Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) has approved four major projects at a cost of nearly Rs. 250 billion in a meeting held today at the Cabinet Block with Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh in the chair.
The meeting discussed a proposal for the construction of the Lodhran-Multan Section (North Bound 62 kms) of N-5 and construction of 2 flyovers at Railways Crossing at Lodhran Bypass and approved the project at a cost of Rs. 12.434 billion.
The project is to be completed in 24 months. 2 flyovers along with three interchanges at Super Chowk and Permit ChowkLodhran and an interchange at Bahawalpur Chowk Multan will also be built.
Besides, four minor bridges, as well as reconstruction & widening of culverts and urban area improvement at BastiMalook, Multan City, and Larr Town, would also be carried out under the project.
The reconstruction of existing two-lane northbound and construction of flyovers, interchanges, and ar..
Category: Technology
Unemployment and Subsequently the Poverty in Pakistan to Increase: EAD
The Economic Affairs Division (EAD) has stated that due to contraction in economic growth and fall in workers’ remittances, the unemployment in Pakistan will increase leading towards raise in poverty besides tightening of financial conditions, leading to complicated situation of external debt maturity refinancing.
The Policy Analysis and Development Wing of the EAD has reviewed reports of international financial institutions (IFIs) on the Covid-19 and examined its impacts on Pakistan’s economy. The EAD Wing has concluded that the Covid-19 pandemic will have severe impacts on Pakistan’s economy.
It further stated that the IFIs’ reports had not quantified the impacts of macroeconomic conditions on the general public.
“We can foresee that due to contraction in economic growth, fall in worker’s remittances; unemployment in Pakistan will increase leading towards increase in poverty in Pakistan. It will continue to put pressure for increased social safety spending in near future even afte..
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
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..
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 ..
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..
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..
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
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
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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