ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) has warned local airline operators to abide by the safety protocols notified by the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) of the United Arab Emirates to prevent the coronavirus spread or face “stern action,” said a PCAA spokesperson on Tuesday.
The GCAA has asked airline operators to create quarantine areas on their flights “for the exclusive sitting of suspected or symptomatic person(s).”
It also told them to ensure safe distance between passengers in the quarantine zone and other people on the flight to avoid cross-infection.
The GCAA guidelines also require airlines to designate a “buffer zone” for cabin crew members where they can wear or take off their personal protective equipment.
“The latest directives from Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority to local airlines come after the GCAA issued two safety assessment reports that mentioned violations of safety protocols,” the PCAA spokesperson told Arab News.
He said that despite clear guidelines “no compliance by the operators have been observed.”
“Operator shall seat passengers and cabin crew throughout the cabin to comply, as much as practical, with physical and safe distancing principle. Passengers should be seated with at least one empty seat between each other. Alternatively, when separation not possible, the use of face masks become mandatory for passengers,” the GCCA guidelines say.
“The GCCA communicated to us that airline operators were not following the instructions in letter and spirit,” said the PCAA official. “Hence, we decided to issue directives to our airlines to fully follow the UAE authority’s COVID-19 guidelines,” the PCCA spokesman continued.
He said that future violations would “lead to stern action by the PCAA,” which may include withdrawal of permission to operate to and from UAE airports.
The PCAA notification issued late last week said “such violations are ignominious not only for the operator but also for the state and the regulator.”
On August 5, the UAE lifted a ban on transit passenger traffic from Pakistan, India, Nigeria and other countries.
However, it still requires travelers from these countries to present negative COVID-19 PCR tests about 48 hours before their departure.
To facilitate Pakistani passengers traveling to the UAE, Pakistan set up rapid COVID-19 testing facilities at all the international airports of the country.
Over 1.6 million Pakistani expatriates live in the UAE and work in different public and private sector organizations, remitting over $4 billion annually to the South Asian nation.
Pakistan tells airline operators to observe UAE pandemic guidelines or face ‘stern action’
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Pakistan tells airline operators to observe UAE pandemic guidelines or face ‘stern action’
- UAE authorities asked airline operators to create a quarantine zone for suspected or symptomatic people on their flights
- Pakistan says any violation of the notified guidelines may lead to a withdrawal of permission to operate to and from UAE airports
Pakistan PM hails record 5.9 million tax returns, notes surge of nearly a million new filers
- FBR reports 17.6 percent rise in returns, 18.6 percent jump in taxpayers submitting payments compared to last year
- Shehbaz Sharif says increase in tax filings reflects growing public trust in reforms and digital initiatives
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday lauded the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for achieving a record 5.9 million income tax returns and adding nearly a million new taxpayers this year, describing it as a sign of growing public confidence in the system, according to a statement circulated by his office.
The FBR, which is responsible for revenue generation and meeting tax targets, announced a “significant increase” in income tax return filings a day earlier, saying 5.9 million tax returns had been submitted by the end of October compared to five million in the same period last year, a 17.6 percent rise.
Out of these, 3.6 million taxpayers filed returns with tax payments, reflecting an 18.6 percent increase over 2024.
“The addition of 900,000 new tax filers to the network reflects citizens’ confidence in the government’s policies,” the statement quoted the prime minister as saying. “By the grace of God, the reforms in the tax system are yielding positive results.”
Sharif said merit had been prioritized within the FBR, adding that capable officers were being encouraged while poor performers were discouraged under a new performance-based culture.
He maintained that tax procedures had also been simplified, and automation at ports had helped curb corruption and improve efficiency.
“I personally chaired weekly meetings to oversee the FBR’s digital transformation,” he said, adding that efforts to formalize the economy through an expansion in point-of-sale registrations had curbed sales tax evasion.
The prime minister also pointed to a Rs9 billion ($31.8 million) year-on-year increase in tax revenues, calling it “clear proof” of the government’s reform agenda.
In a string of social media posts a day earlier, the FBR said the rise in return filings marked “a new milestone in voluntary compliance and taxpayer awareness.”
It added that individual taxpayers had paid nearly Rs69 billion ($244 million) in income tax this year, up from Rs60 billion ($212 million) in 2024, a 15 percent increase.
The FBR attributed the surge to a nationwide outreach campaign, involving robocalls, WhatsApp messages, and targeted reminders encouraging citizens to file on time.
It also reiterated its commitment to creating a fair, transparent and inclusive tax system.
Pakistan arrests fisherman it says was forced to smuggle military uniforms, mobile SIMs to India
- Attaullah Tarar says Indian intelligence arrested the fisherman in September, coerced him to procure the items for propaganda
- Indian Home Minister Amit Shah told parliament in July some slain militants were found with Pakistani voter IDs and chocolates
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Saturday it had arrested a local fisherman allegedly coerced by Indian intelligence to work for them and carry propaganda material to the neighboring state, including military uniforms, local currency, mobile SIMs of a Chinese company and other items.
Earlier this year in July, Indian Home Minister Amit Shah told parliament that his country's forces had recovered Pakistani voter identity cards and chocolates from a group of slain militants whom he said were also involved in a gun attack in the tourist resort of Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir that took place in April.
New Delhi had blamed Pakistan for the assault, an allegation denied by Islamabad which called for an impartial international probe. The incident led to an intense four-day military conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbors in May before US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire.
“Recently, we had a big success in which Pakistani law enforcement agencies have apprehended a common fisherman by the name of Ijaz Mallah, who used to go fishing in the high seas,” Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar told a news conference in Islamabad. “In September this year, when he was out fishing, he was arrested by the Indian Coast Guard and after this arrest, he was taken to an undisclosed location where he was coerced and forced to do some tasks for the Indian intelligence agency.”
Tarar said Mallah was promised compensation but also threatened with imprisonment if he refused.
“The fisherman was tasked to procure uniforms of the Pakistan Navy, Army and Sindh Rangers with certain name tags and measurements,” he said. “He was also asked to get Pakistani currency, cigarettes, matchboxes, lighters and specifically Zong SIM cards for mobile phones.”
“He procured all these items and he was on his way to India when law enforcement agencies apprehended him from the sea, arrested him and took these items into custody,” Tarar added. “This is part of a greater plan of India to malign Pakistan through propaganda, disinformation and misinformation.”
The minister showed what he described as a confession video of Mallah, in which the fisherman said he was detained by India’s Coast Guard while fishing, pressured by an intelligence agency to collect military uniforms and other items and later apprehended again by Pakistani authorities.
Tarar said the case illustrated India’s “nefarious designs” and alleged the operation might be linked to ongoing Indian naval exercises in the Gujarat area.
“We are placing this evidence before the entire world so India’s conspiracies can be exposed,” he said.
Fishermen from India and Pakistan are frequently detained by the authorities of the other country after crossing maritime boundaries, often without realizing it, turning routine fishing trips into ordeals that can last months or even years.
While most such crossings are inadvertent, both sides often treat them as breaches of sovereignty, leading to arrests and prolonged detentions.
Pakistani farmers seek €1 million in climate damages from German firms
- The notices represent one of the first attempts by agriculturalists in Pakistan to hold major international carbon-emitting firms accountable
- Pakistan ranks among countries most vulnerable to climate change, despite contributing less than 1 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions
KARACHI: At least 43 farmers from Pakistan’s southern Sindh province have issued formal legal notices to German energy giant RWE and cement-producer Heidelberg Materials, claiming €1 million in compensation for losses suffered during catastrophic floods in 2022, trade union officials said on Saturday.
The notices, dispatched on Oct. 28 and serving as a precursor to legal action planned for Dec. unless a settlement is reached, represent one of the first attempts by agriculturalists in Pakistan to hold major international carbon-emitting firms accountable for climate-driven damage.
Pakistan ranks among countries most vulnerable to climate change, despite contributing less than 1 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. In 2022, the country witnessed deadly floods that killed over 1,700 people, displaced another 33 million and caused more than 30 billion losses.
Pakistani officials have said that they had to take loans to rebuild areas devastated by adverse weather phenomena, lamenting a lack of cooperation by heavily industrialized, developed nations which they say have exacerbated the climate crisis in the world.
“The farmers from Sindh have sent a legal notice to RWE and Heidelberg to pay fair share of compensation of what we estimate as €1 million in damages,” said Nasir Mansoor, general secretary of the National Trade Union Federation (NTUF) in Pakistan.
The farmers are based in Jacobabad, Dadu and Larkana districts of Sindh, a region among the hardest hit in the 2022 floods.
Speaking at a press conference this week, farmers, civil-society representatives and their legal counsel outlined the basis of their €1 million claim, saying RWE and Heidelberg Materials had been significant contributors to human-induced climate change.
“RWE and Heidelberg have known for decades that their polluting practices would bring harm to people, yet they have refused to act,” Clara Gonzales of the Berlin-based European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) addressed press conference.
The NTUF and local non-government organization HANDS Welfare Foundation, which have worked with Sindh farmers since 2010, as well as the Berlin-based European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) are backing the claimants, emphasizing that legal action marks an emerging front in global climate-justice litigation.
Neither RWE nor Heidelberg Materials responded to Arab News’ requests for comment by the time of this story’s publication. RWE is one of Europe’s largest electricity producers, while Heidelberg Materials is a leading cement manufacturer globally, both identified in “carbon majors” studies as significant historical emitters.
“Ten years after the Paris Agreement, the political disaster has turned into a climate disaster,” said Karin Zennig, a climate-justice campaigner at the Medico International aid agency.
“Entire regions of the world are still experiencing substantial destruction to their livelihoods. Those least responsible for the climate crisis are struggling to survive, as we can see in Pakistan.”
‘DREAMS WENT UNDER WITH THE WATER’
Inayat Laghari, one of the claimants who is a farmer in Khairpur Nathan Shah, said his entire 12-acre rice crop was destroyed in the 2022 floods, followed by a failed wheat harvest.
“It wasn’t just a crop that was lost; it was our children’s needs, their dreams, and our livelihood for the whole year that went under with the water,” he said.
A father of eight children, including three daughters, Laghari also lost multiple cows and goats to the catastrophic deluges.
“My cousin, Asyia, couldn’t cope with her loss, she passed away from the shock,” he said, recalling the toll the disaster took on his extended family.
“The foundations of the climate crisis that caused this catastrophe were laid by big corporations. They should be the ones to compensate us for our losses.”
The legal notice sent to RWE and Heidelberg Materials seeks acknowledgment of liability and payment of what the claimants describe as their “fair share” of damages. Lawyers acting for the farmers estimate the total damages at about €1 million and say the December timeline will see the case filed in court if no settlement is reached.
Ghulam Ullah from the village of Deed Sharif in Dadu is among the landowners who suffered losses and is now one of the claimants. A father of four sons and four daughters, he had cultivated rice on 24 acres, cotton on 12 acres, and chili on 2 acres, all of which were not only destroyed in the floods but also could not be replanted the following year. He also suffered heavy losses of livestock.
“The floods took everything from us,” he told Arab News. “It is our right that we be compensated for our losses.”
Kuwait to provide $25 million loan tranche to Pakistan for Mohmand Dam project
- In May 2024, Pakistan had requested the Kuwaiti Fund for early signing of a $100 million financing agreement for the project
- The project is progressing smoothly and disbursement under the second loan will further accelerate construction, official says
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Kuwait on Friday signed a second loan agreement for the Mohmand Dam hydropower project in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, Pakistan’s Press Information Department said.
Pakistan’s strategy to enhance its energy infrastructure includes a move toward constructing hydropower facilities, supported by multiple international agreements to address the country’s energy requirements.
Many of these small-scale projects have been facilitated under the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), part of President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative.
On Friday, Pakistan and the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) signed the agreement at the Pakistani economic affairs ministry to formalize the loan amounting to 7.5 million Kuwaiti dinar ($25 million).
“This concessional financing reflects the brotherly relations and enduring partnership between Pakistan and Kuwait,” said Muhammad Humair Karim, secretary of the Pakistani economic affairs ministry.
Mohmand Dam is a comprehensive infrastructure project designed to generate approximately 2,862 GWH [gigawatt hours] of electricity annually with an installed capacity of 800 MW [megawatts], significantly reducing the existing energy supply gap, according to Pakistani state media.
Additionally, the dam will create an active storage reservoir with a capacity of about 1,594 million cubic meters, ensuring a reliable and sustained supply of irrigation water. The 213-meter structure will also play a critical role in flood control and provide essential flood protection.
Karim appreciated the Kuwaiti Fund’s financial assistance in energy, water, and social sector projects, which have been “contributing significantly to Pakistan’s socio-economic development.”
During the 5th session of the Pakistan-Kuwait Joint Ministerial Commission in May 2024, Pakistan had requested the Kuwaiti Fund for early signing of financing agreement for a total of 30 million Kuwaiti dinars ($100 million) for the Mohmand Dam project, which were to be released in four equal tranches. Following the signing of the first loan agreement in June 2024, Friday’s signing marked the second phase of this commitment.
“The project is progressing smoothly and that the disbursement under the second loan will further accelerate construction activities on this strategically important project, which aims to enhance water storage capacity, generate clean energy, drinking water supply to Peshawar city and strengthen flood control in Pakistan,” Karim said.
Pakistan reopens key border crossing for return of Afghan refugees after deadly clashes
- Pakistan, Afghanistan engaged in fierce fighting on Oct. 11 after Islamabad hit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan-affiliated targets in Afghanistan
- Around 3,000 containers have been stuck on both sides of Torkham and Chaman border crossings since Oct. 11, according to Joint Chamber of Commerce
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday reopened the Torkham border crossing in its northwest for the return of Afghan refugees, local administration said, though trade between the two countries remains suspended through the border terminal since last month’s deadly clashes.
Pakistan and Afghanistan engaged in fierce fighting on Oct. 11 after Islamabad hit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan-affiliated targets in airstrikes in Afghanistan. Afghanistan said the attacks were a violation of its sovereignty.
The clashes caused border closures between Pakistan and Afghanistan at Torkham in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and Chaman in the southwestern Balochistan province, effectively halting trade and the movement of people between the two countries.
However, authorities reopened the Torkham border crossing for the voluntary return of Afghan refugees to their country for a day on Saturday, according to Mohammad Anas, a spokesman for the deputy commissioner in Pakistan’s Khyber district.
“Afghan refugees are present at Torkham and efforts will be made today to ensure the voluntary return of all refugees,” he told The Independent’s Urdu service.
In its report last month, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that more than 1.6 million Afghan refugees living in Pakistan have returned to Afghanistan.
Pakistan had decided in 2023 to deport refugees who did not have the necessary documents. Later, it decided that Afghan nationals with Proof of Registration (POR) cards or Afghan Citizen Cards will also be deported to Afghanistan. Around 75 percent of those returning from Pakistan were refugees who did not have travel documents, the report said.
A statement issued by the information department of Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, which is adjacent to Torkham, said the border has been reopened for refugees on Saturday only.
The border will be closed for other commercial traffic and passengers, it added.
Pakistan is a key exporter of goods, mainly fresh fruits, rice, flour and other edible items to Afghanistan, while it imports dry fruits and other scrap material from the country.
According to officials of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce, around 3,000 containers have been stuck on both sides of Torkham and Chaman crossings, containing various goods.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Afghan government spokesperson, this week told Khyber News that there are also Pakistani containers on the Afghan side that are loaded with goods brought from Central Asia.
“Politics and trade should be kept separate because this is causing financial losses to traders on both sides of the border and the goods in the containers are getting spoiled,” he was quoted as saying.
Islamabad has repeatedly accused the administration in Kabul of failing to take action against militant outfits such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the separatist Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), which it alleges carry out attacks targeting Pakistan from Afghan soil. Kabul denies the allegations.
These attacks have caused repeated clashes between Pakistani and Afghan border forces, triggering frequent border closures. Both countries agreed to a ceasefire in Doha on Oct. 19 which was extended on Thursday. Officials from the two countries are due to meet in Istanbul on Nov. 6 to firm up the truce and finalize a mechanism to keep militancy along their 2,600-kilometer porous border in check.
