Blog | FunStylers

ISLAMABAD: The government is set to unveil the consolidated budget today for the fiscal year 2009-10 with an outlay of over Rs2.9 trillion based on uncertain external flows, mainly pledges from Friends of Democratic Pakistan (FoDPs), for the social sector spending and from donors and other countries for relief and rehabilitation of the internally displaced persons (IDPs).

Minister of State for Economic Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar would present the budget in Parliament House at 5:00 pm.

The federal budget is likely to hover around Rs2.2 trillion with current expenditures of Rs1.5 trillion and development expenditures of Rs261 billion. It will be the first budget based on uncertain source of external flows. However, the government is learnt to have increased relaxation in the budget deficit from 4.6 to 4.9 per cent or over 5 to 5.5 per cent, meaning the budget deficit would stand somewhere between Rs723 billion and Rs798 billion.

The outlay for the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) will be Rs621 billion and revenue collection target, Rs1.4 trillion. However, the government is likely to revise the revenue target down because the FBR has told the government that collecting over Rs1.4 trillion will be a gigantic task.

The government has withdrawn many exemptions and is also bringing the real estate and the services sectors under the tax net, including imposition of carbon tax on POL products. Different tax measures and carbon tax would bring additional revenue of Rs160-170 billion to the government, which includes Rs80-90 billion through carbon tax.

The increase in the fiscal deficit up to 4.9 per cent will have no inflationary impact as the expected $2 billion from FoDPs and $550 million from donors will mainly come in terms of grants.
Source [Read More]

LAHORE: At least six people including Jamia Naeemia’s principal Dr Sarfraz Naeemi were martyred and six others injured in a suicide blast at Jamia Naeemia situated in Garhi Shahu area of Lahore, Geo News reported Friday.

The blast occurred after the Friday prayers when the people were making their way out of the mosque after offering the Friday prayers. A large number of worshipers were present in the mosque at the time of blast.

Jamia Naeemia principal Dr Sarfraz Naeemi was in his office at located inside Jamia Naeemia where he was meeting with people and students and it was the time when the suicide bomber blew himself up.

The suicide attack injured Dr Naeemi and his close aide Maulana Khalilur Rehman and other people present there.

The blast was so powerful that the outer walls of the Jamia Naeemia Masjid collapsed and the nearby buildings were also damaged.

Sustaining injuries, Maulana Naeemi was rushed to Kiran Hospital but succumbed to the injuries on the way. The deceased include his close associate Dr Khalilur Rehman. The other deceased could not be identified.

According to hospital sources, all the injured are out of danger.

The news of Dr. Naeemi’s death enraged the students of Jamia Naeemia who burst into wild protest. They manhandled with the police personnel and mediamen. However, the office-bearers of Jamia Naeemia and police high-ups appealed to the people to observe patience and remain calm.

Police took into custody the head of the suicide bomber, aged between 18 and 20.

Allama Dr Sarfraz Naeemi is one of the renowned scholars of the country. He was the son of former Chairman of Ruet-e-Hilal Committee and founder of Jamia Naeemia Mufti Muhammed Hussain Naeemi.

Sarfraz Ahmed Naeemi gave fatwa that the suicide attacks are Haram (un-Islamic) and he was against the ‘Qadianis’.
Source [Read More]

David Dhawan is a very happy man. And it’s not only because he’s making back-to-back movies, and judging a reality show Hans Baliye during the time of recession.

Cast members of David’s latest directorial offering Do Knot Disturb are going to IIFA. “Now that the strike (of new releases in multiplexes) is over Govinda and Riteish Deshmukh who are in the film will be performing live at IIFA.”

David is heading to Macau with his wife and images from Do Knot Disturb would be shown at the event.

David also intends to do a music video featuring the entire cast of Do Knot Disturb. “I want Sushmita, Lara, Sohail, Riteish and Govinda. We want to promote Do Knot Disturb in a big way and release around Eid.”

This being David’s first film with producer Vashu Bhagnani in years, David is naturally very concerned. “It has to go right. I’m very happy with the film. The strike ended at just the right time. There was hardly any shooting going on. Medipersons had nothing to write so they were making up stories.”
Source [Read More]

KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain has said that some forces that are not in parliament ‘are hatching conspiracies against the present democratic government and want to pit the Pakistan People’s Party and the MQM against each other’.

In his telephonic address on the 31st foundation day of the All Pakistan Muttahida Students Organisation (APMSO) here on Thursday, he warned all such forces, which he said had missed a chance to enter the parliament by boycotting the Feb 18, 2008 general election, ‘not to conspire against the democratic government’ because it ‘would lead to derailment of democracy in the country’.

A large number of workers of the APMSO attended the programme. Similar congregations were also held in other cities of Sindh and in Lahore, where Mr Hussain’s telephonic address was relayed simultaneously.

Without naming any particular party, Mr Hussain said that such forces had ‘opposed the creation of Pakistan’ and they were still against its ideology. They were working in the name of Islam, but wanted to destabilise the country, he said.

He said that these forces were also conspiring against the coalition of the MQM and the PPP, but ‘their conspiracies would only harm democracy’.

He also appealed to those who joined extremist forces ‘due to some misunderstanding’ to quit such forces and to return to ‘their routine lives’.

Mr Hussain strongly condemned the recent incidents in which 12 MQM workers fell victim to targeted killings, and expressed his condolences to their families.
Source [Read More]

Cristiano Ronaldo has revealed his pride at being the subject of an “historic” £80million bid from Real Madrid.
The Manchester United and Portugal winger is set to discuss personal terms and undergo a medical with the Bernabeu giants after the English side accepted the offer on Thursday.
“I have had my time at Man United,” said Ronaldo, who is currently on holiday in Los Angeles.
“It’s time to look forward and £80million is quite a sum of money. This deal is historic,”
“It’s flattering when two of the top teams in the world want you to play for them.
“Now I can look forward to Real Madrid and a new stage in my career.
“I learned of the deal here in LA and heard from my people that United had accepted.”
Source [Read More]

WASHINGTON: American households lost $1.33 trillion of their wealth in the first three months of the year as the recession took a bite.
The Federal Reserve reported on Thursday that household net worth fell to $50.38 trillion in the January-March quarter, the lowest level since the third quarter of 2004.

The first-quarter figure marked a decline of 2.6 percent, or $1.33 trillion, from the final quarter of 2008.

Net worth represents total assets such as homes and checking accounts, minus liabilities like mortgages and credit card debt.

The damage to wealth in the first quarter came from the sinking stock market. The value of Americans’ stock holdings dropped 5.8 percent from the final quarter of last year.

Another hit came from falling house prices. The value of household real-estate holdings fell 2.4 percent. Collectively, homeowners had 41.4 percent equity in their homes in the first quarter. That was down from 42.9 percent in the fourth quarter.

The latest snapshot of Americans’ balance sheets was contained in the Fed’s quarterly report called the flow of funds.

Despite the drop, the speed at which net worth has shrunk has slowed. During the recession’s deepest point in the October-December period, Americans’ net worth fell 8.6 percent, according to revised figures.

With wealth declining and unemployment rising, there are questions about how consumers - the lifeblood of the economy -will behave in the coming months.

If they continue to spend, even at a subdued pace, the recession likely will end this year as predicted by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and other economists.

However, if consumers hunker down and cut spending again, that could delay any recovery.

In the final quarter of last year, Americans slashed spending at an annual rate of 4.3 percent, the most in 28 years.
Source [Read More]

New Delhi, June 11: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is set to meet Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg next week. Their first meeting since the Mumbai terror attacks, however, will be more of an ice-breaker and is unlikely to lead to an immediate resumption of stalled dialogue between the two countries.

“They are sure to meet. But it has not been decided what form it will take, whether it will just be a handshake or a one-on-one with no structured agenda,” a highly-placed government source said on the condition of anonymity.

“It will be primarily a courtesy call,” the sources said. “There is no change in India`s position about not resuming talks till Pakistan takes tangible action against the perpetrators of the Mumbai carnage and dismantles the infrastructure of terrorism.”

Former foreign secretary Salman Haidar said: “It would be normal for the two leaders to meet as they are going to be in the same city. I expect that the meeting would take place.

“The prime minister should meet and tell Zardari to convince India that something is being done on the ground to take action against terorrism and anti-India terror groups, specially those involved in the Mumbai attack.”

Manmohan Singh and Zardari will be in Yekaterinburg, an industrial city located midway between Moscow and St Petersburg, on June 15-16 for the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) summit as well as the six-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meet.

India, along with Pakistan and Iran, is an observer at SCO, a security grouping where Russia and China run the show with a supporting chorus of Central Asian republics including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyztan and Tajikistan.

This will be the first SCO summit in which an Indian prime minister will be participating.

In the past, India has been represented at the SCO summit at the level of foreign minister and petroleum minister. Manmohan Singh was reluctant to attend the SCO summit, but with host Russia keen on his presence, he could not say no, official sources said.

Despite the dual summit Russia will be hosting, all eyes in India and Pakistan, whose ties remain frosty, will be on the Manmohan Singh-Zardari meeting that looks almost certain barring a last-minute hitch.

But the expectations are minimal.

“It could be something like then Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf walking up to then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and shaking his hands on the sidelines of the SAARC summit in 2003. It took another year before the talks were restarted at another SAARC summit in 2004,” a seasoned diplomat suggested.

In the run-up to the upcoming meeting, there have been subtle conciliatory noises from the government and growing voices in India urging it to make a bid for peace despite disappointment over Islamabad`s perceived inaction against terrorism.

Despite India`s anger at the release of Hafiz Saeed, the suspected mastermind of the Mumbai attack, Manmohan Singh hinted at reconciliation in his first policy speech in parliament on June 9.

Manmohan Singh`s remarks that India was prepared to meet Pakistan “more than half-way” if it takes action against terrorism have been interpreted as a sign of India`s readiness to resume the composite dialogue that was stalled after the Mumbai attack last year. Pakistan was quick to welcome the remarks.

“Basically, he should give Pakistan some space to act and not lay down iron-clad conditions. The prime minister`s statement in parliament was a sign of flexibility,” said Haidar.

Ahead of the SCO summit, External Affairs Minister SM Krishna, who is likely to accompany the prime minister to Russia, reiterated India`s considered post-Mumbai line.

“(All) instrumentalities of terrorism which are aimed at India, which is emanating from the Pakistani soil, will have to be dismantled and perhaps then a favourable climate, atmosphere would have been created for the dialogue to be resumed between Pakistan and India,”
Source [Read More]

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday expressed grief and shock over the continued violence and targeted killing in Karachi and called upon the provincial government to take urgent steps to restore normalcy.

Spokesperson of the President, former Senator Farhatullah Babar, said that the President also sought a report from the Sindh government on the issue.

He said that the Chief Minister Sindh has already convened cabinet meeting to consider situation arising out of the latest spurt in violence in Karachi. The President is concerned that the target killing in Karachi may have been designed to detract from the operation against the militants in Swat and Malakand region, the spokesperson said.
Source [Read More]

ISLAMABAD: A copy of the Presidential pardon in the plane-hijacking conspiracy case was submitted to the Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday.

A five-member larger bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, was hearing an appeal filed by the PML-N Quaid against his conviction in the plane-hijacking conspiracy case. Other members of the bench included Justice Nasirul Mulk, Justice Muhammad Moosa K Leghari, Justice Shaikh Hakim Ali and Justice Ghulam Rabbani.

The copy of the pardon was produced during hearing of the plane-hijacking conspiracy case.

The advocate general, Sindh pleaded to the court that the Presidential pardon and Sharifs affidavits should be included in the case record.

The court turned down plea of a citizen to be a party in the case.
Source [Read More]

LAHORE: The election commission has postponed polling at national assembly constituencies NA-123 Lahore and NA-155 Rawalpindi for indefinite period.

“The decision has been made after a letter from Chief Secretary of Punjab Javed Mehmood about security concerns,” provincial election commissioner Qamar-uz-Zaman Chaudhry said.

Polling on NA-123 was scheduled to be held on June 30 and at NA-155 on July 4, he said.

The stage of withdrawal of nomination papers for NA-155 will be completed according to the prior schedule.

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif is contesting election on NA-123.
Source [Read More]