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Pakistan reimposes ban on Indian content on TV channels

Pakistan's Supreme Court on Saturday ordered a ban on all Indian content on TV channels, setting aside an earlier verdict by a lower court, officials said.

Chief Justice Saqib Nisar issued the order in Karachi while hearing a case filed by producers' associations relating to the broadcasting of foreign content on Pakistan television channels.


Pakistan newspaper Dawn reported the judge referenced clashes with India over the construction of the planned Diamer-Basha dam in the country's north, located in territory disputed by Delhi, as justification.

An official of Pakistan Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) said Nisar ordered to "stop airing all Indian content on TV channels".

The ruling covers terrestrial, satellite and cable channels.

Khalid Arain, chairman of Pakistan Cable Operators Association confirmed the verdict, but hit out against the order.

"Ban on the all the Indian content is not the solution, rather we should try to better the quality of Pakistani TV shows," Arain told AFP.

In 2017, the Lahore High court had lifted a ban on Indian TV shows which had been imposed by authorities in October 2016 amid heightened tensions between the nuclear-armed India and Pakistan over the disputed Kashmir region.

In a series of tit-for-tat moves in the entertainment industry, Pakistan that year suspended screening of all Indian movies until tensions calmed, while Hindu nationalists in India have threatened violence at cinemas showing films with Pakistani actors.

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the end of British colonial rule in 1947. Both claim the Himalayan territory in full and the countries have fought two wars over the region.

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Lakshmi Mittal quits Britain for Switzerland and Dubai over inheritance tax concerns

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  • Lakshmi Mittal, worth over £15 bn, has moved his tax residence from UK to Switzerland with plans to spend most time in Dubai.
  • Inheritance tax concerns, not income tax, drove the decision of the "King of Steel" to leave after 30 years in Britain.
  • The departure marks another high-profile exit as chancellor Rachel Reeves prepares major tax rises in the coming Budget.
Lakshmi Mittal, one of Britain's wealthiest men, has ended his three-decade association with the UK, relocating his tax residence to Switzerland and planning to base himself in Dubai. The 74-year-old steel magnate, worth approximately £15.5 bn according to the Asian Rich List 2025, is the latest prominent entrepreneur to leave Britain amid Labour's tax reforms targeting the super-rich.

The Indian-born billionaire built his fortune through ArcelorMittal, the world's second-largest steelmaker, in which he and his family hold nearly 40 per cent ownership. Since arriving in London in 1995, Mittal became a prominent figure in British business, acquiring expensive properties including a £57 m mansion on Kensington Palace Gardens known as the "Taj Mittal."

An adviser familiar with Mittal's family plans told The Sunday Times that, inheritance tax was the decisive factor in the decision. "It wasn't the tax on income or capital gains that was the issue, the issue was inheritance tax."

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