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Commerce body says mini-budget will offer incentives to industries that will set direction of economy.  RAWALPINDI: The Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) on Friday termed the  supplementary finance bill 2019 business friendly . “It will offer incentives to Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs), industry, agriculture and capital market that will set the direction of the economy,” RCCI President Malik Shahid Saleem said in a press release. He said that despite economic crunch and a number of domestic and international challenges, the government had announced business and people-friendly reforms package but it needed to be implemented in letter and spirit from January instead of July 1. He said the government had incorporated in the Finance Bill majority of the proposals submitted by the traders and businessmen Finance Minister Asad Umar and adviser Abdul Razak Dawood. He said the new mini-budget would reduce the cost of doing business and accelerate t

Incumbent Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad has ordered reviews of projects initiated during his predecessor Najib Razak's government.   A multi-billion dollar China-backed rail project in Malaysia has been scrapped, government officials said on Saturday, adding that the cost of building it was too high. Malaysia has in recent months suspended several major projects signed under the country's previous scandal-plagued regime, in a bid to cut the country's massive one trillion ringgit ($251 billion) debt. Economics minister Azmin Ali said Malaysia made the decision two days ago on the 81 billion ringgit ($19.6 billion) east coast rail link (ECRL) that would have connected the eastern and western coasts of the peninsula. “The cost of the ECRL development is too big, so we have no financial ability at this time,” he told reporters. He said that if the project was not terminated, Malaysia would have to pay an annual 500 million ringgit interest payment. M

Mohammad Amir returns to the T20I squad.  Fast bowler Mohammad Amir was recalled to the T20I roster on Saturday as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced a 15-man squad for the upcoming 20-over series against South Africa. Amir's inclusion in place of Waqas Maqsood was the only change to a dominant T20I side that whitewashed both Australia and New Zealand 3-0 late last year. Meanwhile, Asif Ali and Sahibzada Farhan have reprised their positions in the T20I squad, and will link up with the team in Africa after not being picked for the Tests and the ongoing ODI series. The hard-hitting Asif comes fresh from a successful stint in South Africa's Mzansi Super League where he scored 150 runs at a strike-rate of over 180 for the Cape Town Blitz. In a 16-match T20I career, Asif has scored 237 runs at a strike-rate of just under 140. Farhan has scores of 0, 39 and one in his three T20I innings for Pakistan but boasts 452 runs in 22 career T20 matches at a s

Question remains where Saudi Arabia gained the technical know-how to build such a facility.  A military base deep inside Saudi Arabia appears to be testing and possibly manufacturing ballistic missiles, experts and satellite images suggest, evidence of the type of weapons programme it has long criticised its arch-rival Iran for possessing. Further raising the stakes for any such programme are comments by Saudi Arabia's powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who said last year that the  kingdom wouldn't hesitate to develop nuclear weapons  if Iran does. Ballistic missiles can carry nuclear warheads to targets thousands of kilometres away. Officials in Riyadh and the Saudi Embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment. Having such a programme could further strain relations with the United States, the kingdom's longtime security partner, at a time when ties already are being tested by the  killing of  Washington Post  columnist Jamal

Indian government has deployed forces across occupied Kashmir as residents observe Black Day.  Indian troops killed two Kashmiri youths in the Khonmoh area of Srinagar, Kashmir Media Service (KMS) said on Saturday. Clashes between Indian police and residents of the area erupted in the aftermath of the killings, when Indian police used force to disperse demonstrators who had come out on the streets to protest. The killings took place on India's Republic Day, which is observed as Black Day by residents of Indian-occupied Kashmir and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The call to observe India's Republic Day as Black Day was given by the Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), that is led by Syed Ali Gillani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik, the KMS said. The JRL leaders said in a statement that India had "no justification" to observe Republic Day in held Kashmir as the territory had been "illegally occupied" against the wishes of Kashmiri

A Gallup survey has found that 51 per cent Pakistanis have a favourable opinion of PM Khan.   More than half of Pakistan has a favourable opinion of Prime Minister Imran Khan's overall performance after his first five months in power, a  new poll conducted by Gallup & Gilani Pakistan  suggests. As part of the survey, a representative sample of 1,141 people was asked, “What is your opinion on Prime Minister Imran Khan’s overall performance up until now, i.e., since his winning the 2018 elections?” According to the survey's findings, 38 per cent of Pakistanis rated the premier's performance as "good", whereas another 13pc had a "very good" opinion of whatever he's been up to. Read:  Jury out on PTI’s performance amid claims, counterclaims In total, 51pc of the sampled people held a favourable opinion of the prime minister's performance, who  assumed the top office  on August 18 last year following his party's  triu

The coalition was not immediately available for comment, but has in the past said it does everything to avoid targeting civilians. Coalition missile strikes have killed 42 people including 13 civilians in what remains of the militant Islamic State (IS) group's last holdout in eastern Syria, a war monitor said. The Syrian Democratic Forces, with backing from a US-led coalition, are battling to expel the last militants from hamlets in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said short-range missiles late on Friday hit homes on farmland near the village of Baghouz, killing 42 people. Among them were 13 civilians, the Britain-based monitor said. They included seven Syrians linked to the IS including three children from the same family, as well as six Iraqi non-combatants, it said. The coalition was not immediately available for comment, but has in the past said it does everything to avoid targeting civilians. “The area is

THE ban on the film on Manto made in India by Nandita Das must be rescinded because it is a bad and indefensible action on more counts than one. First of all, banning a work of art is a serious matter and it should be resorted to as rarely as possible and only in extraordinary situations. These conditions have not been observed in the present case. Nandita Das has exercised her right, which belongs to anyone who wishes to make a film on Saadat Hasan Manto, to interpret the celebrated writer’s life and work in a way that appeals to her. She has emphasised Manto’s commitment to telling society the truth it does not want to face. For explaining Manto’s art as a storyteller she has offered dramatised versions of his three short stories and the method has worked. She is also keen to present the loving human being Manto was, and how much he cared not only for his wife and their daughters but also for the hungry, dirty street urchin. She has made a film that, despite som

"My words were not directed towards anyone in particular and I certainly had no intention of upsetting anyone," says Sarfraz Ahmed. Pak­is­tan captain Sarfraz Ahmed apologised on Wednesday following a controversial comment aimed at South Africa’s Andile Phehlukwayo which was picked up by a stump microphone during the second one-day international in Durban on Tuesday. The incident occurred in the 37th over of South Africa’s run-chase during the game at Kingsmead when Phehlukwayo got an inside edge off a Shaheen Shah Afridi delivery that narrowly missed the stumps. As Phehlukwayo, who was on 50 at the time, ran to the non-striker’s end, Sarfraz was heard on the stump microphone saying in Urdu:  "Abey kaale, teri ammi aaj kahaan baitheen hain? Kya parwa ke aaye hai aaj?" When translated into English that means: "Hey black guy, where’s your mother sitting today? What [prayer] have you got her to say for you today?" The skipper tweeted