Farid Siddique

Muhib-e-Watan. Passion: Cars, Golf, Food & Travel. I work in the Recycling Sector.

[Farid Siddique @Fro86]

The Divine justice will one day make amends to all who contributed towards the decline that we see.

[Asad Ali Toor @AsadAToor]

🚨🚨#BREAKING: The Supreme Judicial Council has dismissed the complaint filed against Justice Muhammad Asif of the #Islamabad High Court regarding the murder of girls by his under age son driving a non custom paid vehicle in Islamabad.

[Farid Siddique @Fro86]

Fucking billionaires 😂

[Jack @Jackkk]

Mark Zuckerberg reveals he's feeding his cows beer and macadamia nuts

“On the ranch, one of my projects is I'm trying to create the highest quality beef in the world”

“It's very low stakes, I’m not selling it but I'm very into the genetics of the cattle. We're trying to figure out how do you make it so that you basically can deliver the highest density diet to them”

“We started growing macadamia trees because that kind of nut is extremely dense and they will eat a lot so they will put on weight and become fat quicker and become delicious”

“The macadamia nuts have a lot of oil so you need to actually roast that. So now we need to design this whole process to roast the nuts so that way you can give them to the cows”

“You want them to eat more. So then it's like how do you get them to eat more? Well it turns out alcohol is great for that because alcohol induces appetite”

“That's actually why very high-end beef, they're fed beer. But okay, what's the right balance of beer versus water? I don't know. Let's let them choose. They get either as much cold beer as they want or as much room temperature water”

“So now we're brewing all this beer and we're putting it out”

[Farid Siddique @Fro86]

Hear hear

[Najam Ali @najam_ali]

Pakistan’s real reform agenda?

Decimate the bureaucracy.

Abolish most regulatory agencies.

Replace years of litigation with fast, binding arbitration.

Cut the government’s footprint to a fraction of its current size.

Pakistan does not suffer from too little government. It suffers from far too much of it.

Every unnecessary approval, regulator, file, and department is a tax on growth.

I mean every word of it. Pakistan will only prosper when the state stops standing in the way of those creating wealth.

[Farid Siddique @Fro86]

@AmerSharifOFCL Thank you.

[Farid Siddique @Fro86]

@AmerSharifOFCL bhai do you have any working on this

[Musadaq Zulqarnain @MusadaqZ]

A 7% tax on turnover under Section 153 is extraordinarily regressive. No service business earns 7% net margins across the board. Such a punitive and regressive levy leaves businesses with two choices: shut down or go undocumented. If the objective is to expand the tax base and promote formalization, this policy achieves the exact opposite.
@PakPMO
@Financegovpk
@FBRSpokesperson
@BilalAKayani
@ThePBC_Official

[Farid Siddique @Fro86]

@AmerSharifOFCL This 7% is final tax or revised WHT? On services

[Farid Siddique @Fro86]

Habib bhai under the garb of RoW and connectivity access what this bill effectively is doing or under broader language framework allowing for loose interpretation of owners rights. You can set aside the technical details and just look at how it has been worded and designed.

[Habibullah Khan @Huk06]

I’m afraid I disagree. The Land Acquisition Act (LAA) 1894 explicitly allows acquisition “for a public purpose or for a Company”. Sure you have to prove public good but as I already stated broadband qualifies.

Also under eminent domain the state can take land and give it to companies. They can lease it, transfer it or make it available through PPP arrangements

Secondly you miss the entire purpose of the debate. THERE’S NO ACQUISITION. Because if there was acquisition you can use eminent domain. There’s only access.

This is a statutory right-of-way regime for licensed and regulated telecommunication operators, created by the state through legislation. The state has long created similar frameworks for other critical infrastructure (electricity distribution, gas pipelines, water, roads, railways) where private or semi-private entities build and operate networks that serve a clear public purpose. Broadband and fiber are now treated the same way because leaving rollout hostage to fragmented negotiations and local vetoes has left Pakistan far behind. This is nothing we haven’t done before.

The “there’s no compensation” is patently false. For individual private homeowners the bill allows mutual agreement on charges or compensation. If they don’t agree, the matter goes to the appropriate government for resolution. There is no automatic “no pay” rule for single owners.

For organized housing societies and collective developments, the bill explicitly removes the ability to charge rent or fees. This is deliberate. The previous system allowed societies to block or extract high fees, turning right-of-way into a local extortion or revenue racket that dramatically slowed national fiber rollout for years. The bill prioritizes accelerating connectivity over allowing organized gatekeepers to monetize access indefinitely.

AGAIN NO ONE IS TAKING OVER ANYONE’S PROPERTY. It’s only about using property to get access almost all of it from public land or societies. Usually along the road.

This bill is the state correcting a coordination failure that previous arrangements (including unchecked local charges and blocking) had created. The alternative, continuing with the status quo, dooms Pakistan.

[Farid Siddique @Fro86]

Ok so lets clarify one thing.
Does this bill give the right to owner for refusing cell tower installation on one's property or does it just give a right to negotiate the terms. Thats what i want to know. Because the wording and interpretation like GoP comms are sketchy.

[Khadim Ali khan Yousaf zai @Alikhanyzai]

📶 بہتر انٹرنیٹ، مضبوط ڈیجیٹل پاکستان
پاکستان ٹیلی کمیونیکیشن (ترمیمی) بل 2026 کے حوالے سے بعض حلقوں کی جانب سے غلط فہمیاں پھیلائی جا رہی ہیں، جبکہ حقیقت یہ ہے کہ مجوزہ رائٹ آف وے (ROW) اصلاحات کا مقصد صرف ٹیلی کام انفراسٹرکچر کی تنصیب کو آسان بنانا، فائبر آپٹک نیٹ ورک کو وسعت دینا اور عوام کو بہتر انٹرنیٹ سہولیات فراہم کرنا ہے۔
✅ کسی بھی ٹیلی کام کمپنی کو کسی شہری کی نجی ملکیت میں مالک کی اجازت یا قانونی کارروائی کے بغیر داخل ہونے کا اختیار نہیں دیا جا رہا۔
✅ نجی زمین کے جبری حصول کی کوئی شق موجود نہیں۔
✅ جائیداد مالکان کے حقوق، اعتراضات، مذاکرات اور معاوضے کے تمام قانونی حقوق مکمل طور پر محفوظ ہیں۔
✅ انفراسٹرکچر کی تنصیب کے بعد متعلقہ ادارے جائیداد کو اصل حالت میں بحال کرنے کے پابند ہوں گے۔
پاکستان میں انٹرنیٹ کی سست رفتاری اور کمزور کنیکٹیویٹی کی ایک بڑی وجہ فائبر نیٹ ورک کی توسیع میں رکاوٹیں ہیں۔ یہ اصلاحات سرمایہ کاری، جدید ٹیکنالوجی اور تیز رفتار انٹرنیٹ کے فروغ میں مدد دیں گی، جس سے طلبہ، کاروباری طبقہ، فری لانسرز اور عام صارفین سب مستفید ہوں گے۔
🇵🇰 ڈیجیٹل ترقی کا سفر مضبوط انفراسٹرکچر سے ہی ممکن ہے، اور یہ اصلاحات اسی سمت ایک اہم قدم ہیں۔
@ShazaFK
#DigitalPakistan #TelecomReforms #ROW #ITMinistry #Connectivity #Pakistan

[Farid Siddique @Fro86]

The audacity is unreal! The focus is right where it needs to be and that is the fundamental rights of private citizens and their property. Under the garb of RoW amendment a much bigger atrocity was being committed and passed. Unbelievable!

[Aamir Hafeez Ibrahim @aamir_ibrahim01]

The debate around the Telecom Amendment Bill is welcome. However, much of the discussion has overlooked the central issue the proposed Right of Way amendments are intended to address.

Pakistan’s connectivity challenges are, at their core, infrastructure challenges. Fiber cannot be laid, towers cannot be deployed, and networks cannot be expanded without resolving the Right of Way bottlenecks that have frustrated operators and slowed digital progress for years. These are not abstract regulatory concerns - they translate directly into slower deployment, weaker coverage, and underserved communities.

The proposed amendments seek to address this long-standing challenge by creating a clearer and more predictable framework for telecom infrastructure deployment. Much of the current criticism has been driven by the perception that the reforms are aimed at individual citizens and homeowners. That is not the intent of the proposal. The objective is to address barriers that have slowed infrastructure rollout and limited connectivity expansion.

As with any legislation, the language can and should be refined through the parliamentary process. Legitimate concerns should be debated, improvements should be considered, and the final law should be strengthened through that process.

But the broader objective should not be lost. Expanding connectivity requires investment, infrastructure deployment, and regulatory frameworks that support both. In that regard, the effort to address long-standing Right of Way challenges is both necessary and overdue.

The @MoitOfficial deserves credit for bringing this issue forward and initiating an important conversation on one of the most persistent barriers to Pakistan’s digital progress. The focus now should be on improving the bill where needed while keeping sight of the broader goal: better connectivity for all Pakistanis.

[Farid Siddique @Fro86]

One of the most absurd rules ever to cross my eyes. I mean kitne he ki saving hogai hogi. The jokers in the decision making corridors of our country man!

[Sanaullah Khan @SanaullahDawn]

موٹر ویز اور ہائی ویز پر کفایت شعاری کے تحت سپیڈ کی حد کم کرنے کی پابندی ہٹا لی گئی۔۔ موٹر ویز پر 120 کی سپیڈ بحال۔۔
#petrolrelief

[Farid Siddique @Fro86]

Kamaal he hogaya. They presented a flawed bill, let it pass in NA, somehow got stopped in Senate and miraculously the relevant Minister also accepted the fault and still some brain dead chaploos still come to defend it here. Duffers.

[ARY NEWS @ARYNEWSOFFICIAL]

جس کے گھر چاہیں ٹاور لگائیں، فائبر بچھائیں کوئی انکار کرے تو پانچ کروڑ جرمانہ لگائیں۔۔۔
ٹیلی کمیونیکشن کمپنیوں کو "اندھے اختیار" کا بل قومی اسمبلی سے سینٹ میں پیش
اندھے اختیار کا بل کیسے روکا گیا۔۔۔ سینیٹر افنان اللہ نے بتا دیا

#ARYNews #TheReporters

[Farid Siddique @Fro86]

People realise what Lunatics and bloody pigs the world is dealing with.

[Mario Nawfal @MarioNawfal]

Today is a historic day, a day where Israel changed the definition of a 'ceasefire' 😂

Channel 12: ‘A ceasefire does not mean ceasing fire. It means not escalating the attacks.’

IDF Spokesperson: "Hezbollah is fighting a defensive battle to prevent our forces from completing the destruction of these infrastructures. Hezbollah is the one that violated the ceasefire. It is trying to defend its capabilities it built over the years."

I promise I'm not making this up. I literally had to fact check the IDF spox statement. He actually said that 😂

[Farid Siddique @Fro86]

🤡 abhi next round of talks Pak mein announce hojyaen phir inka qibla change hojyga.

[Kamran Yousaf @Kamran_Yousaf]

Why there will be no final Iran–US deal?

Surprised? Especially coming from someone who, throughout this crisis, was accused of being overly optimistic. I was optimistic only to the extent that both sides would exit the war through an interim understanding.

There were reasons for that reading. President Trump made a major miscalculation by trusting Netanyahu and walking into a war he did not fully control. Once Washington realised the scale of that mistake, the instinct was to get out of the hole.

But exits like that are never clean. You don’t just walk out of a war...you need a piece of paper to legitimise the exit. In this case, that paper has effectively come in the form of the Islamabad MoU.

There may still be a few rounds of talks ahead, but I don’t see any real breakthrough beyond that. And the reason is simple: if you look closely at the MoU, it is almost too good to be true. The interim arrangement is heavily tilted in Iran’s favour. Washington accepted it largely out of urgency to disengage, not to resolve.

But that is exactly why a final deal becomes politically and strategically difficult. Any implementation leading towards a durable settlement would, in effect, embolden Tehran further.

That is not something Israel can accept and even within the Gulf, there are fewer takers for that trajectory than it may appear.

Because let’s be honest..if Iran, under sanctions and diplomatic isolation, has been able to challenge its adversaries across the region, the question of what it could do with fewer constraints is not lost on anyone.

And despite everything, there has been no fundamental shift in Iran’s system or ideology. That remains the core concern for its adversaries.

So what happens next?

My reading is simple. After both sides step back from the brink, there will be intermittent rounds of talks, occasional signalling and managed engagement. But gradually, the momentum will fade. The familiar pattern will return....blame games, mutual accusations and strategic containment.

No direct war, perhaps. But also no grand peace. Just a return to the old equilibrium: Iran continuing to push its regional posture while the US and its allies rely on a mix of diplomatic pressure and economic coercion to keep it in check.

Ends

[Farid Siddique @Fro86]

Abhi or tabiat saaf hona baki hai iski. Filhaal jitni maar or zillat mili hai usse faida nahi hua

[Drop Site @DropSiteNews]

⭕️ Israel’s far right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir responds to Vice President JD Vance: “For every tear shed by an Israeli mother, a thousand Lebanese mothers should cry. All of Lebanon should burn.”

He writes:

“With all due respect to the Americans, Israel must make it clear to the entire world that the blood of our sons and the security of our citizens are not up for grabs. All of Lebanon should burn. Our highest duty is to protect Israel’s citizens and IDF soldiers, and that commitment comes before any other consideration.

I tell the Prime Minister, including in our meetings: for every tear shed by an Israeli mother, a thousand Lebanese mothers should cry.

Enough with the ping-pong. In the Middle East, you do not win through measured responses and restraint. You have to go crazy. Erase. Defeat terrorism.”

[Farid Siddique @Fro86]

Pak's issue is elite protectionism & the Babus are the biggest gatekeepers. It will NOT change Ever. We can all keep on harping about reforms and structural change. But the only reforms done will be the 1 benefiting the system and keeping the masses out. Make of it what you will

[Asad Ali Shah @Asad_Ashah]

SIFC cannot market Pakistan out of an investment crisis.
Fundamentals must come first.

Pakistan's economy has stabilised. Its investment performance has not.

FDI fell 31% to under $1.6 billion in July–April FY26, with inflows skewed heavily toward China. That's roughly 3% of total investment—a number too small to sustain growth, employment, or competitiveness.

In a recent discussion on On My Radar with Kamran Khan and former BOI Chairman Muhammad Azfar Ahsan, three structural problems stood out.

1. The taxation wall
Corporate tax, super tax, and overlapping federal-provincial levies push the effective burden on documented businesses above 40%.
Investors don't show up because a country needs capital. They show up when they can see a credible path to risk-adjusted, after-tax returns.
Ireland's lesson: competitive taxation plus policy continuity plus institutional credibility turns a small economy into a global destination. None of those three works alone.

2. The bureaucratic maze

SIFC was built as a single-window mechanism to cut through red tape. But one window means nothing if investors still navigate multiple approvals, overlapping jurisdictions, and agencies pulling in different directions.
Coordination cannot substitute for accountability. You cannot streamline a bureaucracy that isn't answerable for delivery.

3. Diplomacy is not a substitute for fundamentals
Relationships with Saudi Arabia, China, and the Gulf open doors. They cannot replace:
predictable, competitive taxation
affordable financing
reliable, fairly priced energy
contract enforcement
regulatory continuity
freedom to repatriate returns
Pakistan's investment-to-GDP ratio sits at 14.4%. That is the real crisis—not a messaging problem.

The fix starts at home. Protect and retain the domestic investors already here before chasing the foreign ones.

FDI doesn't create confidence—it follows confidence already visible on the ground.

Watch the full discussion:

#PakistanEconomy #FDI #SIFC #Investment #EconomicReform #Competitiveness

https://t.co/1SG9qE6vj4

[Farid Siddique @Fro86]

P

[Shahbaz Rana @81ShahbazRana]

Statement of the Day!

Director General of Tax Policy Office of the Finance Ministry tells National Assembly panel, “Tax Evasion is more heinous crime than Murdering a Person”.

[Farid Siddique @Fro86]

I mean the amount of fuss created is incredible. Only the touts in Pakistan who got shit faced because they called it early are on this issue. When the virtual signing was done it pretty much ended the Swiss trip. Lekin yahan beghairat lagay huay thay k swiss trip hoga. 🤡

[Mariana Baabar @MarianaBaabar]

In a message, Dar tells Dawn, “Yes, it’s cancelled” when asked about the premier’s trip.
“As [the] signing has [been] completed remotely this morning after [the] US and Iranian presidents signed, followed by PM Shahbaz signing as mediator, tomorrow’s ceremony has been cancelled”.

[Farid Siddique @Fro86]

🤡🤡

[Anas Mallick @AnasMallick]

While the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding(Islamabad Declaration) might have been signed again, electronically for the second time, this time by Presidents of both US and Iran — a formal in person ceremony of the signing will take place in Burgenstock in Switzerland on Friday, 19th June.

[Farid Siddique @Fro86]

The only way Pakistan can reap any benefit out of the new regional dynamic is if we are able to attain energy security via Pak-Iran gas pipeline. The infrastructure already in place. 2 questions arise:
A) Can the powers that be accomplish this?
B) Will we be allowed to?

[Najam Ali @najam_ali]

Pakistan’s economy could be one of the biggest beneficiaries of a durable Iran deal.

The Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline could finally move forward. Strategic oil storage facilities in Gwadar become more viable. New refining capacity becomes easier to justify. Regional connectivity improves.

For decades, Pakistan’s biggest economic vulnerability has been energy.

A stable relationship with Iran has the potential to transform that equation.

If handled intelligently, an Iran deal may do more for Pakistan’s long-term energy security than many people currently realize.

[Farid Siddique @Fro86]

A rare sane and rational voice from the US side. On repeat.

[Joe Kent @joekent16jan19]

Trump is being presented with a binary choice:
cut a deal or escalate the war.

At this point, the reality we are in based on the conditions we have allowed means that either way, Trump will be criticized for cutting a worse deal than Obama’s or will be forced further into a war worse than Bush's.

But we have a third option, no deal required: just declare victory and walk away.

Until Israel is restrained, they will drag us back into war just like they did after Operation Midnight Hammer. Unless we reset the conditions on our terms, we will ultimately suffer an endless cycle of conflict at the behest of Israel.

Trump should reject the Obama/Bush binary and handle this his way—walk away, pull our troops out, cut aid to Israel, say he won, & quietly deal with the Iranians moving forward.

This way, Iran loses its incentive to choke the SOH, freeing up oil commerce & avoiding an escalation into a war no one wants and which we can’t afford.

Persia is an ancient and formidable geographic reality—we must deal with them as such.