ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has reported 594 fresh cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, taking the tally of confirmed infections to 1,296,527. According to the latest figures shared by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), a total of 45,585 samples were tested during this period, out of which 594 turned out to be positive, showing a national positivity rate of 1.3 per cent as compared to yesterday’s 1.08%. The death toll from the pandemic climbed to 28,941 after eight more patients succumbed to the viral disease in the past 24 hours. The number of Covid-19 patients in critical care…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
The European Union has drawn up plans to label some natural gas and nuclear energy projects as “green” investments after a year-long battle between governments over which investments are truly climate-friendly. The European Commission is expected to propose rules in January deciding whether gas and nuclear projects will be included in the EU “sustainable finance taxonomy”. This is a list of economic activities and the environmental criteria they must meet to be labelled as green investments. By restricting the “green” label to truly climate-friendly projects, the system aims to make those investments more attractive to private capital, and stop “greenwashing”,…
BEIJING: China will cut subsidies on new energy vehicles (NEVs), such as electric cars, by 30% in 2022 and withdraw them all together at the end of the year, the Finance Ministry said on its website. The ministry had said in April 2020 that NEV subsidies would be cut from 2020 to 2022 by 10%, 20% and 30%, respectively. For NEVs for public transport, subsidies would be cut by 10% in 2021 and by 20% in 2022. China, the world’s biggest auto market, has set a target for NEVs, including plug-in hybrids and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, to make up…
SYDNEY: England’s young batters have been given a “wake-up call” by Australia in the Ashes series and must use it to kick-start their careers, assistant coach Graham Thorpe said. England find themselves down 3-0 in the five-match series, with none of their batters scoring a century amid struggles against Australia’s superb pace attack. But Thorpe, who scored more than 6,000 runs in 100 Tests for England, said that the players had started working on solutions to their problems. “With some players it’s a wake-up call and could actually kick-start their careers because they’ve started training in a very different way.…
SYDNEY: While Usman Khawaja is ready to fill in for Travis Head in the fourth Ashes Test against England, the veteran Australia batsman hopes his would not be a stop-gap role this year. Head will miss the Sydney contest, which begins on Wednesday, after testing positive, and Khawaja is set to play his first Test in more than two years. Khawaja is aware that Head, whose match-winning 152 in the Brisbane opener set the tone for Australia’s unassailable 3-0 lead in the series, is likely to reclaim the spot in the final Test in Hobart but believes he can still…
LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was given an approval by the government on Friday for the construction of a brand new cricket stadium in Islamabad by 2025. The decision was taken in a meeting held between PCB chairman Ramiz Raja and Prime Minister Imran Khan here. Pakistan is set to host the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy and Ramiz, since his election as the board’s chief, has been vocal about the state of international cricket venues in the country not being according to the required standard. In a recent press conference, the former Test captain had said the PCB was…
Indian captain Virat Kohli has every reason to be confident his team can seal an historic Test series win in South Africa when they face the hosts in the second Test at the Wanderers Stadium on Monday. “It’s a ground we all loving playing on and we are looking forward to it,” said Kohli after India won the first Test at Centurion by 113 runs on Thursday. The numbers bear out Kohli’s optimism. India have yet to be beaten in a Test match at South Africa’s premier cricket stadium and have a record of two wins and three draws since…
KARACHI: The Collectorate of Customs Appraisement, Quetta, seized illegal urea fertiliser worth Rs7.2 million being smuggled to Afghanistan, according to a press release issued on Saturday. Upon receiving a tip-off about a vehicle carrying urea to Afghanistan from Chaman in the garb of fresh vegetables, the assistant collector at Custom House, Chaman, formed a team to ensure an effective execution of the information. An examination of the vehicle — a 10-wheeler truck — led to the recovery of urea concealed under the cover load of potatoes. A total of 480 bags of urea, each weighing 50kg, were concealed under 80…
KARACHI: Commodity producers across Pakistan will soon be able to directly sell their merchandise globally and receive payments promptly without having to register as exporters. Speaking to Dawn, Pakistan Mercantile Exchange (PMEX) Managing Director Ejaz Ali Shah said the country’s only commodity futures exchange has set up a first-of-its-kind online marketplace under the name of Global Commodity Trading Platform (GCTP). “The new platform will entirely eliminate the issues relating to customs, logistics and letters of credit. If you’re a rice seller, all you want to do is sell rice, not worry about certifications, customs, clearance, insurance and delivery,” said Mr Shah.…
KARACHI: Finance Ministry spokesperson Muzzammil Aslam took exception to the term “mini-budget” for describing the Finance (Supplementary) Bill 2021, saying the legislative move is aimed at fixing the tax system instead of increasing revenue collection. “Mini-budget is what every government presented every year from 2002 to 2018. They’d miss collection targets and then revise the tax rates through mini-budgets. But we’re already ahead of our collection target,” he said while addressing a press conference at the Karachi Press Club on Saturday. Brushing away the concerns that the withdrawal of sales tax exemptions amounting to Rs343 billion will create inflation, Mr…
