Pakistan Today

ISLAMABAD: Locally made medical device Covid-19 Rapid Artificial Intelligence Detection (COV-RAID) would be soon available throughout the country to detect coronavirus infection in a suspected patient’s lungs within a minute. According to an official of Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan’s (DRAP), the device was registered by the authority to identify suspected patients economically using x-rays whereas the product was approved...

Pakistan has so far secured $800 million worth of debt freeze deals from 14 members of the richest G-20 countries, while awaits ratification worth $1 billion by the remaining six countries. It may be recalled that Pakistan along with 76 other poor African countries had qualified for the G-20 debt relief initiative, announced in April this year for May-December 2020 period,...

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) on Sunday urged the government to reduce property tax on plots belonging to auto markets. The statement was made by ICCI President Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan during a visit of a delegation of the Islamabad Auto Market, I-10/3, Traders Welfare Association (TWA), led by its TWA President Musharraf Janjua and TWA...

ISLAMABAD: Domestic tractors manufacturing during the first quarter of the current financial year (Q1FY21) have witnessed about 17.17 per cent growth as compared to the production of the corresponding period of last year (Q1FY20). During the period from July-September 2020-21, about 11,235 tractors were assembled locally as compared to the assembling of 9,589 tractors of the same period of last year. According to the provisional...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has conducted a detailed study of Pakistan’s existing tax system and made recommendations, including a string of policy proposals from the rationalisation of tax rates to withdrawal of tax exemption and removal of all distortions in the country’s tax system. According to a report by Dawn which quotes a source in the Federal Board of...

CAMBRIDGE: Moderna will charge governments between $25 and $37 per dose of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate, depending on the amount ordered, Chief Executive Stephane Bancel told German weekly Welt am Sonntag (WamS). “Our vaccine, therefore, costs about the same as a flu shot, which is between $10 and $50,” he was quoted as saying. On Monday, an EU official involved in...

UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan's Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) and UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) President Ambassador Munir Akram has called for scaling up financing from all sources for getting back on track for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adding that rebuilding better after the pandemic will not be an easy task. He was speaking during a virtual...

The benchmark interest rate for the next two months which is to be decided by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in a meeting tomorrow is likely to remain unchanged as the country navigates its way through slow economic activity and inflation against a backdrop of rising second wave coronavirus infections. In a report by Express Tribune, Pakistan has invited...

DUBAI: Western Union, the world’s largest money transfer firm, has acquired a 15 per cent stake in the digital payment unit of Saudi Arabia’s STC Group for $200 million. The acquisition of STC pay, which values the company at 5 billion riyals ($1.3 billion), will finance its capital and support long-term expansion plans, Saudi Arabia’s largest telecoms operator said in...

PARIS: Europe is set to lift its flight ban on the Boeing 737 MAX passenger jetliner in January after U.S. regulators last week ended a 20-month grounding triggered by two fatal crashes. The head of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) said in remarks aired on Saturday that the 737 MAX was safe to fly after changes to the...

KARACHI: Federal Minister for Planning, Development, Reforms and Special Initiatives, Asad Umar on Saturday urged the Sindh government should utilise Rs700 billion that has been allocated in the provincial budget for the projects in Karachi. The federal minister was talking to the media after unveiling a plaque to commemorate the groundbreaking of BRT Common Corridor from Taj Medical Complex to...

BEIJING/DUBAI/WASHINGTON: Leaders of the 20 biggest economies on Saturday vowed to ensure a fair distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, drugs and tests around the world and do what was needed to support poorer countries struggling to recover from the coronavirus pandemic. “We will spare no effort to ensure their affordable and equitable access for all people, consistent with members’ commitments to...

ISLAMABAD: While the country is forced to import wheat for meeting the shortage, it is wasting up to 770,000 tonnes of wheat flour annually for non-implementation of quality sacks. According to a letter of Pakistan Polypropylene Woven Sack Manufacturers sent to the Ministry of Industries and Production, the huge quantity of wheat flour was being wasted for not using the...

ISLAMABAD: In an attempt to improve production and export of citrus, the All Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters, Importers and Merchants Association (PFVA)  is going to hold a national conference on kinnow on December 1 in Sargodha. Growers, traders and exporters of kinnow would participate in the mega event whereas Punjab Minister for Agriculture Hussain Jehanyan Gardezi would be the...

ISLAMABAD: In a bid to ensure sovereignty and security, the Government of Pakistan has approved to implement Pakistan Maritime Zones (PMZ) Act 2020 under which prior permission is mandatory for foreign supertankers and nuclear-powered ships to enter into the territorial sea of Pakistan. According to well-informed sources, the federal cabinet has given its go ahead to implement the law which...