Taxes under focus in NA budget debate

ISLAMABAD: Taxation, especially increase in the General Sales Tax and impending imposition of the Value Added Tax, remained under focus during the budget debate in the National Assembly on Friday.

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Taxes under focus in NA budget debate

Hearing of Naved, Malik appeals adjourned

Hearing of appeals of Pakistan former captain Shoaib Malik and all-rounder Rana Naved against one-year suspensions and fines has been adjourned.
Pakistan Cricket Board lawyer Talib Rizvi said that Maliks appeal has been adjourned until May 29 while Naveds appeal will be heard on June 19.
Maliks laywer presented his arguments in the last hearing on May 15, but Rizvi said the PCB needed time to discuss it.PCB chairman Ijaz Butt was out of the country and only returned home Friday so we will discuss all the legal matters with him before giving our reply in the next hearing, a website quoted Rizvi as saying. Naveds lawyer wanted to make some amendments in the appeal and needed some time, Rizvi said.
The PCB suspended both players for one year and fined them two million rupees ($23,500) each for poor performance and ill discipline during the tour of Australia earlier this year. Six players filed appeals against suspensions and fines except for former captain Mohammad Yousuf, who has retired from international cricket.
Arbitrator Irfan Qadir said he wanted to wrap up the proceedings as quickly as possible in all the six appeals and wanted it to be transparent. Video recordings of all our proceedings will be done so as to bring transparency, Qadir told reporters.
The PCB imposed fines and suspensions on the recommendations of an inquiry committee formed to evaluate Pakistans performance during the winless tour of Australia. Players launched accusations at each other in a leaked video recording of the PCB inquirys proceedings.
In the videos, former coaches Intikhab Alam and Aqib Javed questioned wicketkeeper Kamran Akmals poor performance in the Sydney test. Alam told the inquiry committee he was flabbergasted when Akmal missed an easy run out of Shane Watson and later said he had heard stories about match fixing.

Gold prices plunge in local, intl markets

Gold price plunged in local and international gold markets on Saturday.
Gold prices decreased to Rs 37,350 per tola, down by Rs 100 whereas the price of 10 grams lowered to Rs 32,014, down by Rs 86.
In the international market, gold price reached to $1179 per ounce, down by $5.

Bearish trend grips KSE this week

Bearish sentiment prevailed at the Karachi Stock Exchange this week and 100-index closed below 10,000 points level with the decrease of 401 points.
On first trading day, 100-index dropped 238 points while it gained 48 points. Due to bad law and order situation in Karachi, the trading at KSE remained under selling pressure. This week, KSE 100-Index closed at 9,871 points level with the decrease of 3.89 percent which is the lowest level in the three weeks.

Bomb Explodes in Seoul, 1 Dead

SEOUL: An explosion during a bomb test killed one person and injured five others Thursday at a government-affiliated testing site north of Seoul, officials said.

Researchers were testing an experimental explosive when the bomb blew up, said Choi Joong-ki.

One person was killed and five injured at the testing site in Pocheon, about 30 miles (45 kilometers) north of Seoul, said Kim Young-san, a spokesman for the Defense Acquisition Program Administration.

The cause of the explosion remained under investigation, officials said.

Earlier reports put the casualty toll at three dead, but local media later revised the figure downward.

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Bomb Explodes in Seoul, 1 Dead was first posted on December 3, 2009 at 11:41 am.