Author: Admin

ISLAMABAD: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has recovered Rs495 million from Long Distance International (LDI) operators in the International Clearing House (ICH) case. The amount includes Rs458 million from Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) and Rs37 million from Link Dot Net. The recovery follows the Competition Appellate Tribunal’s decision upholding CCP’s order that declared the ICH arrangement illegal and anti-competitive. Introduced in 2012, the ICH agreement routed all international calls through a PTCL-controlled gateway. Termination rates were fixed at $8.8 cents per minute, more than four times the earlier rate. This eliminated competition, raised costs for overseas callers, and…

KARACHI: The Pakistani rupee continued its upward momentum against the US dollar on Tuesday, notching its 18th straight gain in the inter-bank market. At close, the local currency settled at 281.72 per dollar, up three paisa, or 0.01%, compared to Monday’s close at 281.75, according to data from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). Since August 6, 2025, the rupee has appreciated by a cumulative 95 paisa against the greenback, reflecting improved sentiment in the foreign exchange market. Analysts at Ismail Iqbal Securities noted that while the rupee edged higher on a day-on-day basis, its broader performance remains mixed. “At…

ISLAMABAD: Amid financial constraints, the government has decided to divert Rs15 billion allocated for sugar subsidy to finance the closure of Utility Stores Corporation (USC). The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) recently approved Rs30 billion for winding up USC. Sources said the finance division flagged budgetary constraints in a recent ECC meeting as the closure cost was not budgeted. The ECC directed the Ministry of Industries & Production to rationalise the fund requirement through negotiations. It also decided that USC’s assets, including properties, must be sold within the current fiscal year to cover costs through sale proceeds. The ECC further decided…

ISLAMABAD: Telecom operators came under fire on Tuesday over multiple issues, including overbilling, spectrum misuse, and failure to disclose the names of board members of Ufone, a subsidiary of PTCL. The chairperson of the Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication warned of filing a privilege motion against the IT ministry for refusing to share Ufone board details. The body also grilled Zong for spectrum misuse and taking a case to the Supreme Court. It called for activating the telecom tribunal to resolve Zong’s disputes. Chaired by Senator Palwasha Khan, the committee also pledged to approach the government to…

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s trade deficit widened 29% to $6 billion in just two months of this fiscal year due to stagnant exports and a double-digit jump in imports, reflecting early signs of the government’s trade liberalisation policy. The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) said on Tuesday that the gap between imports and exports reached $6 billion during the July-August period of this fiscal year. The deficit was $1.4 billion, or 29%, more than the comparative period of the last fiscal year. The $1.4 billion higher deficit in just two months is also much more than the $1 billion loan tranche of…

PARIS: French judicial authorities have issued arrest warrants for ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and six other top former officials over the bombardment of a rebel-held city in 2012 that killed two journalists, lawyers said Tuesday. Marie Colvin, 56, an American working for The Sunday Times of Britain, and French photographer Remi Ochlik, 28, were killed on February 22, 2012 by the explosion in the eastern city of Homs, which is being investigated by the French judiciary as a potential crime against humanity as well as a war crime. British photographer Paul Conroy, French reporter Edith Bouvier and Syrian translator…

JERUSALEM: Israel intensified its military build-up on Tuesday as reservists began responding to call-up orders ahead of a planned offensive to capture Gaza City, nearly two years into a devastating war. Despite mounting pressure at home and abroad to end its campaign in the Palestinian territory, Israel is gearing up to seize Gaza’s largest city — intensifying bombardments and operating in the outskirts in recent days. The United Nations estimates that nearly a million people live in Gaza City and its surroundings, where a famine has been declared. In a statement, the military said it had been preparing in recent days…

RIYADH: Saudi Aramco and Iraq’s state oil company SOMO have stopped selling crude oil to India’s Nayara Energy in the aftermath of sanctions imposed in July by the European Union on the Russian-backed refiner, three sources familiar with the matter said. The halting of supply from the two Gulf exporters means Nayara, majority-owned by Russian entities including oil major Rosneft, relied entirely on Russia for its crude oil imports in August, according to sources and LSEG shipping data. Nayara typically receives around two million barrels of Iraqi crude and 1m barrels of Saudi crude each month, but did not receive…

QUETTA: At least 14 people lost their lives and 35 others were injured in a powerful blast near a public rally of the Balochistan National Party (BNP) in Quetta on Tuesday evening. The explosion took place close to the Shahwani Stadium shortly after the conclusion of a gathering held to mark the fourth death anniversary of Sardar Attaullah Mengal. Health officials at Civil Hospital Quetta confirmed the casualties. Police officials said the blast occurred near the venue soon after the event ended and initial reports suggested that it may have targeted the convoy of BNP chief Akhtar Mengal, who remained…

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif along with Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir separately met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing on Tuesday in a move that highlights Pakistan’s carefully crafted approach, seeking mutually beneficial ties with all big powers. Shehbaz is in China where he attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit plus. His meeting with President Xi and President Putin, the two powerful leaders in the world, took place in the space of few hours. In the morning, Prime Minister Shehbaz, who was joined by Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi,…