Business Recorder articles from July 2010

Business Recorder archives from July 2010

IMF links next tranche to reformed GST.
July 31, 2010... Byline: ZAHEER ABBASI The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reportedly refused to release the next tranche under the $11.3 billion Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) without either the provinces declaring their acceptance of a broad-based...

$8.7 billion received from IMF so far: Hina tells Senate.
July 31, 2010... Byline: NAVEED BUTT Pakistan has received disbursement of 8.70 billion dollar from International Monetary Fund (IMF) under Stand-By Arrangement (SBA). Minister for Finance, Revenue and Planning and Development Hina Rabbani Khar on Friday told...

Nazim F Haji made PSO BoM chairman.
July 31, 2010... Byline: ZAFAR BHUTTA Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Friday appointed Nazim F Haji as new Chairman of Board of Management (BoM) of Pakistan State Oil, Business Recorder has learnt. Haji has been appointed chairman BoM at a time when...

Revision in fiscal year 2011 revenue target: FBR fails to move summary to Finance.(Financial report)
July 31, 2010... Byline: SOHAIL SARFRAZ The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has not moved any summary to the Ministry of Finance to revise downward revenue collection target of Rs 1667 billion for 2010-11. So far, the provisional revenue collection during...

Agriculture sector and agro-based industry: investors given various concessions under sixth schedule.
July 31, 2010... Byline: RECORDER REPORT The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has conveyed to the Punjab Board of Investment and Trade that the Sixth Schedule of the Sales Tax Act, 1990 and concessionary notifications provides a number of exemptions to the...

Index closes above 10,500 level.
July 31, 2010... Byline: RECORDER REPORT Bullish trend was witnessed at the local share market on Friday on the back of local and foreign investors' interest and the KSE-100 index breached 10,500 psychological level to close at 10,519.02 points with a net...

BRIndex30 up by 29.56 points.
July 31, 2010... Byline: RECORDER REPORT On Friday, BRIndex30 opened at 8,309.88 and fluctuated throughout the trading session. It touched an intraday high of 8,354.81 and an intraday low of 8,291.63 and closed at 8,339.44, which is 29.56 points or 0.36...

KSE sees healthy inflow of $42.338 million in July.
July 31, 2010... Byline: RECORDER REPORT A healthy inflow of $42.338 million of foreign investors' portfolio investment (FIPI) was witnessed at the local equity market during July 2010 as compared to $29.769 million came in the country during June 2010....

KSE sees healthy inflow of $42.338 million in July.
July 31, 2010... Byline: RECORDER REPORT A healthy inflow of $42.338 million of foreign investors'' portfolio investment (FIPI) was witnessed at the local equity market during July 2010 as compared to $29.769 million came in the country during June 2010....

USC gets approval from ECC to sell sugar at Rs 55 per kg.
July 31, 2010... Byline: MUSHTAQ GHUMMAN Utility Stores Corporation (USC) on Friday notified new price of sugar at Rs 55 per kg, after getting formal approval by the Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet, sources in Industries Ministry told...

Fake degree menace: two MPAs from Punjab, Balochistan lose seats.
July 31, 2010... Byline: QAMAR UZ ZAMAN Two provincial assembly members from Punjab and Balochistan lost their seats on Friday when Supreme Court disqualified them on failure to prove the authenticity of their educational degrees/certificates. A three-judge...

Pepco seeks to treat provincial governments as normal customers.
July 31, 2010... Byline: MUSHTAQ GHUMMAN Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco) has sought authority from the federal government to treat provincial governments as normal customers whose electricity connections can be terminated for not paying bills,...

SBP unexpectedly hikes policy rate by 50 basis points to 13 percent.
July 31, 2010... Byline: RIZWAN BHATTI Faced with high fiscal deficit, growing inflation concerns, and persistent government borrowing, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday further tightened its monetary policy by announcing a raise of 50 basis points...

SBP for continuation of IMF programme.
July 31, 2010... Byline: RECORDER REPORT The State Bank of Pakistan asked for continuation of International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme to accomplish the unachieved targets. According to Monetary Policy Statement (MPS) the two-year stabilisation programme...

MPS held hostage by fiscal woes.
July 31, 2010... Byline: ALI KHIZAR ASLAM A status quo in policy rate was widely expected, the SBP decision to increase policy rate by 50 bps to 13 percent was received as an "unexpected" hike nevertheless. Like birds of a feather that flock together, the...

FBR tax-to-GDP ratio falls to 42-year low.
July 31, 2010... Byline: RECORDER REPORT The Federal Board of Revenue tax-to-GDP ratio has declined to 9.0 percent in fiscal year 2010, which is the lowest since fiscal year 1968. According to SBP's Monetary Policy Statement (MPS), lower revenue generation...

LSE index up 10.03 points.
July 31, 2010... Byline: RECORDER REPORT The Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) registered a positive closing on its weekend with LSE-25 index gaining 10.03 points amid ascending transaction volume. The LSE-25 index gained 10.03 points and was closed at 3367.38...

Cameron statement termed foolish.
July 31, 2010... Senator PML-Q Haroon Akhtar describing the statement of British Prime Minister David Cameron regarding Pakistan as immature, unnecessary and foolish and urged the government to seek clarification from London. Talking to reporters at Parliament...

Pakistan's UN envoy slams leakage of US military reports.
July 31, 2010... Pakistan's UN Ambassador Abdullah Hussain Haroon has denounced the leaked US military reports, saying their authors were mostly fed wrong information by Afghan agents who were hostile to Pakistan. In an interview telecast on CBS "World Watch"...

Gilani urges joint efforts to boost Sino-Pak economic ties.
July 31, 2010... Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has called for joint concerted efforts to make the economic relations between Pakistan and China commensurate with the level of political ties between the two sides. The Prime Minister expressed the hope...

Government mulling re-enforcing price magistrate system.
July 31, 2010... The government for ensuring price stability and discourage profiteering and hoarding of commodities including edible items by the traders, is considering to re-enforce price magistrate system in the country. "We are reconsidering to re-enforce...

Margalla plane crash: registration under way to pay insurance: Khaqan.
July 31, 2010... Byline: NAVEED BUTT Chief Operating Officer Air Blue, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Friday said registration was under way to give insurance money to the families of 152 air crash victims. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi who is also member of the National...

UBL's profit after tax increases.
July 31, 2010... Byline: RECORDER REPORT The profit after tax of United Bank Limited (UBL) has increased to Rs 5.2 billion in the half year period which ended on June 30 2010 as compared to Rs 4.287 billion earned in the corresponding period in 2009. The...

British HC condoles death of Youth Parliament.
July 31, 2010... British High Commissioner to Pakistan, Adam Thomson, who joined Youth Parliament here Friday on the first regular session after tragedy of the death of six Members of Youth Parliament (MYPs), offered condolence and observed a minute of silence...

President launches monsoon tree plantation drive.
July 31, 2010... President Asif Ali Zardari started Monsoon Tree Plantation Campaign on Friday by planting Neem tree at Aiwan-e-Sadr. On this occasion, the President said that forests and trees play important role in the national life and these are essential...

Flood situation in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa: President orders setting up of a special cell.
July 31, 2010... President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday ordered the setting up of a special cell in the Presidency to monitor the flood situation in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Spokesperson Farhatullah Babar said that the cell will work round the clock and will...

Federal government to provide all possible support for safety of people: Prime Minister.
July 31, 2010... Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani flew to Peshawar on Friday to meet the Chief Minister and senior officials of the Provincial Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to express solidarity and receive first hand information about the damages...

Government striving to safeguard environment: President, Prime Minister.
July 31, 2010... President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani have congratulated the National Forum for Environment and Health (NFEH) for organising 7th Annual Environment Excellence Award ceremony on 2 August 2010 and said that the...

Masood Salam's death condoled.
July 31, 2010... Members of Pakistan Chemicals and Dyers Merchants Association have condoled the tragic demise of renowned industrialist and businessman, Director M.B. Dyes Chemicals and Silk (Pvt) Ltd Lahore and President of Northern Region (Punjab and KP...

Youth Parliamentarian laid to rest in Sanghar.
July 31, 2010... Youth Parliament's Minister Prem Chand, who was among the victims of Airblue plane crash in Islamabad, was laid to rest in Sanghar on Friday amidst unbridled sobbing of the bereaved family and a large number of people. Prem Chand, 26 years old,...

Blast damages Nato oil tanker.
July 31, 2010... Nato oil tanker was damaged when explosives attached with the vehicle went off at Western by-pass area of Quetta, police said on Friday. Station House Officer Shalkot Police Station Malik Fareed told this scribe that Nato tanker carrying oil for...

FBR to maintain EPRAS: direct refunds payment into taxpayer's bank account.
July 31, 2010... Byline: RECORDER REPORT The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has decided to maintain a central treasury of sales tax, income tax, customs duty and federal excise duty (FED) for electronic payment and refund system (EPRAS) to directly deposit...

Food items register steep rise ahead of Ramazan.
July 31, 2010... Byline: AISHA SADAF The price trajectory of most of the food items has registered steep rise two weeks ahead of the holy month of Ramazan, revealed FAFEN's Retail Price Monitor. The report covering (June-July 2010) showed that of total 69...

Alleged fake degree: LHC summons MNA.
July 31, 2010... Byline: RECORDER REPORT An election tribunal of Lahore High Court has summoned PML-Q, MNA Sheikh Waqas Akram in the last week of August. Waqas Akram was elected from NA-89 Jhang, however Hafiz Khalid, a voter from the same constituency,...

OUP holding workshops for CDGK teachers today.
July 31, 2010... The Oxford University Press (OUP) Pakistan is conducting workshops for the teachers of the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) with concurrent sessions for pre-primary, primary, and secondary level courses on July 31 at the OUP Head Office...

KESC to get 560 megawatts electricity supply from CCPP at Bin Qasim by 2011.
July 31, 2010... Byline: RECORDER REPORT Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) is going to have the electricity supply from its 560 megawatts Combined Cycle Power Plant (CCPP) project at Bin Qasim, by the mid of next year. As two more gas-based turbines has...

Government borrowing major contributor to monetary expansion: SBP.
July 31, 2010... Byline: RECORDER REPORT The State Bank of Pakistan on Friday said that government budgetary borrowing is the major contributor to expansion of net domestic assets and monetary growth. According to the Monetary Policy Statement (MPS) continued...

New IT return forms likely to be issued next week.
July 31, 2010... Byline: RECORDER REPORT The Federal Board of Revenue is expected to issue new income tax return forms for the tax year 2010 next week. It is learnt here on Friday that the FBR is drafting a new income tax return form for the Tax Year 2010...

Profit on debts in fiscal year 2010: LTU Karachi records 220 percent growth.(Financial report)
July 31, 2010... Byline: MOHAMMAD ALI Revenue collected by the Large Taxpayers Unit (LTU) Karachi on account of profit on debts from banks and other securities under the section 151 of the Income Tax Ordinance (ITO) 2001, witnessed a phenomenal growth of 220...

WikiLeaks: Taliban considering hunting informants.
July 31, 2010... A spokesman for the Taliban told Britain's Channel 4 News on Thursday that the insurgent group is scouring classified American military documents posted online by the group WikiLeaks for information to help them find and "punish" Afghan...

Rate hike to affect bourses' sentiment.
July 31, 2010... Byline: RECORDER REPORT The decision of upward revision in the policy rate by the central bank may hamper the recent positive trend in the local bourses, analysts said. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has increased the policy rate by 50bps...

'India can't keep Kashmiris slave for long time'.
July 31, 2010... Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman, Chairman Parliamentary Kashmir Committee on Friday said India cannot keep Kashmiris as slaves for long time and will have to give them right to self-determination. In a statement, the Chairman Kashmir Committee said...

Residents exposed to perils of water borne diseases: CDA's failures slammed.
July 31, 2010... Byline: WASIM IQBAL National Assembly's Standing Committee on Cabinet on Friday expressed fears that residents of Rawalpindi are exposed to the perils of water borne diseases as the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has not only failed to...

SBP Monetary Policy: power shortage, bad law & order diminish private sector credit.
July 31, 2010... Byline: RECORDER REPORT Failure to address electricity shortages and dismal law and order is dampening private sector credit and long-term investment projects, the State Bank said in its Monetary Policy statement. According to MPS, the...

Search mounted for black box.
July 31, 2010... Byline: ISHFAQULLAH SHAWL Investigators intensified their efforts into the search on the third consecutive day Friday for black box and cockpit voice recorder of Airblue plane that crashed into Margalla Hills on Wednesday, killing all 152 on...

High flood advancing towards Sindh.
July 31, 2010... Byline: M RAFIQUE GORAYA An exceptionally high flood of more than 1 million cusecs water is gushing towards Guddu Barrage which will enter Sindh province on Tuesday. Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah has cancelled leaves of policemen and...

Death toll reaches 400 in floods.
July 31, 2010... The death toll in Pakistan's floods rose to 397 on Friday after three days of flooding and heavy rains, with over 100 injured, officials and media reports said. Rescue workers searched for dozens of missing people as flash floods triggered by...

'Super flood' to hit Sindh on August 3.
July 31, 2010... Byline: RECORDER REPORT Sindh government on Friday called an urgent meeting regarding an anticipated 'super flood', which is likely to inundate the province with over a million cusecs water on August 03. A high-level meeting, chaired by the...

Flood warning issued in Sindh: DCOs directed to evacuate 'kutcha areas'.
July 31, 2010... Byline: AFTAB CHANNA Sindh government has issued a flood warning in the province and has directed the management of districts to evacuate people from the shanty areas (kutcha areas) to avoid loss of human lives, Business Recorder learnt...

PAF C-130 aircrafts, MI-17 helicopters to be used in rescue operations.
July 31, 2010... Byline: RECORDER REPORT Pakistan Air Force (PAF) C-130 aircraft and MI-17 helicopters would be used in the rescue and relief operations in the flood-affected areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Business Recorder learnt Friday. PAF has already...

Navy launches rescue operations.
July 31, 2010... Pakistan Navy, on the directions of Chief of Naval Staff, has launched rescue operations (Operation Madad) in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province to assist local government and authorities in rescuing flood affected people in Peshawar, Charsadda and...

Seven US copters to assist in flood relief efforts.
July 31, 2010... The US Ambassador to Pakistan, Anne W Patterson, on Friday announced that as an initial response to the floods in Pakistan, the US government is immediately making seven helicopters available to assist the government in its relief efforts. "The...

Government fails to give flood rescue plans.
July 31, 2010... Byline: TAHIR AMIN After playing havoc with parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the floodwaters of heaviest rainfall in the Pakistan's history is now heading towards plains of Punjab and Sindh and might wreck havoc in rivers of adjoining areas, a...

'PIA operating flights according to IASS rules'.
July 31, 2010... Pakistan International Airline (PIA) is operating its flights around the world according to the rules and regulations laid down by International Aviation Safety Standards. The flight duty timings of pilots in PIA are well within the prescribed...

Flash floods kill over 200 people in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa: Malik.
July 31, 2010... Byline: RECORDER REPORT Federal Minister for Interior, Rehman Malik has confirmed killing of over 200 people in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa flashfloods, saying that the main reason of massive casualties and material loss was sudden rise of flood...

National Assembly body chief's accusations termed false, baseless.
July 31, 2010... Apropos a news item "NA Panel asks PSO to submit inquiry report" carried by Business Recorder on Friday 23rd of July 2010, it has been claimed/clarified the name of a completely unrelated party to the scam was inadvertently published in the said...

95 bodies recovered from plane's wreckage identified: Senate informed.
July 31, 2010... Byline: ZULFIQAR AHMAD Ninety-five bodies out of total 152 recovered from the wreckage of ill-fated Airblue passenger plane that crashed into Margalla hills on Wednesday, have been identified, Senate was informed on Friday. Federal Minister...

WikiLeaks reports: government must be watchful for US exit 'strategy': Humayun.
July 31, 2010... Byline: RECORDER REPORT The government of Pakistan should be more careful in defending its strategic interests as leaking of the Wikileaks reports may be a 'game changer' used by the United Sates to find an exit from Afghanistan where it sees...

Oil tanker overturns.
July 31, 2010... Byline: RECORDER REPORT A Jalalabad bound oil tanker, carrying fuel supply for Nato forces in Afghanistan, overturned near Shireen Jinnah Colony in the limits of Boat Basin police station, sources said. An oil tanker containing 440,00 liter...

ITP continues operation against unauthorised number plates.
July 31, 2010... Byline: RECORDER REPORT Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) continued its operation against unauthorised number plates and during the last three days, it has issued 1200 fine tickets to the violators, whereas 56 vehicles including three of...

'Rationalisation of staff to help manage schools' workload'.
July 31, 2010... Byline: RECORDER REPORT Punjab School Education Secretary, Muhammad Aslam Kamboh has said that the main objective of rationalisation of staff is to ensure their allocation on the basis of workload and student-teacher ratio, in accordance with...

PASDEC starts modern quarrying of marble, granite.
July 31, 2010... Chairman and CEO, Pakistan Stone Development Company (PASDEC) Eshanullah Khan said that the company has started modern quarrying of marble and granite with the state of the art machinery in the country. "The production of dimensional stones...

'Power ministry hatching conspiracy against CNG sector'.
July 31, 2010... Byline: RECORDER REPORT Despite the opposition of Petroleum Ministry, senior officials of the Ministry of Water and Power are making all out efforts to move a summary to Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet seeking approval...

PPL funds increased to Rs 30 million.
July 31, 2010... Byline: SABA HAKEEM Funds for the Punjab Public Library (PPL) have been increased to Rs 30 million for the current fiscal from Rs 15 million earlier, but this amount is not sufficient for carrying out maintenance of the library, which is in...

Ashraf assumes charge as DG Fisheries.
July 31, 2010... Director Fisheries (Extension), Punjab Muhammad Ashraf has been allowed to hold the additional charge of Director General Fisheries, Punjab. A press release issued here Friday said Muhammad Ashraf did his MSc Zoology from Punjab University and...

Pakistani HC in Malaysia providing consular, welfare services.
July 31, 2010... The Pakistan High Commission in Malaysia was proactively providing consular and welfare services to the Pakistani community and workers by visiting far-flung parts of Malaysia including east of the country. During the last six months, the...

Hike in GCV: Ogra accused of giving undue support to SNGPL.
July 31, 2010... Byline: RECORDER REPORT All Pakistan CNG Association has accused Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) for extending undue support to Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) for grabbing money by applying unfair means through hike in...

Urs of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar: Railways asked to facilitate devotees.
July 31, 2010... Byline: RECORDER REPORT Lahore High Court (LHC) has directed Pakistan Railways (PR) to provide train facilities for participation in urs of Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar. LHC Chief Justice Khawaja Muhammad Sharif held that in case of...

Food quality and standardisation: consultants appointed to set up body.
July 31, 2010... Byline: ZAHID BAIG Punjab government has appointed consultants to prepare legal and institutional framework for setting up a 'Food Quality Control and Safety' authority in the province to ensure standardisation of food items. The exercise of...

Pakistan urges US to expedite progress on ROZs.
July 31, 2010... Minister for Railways Muhammad Afzal Sandhu met with US members of Congress and urged them to expedite legislative progress programme for duty-free export of Pakistani products from reconstruction opportunity zones. Sandhu, who is attending a...

Seven million tons of wheat exposed to the anticipated calamity: flood warning compounds Sindh government's miseries.
July 31, 2010... Byline: RECORDER REPORT The anticipated flood in Sindh has compounded the miseries of the provincial government who finds itself trapped between the devil and the deep sea as protecting the seven million tons of wheat stocks from the ongoing...

Sindh cabinet to review flood situation today.
July 31, 2010... Byline: RECORDER REPORT Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah has convened an important meeting of the provincial cabinet on Saturday (today), it is learnt. According to officials at Chief Minister House, the provincial cabinet would review the...

Floods devastation: Ibad phones Hoti, expresses deep sorrow.
July 31, 2010... Sindh Governor, Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan, on Thursday telephoned the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Amir Haider Khan Hoti, to express deep sorrow and grief at the destruction caused by heavy rains and floods in which a number of people also...

Petition against Saad Rafique sent to EC.
July 31, 2010... Byline: RECORDER REPORT An election tribunal comprising Justice Sheikh Najam-ul-Hassan sent an election petition against PML-N MNA Kh Saad Rafique to election commission to fix it before some other tribunal as former federal minister...

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa diverts all resources to help flood victims.
July 31, 2010... Byline: RECORDER REPORT The provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on Friday freezes all funds available for development schemes and diverted it for the protection of flood victims and rescuing of trapped people in the flood...

Floods, rains: authorities asked to remain alert, diligent.
July 31, 2010... Byline: JALIL HASSAN AKHTAR Punjab Chief Minister, Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif has directed the departments concerned to remain fully alert to deal with any emergent situation during flood and rains and utilise resources for carrying out relief...

Punjab health department cancels officials' leave.
July 31, 2010... Byline: RECORDER REPORT On the orders of Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, Health Department has cancelled leaves of all its officers/officials in the wake of recent flood and declared emergency in the province. Besides, the...

Policeman shot dead in Quetta.
July 31, 2010... Unknown armed men gunned down a police official on Sirki Road here on Friday. According to Industrial Police officials, Syed Zulfikar Ali who was head constable in Campus Peace Corps (CPC) was on his way home when he was shot dead near Barech...

CCP issues show cause notice to Cinepax.
July 31, 2010... The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has issued a show cause notice to Cinepax Limited on Thursday for tying the sale of cinema ticket with food coupons between September 2009 and April 2010, prima facie violating Section 3(1) read with...

Dacoits kill a man.
July 31, 2010... Byline: RECORDER REPORT A man was killed by two armed men during a dacoity in a bus near Edhi Home, Maripur Road here on Friday, police said. According to detail, Ibrahim, 40 was travelling to Tower in a mazda bus rout N-5 when two armed men...

Hinopak to export 25 buses to UAE.
July 31, 2010... Hinopak, a leading bus manufacturer, has announced that it will export 25 buses to the UAE this month at a price of $80,000 per unit stated by Director sales and marketing Hinopak Motors Limited Mohammad Irfan Shaikh. The company sold 2,037...

Finance Act 2010: six-member body formed to examine tax related issues.
July 31, 2010... Byline: N H ZUBERI Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Sohail Ahmed has constituted a six members committee to examine and analyse tax related issues pertaining to the amendments brought through Finance Act 2010. During the recent meeting...

Pakistan can provide quality-rice on low cost to Malaysia: Majid.
July 31, 2010... "To surmount the trade imbalance, it is imperative that all types of Rice (Basmati, non-basmati, parboiled, white rice) be declared as major item versus Palm Oil in Pak-Malaysia FTA - Free Trade Agreement, presently the balance of trade is in...

BoD meeting of First Habib Modaraba held.
July 31, 2010... Board of Directors of First Habib Modaraba (FHM) in their meeting held on July 28, 2010, announced 21 percent cash dividend for the year ended June 30, 2010, ie within twenty eight days from the close of financial year. Despite difficult...