Tag: Takes

KARACHI - News regarding calculation and reporting of CGT further dampened investor's morale that were already shaken by diplomatic row over arrest of U.S citizen, resultantly KSE-100 hit the valley below 11,900 level only to recover in the wee hours, owing to support at lower levels amidst thin volume of 68 million shares.
The KSE-100 index closed at the 11,946.09 levels with the gain of 2.75 points, while total volume stood at 42,763,152 along with the value of 2,443,478,415.

LAHORE - All Pakistan Basant Affected Committee's president Mian Muhmmad Azam said that hundreds of people have been slaughtered, thousands being injured, whereas various grit stations were burnt due to the metal wires. He said that the current government does not know the damages of Basant as the Chief Minister Punjab was not in the country during Musharraf's era.
He further said that the cases were never registered against those were involved in the illegal use of fireworks.

ISLAMABAD: With some heavyweights being dropped, 21 federal ministers and one minister of state were sworn in on Friday to complete the first phase of the "lean and mean" federal cabinet, as Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani kept the charge of eight ministries with him and picked four new faces for his new team.
President Asif Zardari administered the oath to the new cabinet. Those who had been dropped did not attend the oath-taking ceremony. Shah Mahmood Qureshi was on his way

Oscar winner Meryl Streep has undergone a dramatic transformation for her role as former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in a forthcoming biopic about her life called 'The Iron Lady.' Streep has adopted Thatcher's trademark bouffant hairstyle, ruby-red lipstick and pearl earrings for her part in the film about Britain's longest continuously serving premier of the 20th century.
"The prospect of exploring the swathe cut through history by this remarkable woman is a

CAIRO - Egypt's popular revolt has opened up new political perspectives for the biggest country in the Middle East but dealt the economy a serious blow, scaring off tourists and foreign investors. "The crisis is costing the economy at least 310 million dollars daily," since it began on January 25, said a report from Credit Agricole, lowering a growth forecast for 2011 from 5.3 percent to 3.7 percent.
Egypt, the Arab world's most populous nation with 80 million people, was already

OUAGADOUGOU - Africa's biggest film festival will stress the threat from pirated movies when it opens in the capital of Burkina Faso on February 26 with 475 films being shown, its organiser said Friday. "The cultural AIDS which is piracy is slowly killing our cinema industry," Michel Ouedraogo told a press conference.
But he hailed the fact that the number of entries far exceeded the 300 expected, and praised the participation of countries with struggling industries such as

KARACHI - While conventional banking in Pakistan is faced with innumerable challenges in the wake of global and domestic economic recession, their counterparts in Islamic banks feel troubled by a single daunting challenge; a vast majority of potential customers in the predominant Muslim Pakistan lack awareness of Shariah banking.
"People don't understand what you are offering," said Muhammad Raza, Executive Vice President and Head of Consumer Banking at Meezan Bank, working as a

DOHA - Austrian Markus Brier shot a second-round 66 to take a one-shot lead at the 2.5m dollar Qatar Masters on Friday, while Martin Kaymer kept alive his slim hopes of becoming the new world number one. Brier, the 2007 Volvo China Open winner, overtook overnight leader Retief Goosen with a bogey-free round on a much calmer day after strong winds on Thursday had caused havoc on the desert course.
Goosen and Brier were neck and neck over the first nine holes in the second round,

LAHORE - Competition Commission Pakistan (CCP) has fined Rs 23 million on Pakistan Jute Mills Association (PJMA) and its 10 member mills charging cartelised behaviour and malpractices. This was disclosed by the CCP Chairperson Rahat Kuanain Hassan, while addressing the members of the Lahore Economic Journalists Association here on Thursday.
CCP chairperson said that the commission's policy of targeting business malpractices through dialogue had begun to yield positive results as

CAIRO - Egypt's embattled government on Thursday announced steps aimed at defusing a bloody revolt, as protesters battled pro-regime militants for control of Cairo's Tahrir Square and spurned an offer to talk. As fighting between protesters and government loyalists raged into a second night, with an unidentified foreigner beaten to death in the square and a hypermarket torched in a Cairo suburb, a number of live feeds by foreign television channels had gone dead - apparently over

ISLAMABAD - The issue of Raymond Davis, our mole said, worried President Asif Zardari the most and he visibly looked flustered while chairing the meeting of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP)'s core committee on Tuesday night as he shared with his close aides the enormity of external and internal pressure he was faced with after the Lahore incident.
"It is a difficult situation," the president was quoted as saying while referring to the arrest of the American citizen who had

KARACHI - The All Parties Conference (APC) on peace in Karachi to be held on January 31 has been postponed until further notice, Chief Minister's House spokesman said on Friday. The notification came after the MQM, earlier in the day, asked the PPP to convene an APC in the Punjab province, as it was more needed there due to the rapidly deteriorating law and order situation.
The demand was made by MQM's Wasay Jalil while talking to reporters, after a PPP delegation led by ND Khan

LAHORE - The Progressive Panel on Wednesday comprehensively won the annual elections of the Lahore Press Club by out doing the Journalists Panel on three of four main seats. According to the official announcement made by the election committee of Lahore Press Club, Sarmad Bashir successfully defended his presidential slot against his opponent Noman Yawar of the Journalists Panel.
Basheer scored 518 votes, beating his opponent by 131 votes. Progressive Panel's candidate for vice

ISLAMABAD - The Judicial Commission of Pakistan for appointment of judges to superior courts will meet today (Saturday) with Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in the chair to discuss appointment of two judges in the Supreme Court.
Two senior-most judges have been included in the commission, who will give their input for the appointment of new judges to the superior courts.
After the approval of the 19th Amendment, it will be for the first time when

STIRLING - Michael Matthews won the sprint finish to claim the third stage of the Tour Down Under, while fellow Australian Matthew Goss reclaimed the overall leader's orange jersey on Thursday. The 20-year-old Matthews, considered one of the peloton's most promising riders, finished ahead of last year's champion Andre Greipel and Goss after a 129-km ride from Unley to Stirling, south of Adelaide.
"It's unbelievable, Rabobank's Matthews told reporters. "With one kilometre to go, I

LAHORE - The Punjab Olympics Association has taken legal action against the Sports Department after it asked the PbOA to vacate its office in the Punjab Stadium vicinity.
Briefing journalists here on Wednesday, PbOA secretary Idris Haider Khawaja said that he invited Sports secretary Ahmed Nawaz for tea but he was handed a notice instead to vacate the offices some sports associations are occupying in the stadium. Idris accused the sports department of creating hurdles in the

KARACHI - Drilling by the oil and gas exploration companies in Pakistan has slowed by 32 percent in the first half of the financial year 2011, despite government's focus to tap more indigenous energy resources.
A meagre 19 wells have been drilled as compared to 28 in the last corresponding period and the number is inclusive of both exploratory and development wells. This hampered drilling activity could reduce the much needed future of oil and gas production.
According to