Category: Business

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

The government on Thursday announced it has raised the price of petrol by Rs4 from October 1 “due to an increase in petroleum prices in the international market”, according to a notification from the Finance Division.

“OGRA has worked out the higher petroleum prices but prime minister has decided against the recommendation and passed on the minimum increase in prices to the consumers,” the notification said.

The government has absorbed the higher international pressure of prices through a reduction in petroleum levy and the sales tax, it added.

“It is pertinent to mention that petroleum prices in Pakistan are the cheapest in the region,” the notification claimed.

Earlier, the OGRA spokesperson said that the price of petroleum products will be announced tomorrow by the government.

Petrol, with the Rs4 increase, costs Rs127.30 per litre, whereas high-speed diesel, with an increase of Rs2, costs Rs122.04 per litre.

Meanwhile, kerosene oil costs Rs7.05 more and is priced at Rs99.31 per litre, while light diesel oil became Rs8.82 dearer to cost Rs99.51 per litre.

 

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Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin on Thursday announced an extension in the deadline for filing income tax returns for the tax year 2021 until 15th October.

The development came after the Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) delegation met with Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin here in Islamabad and requested to extend the tax returns filing deadline.

The delegation informed the finance minister about difficulties being faced by taxpayers in the submission of their returns due to FBR portal crash.

After listening to KCCI reservations, the finance minister extended the deadline for the next 15 days.

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) today confirmed it will not extend the deadline to file a tax return after September 30 midnight.

The Federal Board of Revenue tax collection software IRIS reportedly crashed also as taxpayers scramble to file income tax returns on the last day today.

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Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Prime Minister Imran Khan took to Twitter on Friday to congratulate the nation on the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) “achievement” of collecting Rs1,395 billion tax in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.

“I congratulate the nation on FBR’s achievement of collecting Rs.1,395 billion in Q1 of FA 2021-22 against the target of Rs.1,211 billion,” Prime Minister Khan wrote on his official Twitter handle.

“This represents a growth of 38 percent in revenues over the same period last year.”

The FBR in a Twitter statement said the tax body registered “historic revenue collection growth of 38.3% in first quarter of the FY 2021-22”.

As per provisional information, the FBR said it collected net revenue of Rs.1,395bn during the first quarter of the current fiscal year against the set target of Rs1,211bn, exceeding by Rs186bn.

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Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) 

+Sehat Kahani collaborates with Zong 4G, Pakistan’s leading cellular and digital services provider, to offer thousands of free remote and online consultations for the marginalized strata of society.

The underprivileged members of the community who are Zong4G users can now avail more than 12,000 e-health consultations via the Sehat Kahani Retail app. The process is simple and requires Android/IOS users to download & signup for Sehat Kahani App. After signing up users can search for doctors that are available online on the App offering consultations in different fields of medicine. Users from the

marginalized strata of Pakistan would be able to avail free consultations by utilizing promo code ZONGSEHAT.

Once this process is complete, users from low income communities would be able to connect to a doctor in less than 60 seconds, making healthcare services more accessible and inclusive.

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Venture will promote the Solar Energy Solutions and scale up the livelihoods in Bahawalpur, South Punjab.

Lahore (Sep-2021)

Zonergy, one of the leading Solar Energy Solutions Company, under its Corporate SocialResponsibility program has joined hands with the Government of Punjab,Energy Department to setup a 3 x 100 MW flagship Solar Power Plant located at Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park, Bahawalpur under CPEC framework. The signing ceremony was held in the Minister for Energy Punjab which formalizes the project.

3×100 MW of this three-phase9×100 MW project is already completed that won Luban award, the highest award in the construction works in China. The total investment for the first phase was around 3.125 billion Yuan. Zonergy 9 ×100 MW solar power project spans over 4500 acres of land. Zonergy executes the project by IPP model and the investment of Phase I was USD 460 million. This project is listed as CPEC “Early Harvest” project.

 

This 300MW solar power plant, till date, has generated 2 billion units electricity and fulfill the energy needs of more than 200,000 households. The project created more than 3000 Jobs for Pakistani Nationals. Moreover, Zonergy trained more than 100 Engineers and provided internship opportunities to 50 Students of the University of Engineering & Technology & Islamia University Bahawalpur about the Photovoltaic Technology.

In coming future too, The project will provide annual internship program for the Bahawalpur’s public sector universities, Solarization of Two Makhdoom Rashid Degree Colleges (25+20 KW), Solarization of higher secondary school Bhaili Multan (15KW), installation of 05 KW solar power plant in emergencies of two hospitals at Bahawalpur and Multan, development of two Resource centers for training on Solar/RE technologies at universities in Bahawalpur / Multan, installation of solar power plant at Bahawalpur Victoria & Nishtar Hospital (320+180KW), and installation of water filtration plant at any suitable vicinity in Bahawalpur.

At the signing ceremony, Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar Said, With the government’s thrust on renewables and the target to build self-sustained state, this is the right time for us to foray into solar energy. This joint venture with Zonergy for the solar project in Bahawalpur is both a significant step for the company towards a balanced energy portfolio and a giant leap towards better future for us a nation. This is aligned with our vision of bringing development while leaving less as possible carbon footprint. We are pleased to partner with Zonergy, given their technologically advanced products, EPC capabilities, operations, and maintenance services.

Vice President Zonergy Xu said, Today, renewable energy sector is witnessing a positive momentum. The sector is committed to provide sustainable and affordable energy for all. We believe if Pakistan’s renewable potential is unlocked, it can transform the country’s energy architecture to be dominated by clean energy sources. We look forward to our continuing partnership with the Government, Stakeholders and people and thereby contributing to the country’s energy security.It’s not only about energy solutions but people. Our CSR program will undertake CSR activities in the interest of the people of Bahawalpur & South Punjab keeping in view the international best Practices.

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Lahore (Muhammad Yasir)

The donor funded TVET Sector Support Programme implemented by National Vocational and Technical Training Commission and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) organized the Hunar~Rozgar Mela 2021 in Karachi aimed at showcasing the skill set of Pakistani youth in key economic sectors and providing a platform to the TVET graduates for job seeking. Through this Mela, the TVET Sector Support Programme, which is funded by the European Union, Norwegian and German Governments successfully showcased the skills of training institutes in Sindh that are implementing competency-based training in industry priority economic sectors. These institutes have received assistance from the TVET Sector Support Programme. The ceremony is graced by Provincial Minister of Sindh for Information, Labour and Human resource Mr. Saeed Ghani along with Advisor to Chief Minister on Finance Mr. Syed Ali Shah.

As-many-as 2,500 graduates of TVET Sector Support Programme from 20 different institutes visited recruitment kiosks of 54 national and multinational enterprises for exploring employment opportunity against 1,000 jobs while testing their interview skills in front of more than 100 recruiters in various leading economic sectors of Pakistan.

Speaking at the occasion of closing ceremony of Hunar Rozgar Mela 2021, Mr. Saeed Ghani, Provincial Minister of Sindh for Information, Labour and Human Resource said, “The Hunar Rozgar Mela 2021 is a great initiative and served as a platform to connect hundreds of young jobseekers trained in vocational and technical trades with recruiters and HR professionals from leading enterprises”. He mentioned that the role of programmes like TVET SSP is highly crucial in the socio-economic uplift of the society specially youth.

Consul General of Germany in Karachi, Mr. Holger Ziegeler, said that, “the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) along with its development partners EU and Norway are supporting the reforms in technical education in Pakistan since long. Our efforts are to have as-good vocational and technical training system here as it is in Germany. Today while seeing all these graduates having choice of the employment search as per the same demand-driven aspects of industry is the real showcasing of what we had aimed for.”

First Secretary, Team Leader Governance & Education, European Union Delegation in Pakistan Mr. Sven RUESCH while speaking at the occasion said that the European Union is happy to see the results of TVET Sector Support Programme specially in the area of industry-linkages. “We are supporting the TVET sector reforms in Pakistan since 2011 and are happy to witness the results of our support now. We also hope that the sustainability of this whole initiative remains clearly evident through the GoP’s supported programmes as it is now, Mr. RUESCH said.

This Hunar Rozgar Mela 2021, was conducted to meet employment objectives for over 1,000 openings of private industry, CBT trainees and graduates had their skills shown, notably in key economic areas, and held on-the-spot interviews by the recruitment enterprises of private sector.

Moreover, a panel discussion on the topic ‘Employment for Economic Sustainability and the Role of the Private Sector in TVET’ was conducted. All the panellists put forward their expert opinions on the training and human resource development aspects. The panel discussion ended with closing remarks by the ambassadors and the chief guest.  The Hunar Rozgar Mela 2021 was concluded with the insights from the leading representatives of TVET academia and industry like Head of HR, KIA Lucky Motors, Mr. Ashaar Saeed; Director General Sindh, National Vocational and Technical Training Commission, Ms. Nabila Umar, Chairman, Sindh Technical Education, and Vocational Training Authority, Mr. Saleem Raza Jalbani, Dr. Fatima Khushnud Head of Policy, Research and New Business, Engro Energy Limited and Mr. Olaf Handloegten, Cluster Coordinator, Training and Sustainable Growth for Decent Jobs, GIZ-Pakistan.

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Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Leading smartphone manufacturer & innovator, OPPO is planning to upgrade its assembly plant to manufacturing plant in Pakistan. The company has set target to manufacture 5 million mobile phones per annum.

Federal Minister for Industries and Production Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar met with CEO OPPO Pakistan, George Long in his office. During meeting, CEO apprised the minister that the company is optimistic to export locally manufactured sets from Pakistan.

George highlighted that his company is also aiming to establish R&D center for transfer of technology and skill development of IT professionals in Pakistan. While welcoming the announcement of OPPO Pakistan, minister said that GoP’s investment-friendly policies have improved the business ecosystem in Pakistan.

He said that local manufacturing will keep prices under control for local customers of mobile phones, but it will also enable expansion of the mobile phone industry to become bigger player in economy. He said that this growth would result in the creation of numerous employment opportunities within the industry as well as associated industries in the country.

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Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Prime Minister Imran Khan will land in Karachi today on a day-long visit to perform the groundbreaking of the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) project. The prime minister will be accompanied by Railways Minister Azam Swati and other federal ministers.

All arrangements in this regard have been finalized at the Karachi Cantonment railway station. The ceremony will be held at a newly constructed guest house of the cantonment railway station.

In a statement issued here, the Sindh governor confirmed that PM Imran Khan will arrive in Karachi to lay the foundation stone of the circular railway project aimed at facilitating the local people in the metropolis on Monday.

The Green Line Bus Rapid Transit System will be inaugurated by next month, he said, adding that the Greater Karachi Bulk Water Supply Scheme, better known as the K-IV project, will be completed by the end of 2023.

During his day-long stay in the metropolis, the prime minister will chair several meetings at Governor House, Karachi to get a briefing on ongoing development projects in the port city, security situation and the overall political situation of the province.

KCR project:

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) yesterday approved a summary regarding the construction of infrastructure for the elimination of level crossings for the loop section of Karachi Circular Railway (KCR).

The project envisages the construction of flyovers and underpasses along the route of KCR for the elimination of 22-level crossings. The rationalised cost of the project is Rs20.71 billion on a cost-sharing basis. The project will facilitate the free movement of the KCR train.

KCR envisaged the construction of a 43km-long world-class affordable mass transit system using environment-friendly electric trains.