ECC approves Rs760mln for PSM staff
ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Wednesday approved Rs760 million for the payment of two-month salaries to the employees of Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM).
The ECC, which met with Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar in the chair at the Prime Minister Office, took the decision in order to facilitate the PSM employees on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha.
The salaries would be paid before Eid. The committee also approved Rs322.021 million for the payment of gratuity and provident funds to the retired PSM employees. The gratuity payment to the retired employees was due since April 2013 and provident fund since April 2015.
The meeting was informed that all the payments on both the accounts were clear before the abovementioned period. The ECC also approved the proposal by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources, allowing Pakistan State Oil (PSO) to proceed for finalising the Addendum to the existing product sale and purchase contract with Kuwait Petroleum Corporation for supply of furnace oil and jet fuel with the directive to make efforts to improve the payment terms.
For the upcoming Saarc conference and other future events, the ECC also approved exemption from all the taxes and duties on the import of armoured and security vehicles for international dignitaries.
Pak-Iran trade to rise to $5bln
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Ambassador to Iran, AsifAli Khan Durrani on Wednesday said the trade volume with Iran would rise to $5 billion in four years.
The ambassador in an interview with IRNA said the two countries kept offering support to each other and enjoyed very strong friendly relations. On Iran’s nuclear agreement, he said the deal had opened up many avenues for tackling problems. The deal, he said resulted in lowering sanctions against Iran.
He said a number of problems between the two countries like in banking areas had started to disappear due to the agreement. Referring to the visit of the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to Pakistan this year, he noted that agreements in areas like electricity export, insurance, chambers of commerce, strategic commerce, planning, media, medicine, healthcare, and tourism were signed between the two countries.
Exporters awarded
By our correspondent
LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Shariff has said Pakistan’s economy has made considerable improvement due to the untiring efforts of the present regime. He said foreign investors were showing keen interest to invest in Pakistan because of the healthy economic indicators.
He was addressing winners of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Export Trophy on Wednesday at Punjab Chief Ministers’ House. About 20 leading exporters were given trophies for best export performance.
Punjab CM said the business community was an important pillar of economy, and the government was ensuring maximum facilities for the community. He said that after the completion of the ongoing projects, sufficient energy would be available for trade and industry. The CM said that if the same efforts had been done in the past, the economic situation would have been quite encouraging today. He also prayed for the early recovery of LCCI President Sheikh Muhammad Arshad.
SECMC, Engro Thar Power sign deal
News Desk
KARACHI: Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) and Engro Thar Power Limited (EPTL) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Wateen Telecom – Pakistan’s largest telecommunication service provider – for provision of Dedicated Internet, Data and Telecommunication services to SECMC and EPTL at their coal mining and power plant sites at Thar, a statement said on Wednesday.
Wateen Telecom CEO Rizwan Tiwana stated: “Our trust and 'customer first' strategy, supported by a complete network end to end with a one window ICT solution provides technology of international standards to Government, Educational and Enterprise markets and the Energy sector of which SECMC / EPTL are prominent industry leaders.”
Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) CEO Shamsuddin Ahmad Shaikh said: “The synergy of Wateen with SECMC and EPTL is a welcome combination to achieve our goal to deliver our customary exceptional client experiences through improved operational efficiency. The provision of internet facility in Thar Block II will enhance our connectivity and will provide advanced digital solutions for Company’s key industrial segments .”
Pakistan Microfinance Forum in Oct
News Desk
KARACHI: The 10th Pakistan Microfinance Forum 2016 organised by SHAMROCK Conferences International will be held on October 4 at a local hotel. The theme of this year’s milestone conference is “Transform Lives. Innovate for the Poor”. A special feature of the tenth edition of the microfinance forum will be the giving away of the “Pakistan Microfinance Recognition Awards” to all the major microfinance entities. Held every year, the annual assembly of microfinance practitioners, which includes participation of the State Bank of Pakistan, microfinance banks and institutions in the country, commercial banks and key stakeholders take part in the daylong proceedings.
New sugarcane tech introduced
KARACHI: The National Sugar and Tropical Horticulture Research Institute (NSTHRI) of Pakistan Agriculture Research Council at Makli near Thatta city has introduced multifunction plastic film technology in sugarcane, besides coming up with various new varieties of banana, tomatoes, etc.
This sugarcane technology benefits the farmers in terms of maximum germination and increased cane yield and reduces the irrigation water application as compared to farmers' normal practice.
This was informed to newsmen based in Karachi who were taken to this important agriculture research facility about 100km away from here, a statement said. The institute owns 60 acre agricultural land used for sugarcane breeding research at Deh Kalakot on Thatta-Ghorabari road almost 14km from the main office.
NSTHRI Director Dr Abdul Fatah Soomro in his presentation highlighted the objectives and achievements of this research centre.
Indian tycoon pledges free 4G
MUMBAI: Outside a tiny Reliance store in a trendy Mumbai neighbourhood, residents queued for hours this week for a new SIM card promising free data -- and a dramatic reshaping of the Indian mobile landscape.Mukesh Ambani, India´s richest man, announced his long-awaited Reliance Jio 4G network with an audacious free service for the rest of 2016, followed by vastly cheaper data plans and free voice calls for life.
Anticipating the shake-up, rival Airtel has already slashed 3G and 4G prices by up to 80 percent while Vodafone has heaped more data into its prepaid tariffs. Yet analysts say competitors will struggle to match the deep pockets of a startup backed by Reliance Industries, the energy-to-chemicals conglomerate.
"I am hoping Jio can help me bring down my bills while providing unlimited internet usage," said Pushpraj Yadav, an e-commerce worker in Mumbai who complains he "incurs huge bills" for his data use. "Competition between Jio and other networks like Airtel is good for consumers."