| Furniture from China for new FBR buildings
ISLAMABAD, Feb 1: Although Pakistan itself is a major exporter of good-quality furniture, the Federal Board of Revenue has decided to import furniture for new tax buildings from China under a World Bank-funded project.
Sources in the FBR told Dawn on Friday that an official delegation, led by a senior income tax official, was currently in Beijing for negotiating deals with Chinese furniture manufacturers.
The move appears to be a compulsion from the World Bank to purchase furniture from the market outside Pakistan, and it speaks of the attitude exhibited by the tax machinery functionaries who negotiate such matters with international donor agencies, said a source.
Pakistan exported furniture worth $6.105 million during the first half of the current fiscal year against $5.793 million in the corresponding period last year.As Pakistan was an exporter of furniture, there was no need for its import, said the source, adding it would be a unique case that a government department would be importing furniture for its office on loans to be paid by the taxpayers.
Bond News
James Bond's Aston Martin DBS is fast. Properly, shockingly, terrifyingly fast fast enough to dilate your pupils and send your heart rate rocketing. I'm riding in one down a deserted, twisting rural road near Aston Martin's headquarters in Warwickshire. As we round a bend, bodies pressed hard against the sides of the carbon-fibre race seats, I spot the next corner 50 yards away. But in the instant it takes me to notice it, the car gets there. There's a deep, loud bellow from the 510bhp, 6.0-litre V12 engine hidden under the elegant bonnet that stretches away in front of us. Suddenly, we are forced hard back, and nearly two tonnes of supercar and passengers lunge forward as if they were weightless. Inside, it's pure Aston Martin. There's original design, with carbon-and- Kevlar seats, while in no other car do you insert a crystal "emotion control unit" into the centre of the dashboard to start the engine.
Booze, divorce, designer handbags
A clerk of court who refused to show a reporter a public document. A file questionably sealed. This is a bad scene guaranteed to get worse. • If I knew who to fire at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, I would. Whenever the agency comes into the news, it sounds like a rat's nest of bureaucratic backbiters pursuing incomprehensible side agendas. I loved them when they were on the E. coli beat. • Grand Prize Winner in the Subtle Lobbying Contest goes to — drumroll, please — Georgia's judges, a hundred of whom showed up at the General Assembly to listen attentively to Supreme Court Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears' State of the Judiciary address, which ended with a plea for higher judicial salaries. Funny, I don't remember seeing them there before.
Doyel's Dribbles
Jerry Jones wouldn't possibly trade Marion Barber, a No. 2 pick and a No. 1 pick just to move up and get Darren McFadden. Would he? - Days before the Super Bowl kickoff, the city of Boston is already planning a victory parade. - An incredible story in a Seattle newspaper makes clear just how bad a guy Jerramy Stevens was, and possibly still is. Stevens now plays for the Bucs. The Bucs reaction? That didn't happen under our watch. "Bucs" rhymes with "sucks" for a reason. - Danny Ferry hasn't done jack to help out LeBron James, and now James is on the offensive: Get me Jason Kidd, he says. - So what made the Twins gets off their rear end and finally trade Johan Santana? Johan Santana made them. Good for him. They were jerking him around, so now it was his turn.
Filed under: CollegeFootball
They are a bit "over the top" with all of their Longhorn paraphernalia that include an array of T-shirts, caps, watches, huge belt buckels, and rear window decals that are proudly displayed on their Texas-sized pick-ups. For the most part they are good people and I had always been somewhat supportive of the fortunes of their team. Then 2005 rolled around and everything changed. 2005 was the year that the Texas Longhorns and Ohio State Buckeyes faced each other for the first time in the storied history of College Football and "It was on". The summer prior to that game I began to engage in some good natured banter with my Longhorn buddies. I was getting hammered...I now truly knew what it felt like to be an "Aggie" in UT terrority, except I wasn't an "Aggie"...I was a lone Buckeye amongst a herd of wild Longhorns.
02/11/08 Letters to the Editor
To the editor -- Imagine, if for just one day, everyone in the Yakima Valley honored one another above themselves. Consider how that decision would play out in just one 24-hour period of your daily life. This idea is rich with the possibilities of undeserved kindness, grace gently extended in the place of judgment and a community characterized by love and mercy. And then imagine if we were so bold as to conduct ourselves in that manner for longer than just one day! The fruits of such an exercise would contribute powerfully to creating the kind of health we want in our community, including the support of a school system striving to do its best by our children. If not for just one day, please consider honoring one another above yourself with a single yes vote for the Yakima School District levy.
Extra! UIdaho Student Found Shot to Death
I had avoided doing so because I had heard getting into the show required great dedication and frankly, I didn't think i had the time. I have since purchased the first three seasons, having watched the first two seasons in less than two weeks time. I am half way through the 3rd season and not looking back. My question for the forum: do you watch this show? Do you find it as thrilling, exciting and thought provoking as I do? Jack Bauer for president '08? I really need to know if I am alone with this as my sleep pattern has been significantly altered since becoming a "24 freak"?! Also, I figured this show may be popular with the HBO crowd so advice from you regulars is much appreciated! JimmyMAC .
July 2006
Mom would try to let Dad get a couple of hours of sleep before the long drive from Ohio to the Cape. We would normally leave late and drive through the night and get to the Cape around noonish. We tried to stop once and that was a disaster as no one sleep and it was a waste of money. Even into my years of driving, we have done the same. Only now that it is just my wife and I we do try to find a place to stop over night to and from. Personally I would rather get there and have more time for the Cape. But I am learning to take things a little easier now that the kids are not along for the ride. The only night with more anticipation was Christmas Eve, we couldn’t sleep, we didn’t want to sleep, we just wanted to go. We wanted to get to the beach. This year is a little different, with us changing to a September visit, I almost feel a little anxiety.
Montoya sets fastest lap of Las Vegas testing
LAS VEGAS --Juan Pablo Montoya paced testing Tuesday at Las Vegas Motorspeedway, going 186.761 mph in his Dodge to post the fastest lap of the two-day session. Montoya's mark in the afternoon session bettered Kyle Busch's fast lap of 183.580 on Monday and Carl Edwards' mark of 184.256 in the Tuesday morning runs. In all, 12 drivers bettered Edwards' morning run, including four Toyota drivers as the automaker's fleet continued to impress in preseason testing. AJ Allmendinger was second fastest to Montoya, running a 185.752 in a Camry fielded by Red Bull Racing. Tony Stewart was 10th fastest in a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, David Reutimann was 11th for Michael Waltrip Racing and Busch was 12th for Gibbs. The strong showings come after two weeks of solid runs in Daytona for Toyota, which struggled in its first season of Sprint Cup competition last year.
|
