Iran dismissed the Europe's offer for 2015 nuclear deal

Amid the international pressure to suspend its nuclear programme, Iran on Sunday dismissed Europe’s offer for an informal meeting on the troubled 2015 deal, saying the time is not "suitable" as Washington has failed to lift sanctions

The European Union’s political director earlier this month proposed the informal meeting involving all parties of the Vienna deal, a proposition accepted by US President Joe Biden’s administration.

Following Biden’s election, the US, the European parties to the deal -- France, Germany and Britain -- and Tehran have been trying to salvage the accord, which granted Iran international sanctions relief in return for restrictions on its nuclear programme.

The accord has been nearing collapse since former president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew in 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions as part of a "maximum pressure" campaign against Tehran.

"Considering the recent positions and actions of the United States and the three European countries, (Iran) does not consider the time suitable to hold the informal meeting proposed by the European coordinator," foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a statement.

"There has still been no change in the US positions and behaviour yet," he added, saying the Biden administration has continued "Trump’s failed policy of maximum pressure".

Biden has signalled readiness to revive the deal, but insists Iran first return to all its nuclear commitments, most of which it suspended in response to the sanctions, while Tehran demands Washington take the first step by scrapping the sanctions.

"While we are disappointed at Iran’s response, we remain ready to reengage in meaningful diplomacy to achieve a mutual return to compliance," a White House spokesperson said Sunday.

"We will be consulting with our P5+1 partners on the best way forward," the spokesperson added, referring to the group of the five permanent members on the UN Security Council, plus Germany.

The foreign ministry statement comes ahead of a quarterly meeting Monday of the United Nations nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board of governors, which is likely to discuss Iran’s recent restrictions of some nuclear inspections.

"Remember: Trump failed to meet because of his ill-advised ‘Max Failure’," Khatibzadeh wrote on Twitter shortly after his statement.

Tehran’s position is unchanged "with sanctions in place... Censuring is NOT diplomacy. It doesn’t work with Iran", he added.

End sanctions
The US "has not even announced its commitment to fulfilling its responsibilities" under the deal and the UN Security Council resolution that enshrined it, the spokesman said in the statement.

"America must end its illegal and unilateral sanctions and return to its (deal) commitments. This needs neither negotiations nor resolutions," he added.

Iran "will answer action with action, and just as it will return to (deal) commitments in accordance with the lifting of sanctions, it will respond to hostile actions and behaviours in the same way".

Khatibzadeh said Tehran would continue to consult with other parties to the nuclear agreement, and European Union Foreign Minister Josep Borrell "in his capacity as the (deal) coordinator, both bilaterally and multilaterally".

Iran last Tuesday started to restrict some site inspections by the IAEA, in continuation of suspended nuclear commitments in response to the US failure to lift its sanctions.

London, Paris and Berlin said they "deeply regret" the move and that they were "united in underlining the dangerous nature of this decision".

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said last week an interim three-month deal agreed during a visit to Tehran was "far from an ideal situation", but will allow the body to continue monitoring "all the key activities".

It will facilitate "time for the indispensable diplomacy that will be deployed", he added.

Under the temporary agreement, data on Iran’s nuclear programme "will be stored and not handed over to the IAEA," according to Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

The Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation has said that if US sanctions are still not lifted after three months, it will start erasing the recordings.

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FBR has exceeded its target for the first eight months of the current fiscal year

The Federal Board of Revenue has exceeded its target for the first eight months of the current fiscal year (July-February) by fetching Rs2,916 billion against its desired target of Rs2,898 billion, seeing an increase of Rs18 billion

As per the provisional collection figures, the FBR collected net revenue of Rs2,916 billion during the Jul-Feb period, which has exceeded the target of Rs2,898 billion. This represents a growth of close 6% compared to the Rs2,750 billion collected during the same period last year.

The monthly net collection for February was Rs343 billion against the required target of Rs325 billion, representing an increase of 8% over February 2019 and 106% of the target. The collection figures are likely to improve further when book adjustments are finalised.

On the other hand, the gross collections increased from Rs2,823 billion during this period last year to Rs3,068 billion, showing an increase of nearly 9%. The number of refunds disbursed was Rs152 billion compared to Rs79 billion paid last year, showing an increase of 97%. This reflects FBR’s resolve to fast-track refunds to prevent liquidity shortages in the industry.

The increase in revenue is a reflection of growing economic activities in the country despite the second wave of coronavirus. During March-June 2021, it is expected that this revenue performance will improve substantially compared to 2020 when economic activities were disrupted.

Meanwhile, the FBR’s efforts to broaden the tax base are also paying dividends as early signs suggest such efforts are bearing fruit.

As of February 28, 2021, income tax returns for the tax year 2020 reached 2.62 million compared to 2.43 million last year, showing an increase of 8%.

The tax deposited with returns was Rs49.6 billion compared to only Rs31 billion, showing an increase of 60%.

Last year, the country’s tax authority had set the final date for submission of returns as of February 28. However, FBR’s decision to adhere to December 8 as the last date has been vindicated as more returns and higher tax payments were recorded during tax year 2020 as compared to 2019.

Besides this, the FBR has issued notices to nearly 2.1 million taxpayers who were supposed to file returns or have filed a nil return or misdeclared their assets or have not been filing a return for sales tax to comply with their legal obligations. The exercise is eliciting an encouraging response. However, those who are not complying will be pursued diligently.

The FBR has also released information about tier-I retailers who have been integrated with the POS system. According to the information, 9,952 sales points have been integrated with the Point of Sales Linked Invoicing System.

The Pakistan Customs has initiated a focused counter-smuggling drive. During February 2021, smuggled goods worth Rs4.08 billion have been seized, while in February 2020 smuggled goods worth Rs3.02 billion were seized, thus showing a monthly increase of 35.18%.

Similarly, during the last eight months (July 2020-Feb 2021) of the current financial year, smuggled goods worth Rs39.52 billion have been seized as compared to Rs25.10 billion from July 2019 to February 2020 of the last financial year, thus showing an increase of 57.45%.

Moreover, the value of seized goods of Rs39.52 billion in the eight months of the current FY has crossed the total value of seized goods of last year. In FY 2019-20, smuggled goods worth Rs36 billion were seized.

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FBR has exceeded its target for the first eight months of the current fiscal year

The Federal Board of Revenue has exceeded its target for the first eight months of the current fiscal year (July-February) by fetching Rs2,916 billion against its desired target of Rs2,898 billion, seeing an increase of Rs18 billion

As per the provisional collection figures, the FBR collected net revenue of Rs2,916 billion during the Jul-Feb period, which has exceeded the target of Rs2,898 billion. This represents a growth of close 6% compared to the Rs2,750 billion collected during the same period last year.

The monthly net collection for February was Rs343 billion against the required target of Rs325 billion, representing an increase of 8% over February 2019 and 106% of the target. The collection figures are likely to improve further when book adjustments are finalised.

On the other hand, the gross collections increased from Rs2,823 billion during this period last year to Rs3,068 billion, showing an increase of nearly 9%. The number of refunds disbursed was Rs152 billion compared to Rs79 billion paid last year, showing an increase of 97%. This reflects FBR’s resolve to fast-track refunds to prevent liquidity shortages in the industry.

The increase in revenue is a reflection of growing economic activities in the country despite the second wave of coronavirus. During March-June 2021, it is expected that this revenue performance will improve substantially compared to 2020 when economic activities were disrupted.

Meanwhile, the FBR’s efforts to broaden the tax base are also paying dividends as early signs suggest such efforts are bearing fruit.

As of February 28, 2021, income tax returns for the tax year 2020 reached 2.62 million compared to 2.43 million last year, showing an increase of 8%.

The tax deposited with returns was Rs49.6 billion compared to only Rs31 billion, showing an increase of 60%.

Last year, the country’s tax authority had set the final date for submission of returns as of February 28. However, FBR’s decision to adhere to December 8 as the last date has been vindicated as more returns and higher tax payments were recorded during tax year 2020 as compared to 2019.

Besides this, the FBR has issued notices to nearly 2.1 million taxpayers who were supposed to file returns or have filed a nil return or misdeclared their assets or have not been filing a return for sales tax to comply with their legal obligations. The exercise is eliciting an encouraging response. However, those who are not complying will be pursued diligently.

The FBR has also released information about tier-I retailers who have been integrated with the POS system. According to the information, 9,952 sales points have been integrated with the Point of Sales Linked Invoicing System.

The Pakistan Customs has initiated a focused counter-smuggling drive. During February 2021, smuggled goods worth Rs4.08 billion have been seized, while in February 2020 smuggled goods worth Rs3.02 billion were seized, thus showing a monthly increase of 35.18%.

Similarly, during the last eight months (July 2020-Feb 2021) of the current financial year, smuggled goods worth Rs39.52 billion have been seized as compared to Rs25.10 billion from July 2019 to February 2020 of the last financial year, thus showing an increase of 57.45%.

Moreover, the value of seized goods of Rs39.52 billion in the eight months of the current FY has crossed the total value of seized goods of last year. In FY 2019-20, smuggled goods worth Rs36 billion were seized.

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SC will give opinion on open ballot today

As political parties remain engaged in intense campaigning for the Senate polls, the Supreme Court will give its opinion on the presidential reference today about holding the upcoming elections through an open ballot

A five-member larger bench of the apex court — headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed and comprising justices Mushir Alam, Umar Ata Bandial, Ijazul Ahsan and Yahya Afridi — will announce the reserved opinion in the open court.

The court reserved its opinion last week after all the parties had concluded their arguments and after the rebuttal of Attorney-General Khalid Javed. Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed had observed that the court will give its opinion by interpreting the provisions of the Constitution.

“We have nothing to do with politics but are going to interpret the Constitution,” the CJP had remarked, according to The News.

According to the supplementary cause list, issued by the Supreme Court on Saturday, the five-member larger bench will announce its reserved opinion at 9am in courtroom 1.

The presidential reference
The reference, filed by the government in the Supreme Court, says that the president has sought the apex court's opinion on whether the condition of holding a secret ballot referred to in Article 226 of the Constitution is applicable only for the elections held under the Constitution, such as the election to the office of president, speakers and deputy speakers of the Parliament and provincial assemblies and "not to other elections, such as the election for the members of Senate" held under the Elections Act 2017 enacted to pursuant to Article 222 read with Entry 41 (1) of the Fourth Schedule to the Constitution "which may be held by way of secret or open ballot" as provided for in the Act.

According to the government, the nature of the elections and the way it is conducted has not been clearly mentioned in the Constitution.

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36 coronavirus related deaths in past 24 hours

Pakistan has recorded 36 more coronavirus-related deaths in the past 24 hours, surging the overall death toll to 12,896

According to the latest statistics of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the COVID-19 has claimed 36 more lives and 1,392 fresh infections were reported.

The total count of active cases is 22,098 and the positivity rate stands at 3.63 per cent.

In the past 24 hours, as many as 1,094 patients have recovered from the virus in a day and 1,568 patients are still in critical condition.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), with the fresh inclusion of the infections in the country the national tally of cases now currently stands at 581,365.

A total of 38,338 tests were conducted across the country during this period. Overall 546,371 people have recovered from the deadly disease so far while 8,990,176 samples have been tested thus far.

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SC will give opinion on open ballot today

As political parties remain engaged in intense campaigning for the Senate polls, the Supreme Court will give its opinion on the presidential reference today about holding the upcoming elections through an open ballot

A five-member larger bench of the apex court — headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed and comprising justices Mushir Alam, Umar Ata Bandial, Ijazul Ahsan and Yahya Afridi — will announce the reserved opinion in the open court.

The court reserved its opinion last week after all the parties had concluded their arguments and after the rebuttal of Attorney-General Khalid Javed. Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed had observed that the court will give its opinion by interpreting the provisions of the Constitution.

“We have nothing to do with politics but are going to interpret the Constitution,” the CJP had remarked, according to The News.

According to the supplementary cause list, issued by the Supreme Court on Saturday, the five-member larger bench will announce its reserved opinion at 9am in courtroom 1.

The presidential reference
The reference, filed by the government in the Supreme Court, says that the president has sought the apex court's opinion on whether the condition of holding a secret ballot referred to in Article 226 of the Constitution is applicable only for the elections held under the Constitution, such as the election to the office of president, speakers and deputy speakers of the Parliament and provincial assemblies and "not to other elections, such as the election for the members of Senate" held under the Elections Act 2017 enacted to pursuant to Article 222 read with Entry 41 (1) of the Fourth Schedule to the Constitution "which may be held by way of secret or open ballot" as provided for in the Act.

According to the government, the nature of the elections and the way it is conducted has not been clearly mentioned in the Constitution.

from latest-news - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/3pZe7FX

36 coronavirus related deaths in past 24 hours

Pakistan has recorded 36 more coronavirus-related deaths in the past 24 hours, surging the overall death toll to 12,896

According to the latest statistics of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the COVID-19 has claimed 36 more lives and 1,392 fresh infections were reported.

The total count of active cases is 22,098 and the positivity rate stands at 3.63 per cent.

In the past 24 hours, as many as 1,094 patients have recovered from the virus in a day and 1,568 patients are still in critical condition.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), with the fresh inclusion of the infections in the country the national tally of cases now currently stands at 581,365.

A total of 38,338 tests were conducted across the country during this period. Overall 546,371 people have recovered from the deadly disease so far while 8,990,176 samples have been tested thus far.

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