Business

Several companies, including AT&T and Nestle, are pulling advertisements from YouTube over concerns about inappropriate comments on videos of children. A video from a popular YouTuber and a report from Wired showed that pedophiles have made unseemly comments on innocuous videos of kids. The comments reportedly included timestamps that showed where kids innocently bared body parts. YouTube says it disabled comments on …

LAHORE: Even though a controversy over the bidding process persisted, the Water and Power Develop­ment Authority (Wapda) on Friday granted approval to award of contract for the 800MW Mohmand dam project to a joint venture of China Gezhouba Group Company (CGGC) and Descon Engineering. Wapda also instructed the project authorities to issue a letter of acceptance as per the rules, seeking mobilisation …

KARACHI: Bankers in Pakistan see negative impact of FATF fresh warning for Pakistan and said the government must understand the full impact of further downgrading from current grey list. The Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has been unusually critical of Pakistan’s efforts to safeguard its financial system from the risk posed by terror financing and money laundering. Former head of …

WASHINGTON: The United States and China have started to outline commitments in principle on the stickiest issues in their trade dispute, marking the most significant progress yet toward ending a seven-month trade war, according to sources familiar with the negotiations. The world’s two largest economies have slapped tit-for-tat tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of goods, slowing global economic …

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minis­ter Asad Umar on Thursday said India would itself suffer for its decision to withdraw Most Favoured Nations (MFN) status to Pakistan and impose 200pc duty on its products. The ‘inappropriate and unwise’ decisions of the Indian government on trade with Pakistan “tantamount to harm its own on economy instead of causing any loss to Pakistan”, said the …

ISLAMABAD: Olive farming in Pakistan has received a strong boost with the arrival of 100,000 olive plants from Spain and Turkey. The move is part of a project to promote cultivation of olive on commercial basis in the country. A total of 550,000 plants will be imported under the project which is being implemented by the National Agricultural Centre. Talking …

KARACHI: The country’s current account deficit during January narrowed to $809 million, falling by 47 per cent from the $1.544 billion recorded during December last year, according to the latest data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). Cumulatively, the deficit during the first seven months of current fiscal year when compared to the same period last year also …

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Thursday released a list of 150 taxpaying citizens that have contributed the highest taxes, with the Karachi-based Saima Shahbaz Malik topping the category for tax year 2018. Of the total, Mehvish A. Tapal, who was ranked at 45 in the category of the top 50 individuals, is also from Karachi. The FBR …

ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Wednesday continued to express concern over fuel mix management but allowed an increase of Rs1.80 per unit in consumer tariff for ex-Wapda distribution companies (Discos) for a month on account of fuel cost adjustment. The decision would generate Rs13.5 billion revenue to the Discos. This is despite the fact that Nepra’s …

ISLAMABAD: The wait for the passing of a supplementary bill in the National Assembly has delayed its likely impact in tax relief to businesses and individuals. The Finance Supplementary (Second Amendment) Bill 2019 was introduced in January with big claims by the government to give instant relief to taxpayers and businesses. However, the passage of the bill has been delayed owing to …