Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal has revealed that Prime Minister Imran Khan will be going to Washington on invitation of President Trump and the two will be meeting on 22nd of July. During the premier’s visit, the focus will be on further improving the ties between the two countries. The two leaders will also talk about “important regional matters”.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has publicly released asset details of key politicians of the country. Prime Minister Imran Khan owns assets worth Rs108 million, which include residential properties, agricultural lands and other valuables. While the Bani Gala estate is declared a gift, three foreign currency accounts – one each for US dollars, Euro and Pound Sterling are also revealed.
The deadline for Asset Declaration Scheme has been extended till the end of banking hours on July 3, keeping in the view the overwhelming response to the scheme. The announcement was made by Prime Minister’s Adviser on Finance Dr Hafeez Sheikh in a press conference in Islamabad, who also appealed to all citizens to take full advantage of the scheme.
Speaking at the National Assembly on Saturday, the Prime Minister took at jibe at those who call him a ‘selected PM’, saying those who entered politics during military dictatorships were now criticising him. PM Imran Khan also criticised the economic decisions of the previous governments and said opposition has been misleading the nation, especially regarding devaluation of the rupee.
The government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), in its financial bill 2019-20, has apportioned a considerable sum for promotion of tourism in the province. Out of Rs. 5 billion, Rs. 3.5 billion will be spent on developing tourists’ resorts across the province. Whereas, another Rs. 100 million will be used to establish tourism police in collaboration with government of Thailand.
Former Pakistan Test cricketer Basit Ali has claimed that India will deliberately lose their matches against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to ensure that Pakistan does not qualify for the semifinals. Keeping India’s performance against Afghanistan in mind, Basit said that Indian team will perform in a way that will not stir controversy, but will eventually lead them to lose.
The Swiss National Bank’s annual report has made a startling revelation, depicting a fall of 34% since 2017 in money deposited by Pakistanis in Switzerland. The value of CHF 724 million or $738 million calculated in 2018, has decreased 49% since 2015, when Pakistan and Switzerland finalised a revised taxation treaty. This is the lowest amount of deposits since 1996.
The current tax amnesty, due to end 30th June, is expected to have Rs. 1 trillion declared with assets in United Arab Emirates (UAE) taking the lead. According to reports, Rs. 346 billion or nearly one third of total, has come from UAE, followed by Switzerland (Rs114.8 billion), UK (Rs89.7 billion), Singapore (Rs87.3 billion) and British Virgin Islands (Rs48.9 billion).
The United Kingdom (UK) has decided to increase its funding from 400 million pounds to one billion pounds, in order to finance projects and encourage British firms to set up in Pakistan. As Pakistan’s rating improves on the World Bank’s ease of doing business index, UK will provide direct lending into projects like infrastructure, roads, hospitals, and schools.
The Indian Navy (IN) deployed a sizeable chunk of its fleet and supporting air arm to trace a Pakistan Navy (PN) submarine following the suicide attack in occupied Kashmir’s Pulwama district. As relationships worsened, India was unable to locate an advanced Pakistani Agosta-class submarine – PNS Saad and extensively searched for it 21 days using all kinds of modern warfare.