Category: Information Technology

The Finance Division has reconstituted the pay and pension commission to work out salary structures of the existing and new employees of the federal and provincial governments with a view to bringing uniformity in pay structure and review further increase in salaries.

The Finance Division Wednesday issued a notification on the constitution of pay and pension commission-2002.

Finance Division has issued details of thereconstitution of 25 members pay and pension commission which would be to be headed by Nargis Sethi, former federal secretary.

In compliance of the orders of Prime Minister’s Office, the revised composition of the pay and pension Commission was being notified.

Private members of the commission: NargisSethi, Former Federal Secretary will be chairperson of the commission and members of the commission will include Muneer Qureshi Retired Civil Servant, Nazrat Bashir Retired Civil Servant Member, Habib UIIah Khan Member Retired Civil Servant, Saud Mirza Member Retired Civil Servant, Dr. Masood Akhtar Chaudhry Member Retired Civil Servant, Mehfooz Ali Khan Member Retired Civil Servant, Dr. Noor Alam, Retired Civil Servant Member, Vice Admiral Shah Sohail Masood (R) Member Vice Admiral Pakistan Navy, Managing Director Bahria Foundation , Birg (R) Mohammad Ashraf, Veterans of Pakistan, Nausheen Ahmed, Company Secretary, ICI (Pakistan) Limited Member and Aquil Raza Khoja Private Sector.

Members ex-officio of the reconstituted pay and pension commission: Secretary, Finance Division, Government of Pakistan, secretary establishment division, secretary defence, secretary finance Punjab, Secretary Finance Sindh, secretary Finance KP, Secretary Finance Balochistan, Secretary Finance AJ&K, Secretary Finance GB, An office of BS 21 Controller General of Accounts, Director General PP&A, GHQ ,Joint Secretary Finance Division.

The scope of the commission would include federal and provincial civil servants, other government servants, civilians paid from defence budget, all armed forces, civil armed forces and all employees of the public sector enterprises.

The commission will study the adequacy of existing basic pay scale (BPS) system and evaluate the current salaries and recommend measures for uniformity and pay structure for new recruitments in future. The commission is also empowered to make recommendations for the streamlining of the exiting classification from BPS 1 to 22.

The commission will also study the separation of existing BPS for specialised departments, occupations and cadres and review special scales such as management cadres, management position scales, project pay scales and propose measures for uniformity and improvement.

It will review admissible regular allowances, special incentives and all other allowances with a view to highlighting the prevalent distortions and recommend corrective measures.

The federal government has recently claimed that provinces have bypassed it in revising the pay and salary packages of their secretariat employees, which is unprecedented and against the norms.

The new commission will also review the pension system. The commission will highlight the existing distortions and anomalies in the pension scheme and recommend remedial measures, according to the terms of references.

The commission is empowered to review the existing incentive regime and recommend improvement in it. It can make interim recommendations, if desired by the government.

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The federal education ministry has forwarded its recommendation regarding the closure of educational institutes to the provinces due to the rising Coronavirus cases in the educational institutes, ProPakistani has learned.

Sources revealed that the Ministry of Education has proposed to end the academic session in May instead of March. Ministry has also proposed three options regarding the closure of educational institutes.

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According to the first suggestion it has been proposed to close educational institutions from November 24 to January 31.

The second suggestion is to close Primary schools from November 24, while to close Middle schools from December 2. Ministry has suggested closing higher secondary schools from December 15 in its third suggestion.

Matriculation, Intermediate examinations will be held in June 2021 according to the proposal. The final decision will be taken in the meeting of inter-provincial education ministers.

According to the sources the meeting will be held on November 23, the provinces will present their proposals in this regard.

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The court of an Additional District and Sessions Judge (ASJ) on Wednesday awarded the death sentence to Sohail Ayaz three times under the charges of pedophilia, sexually assaulting minors, and filming the horrendous incidents.

Besides capital punishment, the court also sentenced him to three counts of life imprisonment and a penalty of Rs. 500,000.

An accomplice of the criminal was awarded a seven-year imprisonment sentence along with an Rs. 100,000 fine. Sohail Ayaz has been found guilty of sexually assaulting various children and releasing their videos on the dark web.

He was imprisoned in the United Kingdom for four years on the same charges and was facing a trial in Italy for sexually abusing minors.

The Rawalpindi Police briefed the Senate’s Standing Committee in December 2019 that the child recovered from the house of Sohail Ayaz was sexually assaulted by him.

The police have matched the DNA sample of Sohail Ayaz with the child, which helped in verifying the charges.

Briefing the house on the case, Rawalpindi Police official apprised that the accused, a 46-year old male namely Sohail Ayaz, was a Chartered Accountant by profession

“Around 100,000 pornographic images were found from his personal computer,” police informed the Senate panel.

Police have also recovered proof of child trafficking from the Mobile data of the accused.

Regarding the modus operandi of the criminal, the police informed, “He used to lure in young boys of age 8-15 years, mostly street vendors selling eggs or Qehwa, by offering them money or jobs and used to intoxicate them through Hash and Ice.”

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The Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU) has asked the Central Directorate of National Savings (CDNS) to immediately report CDNS clients, who are frequently purchasing savings certificates or prize bonds through unusual payments in cash which do not commensurate with purchasers’ profiles.

The cases of large cash deposits followed by early withdrawal by the investors of the CDNS is also considered a suspicious transaction to be reported to the FMU.

According to the FMU’s letter to the Central Directorate of National Savings (CDNS), the FMU has issued Red-Flag Indicators for the Central Directorate of National Savings (CDNS). In terms of Section 7 (1) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010. The CDNS is required to promptly report Suspicious Transactions Reports (STRs) to the Financial Monitoring Unit for potential Money Laundering (ML) or Terrorism Financing (TF) related activities.

To identify a suspicion that could be indicative of Money Laundering (ML) or Terrorism Financing (TF), FMU has prepared the red flag indicators in consultation with the National Savings (AML and CFT) Supervisory Board that are specially intended as an aid for the CDNS and are attached as “Red Flag Indicators for Central Directorate of National Savings (CDNS)”.

These red flags may appear suspicious on their own; however, it may be considered that a single red flag would not be a clear indicator of potential ML or TF activity. However, a combination of these red flags, in addition to analysis of the overall financial activity and client profile may indicate a potential ML or TF activity, FMU stated.

The FMU has further asked the CDNS that the CDNS is required to report a Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) to the Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU) if CDNS suspects or has reasonable grounds to suspect that the funds in question, are the proceeds of criminal activity or money laundering or related to terrorist financing, including attempted transactions, regardless of their value or amount, as per the format prescribed by FMU and as required under AML Act.

In line with requirements of National Savings (AML and CFT) Regulations (S.R.O.956(I)/2020), if the Responsible Officer(s) observes one or more of these red flags, he/she will perform Enhance Due Diligence (EDD) and update the Know Your Customer (KYC) or Customer Due Diligence (CDD) information available with CDNS. Responsible Officer will make further inquiries or investigations from the customer with documentary evidence, which shall be stored in line with record keeping requirements.

In case the customer is not able to provide documentary evidence to satisfy the branch manager or the branch manager has a reason for suspicion, a Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) shall be promptly filed with FMU.

To identify some of the circumstances that could be suspicious or that could be indicative that money is being laundered (ML) or used for terrorism financing (TF) purposes, the following are some red flags which are specially intended as an aid for CDN:

Red Flags for Transactional Pattern related to all products (including certificates, accounts, and prize bonds) wherever applicable:

The nominee is not a close relative or change in a nominee (for instance, to include non-family members).
A third-party check is provided for investment.
Purchase of a long-term investment product followed shortly thereafter by a request to liquidate the position to get back the invested amount.
Overall investment quantum, account balance, or transactional activity is not in line with the customer’s business, known means, or stated purpose of the product.
The client is frequently purchasing savings certificates or prize bonds through unusual payments in cash, which do not commensurate with his/her profile.
Unusually high levels of investments or unusually large transactions in relation to what might reasonably be expected of clients with a similar profile.
When transactions are conducted without any apparent legitimate or economic reason. 8. Where multiple deposits are made by unrelated individuals.
Large cash is deposited followed by early withdrawal.
Where large deposits and withdrawals are made routinely, and the end of day balance is very low or nil.
When a customer insists to buy multiple savings certificates or prize bonds through structured or broken cash transactions to avoid CTR reporting threshold (Rs 2.0 Million and above).
Two or more customers (Linked/associated with each other) working together to break one cash transaction into two or more transactions to evade the CTR reporting requirement.
Purchase of higher denomination Prize Bonds against cash without providing any plausible justification.
Encashment of higher denomination Prize Bonds without any plausible justification.
When a customer is frequently converting one product into another (especially in the name of an unrelated third party) without any plausible justification.
Numerous prizes are repeatedly/very frequently being claimed by the customer against winning prize bonds during a short span of time. Immediate Actions to be taken by the concerned officers.

The post Financial Watchdog Directs National Savings Directorate to Report Suspicious Transactions appeared first on .

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Transparency International Pakistan (TIP) has alerted the Pakistan government to the over-invoicing of coal imports by Lucky Commodities, a national daily reported on Wednesday.

Lucky Commodities is part of the Yunus Brothers Group business conglomerate.

However, according to news reports, this claim of over-invoicing made by the anti-corruption watchdog findings has been rejected by the company.

Transparency International Pakistan’s letter said that Lucky Commodities has over-invoiced coal imports with the involvement of the exporter, GCL Dubai.

As per the details, GCL Dubai bought coal from a Singaporean-based trader, which was shipped from Indonesia to Karachi directly. The invoices issued for the deal showed approximately $10 per ton, higher than GCL Dubai’s purchase price.

TIP’s letter also mentioned that the freight charges were inflated and that the email address provided by GCL Dubai in its agreement with Mercuria Singapore, also belonged to Lucky Commodities.

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However, Lucky Commodities termed the Transparency International claims “highly misleading and defamatory”.

According to media reports, Lucky Commodities’ spokesperson said that all the entities mentioned in the letter, whether foreign or local, are all registered and disclosed in the records of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, State Bank of Pakistan, and the Federal Board of Revenue. The spokesperson stated:

All transactions are declared trading activities between the entities and the amounts involved have been duly taxed in Pakistan. Also, the consignments imported have been declared on which duties and taxes have been paid as per the laws of Pakistan. Further, all exchange of funds has been through proper banking channel.

Over-invoicing is one of the most common trade-based money laundering methods. The importer submits inflated invoices, and then the exceeding value as compared to goods shipped to exporters is remitted to an external source, which is usually an associated company.

The customs office made a statement saying that over-invoicing was not common in the past but now several multinationals are found involved in it.

TIP has forwarded the complaint to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) regarding the money laundering of hundreds of millions of dollars through over-invoicing in coal imports since 2013.

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Environmentalists are urging the government of Pakistan to immediately ensure the provision of incentives to Electric Vehicles (EV) owners in the country.

A prominent figure from the environmentalist community of Pakistan, Saeed Barlas, stated that the federal government had made certain promises regarding the incentivization of the use of EVs when it announced its policy, but the promises are yet to be fulfilled.

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“The government announced that there would be minimum charges for registration of electric vehicles. It was also promised that the users of electric vehicles would be exempted from annual token tax and toll tax all over the country,” he explained.

On this note, a conservationist, Shakeel Ahmad, said, “When it comes to air pollution, we are currently facing a crisis-like situation. So, this is the time to promote the use of electric vehicles to protect our environment and the health of the masses as well”.

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Ahmed added that the government seems to be going in the opposite direction of its claims, remarking that instead of being relaxed, registration charges have been increased from Rs. 400,000 to Rs. 850,000.

Furthermore, the community said that the infrastructure is far from sufficient to cater to the changing needs of EVs.

A spokesman of the Ministry of Climate Change has affirmed that the department is working alongside the Ministry of Science and Technology and other relevant departments to ensure the establishment of charging stations for EVs on main highways and motorways.

“The government will come up with incentives to promote the use of electric vehicles that can help reduce air pollution and protect the natural environment,” he assured.

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Honda Atlas Cars Pakistan Ltd (HCAR) announced its financial results for the second quarter that ended September 30, 2020.

The company has reported a growth of 29 percent in profits to Rs. 656.88 million as compared to Rs. 509.69 million recorded in the same period last year. However, during the half-year, the profits were down by 81% to Rs. 146 million as compared to Rs. 751 million.

The company has recovered from losses of Rs. 511 million in the first quarter of MY21 to a profit of Rs. 656.88 million during the second quarter.

During this quarter, the company sales bounced back massively by 75.43 percent to Rs. 20.42 billion as compared with Rs. 11.64 billion recorded in the same period last year.

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The main reason behind the increase in profits is growing sales as the volumes bounced back by 67 percent. However, on a sequential basis, net sales increased by 2.1X, which can be attributed to the lagged impact of demand post lockdown, stable currency, and rise in consumer financing. Quarter on Quarter, the unit sales of the company were up by 219 percent.

According to Topline Securities, the increase in sales is due to the easing of COVID-19 related lockdown and low-interest rates.

The result was above the industry’s expectations, mainly due to the high gross margins and lower finance costs.

Similarly, the cost of sales during the quarter grew by 82.45 percent to Rs. 19.03 billion as compared to Rs. 10.43 billion, which took the gross profits to Rs. 1.39 billion against Rs. 1.21 billion.

Units Sold (Apr 2020-June 2020)

Models
Units Sold in 2020 (2QMY21)
Units Sold in 2019 (2QMY20)
Difference

Civic and City
6,483
3,926
65.13%

Honda BR-V
952
528
80.30%

Total
7,435
4,458
66.80%

Other income of the company also went down by 163.76 percent during the quarter to Rs. 66.31 million as compared to Rs. 25.14 million in the same period last year due to the increase in new car bookings as the lead time for delivery has increased to two months for City and four months for Civic.

Distribution and marketing costs slightly decreased to Rs. 150.7 million as compared to Rs. 179.22 million during the period under view. Administrative expenses increased to Rs. 191.66 million as compared to Rs. 179.30 million.

Due to a decrease in interest rates during the period, the financing cost of the company decreased by 91.24 percent to Rs. 17.52 million as compared to Rs. 199.99 million.

Earnings per share of the company were reported at Rs. 4.60 as compared to Rs. 3.57. HCARS’s share at the bourse closed at Rs. 299.29; down by Rs. 0.90 or 0.30%, with a turnover of 135,800 shares on Wednesday.

As can be seen in the figures above, Honda Atlas has seen a recovery in profits but has not performed nearly as well as Toyota Indus Motor Company (IMC) in the said quarter. The company posted a profit of Rs. 1.84 billion in the first quarter, up by 40.50 percent as compared to a profit of Rs. 1.31 billion in the same period last year.

Furthermore, as per the recent monthly sales report shared by Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA), Toyota Indus saw a Year On Year (YoY) sales increase of 106 percent and a Month On Month (MoM) sales increase of 32 percent in September 2020. Compared to that, Honda Atlas recorded an MoM sales decrease of 18 percent and a YoY sales increase of 61 percent.

IMC’s remarkable performance is mainly due to the staggeringly successful sales of Toyota Yaris, which outsold both the Honda City and the Civic combined. IMC sold 3,058 units of Yaris, compared to which Honda sold only 1,858 units of City and Civic put together.

Honda Atlas desperately needs a fresh product in their lineup to get back up to paces with their primary competitor, Toyota IMC. Reports have surfaced on social media about the launch of the new Honda City late next year, which is likely to liven things up a bit for Honda Atlas in terms of business.

With additional input by Waleed Shah

The post Honda Atlas Announces a Massive Turnaround in Latest Financial Results appeared first on .

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The Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, addressed The Future Summit via video link today and shared his thoughts on the topic ‘The Future of Pakistan’.

The adviser said that Pakistan enjoys a natural advantage with its strategic location, agricultural potential, mineral resources, vast coastlines, and close proximity to resource-rich Central Asian and South Asian states.

He remarked that economic prosperity cannot be achieved without transferring the benefits of growth to the masses and that inclusive growth is the key to sustainable economic development with far-reaching benefits for all.

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Dr. Shaikh also outlined the government’s policy for establishing local markets for foreign investors and facilitating them for the development of businesses and the generation of employment in the country.

He stated that the focus of the present government is on building institutions and streamlining procedures for sustainable economic growth, and shared details about the unprecedented reforms that it has introduced.

He also announced that the Primary and Current Account Balances are positive for the first time. The government has returned Rs. 5,000 billion in foreign loans in 2 years and has given Rs. 250 billion in tax refunds to businesses, thus ensuring more liquidity. Additionally, lucrative packages have been introduced for the promotion of exports and special packages have been introduced for SMEs.

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The adviser added that the Rs. 1.2 trillion package that was given by the government during the COVID-19 pandemic is an example of its sensitivity to the sufferings of the people during testing times.

“The private sector has to take a lead role in providing services and employment in the markets. This is the way to sustainable development,” he concluded.

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