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Coronavirus: Nationwide Lockdown Will Be Further Eased, Announces Imran Khan

Prime minister Imran Khan on Thursday announced that the nationwide lockdown will be further eased with more industries and businesses allowed to resume operations under necessary SOPs. The decision, he said, was based on the virus situation in the country which is still stable compared to Europe, US, and other developed countries. The PM gave examples of Iran and Egypt that too had chosen to reopen economy while keeping public gatherings restricted. The premier shared that he had discussed the virus measures with Iranian and Egyptian leaderships while exchanging data and information for more informed decisions. He said that Pakistan’s virus statistics were much similar to Egypt’s which also had chosen to not let people die from starvation by opening all businesses. PM Imran stated that since no one knew how long the virus could last, it’s imperative that citizens maintain social distancing and follow preventive measures to keep the pandemic under control. “The outbreak can go fu..
Situation Report: Coronavirus is Picking up Fast with Around 1,000 New Cases in a Day
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Situation Report: Coronavirus is Picking up Fast with Around 1,000 New Cases in a Day

Coronavirus, as it was feared and communicated by Prime Minister of Pakistan, has picked up its pace as daily new cases have reached around a grim milestone of 1,000. New deaths, however, still remained (comparatively) low and around 15. Sindh reported 358 new coronavirus patients, while Punjab recorded 279 positive cases in a day, followed by KP that reported 178 new cases. Balochistan also remained consistent with 78 new additions in last 24 hours. GB added six new cases while AJK reported no new coronavirus positive case in past 24 hours. Total deaths reached 385 — as KP added 15 new deaths to the provincial tally. These cases include suspected but previously unconfirmed COVID-19 related deaths or had been reported and managed at district level. In addition to 15 such newly added cases, KP reported 9 deaths while Sindh reported 12 deaths and Punjab recorded 3 Coronavirus related deaths in the province during past 24 hours. 3,706 patients were hospitalized, up from 3,560 a day ag..
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Daraz Launches Humqadam Program with Rs 4.5 Crore Subsidy to Facilitate Businesses Transitioning Online

Daraz, the leading online marketplace of Pakistan, has launched the ‘Humqadam’ program to lessen the financial duress on small-and-medium enterprises during a period of economic instability caused by the outbreak of the COVID19 pandemic. With the ‘Humqadam’ program, Daraz is offering a subsidy of PKR 4.5 crore to small-and-medium businesses and is inviting them to establish their online ventures on the platform with the promise that they will not be charged commission for the months of May and June. As the restrictions imposed on businesses under lockdown have been relaxed, which implies that they are permitted to operate online. Daraz ‘Humqadam’ program is a ready solution for brick-and-mortar establishments that want to shift towards e-commerce but do not have access to logistics or technological expertise. Through the program, sellers will also have access to free business consultation and education on e-commerce operations through Daraz University, an online platform. Daraz is ..
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Intel Unlocks its GPU Driver to Enable Updates on Older PCs

Focusing on providing more frequent and better graphics updates, Intel has unlocked its GPU drivers enabling users to install the latest version on their systems without needing OEMs approval. Although blocking drivers have offered the required protection against new drivers tampering with system customizations, it has also restricted users to older systems. This happens because most OEMs don’t provide regular updates for drivers. Fixing the issue, yesterday, Intel released a new version (26.20.100.8141) of its Windows 10 GPU driver. This version is fully unlocked and allows users to install it on virtually any OEM system running a current, supported version of Windows 10 on top of an Intel Gen9 or later iGPU. One of the key developments here is Microsoft’s newer Declarative Componentized Hardware (DCH) video driver format that was introduced two years ago with Windows 10 1803. For the uninitiated: DCH is a newer, modularized driver format that allows for more piecemeal distributio..
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NIFT and Haball Join Hands to Introduce Contextual Business to Business (B2B) Payments

National Institutional Facilitation Technologies (NIFT) (an existing Payment System Operator/Provider (PSO/PSP) offering nation-wide cheque clearing services) and Haball (a B2B FinTech and Corporate Aggregator) sign an Institutional Aggregation Agreement for enabling B2B payments through NIFT’s Digital Financial Services platform under the brand name “NIFT ePay”. The strategic agreement is aimed to promote digitization of B2B and Supply Chain payments through a contextual railroad designed for B2B payments that is deeply integrated with businesses’ ERP / Supply Chain platforms and offers capturing of complete context throughout various stages in B2B payments lifecycle while creating interoperability for business payments. Since the last decade, great focus has been made by the financial industry in Pakistan for digitization of payments, however, the majority of the efforts revolve around consumer payments. B2B payments have largely been neglected due to inherent challenges posed by s..
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Dolmen Mall Waives Off 100% Rent of Stores & Retail Outlets

The management of Dolmen Mall Clifton has waived off 100 percent rentals for tenants including stores, sales centers, restaurants, and retail outlets by 15 May 2020. The decision was taken by the management of Dolmen City REIT in compliance with directives of the Government of Sindh to contain the spread of COVID-19 across the province of Sindh, according to the notification issued to PSX. Banks and supermarkets providing essential services do not fall under this exemption. Moreover, the management also provided a 50% rental waiver to the tenants of “The Harbour Front” for the month of May 2020. This measure will provide cost and cash flow relief to tenant partners whose business is affected by the pandemic. The mall will continue to engage with the tenants and monitor the situation closely and may extend the aforementioned dates based on a decision by Government, the notification added. The management said: We fully support the efforts of Sindh and Federal Governments to contain..
Situation Report: Pakistan Reports 806 New Cases, 26 Deaths in 24 Hours
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Situation Report: Pakistan Reports 806 New Cases, 26 Deaths in 24 Hours

Pakistan saw its deadliest day for new cases and number of deaths since the emergence of Coronavirus during late February, as the country reported 806 new Coronavirus positive cases and 26 deaths due to Coronavirus related complications during past 24 hours. As per official data, issued by NCOC, total number of new cases reached 14,885 as Sindh reported 335 new cases, while Punjab recorded 187, KP 176, Islamabad 36, GB 10 and Balochistan 62 new cases during the last 24 hours. Just to be mentioned, Islamabad and KP saw their highest daily jump in new cases since the beginning of the outbreak. Deaths also reached its highest daily number yet with 10 fatalities from KP, 9 from Punjab and another 7 from Sindh. Of new 26 deaths, 20 patients were on ventilator; said the official data. Number of patients in hospital reached 3,687, up from 3,556 a day ago — of those 3,558 patients are in stable condition. 85 patients are said to be in critical condition, but are not on ventilator while an..
Coronavirus: Pakistan Sets A Grim New Record With 26 Deaths In 24 Hours
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Coronavirus: Pakistan Sets A Grim New Record With 26 Deaths In 24 Hours

On its deadliest pandemic day yet, Pakistan’s coronavirus death toll rose by a record 26 cases overnight to 327. Of the new fatalities, 10 were reported in KP, 9 in Punjab, while 7 people died in Sindh. This is the second consecutive day that Pakistan has registered record single-day deaths as on Tuesday too, the country reported its highest jump of 20 new deaths. Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, state health minister Zafar Mirza said that with the day’s exception, the overall daily death rate due to Covid-19 had remained on the same level in the country which ‘is a good thing’. He also announced that the government was charting out a national plan for safety and protection of frontline healthcare workers during the Covid-19 fight, which would be announced in a few days. He reiterated the importance of social distancing and other safety measures to curb the virus’ spread. Globally, over 3 million people have been infected by the virus, out of which 1 million are now in th..
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Govt Signs $15 Million Loan Agreement With ADB

The Government of Pakistan and the Asian Development Bank have signed a concessional loan agreement of $15 million for Punjab urban development projects. This concessional loan is a Project Readiness Financing Facility for engineering and designing urban development projects in seven (7) major cities across Punjab, as identified by the provincial government. Dr. Syed Pervaiz Abbasi, Secretary, Economic Affairs Division (EAD) signed the Loan Agreement with Xiaohong Yang, Country Director, ADB. The Local Government & Community Development Department, Government of Punjab is the executing agency for the project. The PRF is expected to be completed by 31st October 2022. The PRF shall prepare readiness for ensuing projects across seven major cities in Punjab province, which are: Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Multan, Muzaffargarh, Rahim Yar Khan, Rawalpindi, and Sargodha. The activities under the PRF include: Preparation of Spatial Land Use Plans; Updating surveys and studies, and invest..
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Zameen’s Parent group EMPG and OLX Group Merge Businesses in MENA and South Asia

Emerging Markets Property Group (EMPG) — the parent group of Zameen.com with operations in GCC, Pakistan, Thailand, Bangladesh, Morocco and Tunisia — and OLX Group, Prosus’s global classifieds business, have announced their merger in Pakistan, Egypt, Lebanon and the UAE. The agreement includes a US $150 million investment round, led by OLX Group along with existing EMPG shareholders, which values EMPG at US $1 billion after the transaction. As part of the deal, OLX Group will contribute its operations in the four countries into EMPG and will become EMPG’s largest single shareholder, owning 39% of the company. EMPG will use the new capital to develop a range of new services, creating a more seamless user experience, enhancing data transparency, and deepening market intelligence for both consumers and business users. In Pakistan both the groups will continue to operate through their well-known local brands, however, for Egypt and Lebanon EMPG will operate the existing OLX platforms, ..