Category: Technology

The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has taken notice of the public concerns and complaints regarding the shortage of petroleum products in the country and initiated an inquiry to see whether such a shortage is the result of any anti-competitive activity.
The CCP is empowered under the Competition Act, 2010 to ensure that businesses do not engage in anti-competitive activities including abuse of dominant position or cartelization that may result in the shortage of supplies or an unreasonable increase in prices of products.
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The sudden shortage of fuel across the country at a time when the Government has reduced prices followed by low demand due to COVID-19 pandemic arises suspicion that artificial shortage might have been created either by limiting supply at the Oil Marketing Companies, and/or hoarding at the distribution level.
Further, the possibility of abuse of dominant position by these comp..

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The country’s foreign exchange reserves recorded a massive decline of $1.71 billion in a single week ending on 29 May. The foreign exchange reserves now stand at $16.9 billion.
The reserves contracted significantly due to the scheduled payment of the debts to various foreign countries, agencies, and banks by the country.
The huge outflow of Dollars in a single month exerted pressure on the Rupee which depreciated recently against Dollar to cross the 165 level.
During the month of May, the overall reserves fell by over $1.824 billion.
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The country has to make payments of over $3 billion in June against loans and bonds to IMF and investors which will further squeeze the foreign exchange reserves.
The prevailing situation of foreign exchange reserves is getting worrisome during the period of an economic slowdown. Pakistan is looking for rescheduling of its loans from various banks and agencies in or..

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According to a recently published report by the Digital Rights Foundation (DRF), cyber harassment complaints in Pakistan have increased manifold during the Coronavirus-induced lockdown.
Titled “COVID-19 and Cyber Harassment,” the report states that cyber harassment complaints during March and April, following the enforcement of lockdown by the government, jumped up by 189% against the complaints registered in January and February.
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Cyber Harassment incidents reported by women account for 74% of the total complaints. Meanwhile, 19% of complaints were lodged by men and 5% by non-binary persons.
Sexual harassment, surveillance, unauthorized and non-consensual use and dissemination of personal data, and blackmailing and manipulation using personal information, images, and videos are some of the forms of complaints of online harassment reported by women during March and April.
The report recommends the government to streaml..

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Ehsaas has introduced a supplementary payment solution to facilitate beneficiaries of Ehsaas Emergency Cash who are eligible but were facing problems in withdrawing money owing to biometric identification issues.
The supplementary solution has done away with the biometric verification of fingerprints from NADRA offices. Now, beneficiaries with this issue will be paid exclusively in the designated bank branches of partner banks without biometric verification.
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Two banks are partnering with Ehsaas for emergency cash transfers- Habib Bank Limited is serving in Punjab, Sindh, and Balochistan and Bank Alfalah across KP, GB, and AJK.
According to the Ehsaas Emergency Cash distribution process, the biometric verification of thumb or finger impressions was previously mandatory to collect the cash handout being disbursed to the low-income strata.
Under the newly introduced supplementary solution, Ehsaas will send out a ..

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It’s an age of social media and almost everyone loves to browse through different platforms to keep themselves up to date with every happening around the globe. With cricket lovers itching to see what’s going on in the lives of their favorite cricketers the stars have also started giving more importance to social media.
A number of Pakistan cricketers, especially the retired ones, have garnered millions of followers, likes, and subscribers on their Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages. Topping the chart is none other than the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan.
Imran Khan – 25 Million It’s a no brainer that the Pakistani cricketer with most followers is Imran Khan. The 67-year-old has a massive fan base as he leads the way with a total of 25 million followers including 9.8 million on Facebook, 11.8 million on Twitter, and 3.4 million on Instagram.
Shahid Afridi – 10.7 Million Imran Khan’s popularity can be gauged from the fact that he has more than double the number of followe..

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Google Chrome’s share in the browser market reached a record high in May which is a milestone the browser achieved three years ago. The report published by Net Applications also revealed that Microsoft Edge is starting to gain ground as well.
The search engine giant’s popular internet browser, Chrome, recorded highs for 5 months straight and landed another one this month with a whopping 69.8% market share. This amount of market share was achieved by Microsoft’s then signature browser, the Internet Explorer, which held 70% back in 2008.
If Chrome breaks the 70% mark, it will be the third browser to do so after Microsoft IE and Netscape Navigator, an ancestor of Mozilla Firefox. The publisherclaims that Google will continue to dominate the market until a new player appears and disrupts its presence, which, according to Net Applications is going to be Edge Chromium, the Chrome clone.
As most of you may already know, the Microsoft Edge browser has recently received a revamp to become Ed..

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The government has proposed Rs. 630 billion for Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) with a growth rate of over 2 percent in the upcoming budget for 2021-22.
A consultative meeting of the Annual Plan Coordination Committee (APCC) was held in the Planning Commission on 4th June 2020. Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Jahanzeb Khan chaired the meeting.
Federal Ministries, State Bank, Ministry of Finance, provincial and special area governments participated in the meeting. Secretary Ministry of Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives said that APCC is a consultative body, and the macroeconomic and development framework will be subject to adjustment in the light of the recommendations of the APCC.
Deputy Chairman highlighted the importance of finalizing the COVID-19 responsive Annual Plan.
APCC was told that the economy was heading towards revival until the beginning of March 2020; however, with the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic economic landscape has changed. Befor..

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