Category: Information Technology

Google’s video-sharing platform YouTube recently announced its audio ads that will target users listening to YouTube in the background.

In the announcement, Melissa Hsieh Nikolic, Group Product Manager YouTube Ads, said that the new format has been designed for audiences that use the website for “ambient listening.” It will help brands tailor their media and creative approach according to different ways consumers are engaging with YouTube.

Hence, you might soon start seeing ads on YouTube that will feel like ads designed for radio or services like Spotify. The audio will be 15 seconds long and will be accompanied by visuals that will either be stills or simple animations.

YouTube claims that “more than 75 percent of measured audio ad campaigns on YouTube drove a significant lift in brand awareness.”

The blog reads,

One of our early testers, Shutterfly, used audio ads to influence purchase consideration among interested shoppers, driving above benchmark lifts of 14 percent lift in ad recall and 2 percent lift in favorability among their target audience.

Along with the new ad format, the website is also launching a new feature called dynamic music lineups. These lineups are basically dedicated groups of channels focused on music divided by popular genres, such as K-Pop and hip-hop, or by interests, such as fitness. These are also focused on helping marketers find their target audiences easily.

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The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has approved the launch of a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Lending Platform under the first cohort of the Regulatory Sandbox to support and encourage the Fintech revolution in the country.

P2P lending is an innovative alternative digital platform that connects borrowers with individual lenders to meet the borrowers’ loan requirements. It facilitates borrowers in giving short-term loans that enable SMEs to scale up their business and eventually qualifies them to take bigger bank loans.

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This current approval for the testing and experimentation of a P2P Lending Platform is also attributed to the development of an ecosystem for SME financing to achieve higher growth prospects and to create new employment and business opportunities.

During the testing and experimentation stage, the P2P Lending Platform will operate within pre-defined parameters and will be subject to certain terms and conditions. Furthermore, the selection of each lender/borrower on the platform will be done according to specific eligibility criteria.

These terms and conditions will address the inherent risks involved in the operation of such a platform in the absence of a regulatory framework. However, they will be reconsidered alongside the results of the experimentation stage of the subject P2P Lending Platform. This will help the SECP devise the much-needed enabling regulatory framework.

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The SECP regulatory sandbox is the framework to accommodate the provision of financial services that leverage new technologies. It also allows FinTech firms to test their services and facilitates the adoption of new technology in a live environment within a limited, well-defined scope.

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A four-member independent jury today announced the team of Pakistan Super League 2020, which will be captained by Islamabad United’s Shadab Khan.

The independent jury included commentators, Bazid Khan, Ramiz Raja and Urooj Mumtaz, and Nadeem Khan, who is a member of the PSL 2020 Technical Committee and PCB Director – High Performance.

The 12-member side, as per the event regulations, includes four foreign players and one emerging category player, and represents five teams with Lahore Qalandars boasting six players, three Karachi Kings, and one each from Islamabad United, Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators.

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Here’s how the team stacks up:

Babar Azam (Karachi Kings)
Chris Lynn (Lahore Qalandars)
Alex Hales (Karachi Kings)
Haider Ali (Peshawar Zalmi)
Mohammad Hafeez (Lahore Qalandars)
Shadab Khan (captain, Islamabad United)
Ben Dunk (wicketkeeper, Lahore Qalandars)
David Wiese (Lahore Qalandars)
Mohammad Amir (Karachi Kings)
Shaheen Shah Afridi (Lahore Qalandars)
Mohammad Hasnain (Quetta Gladiators)
Fakhar Zaman (12th, Lahore Qalandars)

From the above, Babar Azam is the only player who was also a member of the Team of PSL 2019 after he had aggregated 335 runs at an average of 30.45 with a strike-rate 115.51.

While selecting the side, the independent jury considered a number of cricketing aspects, including consistency, impact on the side and results, fitness and best possible team combination so this team can take on any PSL 2020 side on any given day at any of the four tournament venues.

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Shadab Khan said, “I feel honoured to have been appointed captain of Team of the PSL 2020, which includes some fine performers from one of the most successful events. However, it hurts that we were unable to make it to the playoffs. We gave our best shot, which was clearly not enough, and means we have to come harder and stronger when the sixth edition is played next year.”

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The National Assembly Standing Committee on Planning and Development passed the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority Bill 2020 on Tuesday.

The National Assembly Standing Committee held its meeting under the chairmanship of Member of the National Assembly (MNA), Junaid Akbar.

The bill was passed with a majority, even though it had garnered strong resistance from the opposition. One notable NA member who opposed the bill and provided several reasons objecting to the creation of the CPEC Authority was Pakistan Muslim League-N’s, Ahsan Iqbal. After the bill was passed, he gave a note of dissent in writing.

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Creation of CPEC authority is superfluous and unnecessary. Ministry of Planning has discharged the role diligently and effectively in the past.

He said that the actual requirement for the implementation of CPEC is the proper functioning of ministries to perform their role with full ownership and that the creation of a separate CPEC authority will only lead to confusion and conflict between the authority and ministries.

The pay and package of the CPEC Authority Chairman also came under discussion during the meeting, to which the Ministry of Planning said that there was no hefty pay and package provided to the CPEC Authority Chairman.

The ministry’s statement informed, “The Chairman CPEC Authority did not sign any memorandum of understanding after the lapse of CPEC Authority ordinance.”

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Pakistan Cricket Board today announced the schedule of its men’s national cricket team’s tour to England and Wales in July 2021 that will comprise three ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League ODIs and as many T20Is.

The ODIs will be played in Cardiff, London (Lord’s) and Birmingham on 8, 10 and 13 July, respectively while the T20Is will be held in Nottingham, Leeds and Manchester on 16, 18 and 20 July, respectively.

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Official: Full-Strength England Team Will Tour Pakistan Next Year

England lead the points table of the qualification league for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 with 30 points from two three-ODI series. Pakistan share the second spot with Australia on 20 points following a 2-1 series win over Zimbabwe, while Zimbabwe and Ireland are on 10 points each.

The remaining eight sides in the 13-team competition are yet to play their opening fixtures in the Super League from which the seven top-ranked sides and World Cup hosts India will progress directly for the event proper to take place in October/November 2023.

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Official: Full-Strength England Team Will Tour Pakistan Next Year

The ODI series against England will be one of Pakistan’s three away fixtures in 2021 with the other two being against South Africa (April 2021) and Afghanistan (September 2021). In addition to these away series, Pakistan will play two home Super League fixtures against New Zealand and the West Indies in October and December 2021, respectively.

This will be Pakistan’s sixth consecutive tour to England. In 2016, Pakistan drew the four-Test series 2-2, won the ICC Championship Trophy in 2017, drew the two-Test series 1-1 in 2018, missed out on a place in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 semi-finals by a fraction of a point and lost the three-Test series 1-0 in 2020.

Pakistan captain Babar Azam: “England and Wales is our second home as we have been visiting it regularly since 2016. Apart from building relationships and understanding the culture, these tours have helped us to enhance and improve our cricket skills and knowledge, as we now have a good understanding of the conditions and wickets in that part of the world.

“England are the world champions and the number-one ranked side in ODIs, while they sit second in the T20I table. Besides trying to collecting valuable Super League points, our overarching objective is also to improve our white-ball rankings. The series against South Africa, England and New Zealand provides us with opportunities to improve our rankings as lower-ranked sides are awarded more points if they win a series against the side that is ranked above them on the rankings table.

“England boasts some outstanding and world-class cricketers, which is reflected in their team results in the past couple of years. But if we have to qualify directly for the World Cup and also improve our ranking, we have to play and beat stronger oppositions, and I know we are capable of doing this.”

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Pakistan is presently sixth in ODIs behind England, India, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, while Babar Azam’s side is ranked fourth behind Australia, England and India in T20Is. Pakistan sits seventh in Tests.

Provisional Schedule
8 July – 1st ODI, Sophia Gardens, Cardiff

10 July – 2nd ODI, Lord’s, London

13 July – 3rd ODI, Edgbaston, Birmingham

16 July – 1st T20I, Trent Bridge, Nottingham

18 July – 2nd T20I, Headingley, Leeds

20 July – 3rd T20I, Old Trafford, Manchester

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Pakistan’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) may grow in the range of 1.5 percent to 2.5 percent in the current financial year of 2020-21.

This is predicted keeping in view the improvement in the macroeconomic indicators and the possible risks to the economy in line with the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Annual Review issued by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

These growth projections are subject to risks, including the evolution of COVID-19, extreme weather conditions, external demand, and progress on the reform front.

It is pertinent to mention that the federal government has set the GDP growth rate target of 2.1 percent for the financial year FY21. Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank (WB) forecasted a GDP growth rate of 2 percent and 0.5 percent respectively for FY21.

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Pakistan has managed to control the coronavirus spread whilst the number of infected has shown an increase, the overall level of active cases remains significantly lower than the peak observed in June 2020.

While the prevalent risk of another spike calls for a continuation of social distancing norms, the reopening of the economy (including services) has helped reduce some of the uncertainty around the overall macroeconomic outlook.

Preliminary customs’ records for the first quarter of FY21 show a decline of 0.7 percent YoY in the country’s exports, although a seven percent increase was recorded in September.

SBP projected the export values within the range of $23.4 to $23.8 billion in FY21 – higher than the $22.5 billion recorded in FY20.
It also projected that the remittances inflows are likely to settle at $22 billion to $23 billion.

Similarly, the SBP expects full-year imports to remain higher than the last year, given the anticipated pickup in economic activity following the lifting of lockdowns and firms’ efforts to replenish inventories.

The import bill may cross a value of Rs. 43 billion in the current financial year. In particular, the concessions for the construction industry and progress on housing finance would revive steel imports.

Also, lower domestic production and supply-management issues have necessitated imports of wheat and sugar.

Given the stability in oil prices, domestic fuel prices are likely to remain steady during FY21. However, as previous adjustments in the power and gas tariffs are due, there is an upside risk to overall energy inflation. Conditions in the domestic food market are also subject to risk.

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The recent resurgence in wheat and sugar prices continues to highlight commodity-management problems in the country.
Moreover, food prices may also come under pressure due to widespread torrential rains and increased risks of flooding, which may affect crop yield. In contrast, the non-food-non-energy segment of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is expected to ease further, as chances of a significant pickup in domestic demand remain low due to the weak financial position of businesses and households.

Overall, the SBP expects headline inflation to fall within the range of 7-9 percent in FY21. On the fiscal side, challenges remain as the government continues to focus on addressing COVID-related economic and social outcomes and supporting the initial economic recovery.

For the full-year, the government has set the target for the fiscal deficit at 7 percent of GDP with the primary balance also estimated to show a deficit of 0.5 percent.

The current account may show a deficit of 1 to 2 percent of the GDP in FY21, the SBP report stated.

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The improvement in the expected business confidence index was more pronounced, as it touched its second-highest level since the start of this survey. Importantly, this optimism has also begun to reflect in planned investment activity in the country.

The funding requests under the SBP’s Temporary Economic Refinance Facility (TERF) have risen sharply in recent weeks. The scheme, which provides subsidized financing to businesses undertaking Capital expenditures (CapEx) or Benchmark Regulations (BMR), has so far attracted 338 projects. These developments, along with optimism in the housing and construction sectors, could help accelerate the economy’s recovery process in FY21.

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The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) team tasked to ascertain tax anomalies and the extravagance of the wedding ceremony of the Gujranwala-based industrialist’s daughter has submitted its report.

According to media reports, FBR has failed to establish any tax evasion in the lavish wedding ceremony that caught everyone’s attention.

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The Country Club administration, where the event was organized, also informed FBR that the club premises were booked for 15 days only, not for four months, as claimed in media reports. Rumors suggested that Rs. 2 billion were spent on the wedding.

The wedding that took place in Lahore from November 5 to 7 was graced by many showbiz personalities, including Atif Aslam, Abrar-ul-Haq, and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. Esteemed religious scholar, Maulana Tariq Jameel, blessed the couple with a special dua following the Nikkah ceremony.

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The authority had swung into action after pictures and videos of the wedding ceremony went viral on the internet, inviting discussions on the money spent on one wedding.

The FBR had issued a notice under section 176 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, to ascertain withholding tax, and sought a reply by November 16.

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