Pakistan

• Leaders say millions of farmers are ready to court arrest, but will not pay the tax • Sindh Chamber of Agriculture vows to move court or go for some other crops HYDERABAD: Sindh Chamber of Agriculture (SCA) has announced that it will challenge the 45pc agricultural income tax in court. It described the tax as ‘unconstitutional, illegal and unethical’, and asked its members and farmers across Sindh to boycott wheat cultivation this year. The decision was taken at meeting of the chamber held here on Tuesday under the chairmanship of its patron-in-chief, Dr Syed Nadeem Qamar. The meeting rejected the tax and claimed that it was imposed under directives of the Inter­national Monetary Fund (IMF). The farmers who attended the meeting argued that they were not receiving fair prices for their produce and, as such, there was no justification for the imposition of such a tax. The meeting asked farmers across Sindh not to pay the tax, and warned that if government resorted to arrest them for on this disobedience, mill...

LAHORE: Punjab has launched its first Counter Narcotics Force (CNF) to combat the menace of drugs. A passing-out ceremony was held here on Tuesday in which Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz handed over the flag to the CNF. She also met the CNF personnel and inspected vehicles and equipment. CNF DG Brig Mazhar Iqbal gave briefing about the formation and work of the force to the CM. Some 866 personnel have been recruited in the first phase in the CNF. It has been made functional in all divisions. In the first phase, CNF stations and regional directorates have been established in each division of Punjab. In the second phase, the scope of CNF will be expanded to the district level. The CM was informed that the CNF officers and personnel were given 12 weeks of professional training at the Anti Narcotics Force (ANF) Academy, Rawalpindi. Speaking on the occasion, CM Maryam said the future of Punjab was bright with the formation of the CNF. With the establishment of the CNF, she said the menace of drugs would soon be eradi...

KARACHI: Police on Tuesday claimed to have arrested a couple and their son-in-law for their alleged involvement in kidnapping a school-age child, who was found begging outside a mosque in Shah Latif Town on Monday, several months after his disappearance. Area SHO Sadaruddin Mirani told Dawn that three-year-old Husain Ali had been kidnapped from Sector A-17 and the family had lodged an FIR (731/25) under Section 363 (punishment for kidnapping) of the Pakistan Penal Code against unknown persons around two and a half months ago. The officer said, on Monday an uncle of the child had gone to offer prayer at a mosque in Sector A-16 of Shah Latif Town where he found his missing nephew begging outside the mosque along with a man. The uncle and area residents caught the man, who was beaten and handed over to police. He was identified as Shaharyar. During grilling, the held suspect told the police that his in-laws had given him the child. On the information extracted from the suspect, the police also arrested the coupl...

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s trade deficit with nine neighbouring countries expanded by 29.42 per cent in FY25, rising to $12.297 billion compared to $9.502bn in the preceding year. Exports registered notable growth to Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka, largely attributed to recent shifts in the regional political landscape. However, trade relations with these countries have remained strained in recent years, primarily due to challenges stemming from restrictive government policies. Despite the uptick in exports, the overall trade gap with regional partners widened, driven predominantly by increased imports from China, India, and Bangladesh during the months under review. In FY24, the trade deficit with these countries was $9.506bn, up 49pc from $6.382bn in the preceding year. Pakistan’s exports to Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka saw a hefty growth in July-June FY25. Still, exports to other countries, especially China, continued to decline during the period, according to data compiled by the State Bank of...

• House passes joint resolution, terms incident ‘horrifying example’ of misuse of concept of ‘honour’ • Brother of slain woman still not in custody, BHC told QUETTA: The Balochistan As­­sembly unanimously adopted a joint resolution moved by Women Parliamentary Caucus, conde­m­ning the barbaric killing of a couple in the Dagari coal mines area of Quetta district, reportedly in the name of so-called honour. Deputy Speaker Ghazala Gola, who belongs to the PPP, presented the resolution in the house on behalf of the Women Parlia­mentary Caucus and several ministers. The house, presided over by Speaker Abdul Khaliq Khan Achakzai, condemned the killing and termed the incident a horrifying example of the continued misuse of the concept of honour to justify the killing of innocent people, especially women. “Such acts are not only condemnable and shameful but also an assault on the peace and stability of society as a whole,” the resolution said. The resolution emphasised that honour killings had no connection to the Ba...

NEW DELHI: The Indian Air Force (IAF) will retire its remaining fleet of Russian MiG-21s, considered the IAF’s workhorse that showed its vulnerability when Pakistan shot down one of them and captured its pilot in a Feb 2019 showdown. According to the Indian Express, the fleet is scheduled to be retired in Septe­mber after serving the IAF for six decades. Inducted in 1963, at least four MiG-21 squadrons were number-plated or retired from service between 2017 and 2024, the newspaper said, quoting unnamed sources in the military. Its sources said the IAF is set to retire the remaining Russian-origin MiG-21 fleet in a ceremonial decom­m­issioning at Chan­digarh airbase on Sept 19. Two squadrons of MiG-21 Bisons are currently active. India procured more than 700 MiG-21 aircraft of different variants, such as the Type-77, Type-96, BIS and the Bison, since the aircraft’s induction in the IAF in 1963. The phasing out of the aging MiG-21 fleet was originally scheduled to be concluded by 2022, but was held up due to a ...

• 250 travellers rescued from Babusar and Deosai areas; over a dozen still missing • Fresh advisory for Glof, flooding, landslides issued for Punjab, GB, KP • PM calls for liaison between national and provincial authorities for relief efforts PESHAWAR / ISLAM­ABAD: At least 11 more people were killed due to heavy monsoon rainfall in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) on Tuesday as the national death toll surged to 234 since late June, according to the National Disaster Mana­gement Authority (NDMA). Heavy rains triggered flash floods in several districts of KP and Gilgit-Baltistan, damaging homes and increasing water levels in rivers and streams, prompting Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to instruct NDMA to coordinate with provincial governments and relevant departments for immediate relief to the affected people. According to the Prov­incial Disaster Management Auth­­ority (PDMA), six deaths, including four children, were reported from Swat, while two deaths were reported from Bajaur and each fro...

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The Lahore Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Tuesday acquitted PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi while sentencing Yasmin Rashid, Ejaz Chaudhry and others to 10 years in prison over a May 9 riots case related to violence on Sherpao Bridge. Following the arrest of ex-premier Imran Khan on May 9, 2023, from the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) premises, riots erupted across the country and went on for at least 24 hours. Protesters vandalised and torched government buildings and military installations, while also breaking into the residence of the Lahore corps commander. The state subsequently launched a crackdown against him and his party, filing several other cases against Imran and party leaders since the events of May 9. Sarwar Road police had registered a case against PTI leaders and workers on charges of ransacking and burning public property at Sherpao Bridge in the Cantonment area during the violent protests. Advocate Burhan Moazzam Malik, the lead defence counsel, confirmed today’s sentencing to Dawn.com. He said ...

The head of Gaza’s largest hospital on Tuesday said 21 children have died due to malnutrition and starvation in the Palestinian territory in the past three days, while Israel pressed a devastating assault. Gaza’s population of more than two million people is facing severe shortages of food and other essentials, with residents frequently killed as […]