Ahtisham Rai

PTI rejects ‘IMF-dictated’ budgetary proposals

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Teh­reek-i-Insaf (PTI) has rejected the budgetary proposals, alleging that the proposed budget for the upcoming financial year has been prepared by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The party arrived at this conclusion after discussing the budgetary proposals for financial year 2025-26 at a meeting of the parliamentary party, which was attended by PTI chairman…

Read More

We asked two ex-finance ministers what the 2025-26 budget should look like. Here are their thoughts

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb is expected to present the Finance Bill 2025-26 in the National Assembly tomorrow (Tuesday). Much has been said in the lead-up to the big day; the finance minister has pledged to introduce “bold measures” to steer the national economy in a strategic direction, while the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has stressed the need for tight…

Read More

Aurangzeb stresses tariff reforms key to export-led economy

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Wednesday stressed that planned tariff reforms that would reduce import duties were the key to an export-led economy in Pakistan. He made the remarks during a post-budget press conference where he expanded upon the federal budget proposed yesterday for the upcoming fiscal year. Maintaining an aggressive stance on fiscal consolidation, as required…

Read More

لو گُرو: وہ فلم جس میں کئی بھارتی فلموں کی جھلک نظر آئی

پاکستانی سنیما کو ضرورت ہے کہ ہم اس کی تمام تر کمزوریوں کے باوجود اس کے ساتھ کھڑے ہوں، لہذا تمام فلم بینوں سے درخواست ہے کہ وہ یہ فلم دیکھنے ضرور جائیں۔ پاکستان میں عید کے تہوار کا ثقافتی طور پر فلموں کی ریلیز سے بھی ایک گہرا تعلق بن چکا ہے۔ عید کے…

Read More

New taxes to make online shopping costlier

KARACHI: The government has introduced new taxes on local and foreign e-commerce marketplaces, making online shopping costlier for Pakistani customers. Moreover, the Finance Bill has proposed a tax on social media advertising in Pakistan by foreign e-commerce platforms. The bill has proposed amendments to the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 to add the definitions of e-commerce…

Read More

watchOS 26: Everything Apple announced for its wearable at WWDC 2025

During Apple‘s WWDC keynote event today in Cupertino, company execs announced, among many other things, the latest Apple Watch software: watchOS 12, er, watchOS 26. Like iOS, macOS, iPadOS and the rest, the latest generation of watchOS will now be appended with the upcoming year, instead of a sequential number. What would have been watchOS 12, is now watchOS 26. Aside from…

Read More

Justin Baldoni’s $400M lawsuit against Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds dismissed by federal judge. How we got here.

The Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni drama is the he-said-she-said case heard around Hollywood, with accusations flying on both sides. Lively and Baldoni are entangled in a legal battle over what may or may not have happened on the set of their Colleen Hoover adaptation, It Ends With Us, with Lively accusing her director and costar on the film of…

Read More