Day: April 20, 2022

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb has said there will be zero-tolerance against the malicious and organized campaign against the state institutions being spread on social media through Bots tweets.

Talking to media here in Islamabad on Thursday, she said Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the Interior Ministry, and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority have been alerted in this regard. She said identification of Bots has begun at the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and no one will be allowed to malign state institutions.

Commenting on sudden rise in the income of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, Marriyum Aurangzeb said the former Prime Minister declared maximum of his income to the tune of 141 million rupees in whole of his life. She said on the contrary, Imran Khan earned 142 million rupees by retaining 58 state gifts from the Tosha Khana by paying a meager amount of 20 percent retention money.

She said Imran Khan retained these precious gifts on lower prices and sold them in the open market on four times higher rates. She said Imran Khan and his cronies are telling lies that gifts were retained on 50 percent prices, but in reality payments were made at the rate of 20 percent retention money.

Marriyum Aurangzeb said Imran Khan will have to provide the money trail of the amount spent on retaining state gifts from the Tosha Khana. She said how a person not having sufficient means of income to pay the retention money can buy precious gifts. The Minister urged the people to seek answer from Imran Khan for higher inflation, unemployment and ruining Pakistan’s foreign policy.

She said Imran Khan is trying to hide his incompetence, corruption, and malpractices behind the so-called foreign conspiracy mantra. She expressed the belief that the cypher was designed and dictated by the previous regime. To a question, Marriyum Aurangzeb said Imran Khan burnt 980 million rupees on his helicopter ride from Banigala to the Prime Minister office.

ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia has provided a gift of one hundred tons of dates to the people of Pakistan as part of regular annual tradition.

Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan Nawaf Bin Said Al-Maliki handed over the consignment to Director General Military Wing Cabinet Division Brigadier Hammad Amjad at a ceremony here in Islamabad on Thursday. The valuable Saudi gift will be distributed among the people of Pakistan during Ramazan.

Addressing the ceremony, Ambassador Nawaf Bin Said Al-Maliki reaffirmed Saudi Arabia’s commitment to always stand by the Pakistani brothers to take the brotherly relations to new heights. He prayed for peace, prosperity and stability of both the countries. He said the gift is presented through King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, which is the forefront of the service of humanity. Speaking on the occasion, Brigadier Hammad Amjad said the annual gesture of the gift of dates is a testament of the strong and everlasting brotherly relations between the two countries.

ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi has urged the need to increase the outreach of the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) and create awareness about its role in providing speedy justice to complainants against the maladministration of customs and tax authorities.

He said FTO was performing an outstanding job by providing speedy relief to traders and businessmen against the highhandedness of government authorities. The President made these remarks while talking to the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO), Dr Asif Mahmood Jah, who called on him, here at Aiwan-e-Sadr, on Thursday.

Dr Asif Mahmood Jah presented the Annual Report-2021 highlighting the performance and achievements of the tax Mohtasib. He informed that during the year 2021, 2816 fresh complaints were registered with FTO, whereas 333 carry forward cases from the previous years were also processed.

Out of these,2867 cases were disposed of during 2021, he added. He further stated that 88.14 % of the decisions have been implemented by the concerned quarters.

The Ombudsman has decided refund claims amounting to Rs8499.11 million and the amount was paid to the aggrieved taxpayers by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), he added. He apprised that in order to facilitate the taxpayers and expeditiously resolve the complaints, FTO had started informal resolution of complaints in priority cases under Section 33 of FTO Ordinance, 2000.

The FTO further highlighted that the Ombudsman has provided a Sales Tax refund worth Rs600 million to over nine thousand buyers of vehicles by declaring the collection of Sales Tax in excess of 12.5% from the complainants as contrary to law.

He informed the President that FTO has established facilitation desks at the international airports of Islamabad, Karachi, Quetta, Lahore and Peshawar and land border stations of Chaman and Torkham to facilitate traders and businessmen.

He apprised the President that the FTO, with the assistance of trade bodies and associations, was conducting seminars and awareness sessions throughout the country to create awareness about its role in providing prompt and cost-effective justice against the maladministration of tax authorities. The President expressed satisfaction over the performance of the FTO in providing swift justice to complainants in far-flung areas of the country.

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Housing and Works, Maulana Abdul Wasey during a visit to the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority (FGEHA) on Thursday called for timely completion of ongoing and incomplete projects of the authority.

In a meeting with the officials of the authority, Maulana Abdul Wasey directed to initiate more effective schemes for the general public and federal government employees. The federal minister was received by the Director General of FEGHA and the senior officials. Director General, FGEHA briefed the minister about the working, projects and achievements of the organization. The federal minister congratulated the officials of the authority on the successful projects.