Category: Information Technology

Chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Justice (R) Javed Iqbal, has said that NAB is not pursuing the sales and income tax-related cases of the business community, and it has transferred such cases to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).

The Chairman further added,

The notices issued by NAB Multan to flour mills owners of Multan, Bahawalpur, and Dera Ghazi Khan Divisions are being held in abeyance as the matter is sub judice in a court of law, and the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) Punjab is also probing the matter.

He was speaking to a delegation of the Pakistan Flour Mills Association at the NAB headquarters. Chairman NAB said that he would examine the cases as per law and asked the business community to provide flour to people at the rates fixed by the government.

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He also said that out of the total 1,210 references filed by the NAB, only 2 percent are related to the business community, which negates the rumors that the business community is troubled over NAB’s actions.

The Chairman also appreciated the value being generated by the business community in economic development, saying, “NAB has great regard for their valuable services in the progress and prosperity of the country.”

He informed that he has decided to hold an Open Katchery on last Thursday of every month to hear complaints from the citizens related to corruption. He said that the NAB received twice as many complaints in 2020 as compared to 2019.

The Chairman also said that NAB had established a special desk last year headed by a director at the NAB headquarters to address the issues of the business community. “The NAB is trying its utmost to address the problems of the business community as per law,” he said.

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Last week, Moderna revealed that its Coronavirus vaccine offers 94.5% protection against the viral infection that has caused the deaths of over 1.4 million people worldwide.

Moderna
Now, the US-based biotechnology company has decided to charge governments between $25 and $37 per dose for its Coronavirus vaccine, depending on the amount ordered.

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According to Moderna’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Stephane Bancel, their vaccine will cost the same as the flu vaccine which is between $10 and $50.

Besides Moderna, there are a handful of COVID-19 vaccines in the final stages of the clinical trials that have demonstrated positive results.

Sinovac Biotech
Last month, it came to light that Chinese biopharmaceutical company, Sinovac Biotech, had started administering its COVID-19 vaccine to frontline healthcare workers and other high-risk groups in Jiaxing, a city of China’s Zhejiang province, under the national emergency program.

Jiaxing’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) disclosed that Sinovac’s vaccine costs $30 per dose.

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Pfizer and BioNTech
The US-based pharmaceutical company, Pfizer, and its German partner, BioNTech, recently announced that their Coronavirus vaccine offers 90% protection against the Coronavirus.

Pfizer and BioNTech have decided to charge $20 for each dose of their COVID-19 vaccines.

Sputnik V
Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has also published the results of the last stage clinical trials of Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik V, claiming that it offers 92% protection against the disease.

While RDIF has announced to reveal the price of Sputnik V next week, it has assured that its vaccine will cost lower than the vaccines of Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech.

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Novavax Inc
Novavax Inc, a US-based vaccine development company, has set the price of each dose of its Coronavirus vaccine at $16.

Earlier this year in May, Novavax had acquired Czech Republic-based Praha Vaccines for $167 million, aiming to roll out 1 billion doses of its COVID-19 vaccine in 2021.

Janssen
After stopping the clinical trials last month after a study participant had developed an unexplained illness, Johnson and Johnson recently resumed the trials of Janssen, its COVID-19 vaccine.

According to Johnson and Johnson, each dose of Janssen will cost around $10.

AstraZeneca
Lastly, the Coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca, a British pharmaceutical company, and Oxford University which offers significant protection to high-risk age groups, who have disproportionately been affected during the COVID-19 pandemic, will cost around $4.

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The government of Punjab has ordered the public and private offices to reduce the in-office workforce by 50 percent. The provincial health department issued a directive in this regard on Monday, sighting the alarming rise in the number of COVID-19 infections in the province.

The notification issued by Punjab Healthcare Secretary Mohammad Usman has asked public and private organizations to reduce the staff strength by 50 percent until January 31. The remaining 50% of staff will work from home.

Those coming to work must ensure precautionary measures, such as face masks and social distancing.

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Meanwhile, the Sindh health department has also issued a similar decree, asking offices to halve their staff presence until further orders. The notification came late on Monday, stating that several areas of the province identified as virus hotspots will go under ‘broader lockdown.’

The commissioners and assistant commissioners have been given powers under the Sindh Epidemic Diseases Act, 2014, to decide which areas need to be closed.

More Restrictions
As per the notification, indoor dining has been banned in restaurants, while outdoor dining will not be allowed beyond 10 pm.

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The provincial government has allowed markets and businesses to operate from 6 am to 6 pm on weekdays. All businesses, except essential services, will be closed on weekends.

Business centers, indoor gyms, indoor sports facilities, shrines, cinemas, and theatres have been shut down indefinitely.

The notification added that only outdoor weddings with a maximum of 200 guests will be allowed. The food at ceremonies will be distributed in packed boxes instead of buffets.

The development came hours after the Inter-Provincial Education Ministers Conference (IPEMC) decided on school closure for one month due to the second wave of COVID-19.

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The Military Engineering Services (MES) of the Pakistan Army has enlisted Agha Steel Industries Ltd. as the manufacturer-cum-supplier of deformed steel bars for its projects.

The Engineer-in-Chief’s branch has already issued the company a provisional certificate of enlistment.

“It is a major milestone for us,” Hussain Agha, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Agha Steel, said in a statement.

We are grateful to the MES for enlisting us as a manufacturer-cum-supplier of quality steel products. God willing, our company will come up to the expectations of the military, meet its requirements, and help it build Pakistan.

Agha Steel is the first private sector steel manufacturer employing Italian Electric Arc Furnace technology, a steel recycling furnace which is considered the most accredited and quality-centric method of manufacturing worldwide as well as the fastest-growing technology that companies are adopting today in the private sector, in Pakistan.

The company had issued Initial Public Offering (IPO) last month to raise funds to finance its second phase of capacity expansion. The IPO, the third during the current fiscal year, proved to be a resounding success and was oversubscribed. The IPO consisted of 120 million ordinary shares or 20.83 percent of the paid-up capital of the firm.

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In the second phase, the company is bringing a new, disruptive steel rerolling technology, MiDa. The technology is said to be a game-changer for the steel industry as it reduces the entire production cycle to just two hours in addition to increasing yield efficiency to over 99 percent in comparison to Pakistan’s existing standard of 90 to 91 percent. Additional benefits will come from energy and time savings as the company’s rerolling capacity will rise to 650,000 tons on completion of the project in June next year from the existing 250,000 tons. The firm has a steel melting capacity of 400,000 tons.

Commenting on the technology, Agha remarked,

MiDa is a disruptive technology that will use an endless casting and rolling procedure. We won’t have to make billets at all unless we have to. This will bring down the entire production cycle — raw material to rebar — to just 2 hours. This is a game-changer for us.

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He further added, “We are expanding our production facility. But it is not to become the largest company. Our real pursuit is to manufacture high quality, diversified steel products in the most efficient manner, using the latest technology available in the world.”

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The federal government has announced that the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) will be held as scheduled on 29 November under strict coronavirus standard operating procedures (SOPs).

The Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health, Dr. Faisal Sultan, announced this on Monday.

While addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Dr. Sultan said that all the entry and professional examinations will be held on their scheduled dates, and stressed that the organizers must ensure the implementation of the SOPs during the exams.

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This decision was made during the Inter-Provincial Education Ministers Conference (IPEMC) that had convened to discuss the worsening COVID-19 situation in the country.

On 18 November, the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) announced that the MDCAT will be conducted on 29 November 29, 2020.

“Upon compliance with the directions of the Honorable Sindh High Court, the National MDCAT will be held on 29 November 2020,” it said.

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An official tweet by the PMC also confirmed the new date.

The development came a week after the Sindh High Court had barred the PMC from conducting the MDCAT 2020 on 15 November. The court had also directed the medical commission to constitute an academic board and examination authority to finalize the MDCAT syllabus.

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The government of Pakistan has taken reform measures for the power sector that are expected to save Rs. 300 million within three years, said the Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, Asad Umar, on Monday, a national daily reported.

While speaking to the media, the minister who also heads the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCOE), said that this would be achieved between 2021 and 2023. He also termed the circular debt as a “landmine” for Pakistan, and blamed the previous government for all that is wrong in this regard.

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Asad Umar reiterated the incumbent government’s statement that it had inherited an infrastructure for which the country lacked a transmission network to transport electricity. He remarked that the PML-N government had chosen to set up power plants instead of resolving this problem.

The minister also claimed that the utilization capacity of the power plants was 84 percent in 2018 and that it had dropped to 55 percent during the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government’s rule.

He further stated that the capacity payment obligation was at Rs. 488 billion in 2018, and that it is expected to balloon to Rs. 1.473 trillion by 2023. He added that a tariff increase of Rs. 4.09 per unit will be needed by then to clear the circular debt base of Rs. 450 billion.

Another tariff increase of Rs. 8.09 per unit is also being anticipated by the government due to the expected increase of capacity payments to Rs. 890 billion.

The government has decided to introduce a competitive tariff regime to reduce energy prices to remedy these issues.

Minister Asad Umar added that the PTI government is introducing power sector reforms under which competitive tariffs will become possible under the bulk power market when the Competitive Trading Bilateral Contract Model (CTBCM) will be enforced in the next eighteen months. The CTBCM was recently approved by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) and it will benefit the end consumers.

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He also announced that a reduction in the rate of return on equity (ROE) of the public sector projects approved by the CCOE on 2 September will result in a reduction in the cost of generation by about Rs. 100 billion during 2021-23. Furthermore, the memorandums of understanding (MoUs) signed with independent power producers (IPP) will have an impact of Rs. 60 billion during 2021-23.

The minister said that the CCOE’s decision to unlock take-or-pay contracts of LNG-based power plants in Punjab will lead to cumulative savings of Rs. 136 billion through tariff reduction at the rate of 74 paisa per unit in FY22 and 66 paisa per unit in FY23.

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Middle-order batsman, Asad Shafiq, is looking to regain his place in the national team after being axed from the Test team for the first time in 10 years. Asad has been in torrid form over the past few years and hasn’t been in the runs for a long time. In order to regain his form, Asad is keen to work with the legendary batsman, Mohammad Yousuf.

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Yousuf is working as a batting coach at National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Lahore and has been in contact with Asad over the past few weeks.

“I have talked to Yousuf bhai and he invited me to NCA during the National T20 Cup. I will go to Lahore in future to work with him on two or three things,” Shafiq said.

Mohammad Yousuf has been a big admirer of Asad Shafiq ever since his debut in 2010. Working with Yousuf will help Asad regain his confidence and form back.

Asad hit a century in the fourth round of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy against Southern Punjab and has taken a step towards regaining his position in the Test side.

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During the first six years of his career, from 2010 to 2016, Asad scored 3,330 runs in 52 matches at an average of 41.62, scoring 10 centuries.

His numbers dropped drastically between 2017 to 2020, scoring 1,330 runs in 25 matches at an average of 31.66, scoring just 2 centuries during the period.

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As the Internet of Things (IoT) becomes more sophisticated, more people are opting for smart products, including smart doorbells, smart doorknobs, smart home appliances, etc.

However, with convenience, these devices also bring along a security risk making your house an easy target for hackers. According to a recent study by Which?, a UK based blog that provides users with reviews of products and services to make informed choices, major security flaws in popular smart doorbells are putting consumers at risk of being targeted by hackers inside their homes.

It details that smart doorbells being sold on online platforms such as Amazon and eBay could easily be hacked or switched off by criminals.

They’ve tested 11 devices from brands including Qihoo, Ctronics, and Victure. These products were purchased from popular online marketplaces in the UK. Which? found out that the doorbells had weak password policies and a lack of data encryption.

Out of the 11, two of the devices could be manipulated to steal network passwords and then hack other smart devices within the home. Amongst these, the best-selling Smart Video Doorbell was found to be sending users’ home network names and passwords unencrypted to servers in China.

Hence, in the wake of the findings, the company has urged the government for new legislation to safeguard consumers. Moreover, Amazon has removed at least seven product listings.

Kate Bevan, computing editor at Which? said,

Government legislation to tackle unsecure products should be introduced without delay and must be backed by an enforcement body with teeth that is able to crack down on these devices.

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According to the data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), multinational firms repatriated $678.6 million in the first four months (July to October) of the current fiscal year.

The repatriation of profits and dividends by the foreign firms to their headquarters, increased by 23.8 percent during the period in concern. The repatriated profit amounted to $678.6 million, up from $548.1 million in the same period last year.

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However, the data showed that October’s repatriation decreased to $101.9 million as compared to $169.2 million last year.

Out of the total repatriations, $30.5 million were profits against investments in shares at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), which stood at $48.9 million last year.

The data released by SBP also showed that $275.4 million was repatriated to the United Kingdom, $109.2 million to the United States, and $91.7 million to Malta.

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