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Wall Street slips on economic, Europe worries Page 02
profit.com.pk
Tuesday, 5 June, 2012
Okay so who are we kidding here?
LPG hits another sixer! g
Producers raise LPG price by Rs 6 per kg
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KARACHI
ICCI terms tax collection target unrealistic ISLAMABAD
APP
ONLINE
Local producers of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) have increased prices by Rs 6,100 to 73,470 per ton despite a decline in its international prices by $ 130 per ton. This was stated by the chairman of All Pakistan LPG Distributors Association and chairman FPCCI Standing Committee on LPG Abdul Hadi Khan here Monday. He has vehemently criticised the producers for raising LPG prices despite the cut in Saudi Aramco Contact Price for May 2012. This unjustified rise will again pull down LPG sales in the country to 30 percent, he feared. He lamented that LPG cartel was taking advantage of the on-going energy crisis in the country by restricting LPG production to only 800 per day for a long time. Hadi said that after this increase, retail price of LPG has been jacked up by Rs 6 to Rs 105-106 per kilo in Karachi, Rs 110111 in Lahore, Rs 115-116 per kilo in Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa and Rs 118-120 per kilo in norther areas, FATA, Batgram, and Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK). Similarly, the price of 11.8 kg cylinder has been raised by Rs 72 to Rs 1070-1080 in Karachi, Rs 11165-1180 in Lahore, Rs 1280-1302 in Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa and Rs 1352-1384 in norther areas, FATA, Batgram and AJK. Price of 45.4 kg cylinder has been hoisted by Rs 277 to 4160 in Karachi, Rs 4454 in Lahore, Rs 4954 in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, and Rs 5317 in norther areas, FATA, Batgram and AJK.
Telecom contributes a bigger slice to the budget pie this year ISLAMABAD
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eLeCoM sector is one of the most potential sectors that remained important contributor to the national economy by depositing Rs 363 billion during the year 2012 and showed increase of 5.4 percent compared to last year. In line with the teledensity the cellular sector also has the highest share in telecom revenue as during 2011 cellular revenue increased by 11 percent to reach Rs 262,761 million as compared to Rs 236, 047 million in the previous year. During the first two quarters of 2012, Rs 197,686 million worth of revenue has been generated by the telecom sector. According to the report of Pakistan economic survey 2011-12, companies have invested more than US$ 12 billion in building of infrastructure and other projects in the last six years. In 2011, the telecom sector invested US$ 495.8 million with the cellular mobile sector being the major contributor. In addition USF invested Rs 3.5 billion in the 2011. The telecom sector made its higher contribution to the national exchequer in 2011 as almost Rs 117 billion deposited by the telecom companies showering 7% growing in 2011. According the report, foreign direct investment (FDI) by the telecom companies is more than 30 percent of the total foreign direct investment in the country during last six years. owing to terrain/security situation companies were reluctant to invest further however in 2011 telecom sector at-
Contributed Rs 363b in 2012 to national economy tracted over US$ 79 million FDI in the country which is about 5 percent of the total FDI in Pakistan in 2011. Despite all the factors the cellular industry managed to double its growth rate from the previous year and according to the World economic Forum’s Global Information Technology Report 2101-11 Pakistan ranks no 1 in the internet and telephony competition. The total of mobile subscriber reached 118.3 million at the end of 2012. The mobile market over the years has come more stable due to intense competition. Market shares are now more balanced among the five operators with almost insignificant changes over the years. At the end of March 2012 Mobilink had a market share of 30.25 percent followed by Telenor with 24.80 percent and Ufone with 19.54 percent. The auction of 3G license is expected that will bring more investment into the country and improved economic condition of the country would further encourage investors to bring the capital into the country. economic survey further revealed that teledensity in the country stood at 68.3 percent showing 6.7 percent growth as compared to the previous year. Since the mobile sector contributes over 95 percent to the total density of the country an increase in mobile penetration from 60.4 percent in 201-11 to64.9 percent in 201212 resulted into improvement of 4.3 percentage points in total density. Fixed teledensity has been declining over the year due to mobile substitution and today it stands at 1.93 percent in 2011-12 as compared to 2.1 percent last year showing a decrease of 0.17 percent.
Government has set a very high tax revenue target of Rs.2380 billion, which seems unachievable as it has far behind in realizing the outgoing fiscal year's revenue target of Rs.1950 billion. All the major economic indicators showed deteriorated performance against the same period of last year as all of them remained in negative zone. Therefore, Government should revise the tax collection target by keeping in view the ground realities to achieve sustainable development, Yassar Sakhi Butt, President Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) has stated this in a statement. ICCI President feared that harassment by tax departments would increase to achieve this huge revenue target and tax machinery would be under extreme pressure to get revenue targets, announced in the Federal Budget 2012-13. Tax departments should collect taxes without any harassment, thus Government should develop a conducive environment to collect taxes and also to encourage non taxpayers be encouraged to come into the tax net, he added. ICCI President was of the view that in case of lagging behind the expected tax target, Government would be facing big problems because of further increase in the fiscal deficit which has already widened and pulling country into debt trap. Yassar Sakhi Butt said that there should be a free and fair taxation policy in order to raise revenues, broadening and simplifying the tax collection procedures. Government must develop an environment of trust to build the confidence of tax payers, he emphasized. ICCI President anticipated that the country has a potential of increasing tax to GDP ratio through making the system public friendly and equitable. He further said that widening tax net is very much required but it must be in a systematic and realistic way. He emphasized on winning the public confidence by improving governance, eradicating corruption and pursuing equitable tax policies.
45 billion! g
Rs 45 billion spent as fertiliser subsidy to achieve agri targets ISLAMABAD APP
The government has spent around Rs. 45 billion as fertilizer subsidy during last 10 months of the current fiscal year aimed at boosting agriculture and achieving its targets. The fertilizer industry, being provider of the key input for crop production, has significant importance in the country's economy and to meet the deficit 1.6 million tonnes of urea was imported during the year. Due to the curtailment of natural gas (the raw material for urea manufacturing), some
urea plants produced substantially less than their production capacity. It was assumed at the beginning of this year that the country would attain self-sufficiency at least in urea because of the operationalizing of two new plants which added annual production capacity of 1.8 million tonnes to the national installed capacity taking it to 6.3 million tonnes per annum. When contacted an official source on Monday said in addition to spending foreign exchange for imports, the government had to pickup the price difference to equalize the prices of domestic and imported urea, and for this purpose, it provided subsidy.
He said the fertilizer sector is the second largest consumer of gas after the power sector. Natural gas is used as feed-stock as well as fuel in the manufacturing of nitrogenous fertilizers. The official said three companies namely Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited, Sui Southern Gas Company Limited and Mari Gas Company Limited are providing gas to the fertilizer sector. The intensity of the prevailing energy crisis specifically in relation to the supply of natural gas to supply curtailment (20 percent on Sui Network plants and 12 percent on Mari Network) to the fertilizer industry since May 2010, has meant that the winter load shedding has in-
creased from normal 45 days to 60 days. And on the SNGPL system the rotational load management (shedding) of 15 days for fertilizer plants has also been observed, he said and added this policy of gas supply is adversely affecting domestic production of fertilizer and resulting in a price hike and increase in the import bill. Smooth supplies of natural gas to urea plants are essential to run the plants at 100 per cent of their installed capacity for making urea available (as per requirement) at stable and affordable prices and for avoiding its import, he added.
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Tuesday, 5 June, 2012
news
Shareholders can get cash dividend credited to bank accounts KARACHI APP
The SeCP has approved issuance of a circular directing all listed companies to give their shareholders the option of getting their cash dividend credited directly into their bank accounts. According to Security and exchange Commission of Pakistan (SeCP) here Monday, this decision has been taken by exercise of powers conferred under Section 506B of the Companies ordinance, 1984. In exercise of powers conferred under section 505 of the Companies ordinance, 1984, read with clause (c) of section 43 of the Securities and exchange Commission of Pakistan Act, 1997, the SeCP has also approved amendments to paragraph 9 of Table A of the First Schedule to the Companies ordinance, 1984.
A quasi dip g
Price indices fall just about enough for the optimists to remain buoyant and for the sceptics to cling onto their pessimism ISLAMABAD APP
The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the week ended on May 31, for the lowest income group up to Rs 8,000, registered nominal decrease of 0.05 per cent as compared to the previous week. The SPI for the week under review in the above mentioned group was recorded at 175.45 points against 175.53 points registered in the previous week, according to provisional figures of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (FBS).The weekly SPI has been computed with base 2007-2008=100, covering 17 urban centers and 53 essential items for all income groups and combined. The SPI for the combined group reduced by 0.09 per cent as it went down from 187.03 points in the previous week to 186.87 points in the week under review. As compared to the corresponding week of last year, the SPI for the combined group in the week under review witnessed increase of 12.20 percent. As compared to the last week, the SPI for the income groups from Rs.8001-12,000, 12,001-18,000, 18001-35,000 and above Rs.35,000 decreased by 0.05, 0.08 and 0.08 and 0.10 respectively. During the week under review average prices of 9 items registered decrease, while that of 15 items increase with the remaining 29 items' prices unchanged. The items which recorded decrease in their average prices during the week under review included onions, tomatoes, egg hen (farm), chicken live (farm), potatoes, vegetable ghee (loose), sugar, mustard oil, mash pulse (washed). The items which registered increase in their prices included LPG (11 kg cylender), bananas, garlic, gram pulse (washed), cooked beef, gur, masoor pulse (washed), wheat flour (bag), cooking oil (tin), wheat, rice (irri-6), vegetable ghee (tin), moong pulse (washed), firewood, red chillies (powder).
Wall Street slips on economic, Europe worries g
Stocks fell modestly on Monday as investors reacted to the latest signs of economic slowdown and looked ahead to events this week that could help ease Europe's debt crisis
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Int'l Chamber's body discusses rules to facilitate higher FDI, trade APP
REUTERS
bilizing in and around here - they will stabilize and certainly not decrease with the same velocity that we've seen recently," said Rick Bensignor, chief market strategist at Merlin Securities in New York. "It doesn't mean we are done going down but in and around here you can kind of consolidate somewhat." Shares of social networking company Facebook Inc continued to struggle, hitting a new low of $26.57 since its debut a bit more than two weeks ago. The stock was lately down 68 cents to $27.03, down 2.4 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI dropped 38.07 points, or 0.31 percent, to 12,080.50. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX dropped 6.24 points, or 0.49 percent, to 1,271.80. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC dropped 11.07 points, or 0.40 percent, to 2,736.41. In a potential boost for markets looking for measures to end the debt crisis which has been at the root of investor angst, German Chancellor An-
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KARACHI
NEW YORK He decline extended Friday's steep drop that wiped out the Dow industrials' gain for the year, although additional declines may lack intensity after indexes fell below key technical support levels. Signs of economic weakness around the globe and europe's intensifying debt crisis are rattled investors, who have been piling out of riskier investments like commodities and equities for the perceived safety of higher-rated government bonds. The S&P 500 dropped 2.5 percent on Friday, its biggest drop since November 9, with economically sensitive sectors such as banks and energy among the hardest hit, reflecting investor sentiment on the stability of the global economy. The declines on Friday pushed the S&P 500 below its 200-day moving average, seen as a key support level. The benchmark index is on track for its fourth straight session of declines. U.S. banking stocks are heading into a bear market as europe's debt crisis pressures the sector. The KBW Bank index .BKX, which measures the performance of 24 U.S. banks, is down more than 17 percent from its intraday high in March. The index was down 2.1 percent by noon (1600 GMT). Morgan Stanley (MS.N) has come under pressure as bond markets treat the bank as a junk-rated company, and the higher borrowing costs could already be putting it at a disadvantage even before an expected ratings downgrade. The bank's stock is off 41.4 percent since late March, and was down 3.5 percent to $12.29. "Things are sta-
We need to raise the FDI!
gela Merkel is pressing for much more ambitious measures, including a central authority to manage euroarea finances and major new powers for the european Commission, european Parliament and european Court of Justice. economic data showed orders for manufactured goods dropped 0.6 percent in April, its third decline in four months and below expectations calling for a 0.2 percent rise. An experimental Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY.N) drug helped shrink tumors in patients with advanced melanoma, kidney and lung cancers in a preliminary trial, raising hopes for yet another drug that can wake up the immune system and train it to attack cancer cells. The stock rose 0.7 percent to $33.56. Medtox Scientific Inco> surged 35.5 percent to $26.70 after Laboratory Corp of America Holdings (LH.N) said it will acquire its smaller rival for $27 per share in cash.
Fourth meeting of Regional Consultative Group of International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) for the Broader Middle east- North African (B-MeNA) region discussed business related international rules to facilitate enhanced foreign direct investment (FDI) and trade in the region. The next meeting of the ICC RCG B-MeNA region is scheduled to be convened in Doha, Qatar in 2013. The fourth meeting of the Consultative Group was convened in Tibilisi, Georgia on May 28, 2012 with the theme "International Consensus: Regional Harmony and National opportunities". It was hosted by ICC Georgia and was chaired by Tariq M. Rangoonwala. He is ICC's Regional Coordinator for RCG B-MeNA besides being the Chairman of ICC Pakistan, said ICC statement released here on Monday. Heads of ICC National Committees and Secretary Generals as well as ICC representatives from Middle east and North African countries gathered there and discussed in detail international business rules and chalked out a road-map for boosting foreign investment and trade in this region. Representatives from Bahrain, Georgia, Iran, Jordan, Pakistan, Syria and UAe attended this important regional meetings. officials from the ICC Secretariat in Paris also participated in the deliberations. The meeting had the patronage of the Prime Minister of Georgia, Nick Gilauri who also addressed the opening session of the meeting. The one-day deliberation covered various topics including international arbitration, trade and investment facilitation, sanctions, regional synergies and effective representation of regional business issues at global decision making forums as well as presence of the international Maritime Bureau of the ICC-CCS in the region.
Rs 1.02b disbursed among BISP beneficiaries through debit cards ISLAMABAD APP
The Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) has disbursed Rs 1.02 billion among beneficiaries through 392,000 debit cards during last 10 months of the current fiscal year. The BISP authorities also signed agreements with several commercial banks in order to further improve efficiency of the payment delivery mechanisms and expand the debit cards facility in over 100 districts by June this year. enumerating the BISP's achievements so far, A senior official told APP on Monday that Rs. 33.5 billion have been disbursed among 3.5 million recipients during the financial year under the programme. over Rs 1.49 billion have been paid through Smart Cards to 162,789 recipients and Rs 826.4 million to 120,000 million re-
cipients through mobile phone banking. Rest of the cash transfers were made through Pakistan Post money orders. He said the number of recipients is expected to increase to 7 million after completion of the ongoing processing of data collected during the nation-wide poverty scorecard targeting survey. The survey, which will be completed by June 30, will cover over 27 million households. The task for data entry was entrusted to NADRA, which have identified 6.64 million beneficiaries so far. Regarding programmes for 2012-13, he said allocation has increased from Rs 50 billion to Rs 70 billion and identification of new recipient families will be focused. Arrangemnts will be made to make payments to the beneficiaries through Benazir Debit Cards in more than 100 districts. Waseela-e-Taleem will be launched in 20 districts while provision of life insurance cover to the bread-winners
of additional one million recipient families will also be focussed, bringing the number of families with life insurance cover to 5 million, he added. Under the Waseela-e-Taleem, the official said three million children will be imparted primary education during 2012-2016 and in this regard, the BISP has signed an agrrement with the World Bank for additional financing of US$ 150 million. The programme is scheduled to be launched in five districts and it will be later expanded to the rest of the country. He said through 29 draws a total of 34,807 recipients have pre-qualified under the Waseela-e-Haq. He said Rs. 943 million had been disbursed among 6,281 recipients, 2,680 of them have started business. Under this programem, micro-finance in the form of returnable interest-free loans up to Rs. 300,000 are provided to the re-
cipients, selected through a monthly computerized random draw, for setting up small business. Moreover, the official said under the Waseela-e-Rozgar, 964 persons have been trained so far while 4,044 persons are currently enrolled. It is expected that by June 30 this year the total number of trained persons will be approximately 20,000. This initiative has been piloted in Karak, Battagram and Bannu districts. Under the Waseela-e-Sehat, he said, during the year, additional 2.07 million families were provided life insurance cover, bringing the total number of families with life cover to 4.1 million. The other targets are provision of demand driven vocational and technical training in over 60 fields, to one person each from 150,000 recipient families, launch of Health Insurance in four districts (one in each province), and provision of micro-finance to 10,000 recipients.
Exploring agricultural growth g
Exploration of neglected avenues can boost agriculture growth ISLAMABAD APP
The neglected avenues in the agriculture sector, if explored, can boost agriculture growth in the country. "Floriculture, horticulture and edible oilseeds are some of the examples",according to annual plan 2012-13. It said that edible oil seeds production and oil extraction has been neglected for many years. Pakistan presently imports more than 2 million tons edible oil annually (worth over US $ 1.9
billion) against 2.2 million tons of local production. The country presently produces only about one fourth of domestic demand, the annual plan added. It further said that there is a large scope for edible oilseeds production. In Sindh sunflower cultivation has been successful and the support price of Rs 2220 per mound is also an incentive for small farmers to diversify their cropping patterns. In Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, special initiatives for cultivation of olive are the steps in right direction. Particularly, the Punjab Agri-
culture and Meat Company's (PAMCo) project of declaring Potohar region as an olive valley can be a significant development. In this regard, PAMCo has taken an initiative to develop certified nurseries through private sector starting from Potohar including Attock, Rawalpindi, Chakwal, Jehlum and Khushab districts. Investments in such avenues will boost long run agriculture growth and save foreign exchange by reducing edible oil imports. The annual plan further said that the agriculture sector is expected to
grow by 4 per cent in 2012-13 on the basis of expected contributions of major crops (3.8%), minor crops (4.5%), livestock (4.2%), fishery (2%) and forestry (2%). The projection for major crops assumes wheat and rice to reach their potential level achieved in the past under normal circumstances, and no drastic fall in cotton and sugarcane output. The underlying assumption for minor crops growth is revival of chillies, edible oil and gram for convergence to their normal production, and recovery in production of pulses.
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news Livestock contributes 11.6 percent to GDP ISLAMABAD APP
Livestock sector has contributed approximately 55.1 per cent to the agriculture value added and 11.6 per cent to national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) during the 2010-12 against 54.6 per cent during the same period last year. According to the economic Survey report 2011-12, the livestock sector occupies a unique position in the National Agenda of economic development of the present government. The sector provides a net source of foreign earnings while livestock is considered a more secure source of income for the small farmers and landless poor, besides employment generation at the rural level. The gross value added of the livestock sector at constant factor cost has increased from Rs.672 billion (2010-11) to Rs. 700 billion (2011-12) showing an increase of 4.0 percent as compared to previous year.
Major Gainers
OICCI UPBEAT
Budget lauded from far across the seas g
OICCI over the moon about turnover tax reduction, sales tax reduction, tea duty reduction among other things KARACHI
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He overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (oICCI) has appreciated the efforts of the government in announcing a positive budget, impacting trade and salaried class, despite the economic difficulties prevalent in the country. In a comment on the budget here Monday, oICCI said it welcomed the reduction in turnover tax to 0.5 %, rationalization of sales tax to 16%, reduction of duty on tea and on a few pharmaceutical raw materials, reduction in income tax on salaries and increase in the investment limit. "The proposed tax on Capital gains on property is a move in the right direction. Some important anomalies have however not been addressed including the demand of oil refining and marketing companies with large turnover and restricted profitability for a reasonable turnover tax rate". oICCI said it lacks concrete incentives to activate foreign direct and local investment especially in industrial and employment generating activities so critical for economic development of the country. oICCI President, Humayun Bashir said that the Budget 2012-13 appears to be quite traditional without any bold initiative to tackle the grave economic
situation of the country. However, he said both the revenue and expenditure forecast for 2012-13 seem ambitious. In terms of taxation, the total target of Rs. 2.38 trillion, which is about 22% above the expected collections in the current fiscal year, appears to be very high, considering the 4.3% GDP growth forecast for the next fiscal year. President oICCI further added that the government should have announced some measures to halt the rupee depreciation as well as tangible initiatives for the improvement of energy supplies to business and industry and cut in corporate tax rates. The Budget 2012-13 does not seem to have addressed the core issues of energy shortage, ballooning circular debt and high interest cost. Humayun said oICCI continues to support significant and bold measures to urgently broaden the tax base and document the economy and to do away with all amnesty schemes. oICCI also support demand for filing of tax returns and Wealth Statement by all income earners over the Rs. 350,000 (now Rs. 400,000 proposed) threshold. Moreover, the federal government should work closely with the provincial government to introduce taxes on provincial subjects including on agriculture income.
Company
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Change
Turnover
Bata (Pak) Limited UniLever PakXD Island Textile Pak Services Millat Tractors
613.10 7189.70 203.31 150.05 488.40
635.01 7225.00 213.00 155.06 500.00
613.10 7122.00 204.99 144.00 492.01
635.01 7199.81 212.07 155.06 493.03
21.91 10.11 8.76 5.01 4.63
252 477 630 367 5,734
Major Losers Indus Dyeing National Refinery Mithchells Fruit Philip Morris Pak. Pak Oilfields
388.79 249.15 330.03 147.98 371.94
408.22 250.00 344.00 147.98 372.50
369.40 239.15 315.00 140.59 364.50
398.39 241.34 322.31 140.59 365.37
9.60 -7.81 -7.72 -7.39 -6.57
399 88,703 1,874 5,390 380,157
-0.03 0.49 -0.74 0.04 0.11
9,278,546 8,859,544 8,310,051 5,794,305 4,624,519
Volume Leaders Lafarge Pakistan Fatima Fertilizer Co D.G.K.Cement TRG Pakistan Ltd. K.E.S.C.
4.84 24.44 42.61 3.97 3.48
5.17 25.23 42.98 4.25 3.78
4.76 24.45 41.60 3.99 3.52
4.81 24.93 41.87 4.01 3.59
Interbank Rates US Dollar UK Pound Japanese Yen euro
93.9309 144.4938 1.2024 116.7748
Dollar East US Dollar Euro Great Britain Pound Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar Hong Kong Dollar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal Australian Dollar
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93.60 116.28 143.16 1.1850 89.02 11.90 25.39 24.88 90.00
94.20 117.67 144.83 1.1987 90.58 12.10 25.66 25.13 92.53
CORPORATE CORNER Launch ceremony of ‘PEL Desire More’
LAHORE: Pak elektron Limited is a well known brand in Pakistan’s electronics market.PeL has now introduced a new refrigerator by the name of “PeL DeSIRe MoRe”. This refrigerator was formally introduced in a ceremony at Kohinoor Hall, Pearl Continental Hotel, Lahore on the 28th of May 2012. Mr.Murad Saigol and Haroon A.Khan were invited as the chief guests of the ceremony. They praised “PeL DeSIRe MoRe” and expressed their views on the unique features of the refrigerator and how it was going to be received really well by the people and also the business community. A number of officials from various well known organizations and dealers also participated in the launch ceremony of this refrigerator and prizes worth thousands of rupees were distributed amongst them through a lucky draw.
Karachi-Hyderabad M-9 construction to kick off in July
KARACHI: Chairman NHA Syed Muhammad Ali Gardezi has said that the construction work on Karachi-Hyderabad (M-9) motorway will be started in July 2012. M-9 is being constructed on BoT basis by Malaysian Company Binapuri costing Rs. 25 Billion. Chairman NHA told this in his opening remarks to the members of NHA executive Board. In order to overcome the initial financial hiccups M/s. Binapuri has signed an MoU with Sindh Government to kick off the project, he added. Chairman
NHA told that a budget of Rs. 50.7 billion has been proposed for NHA in next financial year. The focus of NHA will be to complete the ongoing projects and no new project is being financed. He told that NHA has faced 50% cut in PSDP allocations for last two consecutive years which has badly hampered the progress of the projects. Cash starved NHA need regular inflow of allocated budget to complete the projects in time, he added. The executive Board discussed the progress on World Bank Assisted Rehabilitation project. The executive Board was told that the project deals with improvement and rehabilitation of N-5 from Peshawar to Karachi covering 908 km of road segments. The Board was told that 15 projects were initiated out of which 13 have been completed and only 2 projects are ongoing. The Board members criticized that extreme delay in completion of the project, which was originally scheduled for 2008. The board also ordered that an inquiry may be presented before its members to investigate the inordinate delay in the project. The board also discussed the Road Maintenance Accounts (RMA) of NHA, Revision of NHA’s Public Private Partnership (PPP) and other administrative matters. Abdul Khalid Additional Secretary Finance Division, Mathar Niaz Rana Joint Secretary Ministry of Communications, Qazi Iftikhar Ahmed Vice President NeSPAK, Tahir Sharif Chief NTRC, Munir Ahmed Anjum Chief (T&C) Planning Commission, Sabir Hassan Member(Planning) NHA, Shoaib Ahmed Khan Member(Finance) NHA & Ch. Khalid Naseem Secretary NHA and a representative of IG NH&MP participated in the meeting.
Samsung introduces the Galaxy Pocket Smartphone LAHORE: Samsung electronics, a market leader and award-winning innovator in telecommunications, Digital Technology and consumer electronics has announced the arrival of the sleek Galaxy Pocket Smartphone that not only brings premium mobility to your palm, but also promises comfort to your pocket in terms of affordability. Powered by a strong processor, this mobile device delivers a rich and smart mobile experience, offering real value for money! The Galaxy Pocket offers budget-conscious consumers an 832MHz single-core processor and a 2.8-inch display with QVGA resolution. This innovative device sports a simple curved-edged design and a 2.8-inch TFT capacitive display supporting a pixel resolution of 320x240. It runs on Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) operating system and features a 2.0 Mega pixel camera, a Li-on 1200 mAh battery, 3 GB Internal storage, MicroSD card memory (upto 32 GB), AGPS and USB 2.0 connectivity. other features include: TouchWiz for Android, Wi-Fi, FM Radio, BT Messenger and an Integrated e-mail system.
PTCL celebrates World Environment Day 2012 with fervour
IsLAmAbAd: Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), the country’s largest and only integrated telecom service provider, commemorated the World environment Day (WeD) 2012 on June 5 by reaffirming its commitment to align organizational efforts with environmental sustainability and energy efficiency. PTCL is leading from the front on initiatives for social and environmental welfare in an effort to meet international corporate social responsibility and sustainability standards. As part of WeD 2012’s theme ‘Green economy: Does it include YoU?’, PTCL creatively engaged its employees with the message, “every drop is precious. Treat water with respect.” In the recent past, PTCL has made significant efforts to reduce its carbon footprint. By encouraging a paperless work environment, the telecom giant is aiming to reduce the adverse effect of greenhouse gases on the planet. PTCL is one of the few companies in Pakistan to switch from using simple paint to LeD-free paint, thus making its buildings environmentfriendly. Furthermore, the Company has installed solar panels at its Headquarters, which are powering its outdoor lighting through solar energy. PTCL is also replacing its normal light bulbs with energy
efficient LeD lights and energy-savers. PTCL is continuously striving for a greener Pakistan. Recently, it planted 300 tree saplings in its Headquarter grounds as well as residential colonies spread across Islamabad. PTCL is steadfastly using recycled material for its products. The Company also recently launched a clean drinking water project, installing 41 filtration plants for community welfare. Last year, the National Forum for environment and Health recognized PTCL’s continued efforts for sustainable environment by awarding the Company the prestigious “National environmental excellence Award 2011”. The United Nations has designated June 5th as ‘World environment Day ’, commemorated annually to increase global awareness about environmental hazards and to strive for a greener tomorrow.
LAHORE: Monthly Meeting of Aviculture Society of Pakistan (ASOP) held at Royal Palm Golf and Country club Attended by Zarar Majeed Bhatti (President), Mr. Sami Khan (Sr. Vice President),, Absar Abdul Ali(Chairman Advisory Committee), Shahid Shiekh (Executive Member), Sajid Sumble (Vice President) , Izhar Alvi (General Secretary), Khalid Zafar (Sr. Vice President), Saira Zafar(Joint Secretary), Salman Waheed(Secretary Finance).
LAHORE: Nasir Adeeb inaugurates Visa Hub and Business Communication House on MM Alam Road. CEO Aysha Baber, Baber Amir, Kiran and Ms Agha are also seen.