھڑپوں کے دوران دو افراد  شہید اور کئی زخمی ہوئے۔ مشتعل مظاہرین نے کاروں اور دکانوں کو بھی آگ لگا دی تھی ،کابل میں امریکی سفارتخانہ مکمل طور پر بند کردیا گیا ہے اور تمام تر سفر بھی معطل ہے۔ کئی جگہوں  پر شدید جھڑپوں کی اطلاعات مسلسل موصول ہو رہی ہیں اور مرنے والوں کی تعداد بڑھنے کا امکان ہے۔

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Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan confronts arrest for assault

Mumbai: Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan has been slapped with a case of assault for allegedly punching a businessman, Iqbal Sharma at a Mumbai restaurant on Tuesday night.

The scuffle reportedly occurred when Khan, his girlfriend actress Kareena Kapoor and his friends were dining at a posh restaurant and were asked to lower their voice by a businessman seated at a table next to them.

According to reports, Khan and his friends have been booked under sections 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and could even be arrested.

Police said the businessman was treated in hospital for a broken nose.

The Police said they have registered a case of assault against the star and he will be questioned.

This is the second case of assault against the actor – in 2008 he was accused of assaulting a journalist.

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UK visit: Khar expected to meet Clinton in London

Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar is expected to meet US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her visit to London, sources told The Express Tribune.
The expected meeting will be a positive sign for the two countries as both of them were keen to normalise relations, the source said.
Khar reached London on Monday for a three-day visit in which she will hold meetings with her British counterpart William Hague and other high officials. She will also brief the UK officials on the recently concluded trilateral conference involving, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan in Islamabad. Khar will also reportedly ask the British officials to influence the US to end drone strikes.
Meanwhile, official sources have revealed that diplomatic ties between Pakistan and the US are improving behind the scenes. It has been decided by Islamabad, Kabul and Washington to reactivate the trilateral conference between the three countries, the source claimed.
Khar and Clinton are expected to discuss Nato supplies to Afghanistan, among other issues.
The meetings could defuse tension, which was highlighted recently when Islamabad refused to host Marc Grossman, the US special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, who wanted to visit Islamabad last month. The State Department had said that Grossman wanted to visit Pakistan but owing to the tense relations between the two countries, he was refused meetings. The State Department’s spokesman, while making this disagreement public, had said that the US wants better relations with Pakistan.
Officials in the ministry of foreign affairs expect Pak-US relations to be fully normalised by March. Pakistan has already softened its stance on Nato supplies to Afghanistan through Pakistan, as supplies through Pakistani airspace are fully open.
Islamabad, despite its tense relations with Washington, is facilitating US-Afghan Taliban talks in Qatar, the source said. “Pakistan had encouraged talks between Taliban and United States at the request of Washington. Apparently Pakistan has been sidelined by Washington in its talks with the Taliban but the actual situation is not as it appears,” the source added.

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