Category: Information Technology

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has issued a legal clarification that the non-resident Pakistanis are not required to file income tax return solely for the declaration of tax deduction on profit on debt on the Naya Pakistan Certificate.

According to a modified clarification issued by FBR, the Naya Pakistan Certificate, a new instrument launched by the Government/ State Bank of Pakistan, qualifies as debt instrument in terms of Clause (5AA) of Part-II of the Second Schedule of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.

Therefore, profit on debt on the Naya Pakistan Certificate is subject to tax @ 10% which is final tax.

Moreover, such non-residents are not required to file tax return solely for the declaration of tax deduction on profit on debt. It may be added that the aforesaid concessionary tax regime is applicable to non-residents only, FBR added.

The earlier clarification issued by the FBR stated that only non-resident individuals can purchase Naya Pakistan Certificate who maintain bank account abroad or foreign currency account maintained in Pakistan. It is also clarified that such individuals are not required to file returns of income.

Now this clarification has been modified by the FBR.

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The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP), in partnership with the US government, has launched the Pakistan Integrated Regulatory Information Management System (PIRIMS). It is an innovative online platform that will enable the Government of Pakistan to efficiently and effectively evaluate the safety and effectiveness of medicines, leading to higher health security in the country.

The Government of Pakistan and the United States, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), worked together to create the platform to meet international pharmaceutical standards.

PIRIMS will integrate the registration, inspection, licensing, and monitoring of approved medicines. With this platform, the regulators can monitor medicines in the development and approval processes. The online platform will also facilitate pharmaceutical companies to apply for permission to produce medicine.

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Previously, registering a drug took several years and cost millions to pharmaceutical companies. PIRIMS will significantly reduce the time and cost expended in the process. This will facilitate Pakistani companies to introduce safe and effective medicine within a small frame of time and at a significantly lower cost.

This partnership will also allow Pakistan to increase its participation in the international pharmaceutical market and apply for Level Three Compliance with the World Health Organization’s Global Benchmarking Tool, a globally accepted model to evaluate the maturity of a country’s regulatory framework.

DRAP will also be able to apply for membership in the Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-operation Scheme, an international cooperative to standardize pharmaceutical standards.

In a comment regarding PIRIMS, Deputy Mission Director USAID, Michael Nehrbass, said,

We are pleased to partner with the Government of Pakistan to ensure this system complies with international standards, strengthening health services across the country. Pakistan already has one of the best laboratory networks in the region as a result of our work together, and this new capability will likely lead to further development and international investment in the pharmaceutical industry.

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Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced two new high-altitude National Parks in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) spanning across an area of 3,600 square kilometers, which is almost 5 percent of the total area of GB.

These two national parks have been announced under the Prime Minister’s “Protected Areas Initiative.” The initiative aims to ensure the protection and preservation of Pakistan’s natural assets through designation and management as National Parks.

The newly notified “Himalaya National Park” and the “Nanga Parbat National Park” have unique ecological areas with rich high-altitude biodiversity as well as precious flora and fauna. The parks will also preserve the endangered wildlife native to the area, which includes snow leopards, Himalayan brown bear, Ladakh urial, ibex, markhors, and blue sheep.

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The number of National Parks in the country was thirty in 2018. These parks were announced over 70 years and remained just paper parks. Currently, under this initiative, in merely eight months, the number of National Parks across all provinces has increased by 1.5 times. The initiative will also introduce community-based management regimes in all the parks.

In this regard, the PM also approved the formation of GB’s first “National Parks Service,” which he said will provide 5,000 green jobs to the youth in the province. The PM said that the Park Service Nighabaans will be trained and employed to manage the parks in GB as areas for biodiversity protection, safe habitats for wildlife preservation as well as for the promotion of nature-based eco-tourism.

With the announcement of these two National Parks, a globally unique “Nature Corridor” has also been formed, which traverses a high altitude area (over 10,000 feet height) and connects the provinces of KPK and AJK through GB. This will provide a protected and managed corridor for preserving the wildlife of the area, including the iconic snow leopard and Pakistan’s national animal Markhor, which are present in this area.

The PM was also briefed on the associated initiative to save the endangered Ladakh urial, for which a breeding enclosure is being established in Skardu in the natural habitat of this dwindling species to enhance its numbers.

According to reports, three female Ladakh urials were already present in the area, which is being fenced, and a male species is being trans-located from Bonji in GB. This will be the first experiment of its kind to save the Ladakh urial, which is endemic to only Pakistan and India and remains highly endangered.

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SAPM, Malik Amin Aslam, who was accompanying the PM and briefed him, said that “this high-altitude ‘nature corridor’ is an initiative of high global significance.”

The PM also stated that the government will have “zero tolerance” towards the timber mafia and praised the work of the GB forests department under the “10 Billion Tree Tsunami” project. He approved the deployment of FC platoons, especially for the forest protection drive in GB.

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In the third T20I between England and South Africa, England used the services of their analyst in a unique way. The analyst was sending signals to the England captain Eoin Morgan through numbers and letters attached on a clipboard.

England team analyst Nathan Leamon is one of the most renowned analysts in the game of cricket; he was also part of the management team of Multan Sultans in PSL 5.

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Leamon displayed a series of numbers and letters from the balcony to Eoin Morgan as a suggestion on how to impact the game in a given situation. According to reports, England Cricket Team discussed the usage of such coded messages with the match referee and anti-corruption officials prior to using them and were given the all-clear to use them.

ECB said that the signals were not directions to the captain, they were suggestions on what could be done differently in the game. They said “The signals were intended as a live informational resource that the captain may choose to use or ignore as he wishes” and “they are not commands or instructions and all decision-making takes place on the field”.

Nathan Leamon implemented a similar type of technique in Multan Sultans as well. English commentator Mike Atherton explained the usage of these signals with reference to Multan Sultans.

Here’s what he said:

Michael Atherton assesses the new signal system England are trialling in South Africa…

— Sky Sports (@SkySports) December 1, 2020

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Atherton said “Nathan is the analyst of the Multan Sultans in the Pakistan Super League – he said the idea was live signals to the captain, who was Shan Masood.”

“I think they were doing hand signals in the PSL, whereas here it was slightly different,” he added.

The meaning behind the signals is still unclear though, but as cricket is evolving at such a fast pace the use of technology and data analysis has also increased.

As Mike Atherton said, the signals do not simply mean that bowl a yorker at this moment or bowl a bouncer, it is a bit more complex than that.

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The State-owned Inter State Gas Systems (ISGS) is in the process of updating the pricing formula for the Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India Pipeline (TAPI) or commonly titled trans-Afghanistan pipeline.

According to the report of a national daily on Wednesday, Pakistan is hiring a consultant to update the pricing formula and the financial and commercial aspects of TAPI.

According to reports, TAPI is targeting the first gas flow in the next four years. The intergovernmental agreement on TAPI was signed in 2010. The field-works were completed in 2019, and the first gas flow is expected to start by the fiscal year 2023-24.

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ISGS’s website says that the TAPI gas pipeline project will bring natural gas from the Gylkynish and adjacent gas fields in Turkmenistan to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is acting as the facilitator and coordinator for the project.

ISGS has sought consultancy services from international and local firms regarding the commercial and financial aspects of the TAPI gas pipeline project, gas pricing mechanisms, and negotiation strategies.

ISGS intends to hire the services of a local or international consultancy firm with experience related to the commercial and financial terms of contractual arrangements of long-term gas import and infrastructure projects.

The consultant would review and evaluate gas price formulations along with conducting periodic pricing reviews relative to the international and localized developments and trends. They will also develop gas pricing projections based on competitive pricing analysis, comparison with other competitive fuels, global price benchmarks, flooring and capping of benchmarks, etc., the news report said.

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A document by the ISGC, highlighting the objective of seeking such consultancy revealed that it intends to “carry on the business of import, supply, transport and sell natural gas and natural gas products through the pipeline.” Other notable projects in progress by ISCS include the North-South Gas Pipeline Project, Offshore Gas Pipeline Project, and Strategic Underground Storages.

Gas makes up for more than half of the total energy requirements of Pakistan and is utilized for a variety of purposes such as cooking, industrial production, manufacturing fertilizers, fueling automobiles, and the production of electricity.

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National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) conducted a hearing regarding a petition filed on the tariff hike by distribution companies (DISCOs) in their quarterly adjustments.

It was revealed during the proceedings that about 750,000 applications for new 1,500-1,600 MW electricity connections are still pending with various distribution companies. At the same time, the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) and distribution companies (DISCOs) are looking to push up the tariff by approximately 86 paisa per unit due to capacity charges of around Rs. 85 billion during April-June 2020, Dawn News reported on Wednesday.

The CPPA had originally sought about 80 paisa per unit increase in uniform tariff for all DISCOs to recover about Rs. 82.7 billion from consumers on account of variation in the power purchase price for the fourth quarter (April-June 2020) of last fiscal year (2019-20). However, the number was revised to Rs. 85.2 billion.

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NEPRA’s Sindh Member said that these applications were enough to consume about 1,500-1,600 MW of surplus capacity and reduce the overall tariff instead of higher capacity charges.

NEPRA reserved its verdict while issuing orders for the verification of DISCO’s data because they kept changing their statements throughout the public hearing.

It was also highlighted in the proceedings that the actual tariff increase by the DISCOs would be approximately 70 paisa per unit, considering that the existing 15 paisa per unit capacity charges for an earlier quarter would expire soon and would be replaced by 85 or 86 paisa per unit capacity charge.

NEPRA had suspended the hearing last week due to unsatisfactory responses from the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) and DISCOs, rescheduling it for December 1.

The CEO of CPPA explained that an increase in capacity charges was necessary because the actual cost had doubled for some new power projects as compared to their reference rates. These include projects like Sahiwal and Port Qasim coal projects, a project of Hubco, and a few solar and wind projects. It was highlighted that the exchange rate differential, from Rs. 129 to the dollar to now Rs. 167 to the dollar, has also contributed to the need for increasing capacity charges.

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Economic slowdown and reduction in commercial activities are also contributing factors. If the economy grows and consumption goes up, these capacity charges may reduce, the hearing was told.

NEPRA members expressed anger at the unsatisfactory data provided by the power companies and said that the management of these companies, including the chief executives and chief financial officers, should be fully aware of the different aspects of their companies for which they are seeking an increase in tariffs.

Another point of contention arose when the CEO of Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) said that only 250 industrial and 2,200 domestic and commercial connections were pending. He said that the number of 750,000 outstanding connections mentioned in the Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) data was misleading and unrealistic as PEPCO includes the applications even if they were filed one day ago. In response to this, NEPRA’s case officer called him out by saying that the data provided by LESCO itself put total outstanding applications as of June at 92,000, including 42,000 ripe for connection.

The post NEPRA Questions CCPA on Higher Tariff and Pending Electricity Connections appeared first on .

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Atlas Honda will soon be launching the CB125F 2021. The motorbikes have been dispatched from the factories and will reach the showrooms within the next few weeks.

The CB125F 2021 will feature new details like the new blue and white body-color option, a black rear support bar, and the all-important graphics.

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In technical and mechanical terms, the design of the motorbike follows the same old basic formula of a lightweight body and frame propelled by the old but incredibly stout 125cc single cylinder petrol engine with overhead valve technology. Although no official power figures have been disclosed yet, it is presumed that the bike produces around 11 horsepower.

The CB125F is basically a parts-bin special that borrows most of the parts from its predecessor, the CG125 Dream and Deluxe, which includes the engine, the drivetrain, the chassis, the exhaust tip, and a few other components. The other parts that are noticeably borrowed from the CB150F are its wheels and front disc brake system.

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Despite basically being the same old bike underneath all the flamboyance, the CB125F is priced at a staggering Rs. 189,500, which makes it more expensive by Rs. 20,000 than its direct competitor in the market, the Yamaha YB125Z DX, which is priced at Rs. 169,500 and is arguably a better-equipped bike.

Atlas Honda continues to relish its fame and keeps on elevating the prices of its products without adding any actual value to them. While some may think that it is a smart strategy, it is actually sheer complacency on the part of the biggest producer of motorbikes in the country that has enough resources to offer more contemporary products in the market.

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Facebook kicked off its cryptocurrency project Libra last year as a blockchain-based payment system which would also include a private currency of its own. The Libra Association is now being rebranded as the Diem Association, which is a change to represent a “new day for the new project”.

The launch of Facebook’s Diem project is still facing uncertainty as it still lacks key approvals from several different American states including New York. The company said in a statement that it would not launch without the approval of FINMA, the Swiss finance regulator, which is still pending. Facebook was reportedly looking to launch Diem in January 2021.

The cryptocurrency project started off as an ambitious system, which was looking to build a single global currency but was reduced to acting as a payment processor after endless criticism and objection from regulators.

One of the hurdles that the Diem Association has been facing are claims saying that it could enable financial crime. The company has responded to it by getting new hires including a number of high-profile ex-politicians and government operatives to run the group.

As for a release, Facebook has said that its discussions with FINMA are “active and productive,” as it works to push out a platform to “conduct instantaneous, low-cost, highly secure transactions.”

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