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..
Category: Technology
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, ..
Pentagon Fnally Releases Videos Evidence of Alien Objects Seen by US Navy [Video]
Pentagon has formally released 3 short videos comprising unidentified aerial phenomena that had been leaked by a private company between December 2017 and March 2018.
According to Pentagon spokesperson Sue Gough, Pentagon is officially releasing the videos to clear up misconceptions among the general public on whether the videos are real or not. One video was recorded in 2004 while the other two were recorded in 2015.
After a thorough review, the Pentagon has determined that the authorized release of these unclassified videos does not reveal any sensitive capabilities or systems. It also does not impinge on any subsequent investigations of military air space incursions by unidentified aerial phenomena.
In September 2019, the US Navy acknowledged the authenticity of the videos released by To The Stars Academy of Arts & Sciences.
Here are the videos recently corroborated by the Pentagon:
From 2004 From 2015 In the video from 2004, F-18 Super Hornet’s sensors lock on an unidentified ..
Newly Discovered Bat Species Will Help Understand The Coronavirus
In a study published on Wednesday in a special issue of the journal ZooKeys on the coronavirus; it was announced that four new species of African leaf-nosed bats have been found and they are related to the bats that are the host for COVID-19 –horseshoe bats.
It is crucial to identify all the species of bats as it will help in our understanding of diseases like COVID-19. While the main focus has been on how they spread diseases but the bats also pollinate crops, disperse seeds and eat insects. Sadly, they are still unknown to us and as per experts, humans have only identified 25% of all bat species in the last 15 years.
Bruce Patterson, lead study author and Macarthur curator of mammals at Chicago’s Field Museum said,
Bats are small, nocturnal and use high-frequency sound and smell to identify their species to other bats. Because we are large, diurnal, and reliant on vision (and lower-frequency sounds), we can’t read their signals very precisely. The real diversity of bats has really..
Newly Discovered Bat Species Will Help Understand The Coronavirus
In a study published on Wednesday in a special issue of the journal ZooKeys on the coronavirus; it was announced that four new species of African leaf-nosed bats have been found and they are related to the bats that are the host for COVID-19 –horseshoe bats.
It is crucial to identify all the species of bats as it will help in our understanding of diseases like COVID-19. While the main focus has been on how they spread diseases but the bats also pollinate crops, disperse seeds and eat insects. Sadly, they are still unknown to us and as per experts, humans have only identified 25% of all bat species in the last 15 years.
Bruce Patterson, lead study author and Macarthur curator of mammals at Chicago’s Field Museum said,
Bats are small, nocturnal and use high-frequency sound and smell to identify their species to other bats. Because we are large, diurnal, and reliant on vision (and lower-frequency sounds), we can’t read their signals very precisely. The real diversity of bats has really..
NEPRA Approves 2 50MW Solar Power plants in KP & Sindh
According to reports, two local businesses have been granted licenses by the government to establish solar power plants of up to 100 megawatts at an estimated investment of $100 million.
The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) approved generation licenses to two solar power plants of 50MW each. They have been given to Artistic Solar Energy (Private) Limited for a plant in Sukkur district worth $45 million and $55 million will be invested by Siddiqsons Kohat Solar Limited for their plant in Kohat district.
NEPRA said that these projects will help utilize untapped renewable energy optimally and increase the share of the pollution-free electricity. In a document, NEPRA said,
There is a global trend of reduction in the prices of PV cells, which results in lower tariffs as is evident from various determinations of the authority. These lower tariffs will result in a reduction of the overall basket price which will be beneficial to the public at large.
NEPRA said that all..
Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore & Peshawar Record Significant Drop in Pollution After Lockdown
The coronavirus pandemic has forced countries to impose stern lockdowns to contain the spread of the disease, bringing economic activities worldwide to an abrupt halt.
While industrial lockdown has brought hardship to all those associated with it, it has also bought the environment enough time to recover to some extent from all the toxicity of the past decades.
Air quality levels across South Asia are the worst in the world, resulting in thousands of premature deaths each year. Last year, Pakistan was ranked the second most polluted country in the world according to World Air Quality Report 2019. While India was ranked fifth, Bangladesh topped the charts for the most polluted country.
In Pakistan, the federal government, after deliberating with provincial governments, enforced a nationwide lockdown after the coronavirus cases started to surge rapidly last month.
Data released by the Center for Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) recently shows that air pollution in m..
KP Launches COVID-19 Pool Testing in Pakistan, Increasing Capacity by 5 Times
According to KP’s Health Minister, Taimur Khan Jhagra, the province is going to start pool testing for COVID-19, increasing its testing capacity by 3 to 5 times.
The pool testing will be carried out at the Khyber Medical University (KMU), the minister said in a press briefing.
KMU, KP’s flagship coronavirus testing lab, has conducted 27 trials of pool testing. The results of the tests were 100% accurate. As a result, KMU is now mandated to perform pool tests.
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Pool Testing Pool testing involves taking swab samples from all individuals in a sample population and carrying out a combined test of them using the PCR procedure.
For instance, health officials have to take swab samples from a sample population of 200 individuals and test them for COVID-19.
In individual testing, officials must have to test 200 swab samples individually which consumes a lot of time and resources.
In pool testing, the population can be divided into 40..
Harbhajan Singh Reveals the Pakistani Batsman Who Made Him Cry
Harbhajan Singh is viewed as one of the best Indian off-spin bowlers to have ever graced the game of cricket.
During his 18 year-long international career, the Turbanator had many thrilling duels with batsmen such as Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Brian Lara, Jacques Kallis, Hashim Amla, Kumar Sangakkara, and many more.
While Singh outplayed world-class batsmen most of the time, there were some batsmen who got the better of him.
Recently, in a live Instagram video, Harbhajan Singh was asked by former teammate Rohit Sharma to name the toughest batsman he ever bowled to in his playing days.
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In response, Harbhajan named 5 batsmen who made him feel helpless on the field; 2 from Pakistan and 1 each from Australia, South Africa, and West Indies.
Younis Khan, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Brian Lara, Mathew Hayden, and Jacques Kallis are the 5 batsmen that Harbhajan found toughest to bowl. Of all these, Harbhajan foun..
IPL 2020 Might Get Cancelled Due to PCB’s Stance on Asia Cup
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has categorically said that it will not accept any changes to the schedule of the Asia Cup to accommodate the Indian Premier League (IPL). PCB Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Wasim Khan, asserted this on TV.
Wasim said that after the Indian cricket board’s refusal to play in Pakistan, PCB is hoping to host the tournament in the UAE. The event will go on as planned in September if the coronavirus pandemic does not force it to delay.
He, however, put it clearly that no alteration to the original schedule will be allowed to accommodate the currently-suspended IPL.
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Babar Azam & Sarfraz Ahmed Shock Everyone in Online Fitness Test Results
Our stance is absolutely clear, the Asia Cup is set for September and the only reason it should not take place is continued health safety issues. We will not accept that the Asia Cup is moved to accommodate the IPL.
His statement came in response to the talks that Asia Cup might be moved to the November-December s..
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