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The SECP, as the corporate sector regulator, has advised all companies to divert their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities and budget for COVID-19 prevention, detection and cure by contributing towards research and development activities related to the COVID-19. SECP has invited the attention of companies’ board of directors towards their social responsibilities, enshrined in Section 204 (2) of the Companies Act, 2017; “A director of a company shall act in good faith in order to promote the objects of the company for the benefit of its members as a whole, and in the best interests of the company, its employees the shareholders the community and for the protection of the environment.’’ Since the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is threatening the global economies, it is high time for the corporates in Pakistan to rise to the occasion and address their responsibility. Companies have been advised to take proactive measures to ensure effective contingency plann..

Pak Suzuki Motor Company Limited, which is the largest player in Pakistan’s automobile industry, has announced its financial results for the year ended December 31st, 2019. The company reported a loss of Rs. 2.92 billion on the back of massive reduction in its sales. The car manufacturing firm had booked a profit of Rs. 1.29 billion in 2018, according to a notice sent to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday. Net sales during the year were recorded at Rs. 116.54 billion, which were down by 2.80% as compared with Rs. 119.85 billion in 2018. The cost of sales of the company inched up by 1.56% to Rs. 114.56 billion as compared to Rs. 112.80 billion. Gross profits dropped by 72.50% to Rs. 1.94 billion compared to Rs. 7.04 billion recorded in 2018. Rupee devaluation against the US dollar resulted in increased imported material cost, consequently adversely affecting the gross profit margins. The sales volume during 2019 for cars and light commercial vehicles declined by 16.40% from..

Every cricket fan loves watching a batsman play a cover drive the ball irrespective of the format. The cover drive has been a favorite shot for many from the time the game was invented. Even today with all the fancy shots and cheeky strokes coming into play, the cover drive is still the most loved and attractive cricket shot. ALSO READ Ramiz Raja Thinks This Batsman is as Talented as Babar Azam and Virat Kohli Now comes the question, who plays the best cover drive in the cricket world these days. Some say Babar Azam, others vote for Virat Kohli, while most are not very picky, enjoying every cover drive no matter the batsman or the format. On the international day of happiness, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has posted a tweet with the caption, “Happiness is … cover-drives”, while compiling six of the best cover drives from the previous three World Cups. These include shots from Babar Azam, Virat Kohli, Under-19 stars Haider Ali, and Shahadat Hossain, and women cricketers..

United States has announced to help Pakistan by providing an initial one million dollars to fight the novel coronavirus. US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Alice Wells in a tweet said that the US and Pakistan are longstanding partners in tackling global health challenges. She said that the US will provide one million dollars to Pakistan under USAID program to ‘bolster the monitoring and rapid response against coronavirus’. She further added there are over hundred Pakistani graduates engaged in the lab training of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, investigating Coronavirus cases in Punjab and Gilgit Baltistan. It is pertinent to mention that more than 450 people have been infected within Pakistan, with the country reporting its first two deaths on Wednesday.

Planning Commission will make all efforts to combat coronavirus and will actively coordinate for necessary emergency funding from both the local and international sources to ward off any negative impacts of Coronavirus on livelihoods, jobs, especially the industry. DCPC Jahanzeb Khan said that the government is assessing the socio-economic impact of Coronavirus on the national economy with the aim to undertake timely interventions to safeguard the economy against the impending effects of Coronavirus. A special inter-ministerial and inter-provincial meeting for assessing the impact of Coronavirus pandemic on Pakistan’s economy was held under the chairmanship of Deputy Chairman Planning Commission (DCPC) Muhammad Jahanzeb Khan at Islamabad on Thursday. Representatives from the Planning Commission, various ministries and provinces including Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) participated to assess the expected impact on the national and provincial economies. A represen..

The government is finalizing a $600 million emergency package to deal with the Coronavirus outbreak across the country. This was stated by the federal minister for Economic Affairs Hammad Azhar on Thursday. The minister tweeted, The minister said that emergency funds from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) are also being made available for NDMA. This is in addition to funds already made available by finance division for immediate use by the authority. Reallocations from foreign-funded projects are also being diverted towards it. ALSO READ Jump in Pakistan’s COVID-19 Tally Continues as It Struggles to Fight the Pandemic “I would like to thank the People’s Republic of China for providing grant assistance of USD 4 million along with 300,000 medical face masks, 10 ventilators and other equipment. They have also undertaken to arrange for much greater number of ventilators”, Azhar added. The government has decided reallocation of non-utilized funds and to seeks fresh funds from multilate..

Pakistan reported its first two coronavirus deaths on March 18 Both deaths were reported from KP within hours Number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Pakistan has risen to 453 Sindh has been affected the most with 245 confirmed cases so far Punjab has reported 78, Baluchistan 81, KP 23, AJK/GB 24, and Islamabad 2 cases Center and provinces continue to announce measures to curb the spread As the world scrambles to control the COVID-19 epidemic, Pakistan’s tally of confirmed coronavirus cases has also jumped to 453 with new cases coming in by the hour from all provinces. Both the center and provinces continue to ramp up their efforts to restrict the virus’ spread through strict measures that range from curtailing social and commercial activities to suspending bus and train services and imposing partial city lockdowns. A spike in local transmission was seen with Sindh alone reporting at least 40 verified cases of domestic spread. Among other measures, the Sindh government announced that th..

Foreign exchange reserves of the country have recorded a steep decline of $110 million as of March 13. According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the reserve level of foreign exchange decreased to stand at $18.7 billion. The payment against loan repayment to various foreign agencies, Hajj expense and other related payments to foreign entities caused the depletion of reserves in nearly two weeks in March. Reserves held by the central bank stand at $12.6 billion whereas commercial banks maintain reserves of over $6 billion. The situation of foreign exchange reserves will continue to be volatile in the coming days as the country is likely to receive foreign assistance on various accounts including the funds to combat coronavirus across the country. Besides, the divestment trends in the government debt securities are likely to continue with an outflow of over $1.2 billion reported merely in the month of March, which is quite alarming. On the other hand, the equity market witnesse..

The government of Pakistan has launched an official website for coronavirus to provide authentic information and numbers on Coronavirus in Pakistan. The much necessary step comes in the wake of rampant rumors and misinformation on social platforms about coronavirus cases, deaths, and precautionary measures across Pakistan. Since the confirmation of the first case of coronavirus in Pakistan, we have witnessed people panicking over unauthentic information ranging from a countrywide lockdown to army spraying the length and breadth of the country via helicopters to disinfect the country. The launch of a web portal answering all questions and providing accurate numbers will surely sooth everyone’s nerves, not to mention give an easy way to sift fact from fiction. Named ‘Novel Coronavirus Interactive Dashboard’ the website has a clean and usable interface. At the very top, the website displays the dedicated national Coronavirus helpline number, 1166. The home page consists of a live tr..