Pakistan

Samsung has asked an Indian tribunal to quash a $520 million tax demand for allegedly misclassifying imports of networking gear, arguing officials were aware of the practice as India’s Reliance imported the same component in a similar manner for years, documents show. Samsung becomes the second major foreign company in recent months to challenge an Indian tax demand. Volkswagen has sued Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in court for a record demand of $1.4 billion for misclassifying its component imports. In the Samsung case, tax authorities in January asked Samsung to pay $520m for evading the 10-20 per cent tariffs by misclassifying imports of a key mobile tower equipment, which it then sold to billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s telecom giant, Reliance Jio, from 2018 to 2021. In its 281-page challenge at the Customs Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal in Mumbai, Samsung criticises Indian authorities for being “fully aware” of the business model as Reliance had a “long-established practice” of importi...

Two more bodies of Pakistan nationals who lost their lives in a tragic boat accident off the eastern coast of Libya, arrived at Lahore Airport on Sunday, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan. The incident occurred during the night between April 12 and 13, when a migrant boat capsized near Libya’s eastern shoreline. The accident was the latest in a series of mishaps over the past few years in which hundreds of Pakistanis were killed in the Medi­ter­ranean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean while trying to reach Europe from Africa. The victims were identified as Sufyan and Nadeem Ahmed, residents of Gujranwala, APP reported. State Minister for Public Affairs Rana Mubashir Hussain and Member Punjab Assembly Mian Imran Javed received the bodies at the Lahore Airport cargo department. Later, the bodies were handed over to the grieving families. Prayers were also offered for the departed souls. Speaking on the occasion, Hussain expressed deep sorrow and grief and expressed solidarity with the bereaved families. ...

A madrassah teacher in Muzaffargarh district of Punjab was arrested for allegedly raping an 11-year-old student at a seminary, it emerged on Sunday. Last year, Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Sahil’s Six Months Cruel Numbers data revealed that a total of 1,630 cases of child abuse were reported from across the country. In the first six months of 2024, 862 cases of child sexual abuse, 668 cases of abduction, 82 cases of missing children and 18 cases of child marriages were reported. 48 cases of pornography after sexual abuse were also recorded. “A case has been registered against a madrassa teacher at the Mirhazar police station,” a police spokesperson said. The spokesperson continued that the police took immediate action and arrested the suspect. The first information report (FIR) was registered under Section 376(iii) (rape of a minor) of the Pakistan Penal Code. The teacher took the student to his residential room in the madrassa and raped the student twice, according to the FIR. “A case was registered o...

PROLOGUE India has become infuriatingly formulaic when it comes to Pakistan. Here’s how the script goes. There’s an attack in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. India blames Pakistan. The Indian media — mainstream and social — start beating war drums. Retired Indian military officers and other analysts are invited by the Studio Corps who declare, wage and win a war against Pakistan. The hysteria has reached fever-pitch since the arrival on the scene of a Hindutva-driven Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) under Narendra Modi, and of social media platforms. In bashing Pakistan, some even calling for its dismemberment, there’s no real difference between the right and the left in India or the many shades in between. Once again, after the April 22 Pahalgam attack, we are at that stage; once again there’s talk in India of punishing Pakistan. Even the negligible few who caution against rashness nonetheless muse about how to punish Pakistan without starting an Armageddon. There are almost no voices challenging India’s occupation ...

LAHORE: Lady luck was smiling brightly on young Hasan Nawaz here at the Gaddafi Stadium Saturday night. It was a genuine thriller as in-form Quetta Gladiators looked to upstage table toppers Islamabad United on a track which had everything for all. Medium-pacer Moha­mmad Shahzad was given the ball to bowl the final over with Gladiators needing 15 to win. Shahzad off his own bowling dropped Hasan who top edged a short ball. The very next ball, captain Salman Ali Agha floored a difficult chance in the slip as the batters took two runs. The 22-year-old Hasan lifted the pacer for a six over long-off before wicket-keeper Andries Gous in confusion failed to gather the ball while running towards third man, giving Hasan yet another life as the batters added two more. Hasan — who made a superb 64 not out off 41 balls with four sixes and two fours — had the last laugh on the penultimate ball as the right-hander smashed a slightly short delivery for a six over backward square leg giving Gladiators a memorable win beside...

KARACHI: The ongoing water crisis caused by the rupture of an 84-inch main water supply line in the University of Karachi is likely to persist as the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation is still struggling to complete the repair work on Saturday. While KWSC Chief Operating Officer Asadullah Khan had on Thursday said that the repair work would be completed by Saturday night, a water utility spokesman said that the repair work was still in progress and would be completed by Sunday (today). The leakage in the main supply line wreaked havoc on Karachi University and nearby housing societies. It also caused an acute water shortage in several areas of the metropolis. Officials said that the city required over 1,200 million gallons of water daily and it was getting 400 MGD, out of a regular supply of 650MGD, due to the repair work on the Siphon No 19. The KWSC spokesman said that the water would be released to the Siphon No 19 after the completion of the repair work. The water pumped from the Dhabeji Pumping Stat...

KARACHI: The milk and tea leaves used by almost every tea shop and stall across the city have been found to be alarmingly contaminated with harmful chemicals and substances, the Sindh Food Authority (SFD) officials have said. “100 per cent of samples of tea leaves and 90 per cent of milk samples collected in different areas have been found adulterated and contaminated with chemicals and added colours,” the officials added. Speaking to Dawn on Saturday, they said that the SFA had recently inspected as many as 127 tea shops and stalls in different parts of Karachi to collect samples of the two major ingredients of the aromatic beverage prepared by boiling water, milk, sugar and cured leaves. Their analysis showed that all of them were using contaminated and adulterated tea leaves, while only 10 per cent were using pure milk, they added. Food Authority says milk was adulterated with detergent, carbonates, salt and water They said that 80 per cent samples of the milk collected from 127 tea shops were found adulte...

QUETTA: Gunmen on Saturday freed 10 prisoners, including two convicts and took five police officials captive after they erected a roadblock near Mangocher on the Quetta-Karachi highway and intercepted the vehicle transporting prisoners to Quetta from Gadani jail. The authorities were using a private van to transport prisoners; the driver and the vehicle were released by the gunmen. Officials said that a police team was shifting 10 prisoners to Quetta and the central jail in Mach from Gadani jail. When the wagon reached the Mangocher area of the Kalat district in late evening, the armed men were blocking the national highway and inspecting every vehicle, including buses and trucks. After they came across the prison van, they freed the prisoners and kidnapped five police personnel, who were guarding the van, along with their official weapons. Two police personnel dressed in plainclothes, however, remained safe. The prisoners included one condemned prisoner who was awarded a death sentence and another was awarde...

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s spokesperson Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif on Saturday briefed the minister of the political section and acting deputy head of the mission at the US Embassy Zach Harkenrider on what he called politically-motivated cases against political prisoners, including founder of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Imran Khan. An official statement issued here said that Mr Saif met deputy head of the US Embassy in Islamabad where both sides discussed the tense situation between Pakistan and India following the ‘false flag’ operation in Pahalgam. The discussions also covered regional peace, law and order, and the political climate at both national and provincial levels, the statement said, adding that Mr Saif strongly condemned India’s baseless allegations post-Pahalgam and highlighted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s war-mongering behaviour. The statement said that the KP government’s spokesperson briefed the US diplomat on ‘politically-motivated’ and ‘fabricated’ cases against poli...

Pakistan has officially banned Indian-flagged cargo vessels from entering its ports in response to escalating tensions with India following the recent Pahalgam incident.

• Waqas claims pro-PTI YouTube channels, X accounts being restricted • GB lawmakers call for RTI law in region ISLAMABAD: The opposition party, PTI, has accused the government of harassing journalists and viewing the freedom of expression as a “threat”. In a statement issued on World Press Freedom Day, the party claimed dozens of journalists have been harassed, abducted or targeted with false cases over the past year. “Incidents like the martyrdom of renowned journalist Arshad Sharif stand as clear examples of the choking of independent journalism,” the PTI said, while referring to the journalist killed in Kenya in 2022 before the incumbent government came into power. “In addition, prominent journalists such as Kashif Abbasi, Arif Hameed Bhatti, Habib Akram, Paras Jahanzeb and many others “who dared to speak the truth” have been deprived of their livelihoods,” said the PTI information secretary, Sheikh Waqas Akram, in an apparent reference to news anchors taken off air during the past few months. Mr Akram exp...

GILGIT: A Polish cyclist, granted permission by the Gilgit-Baltis­tan Chief Court to cycle up to the K2 basecamp, will start his journey within the next few days. Paweł Małaszko arrived in Gilgit on Saturday as part of his adventure to cycle across Pakistan — from the shores of the Arabian Sea to the K2 Base Camp. However, his adventure was stalled as the required permit to go to the popular tourist destination couldn’t be issued due to an ongoing legal battle. On Friday, the GB Chief Court ordered the government to issue the trekking permit to Mr Małaszko. Last year, the GB government hiked permit fees for mountaineering and trekking expeditions by 300 per cent under the GB Finance Act, 2024. The region’s tour operators challenged the decision in court, which issued a stay order, effectively suspending the issuance of new permits. Mr Małaszko had filed an appeal in the GB Chief Court for the trekking permit, according to Asghar Ali Porik, a tour operator. View this post on Instagram An official of the GB tou...

Pakistan will strike any Indian structure built to divert water: Kh Asif PM says Pakistan will cooperate fully with neutral international probe into Pahalgam incident Shehbaz Sharif says India yet to respond to Pakistan’s offer to have a credible, transparent investigation Dar discusses regional security situation with.

Islamabad - Following the failure of the Pahalgam False Flag Operation, Indian media has aired yet another fabri-cated and baseless report.

LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif formally launched the ‘Apni Zameen, Apna Ghar’ programme by pressing its e-portal button here on Saturday.

ISLAMABAD - Noted religious and political leader, Senator Prof Sajid Mir, head of Jamiat Ahle Hadith Pakistan Saturday passed away at 86 following a heart attack.

ISLAMABAD - Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Saturday called for an action plan to align the National Police Bureau with modern requirements.

Islamabad - Five Khawarij were killed and two apprehended during three separate operations conducted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on April 30 and May 1.

FAISALABAD - Senior leader of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Adviser to Prime Minister (PM) on Political and Public Affairs Rana Sanaullah said that the Pak Abdali missile has the potential to deliver a decisive response to any Indian aggression.

ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar and Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry will hold an important background briefing on the national security for representatives of all political parties on Sunday (tomorrow).