Regional peace linked with strategic stability in South Asia: CJCSC Gen. Zubair
Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Zubair Mahmood Hayat said that regional peace linked with maintenance of strategic stability in South Asia, said a statement issued by the Pakistan Navy’s director general public relations.
Addressing the participants of Naval Staff Course at Pakistan Navy War College, Lahore, General Hayat said that warfare of 21st century had changed and affecting Pakistan’s security situation which was a complex function of internal and external factors, read the statement. He highlighted Pakistan’s contributions and efforts for regional peace and stability, especially in Afghanistan.
Earlier on March 8, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) General Zubair Mahmood Hayat had visited Naval Headquarters in Islamabad. The CJCSC had been received by Naval Chief Admiral Zafar Mehmood Abbasi upon his arrival at the Naval Headquarters.
Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Zubair had been given a detailed briefing on operational preparedness of the Pakistan Navy in the prevailing situation of cross border provocation from the Indian side.
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Pakistan on the cusp of achieving enduring peace, stability: COAS
Chief of the Army Staff General (COAS) Qamar Javed Bajwa said that Pakistan was on the cusp of achieving sustainable, irreversible and enduring peace and stability. Speaking during a talk ‘Pakistan’s Regional Security Perspective’ at the International Institute of Strategic, the army chief said peace and stability could be complemented through meaningful international partnership, support and a will to take on regional challenges. “Improved security offers foreign investment in Pakistan, a pivot to regional connectivity,” added the army chief.
However, he said, the future of enduring peace and stability in South Asia hinges on the ability to resolve issues and long pending disputes within the region.
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Several transfers made in Pak Army, Lt-Gen Faiz Hameed appointed DG ISI
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday 16 June 2019, appointed Lt Gen Faiz Hameed as new head of the country’s premier intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Gen Faiz was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General in April and then was posted as adjutant General at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi.
He had served in the ISI for two-and-a-half years before being promoted to Lt Gen.
He would now return to head the ISI, replacing Lt Gen Syed Asim Munir Ahmed Shah, who barely served in the agency for only a few months. It was not clear what prompted the change as usually DG ISI serves for three years.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) confirmed the reshuffle in a statement. The outgoing DG ISI Gen Munir has been posted as Corps Commander Gujranwala.
In other posting and transfers, Lt Gen Amir Abbasi has been appointed Quarter Master General (QMG) Pakistan Army at GHQ, Lt Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza named as Adjutant General Pakistan Army and Lt Gen Moazzam Ejaz as engineer-in-chief.
PTI Government presents Rs. 7,022 billion budget for the Year 2019-20
Minister of State for Finance Hammad Azhar presented the budgetary proposals in the National Assembly on Tuesday 11 June, evening.
Projected expenditures
The size of the budget (total expenditure) has been estimated at Rs 7,036.3 billion. The total outlay has been estimated at Rs 8,238.1bn.
Overall, current expenditure has increased substantially this year, while development expenditure has fallen. Current expenditure is estimated at Rs 6,192.9bn in FY20 compared to last year’s estimate of Rs 4,780bn ─ an increase of 75pc.
Over half this amount (Rs4.04 trillion) is dedicated to interest payments on past domestic and foreign debts and defence.
The defense budget did not see a cut this year as expected. In fact, it rose by Rs52bn from last year’s budgeted amount of Rs 1,100bn to Rs 1,152.54bn.
Provincial Budges 2019-20
Punjab assembly presented budget with a total outlay of over Rs2.3 trillion for fiscal year 2019-20.
Sindh Assembly presented Rs. 1.217 trillion deficit-free budget for the year 2019-20.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly passes of Rs. 0.9 trillion presented for 2019-20, .Rs. 693 billion for settled districts and Rs. 162 billion for merged areas allocated.
Balochistan Assembly presented budget for the year 2019-20 with an outlay of Rs. 419 billion.
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PM’s tax amnesty scheme fails to attract people
By Shahbaz Rana
Less than 250 Pakistanis have so far availed the tax amnesty scheme and paid a paltry sum of about Rs450 million in taxes despite personal appeal by Prime Minister Imran Khan through his televised address.
The dismal outcome in the past over one month has compelled the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to keep the figures away from parliamentarians and the federal cabinet.
The cabinet and the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance separately took up the progress on PM Imran’s black assets legalising scheme.
Businessmen divided on new amnesty scheme
The asset legalising scheme would expire on June 30. FBR Chairman Shabbar Zaidi categorically told the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance on Tuesday that the scheme would not be extended beyond June 30 due to the start of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout programme from July.
When contacted, FBR spokesman Dr. Hamid Atiq Sarwar refused to divulge outcome of the tax amnesty scheme, saying the figures had been kept confidential. But he did not give reason for keeping the results secret.
There is no legal bar to keep the outcome secret, although the FBR cannot disclose the names of beneficiaries.
On May 13, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government launched the tax amnesty scheme in an effort to encourage people to declare their hidden assets at extremely low tax rates from 1.5% to 4%. Yet, the people have not responded to the call. The prime minister has twice gone on state media to appeal to the people to avail the tax amnesty scheme aimed at avoiding harsh action by the FBR from July.
The FBR will also make data of banking transactions available on its website to encourage people to legalise these assets.
The previous tax amnesty scheme, launched by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government, remained largely successful when over 84,000 people legalised around Rs2.4 trillion in black assets by paying Rs124 billion in taxes.
However, the budget documents showed that the FBR expected total revenue of Rs. 4.150 trillion in the outgoing fiscal year, which was only possible if it collected at least Rs200 billion from the tax amnesty scheme. In first 11 months of FY19, the FBR collected only Rs3.31 trillion and it would need Rs. 850 billion in June, which was impossible.
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Indian Army commanders left Brigade
HQ ‘minutes before’ PAF bomb fell in compound 27 Feb
By Snehesh Alex Philip
When Pakistan Air Force fighter jets dropped a bomb near an Indian defence installation in Jammu and Kashmir on 27 February a day after the Balakot strike by the Indian Air Force Islamabad claimed that this was done to display its capability and not target the Indian military. The H-4 Stand-Off Weapon, a precision-guided glide bomb, dropped by the PAF fell into the compound of the Indian Army Brigade Headquarters in the Rajouri sector, making it a close call.
This call, ThePrint has learnt, was much closer than known earlier as two top Indian Army commanders Northern Army Commander Lt Gen. Ranbir Singh and 16 Corps Commander Lt Gen. Paramjit Singh had stepped out of the Brigade Headquarters “minutes before” the bomb fell.
The two commanders, top sources in the defence and security establishment told ThePrint, had left for a nearby post when the PAF bomb fell into the compound of the Brigade Headquarters. This post was less than 700 metres from the spot where the bomb struck. The Northern Command and the Indian Army headquarters did not respond to requests for comment from ThePrint for this report.
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‘Real plan of PAF’
The PAF fighter jets were chased away by the IAF after a dogfight which saw IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman being shot down and captured by Pakistan. He was released after nearly 60 hours in Pakistani captivity as the two countries pulled back from the brink of war.
The new information suggests that they may have escalated to an even more serious turn of events had the PAF bomb hit the Brigade Headquarters when the top commanders were inside.
After the dogfight between the two air forces, Pakistani military spokesperson Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor claimed that the PAF had intentionally dropped bombs near important military installations (and not at them) to show their capability.
On 29 April, Ghafoor said Pakistan knew who was at the Brigade Headquarters when “they intentionally dropped the bombs near it”.
Indian defence sources, however, told ThePrint that radio chatter picked up by Indian forces made it clear that the real plan of the PAF was to hit Indian military assets. The sudden appearance of IAF MiG-21s from across the Pir Panjal range thwarted the plan, they said.
At the same time, the sources said the presence of the senior commanders in the area was a matter of chance and something Pakistan couldn’t have known. Northern Army Commander Lt Gen. Singh was there to review the situation near the Line of Control amid suspicions that Pakistan would try and respond to the Balakot air strike. Indian Army sources explained Ghafoor’s 29 April claim saying Pakistan may have learnt about the visit of the top commanders to the Rajouri Brigade Headquarters as the Northern Command had tweeted news about the visit on 28 February.