Year: 2020

A crude quandary for Gulf states and Pakistan

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SLIDING market prices, lowering demand and healthy output projections are set to hit the single product, oil-rich economies of the Middle East, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in its report last week. All this was anticipated. Oil-rich Gulf states are now expected to see a six per cent real GDP contraction this year, the report said. Real GDP growth for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states averaged 4.7pc from 2000 to 2016. “On average, we will see growth going negative by 6.6pc for oil-exporting countries,” Jihad Azour, director of…

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NCOC sounds alarm after Covid-19 positivity rate increases for 5th consecutive day

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Two days after issuing a lockdown  and calling for better compliance with Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs), the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Friday noted an increase in the country’s positivity rate, virus-related deaths and hospital admissions. During the morning session of the forum, health officials presented data on the country’s Covid outbreak. The forum noted that the positivity ratio had risen for the fifth consecutive day, a statement issued by the NCOC said. The average positivity rate is 40 per cent higher during the last four days, the…

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WAPDA Eyes On Rohtas Dam In Jhelum

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Hydel-Power

October 21, 2020: Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) eyes on Rohtas Dam as it has decided to implement the Project for effective mitigation of floods and store flood water to be used for agriculture. With this in view, WAPDA has been evaluating the possibility to construct thisProject more vigorously. This was revealed during a meeting presided over by WAPDA Chairman Lt Gen Muzammil Hussain (Retd) and attended by the senior officers concerned. Underlining the need for construction of dams, the Chairman said that Rohtas Dam, like other water reservoirs,…

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WhatsApp turns to business messaging to generate revenue

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CALIFORNIA: The world’s most popular messaging service is pushing more aggressively into customer service features, including a pay-to-message option for businesses, and says it’s focusing on enterprise tools, not advertising. WhatsApp paused plans for targeted advertising late last year, surprising those who thought it would follow in line with its parent company. “Our focus has been on the business messaging products,” says Matt Idema, WhatsApp’s chief operating officer. He said WhatsApp still envisions ads inside Status, a feature on the app similar to Facebook’s Stories, at some point. WhatsApp announced an…

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As Iranian petrol smuggling threatens to cause another shortage, PSO turns its head

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On steep, jagged, dirt roads in Balochistan, a fleet of beat down Honda motorcycles make a treacherous trek across the unmanned and largely ignored border between Iran and Pakistan. From afar, to people sitting in Lahore or Karachi, these bikers with large blue drums attached on either side of their bikes might look like milkmen going above and beyond in the line of duty.  In reality, they are smuggling gasoline from Iran into Pakistan. Each biker can transport up to 40 liters, which can earn them up to Rs500 for…

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