The Wagner Group, a private military contractor with ties to the Kremlin, has been influential in conflicts like Syria and Ukraine. If the Wagner Group operates independently, it could complicate Russia’s strategic calculations and undermine its deniability in conflicts. Private military contractors like the Wagner Group operate outside international law and accountability, posing risks of violence, human rights abuses, and regional destabilization. To address these issues, international mechanisms should regulate private military contractors. International regulation is crucial to mitigate risks and protect human rights in conflicts involving private military contractors.

As a result, the BISP proposed budget has been increased from Rs450 billion to Rs466 billion. Dar announced raising a further Rs215 billion in new taxes and a net Rs85 billion cut in expenditures to shrink fiscal deficit, which he proposed on June 9 while unveiling the Rs14.6 trillion budget. Another government functionary said that Rs30 billion additional taxes will be recovered from the salaried and the non-salaried individuals in the next fiscal year. The minister said the revenue collection target for the FBR was increased from Rs9.2 trillion to Rs9.415 trillion. The share of the provinces would be increased to Rs5.39 trillion from Rs5.276 trillion, he added.

GOVERNMENT HAS ANNOUNCED AN ECONOMIC “REVIVAL PLAN” ABU, ZERO MULPLIED BY ANYTHING IS STILL ZERO

Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) Atta Tarar said on Friday that attempts were being made to give the impression that the events of May 9 were of a minor nature. Speaking to media, Tarar said the application for the military courts arrived at night and that the case was initiated in the morning in Islamabad . He advised asking the parliament to repeal both the Army Act and the Official Secrets Act. He said the SC bench had split and the result would come in a day or two. He said those who had raised the issue had political interests, adding that the petitioners had reservations with their respective parties.

I left Pakistan at the age of 18 to settle in the United States. It was a miserable existence even though we were relatively well off compared to the average Pakistani. At the end of the day, a nation’s social and economic conditions are a reflection of its moral and spiritual values. It is simply because they are better human beings, with a better moral compass. When you sell your soul to the devil, there is no redemption.

Except for the field of information technology, the rest are the same as those Pakistan struggled to develop in the 1960s. On the list comprising five fields, the field of Information Technology (IT) is an odd addition. Dr Umar Saif, who served as Chairman of the Punjab Information Technology Board (2011– 2018), was one of those who served the country. He had to resign from the position of the Vice Chancellor of Information Technology University. Another limitation is that, in the name of reviving the economy, the SIFC is trying to create another “same page”, the forerunner of which worked well from 2018 to 2021, but got torn off in 2022.

Very hot and humid weather is expected in most parts of the country, while dust raising and gusty winds are likely over plain areas during the next twelve hours. Dust-thunderstorm/rain is expected in northeast Balochistan, Kashmir and adjoining areas. Temperature of some major cities recorded this morning:Islamabad thirty-one degree centigrade, Lahore thirty-five, Karachi thirty, Peshawar thirty-two, Quetta twenty-six, Gilgit eighteen, Murree seventeen and Muzaffarabad twenty-eight degree centigrade. According to weather forecast of Met Office for Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, hot and dry weather in Srinagar, partly cloudy with chances of rain thunderstorm in Jammu, Shopian, Pulwama, Baramulla and partly cloudy dry in Leh and Anantnag. Temperature recorded this morning:Srinagar, Pulwama and Baramulla twenty degree centigrade, Jammu twenty-eight, Leh ten, Anantnag and Shopian nineteen degree centigrade.

Says assertions made in statement despite Pak-US close counterterrorism cooperationDefence Minister says President Biden should ‘consider facts before feting butcher of Gujarat’ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office (FO) on Friday termed the joint US-India statement “misleading and unwarranted”, saying that the “reference is contrary to diplomatic norms and has political overtones”. The joint US-India statement was issued against Pakistan after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met President Joe Biden a day earlier. Responding to media queries regarding the statement on Friday, FO Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said: “We consider the Pakistan-specific reference in the ‘Joint Statement from the United States and India’, issued on 22 June 2023, as unwarranted, one-sided, and misleading. “Today, we fail to see how the assertions made in the joint statement could strengthen the international resolve to fight terrorism. Honourable MNA Khawaja Muhammad Asif, in his speech on the floor of the National Assembly condemned the recent US-India joint statement.

ISLAMABAD - In a significant development towards the implementation of the Dasu Hydropower Project (DHPP), WAP DA yesterday announced that the stage-1 of the concrete-starter dam has been completed upstream of the main dam site. According to the project design, the Starter Dam for DHPP is divided into two stages. Following the high flow season in October this year, the construction of Stage-2 of the Starter Dam will commence and is expected to be completed during the upcoming low-flow season. Additionally, some of the river water is overtopping the concrete Starter Dam as per design. Once both stages are completed, Dasu will become Pakistan’s highest annual energy generation project.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan on Thursday rejected holding peace talks with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan due to its in­volvement in killing civilians and security person­nel in the country. Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch was re­sponding to queries regarding the statement of the spokesman for Afghanistan’s Taliban govern­ment, Zabihullah Mujahid who offered mediation between the Pakistan Government and the TTP. She further said, “Pakistan and Afghan Inter­im Government are in constant engagement and dialogue with respect to the terrorist threat that Pakistan faces. She said the Greek authorities had recovered 82 bodies, however, the number and identification of Pakistani nationals among the deceased and miss­ing was unconfirmed at the moment. She said Pakistan’s Ambassador Aamar Aftab and his team at the mission in Greece were work­ing round the clock for the recovery and identifica­tion of Pakistani nationals.

LO WER DIR - Unknown assailants gunned down a youngster in the Lower Dir district, police confirmed on Thursday. According to the media reports, the incident occurred within the jurisdiction of the Chakdara police station when unidentified culprits opened fire on a youngster. As a result the youngster later identified as Abbas Khan son of Khalid Nawab of Darbar Romora village succumbed to his injuries on the spot.Police sources said that the dead body was taken into custody and shifted to THQ Hospital Chakdara for medico-legal procedure.

According to Federal Minister of Aviation and Railways Khawaja Saad Rafiq, the 19-story Roosevelt Hotel in New York, which has been owned by the national airline of Pakistan for almost 120 years, has been given a three-year lease by the New York City Administration. Addressing a press conference in Lahore on Sunday, he said that, because of this agreement, 22 million dollars will come to Pakistan in three years. Documentary details have not been made public, due to which various concerns are being expressed. In view of these apprehensions, it would be better if the aviation minister brought the details of this agreement before the nation to clear up any misunderstandings on the part of the citizens. KHALIDA KHALID,Turbat.

ISLAMABAD-The Directorate of Intelligence & Investigation (Inland Revenue) Lahore has detected sales tax evasion worth billions of rupees by a reputed company. The company had issued illegal credit notes of huge amounts in Annexure-C of the sales tax returns without corresponding debit notes from the buyers. In this way, the company suppressed output tax to reduce its sales tax liability for the tax periods in which illegal credit notes were issued and thus deprived the national exchequer from due tax revenue. Thus, timely intervention by the Directorate has led to recovery of sales tax amounting to Rs.1358 million and default surcharge of Rs.26 million on 20th June, 2023. Accordingly, to place a system check on such fake credit notes, the sales tax return has been amended to disallow suppliers of goods to issue/claim credit notes in the returns without first issuance of debit notes by the corresponding buyers.

KARACHI: There were at least 209 Pakistani “victims” on an overloaded boat that capsized and sank in open seas off Greece last week, according to data shared by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) with Reuters on Thursday. The official death toll from the accident still stands at 82 and the number of survivors at 104, of whom 12 were Pakistanis. Pakistan is yet to officially confirm how many of its citizens were on the boat, but kick-started a DNA sampling effort to help Greece identify those who died. The data shared by the FIA showed that 181 people were from Pakistan and 28 from Pakistan-administered Kashmir. The FIA said 29 suspected human smugglers had been arrested in Pakistan so far over the case.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has once again sought the United States' help to unlock the stalled Internation­al Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programme. Donald Blome, Am­bassador of the United States of America to Pa­kistan, called on Feder­al Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar. The finance minister shared the economic policies and priorities of the government to address the challeng­ing economic situation and set the economy on the path to stability and growth. He extended his support to further promote bilateral economic, invest­ment and trade relations be­tween both the countries. “Though the Budget FY 24 was never a part of the 9th Review, however, in line with PM’s commitment to the MD IMF, we shared the Budget num­bers with the IMF Mission.