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Category: Business

  • Elon Musk plans to fire Twitter employees to save money

    Elon Musk plans to fire Twitter employees to save money

    Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is putting his plans into action after acquiring Twitter for $44 billion. In an attempt to obtain money for the takeover, he told banks that he wanted to cut the salaries of board members and executives and also pitched ideas for monetizing tweets.

    Musk presented the pitch to the financiers just days after making his bid on Twitter on April 14. He previously stated that if the offer was accepted, board members’ wages will be cut to zero, saving Twitter $3 million per year. It seems clear that Musk plans to lay off people to save money.

    The tech mogul also remarked that Twitter has a considerably smaller gross margin than similar sites like Facebook and Pinterest. He claimed that this freed up a lot of room for the corporation to run more cost-effectively.

    Musk detailed his ambitions to create features that will help his company generate more money from tweets that contain essential information or become viral.

    Read more: Instagram is testing ‘pin’ feature for posts

    In the near future, a fee could be charged if a third-party website quotes or incorporates a tweet from verified individuals or organisations.

  • Honda Atlas announces price hike instead of fixing delivery issues

    Honda Atlas announces price hike instead of fixing delivery issues

    Honda Atlas, like its counterpart Indus Motor Company, announced a price hike for the second time in less than two months, increasing ex-factory prices up to Rs170,000, claiming rupee devaluation as the cause for transferring the burden to the consumers.

    The ‘latest generation’ of Honda city in Pakistan is now priced at Rs3,264,000 after getting a hike of Rs135,000. Aspire 1.5 variants of Honda city witnessed a hike of nearly Rs150,000 in their previous rate.

    Meanwhile, Civic prices increased by Rs150,000 across all three variants: the Civic 1.5L CVT, Civic 1.5L Oriel M CVT, and Civic RS 1.5L CVT. The top variant of Honda civic RS 1.5 LL CVT from May 1 will be offered at a price of Rs6,649,000 which was previously sold at Rs6,499,000.

    Honda’s MPV, the BRV, is now priced at Rs4,249,000 after a price increase of Rs170,000. BRV was earlier sold at Rs4,079,000.

    Read more: Toyota Pakistan announces another massive price hike for all cars

    Also, these prices are exclusive of freight charges and any government tax applicable at the time of delivery that will be paid by the consumer.

  • Toyota Pakistan announces another massive price hike for all cars

    Toyota Pakistan announces another massive price hike for all cars

    For the second time in less than a month, Toyota Indus Motor Company (IMC) has announced a hefty price increase for all of its locally assembled vehicles. The increase was attributed by the corporation to the ongoing depreciation of the local currency against the US dollar.

    All variants from Toyota have received a hike of more than Rs170,000, which goes up to nearly Rs600,000.

    Toyota Corolla

    The old price of the Corolla Altis X Manual 1.6 was Rs3,749,000, and it will now cost Rs3,909,000 after a rate hike of Rs160,000.

    The Altis X Automatic 1.6 witnessed a price increase of Rs170,000, and now costs Rs4,099,000, up from Rs3,929,000 earlier.

    Altis X Automatic 1.6 Special Edition (SE) was previously priced at Rs4,309,000 and is now priced at Rs4,509,000.

    Altis X CVT-i 1.8, which also got a Rs200,000 hike, bringing the rate to Rs4,499,000, up from Rs4,299,000 previously.

    The price of the Altis Grande X CVT-i 1.8 (Beige Interior) has increased by Rs210,000, bringing the total price to Rs4,859,000, up from Rs4,649,000 previously.

    The Corolla Altis Grande X CVT-i 1.8 (Black Interior) was priced at Rs4,689,000, which now costs Rs4,899,000 after a price increase of Rs210,000.

    Toyota Yaris 

    The present price of the Yaris GLI MT 1.3 is Rs2,899,000, however after a price increase of Rs140,000, the new price is Rs3,039,000.

    Yaris ATIV MT 1.3, saw a price increase of Rs150,000, bringing the total price to Rs3,209,000, up from Rs3,059,000 previously.

    Yaris GLI CVT 1.3, and following the recent rise of Rs140,000, the car’s new price is Rs3,249,000, up from Rs3,109,000.

    Yaris ATIV CVT 1.3, used to cost Rs3,229,000, is now priced at Rs3,449,000 after a price spike of Rs150,000.

    The revised pricing of the Yaris ATIV X MT 1.5 is Rs3,449,000, an increase of Rs160,000. It was last sold for Rs3,289,000.

    The new price of the Toyota Yaris ATIV X CVT 1.5 is Rs3,659,000, increase from the original price of Rs3,499,000.

    Toyota Revo

    The earlier price of the Hilux E was Rs7,059,000, and following a Rs300,000 rise, it would now cost Rs7,359,000.

    Hilux Revo G Manual 2.8: The business raised the price by Rs330,000, bringing it to Rs7,989,000, up from Rs7,659,000 previously.

    The Hilux Revo G Automatic 2.8 has increased by Rs350,000, bringing its new price to Rs8,379,000, up from Rs8,029,000 previously.

    Hilux Revo V Automatic 2.8 was formerly priced at Rs8,839,000, but it is now priced at Rs9,229,000, a Rs390,000 increase.

    The Hilux Revo Rocco, which used to cost Rs9,319,000, now costs Rs9,729,000 after a price increase of Rs410,000.

    Toyota Fortuner

    Fortuner 2.7 G, formerly priced at Rs9,499,000, will now cost Rs9,959,000 after a price increase of Rs460,000.

    Fortuner 2.7 V now costs Rs11,459,000 instead of Rs10,949,000, a huge difference of Rs510,000.

    Fortuner 2.8 Sigma 4, received a price hike of Rs550,000, bringing it to Rs12,039,000, up from Rs11,489,000 previously.

    The fourth is the Fortuner Legender, which used to cost Rs12,099,000 but now costs Rs12,679,000 after an Rs580,000 price increase.

    Customers affected by the new pricing

    The new price will apply to all bookings placed after April 30, 2022. All orders placed before March 23 will be charged at the previous rate. All vehicles booked between March 23 and April 29, 2022, or before June 20, 2022, will be billed at the old rate. From March 23 to April 29, 2022, or before June 20, 2022, all DFS orders will be invoiced at the earlier rate.

  • Pakistan’s foreign currency reserves down by $328 million

    Pakistan’s foreign currency reserves down by $328 million

    State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on April 28, revealed that the central bank’s foreign exchange reserves fell by 3 per cent on a weekly basis.

    The central bank’s foreign currency reserves were $10,558.2 million on April 23, a $328 million decrease from the previous day’s total of $10,885.7 million. according to the SBP, this decline was caused by external debt and other payments.

    Pakistan’s total liquid foreign currency reserves, comprising net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, were $16,668.2 million. Banks held a total of $6,110 million in net reserves.

    SBP’s foreign exchange reserves reached an all-time high of $20.15 billion in the week ending August 27, 2021, after Pakistan received a general allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) worth $2,751.8 million from the IMF on August 24.

    Pakistan bought $2.5 billion using Eurobonds on March 30, 2021, by offering attractive interest rates to lenders in order to enhance foreign exchange reserves.

    Read more: All banks to remain open this Saturday

    On July 9, 2019, it received the first loan amount of $991.4 million from the IMF, which helped to boost reserves. The IMF released the second loan tranche of approximately $454 million in late December 2019.

  • Customs seizes smuggled liquor worth Rs6.48 million in Karachi

    Customs seizes smuggled liquor worth Rs6.48 million in Karachi

    During a raid on the outskirts of Karachi on Thursday, Pakistan Customs personnel recovered a massive quantity of imported liquor worth millions of rupees.

    According to a Customs spokesman, monitoring was increased at the Moachko checkpoint after the Customs Enforcement Collectorate got information that alcohol was being smuggled to Karachi from Quetta under the cover of official vehicles.

    When a car with a government license plate and an armed guard was sighted at the checkpoint, customs anti-smuggling personnel signaled the driver to pull up, but the driver instead sped away.

    When the officials gave chase, the driver of the car purposefully began hitting customs vehicles, and the guard resorted to firing. Because the road was packed and there was a threat to public safety, customs officers refrained from firing fire.

    According to a spokesman, when they were around Shershah Chowk, the driver and guard hopped out of the vehicle and fled, taking advantage of a traffic jam on the other side of the road. During a check of the vehicle, 348 liquor bottles worth Rs6,480,000 were seized, along with other items discovered.

    Read more: PTA to take action against advertising of illegal housing societies on social media

    The entire estimated value of the products and car was Rs10,480,000. An FIR has been filed, and a manhunt has been initiated to find the suspects.

  • PTA to take action against advertising of illegal housing societies on social media

    PTA to take action against advertising of illegal housing societies on social media

    The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) instructed housing societies that do not have a legal No Object Certificate (NOC) to refrain from advertising unauthorized businesses on social media platforms.

    According to a news release, the PTA has been approached by the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) in response to a direction given by the Lahore High Court in a writ case on March 30, 2022, with regard to banning advertisements of illegal housing societies on digital and social media.

    All non-approved housing societies that operate without valid NOC from the concerned authorities are encouraged to desist from publicising the unlawful business on social media platforms, or else the PTA will take action in accordance with its legal mandate.

  • City Traffic Police Lahore to check overcharging, overloading by transporters on Eid

    City Traffic Police Lahore to check overcharging, overloading by transporters on Eid

    The Lahore Traffic Police have declared a crackdown on transport company owners who overcharge and overload passengers during the Eid holidays.

    According to Lahore’s Chief Traffic Officer (CTO), Muntazir Mehdi, thousands of people depart for their hometowns to celebrate Eid with their loved ones. It’s terrible that dishonest transportation owners take advantage of them, he says. Mehdi stated that police had developed a thorough plan to combat exploitation this year. He announced the deployment of at least 84 wardens at Lorry Adda, Badamibagh, Babu Sabu, Niazi Chowk, Thokar Niaz Beg, Shahdara Chowk, Begum Kot Chowk, Gajjumatta, and other key bus stations.

    The traffic police have also issued orders to transportation companies to display fare information prominently on their vehicles. Those who charge high rates to commuters deserve no concessions, according to the CTO, who directed all circle officers to speak with transporter owners in their respective zones. He announced the impoundment of vehicles found overcharging or overloading.

    Police is taking precautions against overcrowding to ensure safe travelling, according to Mehdi, who also stated that additional police officers have been stationed at the city’s entry and exit points. He asked people to phone Police Helpline 15 if they needed assistance or had a complaint. He also stated that people who overload their buses will face consequences.

    Read more: Shopkeepers fined in Islamabad for not adhering to DC rates

    The CTO stated that transportation owners and drivers are required to charge a fixed rate and display a fare list prominently on the vehicle. According to Mehdi, automobiles should be seized if their owners are proven to be overcharging and overloading. Traffic teams have been dispatched to ten locations to investigate overcharging and overloading.

  • Eid-ul-Fitr 2022: Here’s why Pakistan is paying a lot more than last year for clothes, food

    Eid-ul-Fitr 2022: Here’s why Pakistan is paying a lot more than last year for clothes, food

    Cities are decked with spectacular illumination around shopping malls, major streets, and side lanes as Eid shopping begins. Despite growing inflation, there is a lot of hustle in commercial areas.

    But do you know how much higher we are paying for everything this year, from food to clothing, than we did last year?

    Undoubtedly, the PTI-led government struggled to contain inflation, which experts said, was the outcome of record-high global commodity prices and 51 per cent devaluation of the Pakistani rupee (PKR).

    In January 2022, inflation climbed by 13 per cent year on year basis compared to 12.3 per cent in the previous month and 5.7 per cent in January 2021. It is pertinent to mention that inflation reached an all-time high of 14.6 per cent in January 2020.

    The Consumer Price Index (CPI) accelerated in March 2022 over the same month a year ago, according to the inflation bulletin released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). The index remained higher compared to the preceding month during five out of the past six months.

    Inflation Comparison – January 2022

    General CPI inflation, increased by 13.0 per cent on a year-on-year basis in January 2022 as compared to an increase of 12.3 per cent in the previous month and 5.7 per cent in January 2021. On a month-on-month basis, it increased by 0.4 per cent in January 2022 as compared to decrease of -0.02 per cent in the previous month and a decrease of -0.2 per cent in January 2021.

    Urban CPI inflation, increased by 13.0 per cent on a year-on-year basis in January 2022 as compared to an increase of 12.7 per cent in the previous month and 5.0 per cent in January 2021. On a month-on-month basis, it increased by 0.1 per cent in January 2022 as compared to an increase of 0.3 per cent in the previous month and a decrease of -0.2 per cent in January 2021.

    Rural CPI inflation, increased by 12.9 per cent on a year-on-year basis in January 2022 as compared to an increase of 11.6 per cent in the previous month and 6.6 per cent in January 2021. On a month-on-month basis, it increased by 0.9 per cent in January 2022 as compared to a decrease of -0.5 per cent in the previous month and a decrease of -0.3 per cent in January 2021.

    Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation on a year-on-year basis increased by 24.0 per cent in January 2022 as compared to an increase of 26.2 per cent a month earlier and an increase of 6.4 per cent in January 2021. WPI inflation on a Month-on-month basis increased by 0.6 per cent in January 2022 as compared to a decrease of -0.2 per cent a month earlier and an increase of 2.5 per cent in a corresponding month i.e. January 2021.

    Urban Consumer Price Index (UCPI)

    The Urban Consumer Price Index of January 2022 increased by 0.06 per cent over December 2021 and increased by 12.99 per cent over the same month of the last year (January 2021).

    Month-on-Month Inflation

    Main contributors to month-on-month and year-on-year percentage changes are mentioned below:

    Increase in prices of food items: Pulse Masoor (6.13 per cent), Gram whole (4.79 per cent), Fruits (4.11 per cent), Besan (3.82 per cent), Pulse Gram (3.44 per cent), Pulse Mash (3.37 per cent), Wheat (2.68 per cent), Pulse Moong (1.88 per cent), Meat (1.78 per cent) and Rice (1.28 per cent).

    Increase in prices of garments and other items: Woolen Readymade Garments (6.67 per cent), Solid Fuel (5.16 per cent), Hosiery (1.93 per cent), Motor Fuel (1.75 per cent), Cleaning & Laundering (1.59 per cent), Washing soap/Detergents/Match Box (1.46 per cent) and Liquefied Hydrocarbons (1.29 per cent).

    Year-on-Year Inflation – January 2021

    Edible items

    Increased: Cooking Oil (54.33 per cent), Vegetable Ghee (47.4 per cent), Mustard Oil (46.68 per cent), Pulse Masoor (41.3 per cent), Fruits (28.35 per cent), Gram Whole (24.7 per cent), Meat (22.38 per cent), Chicken (17.08 per cent), Pulse Gram (15.67 per cent), Beans (15.37 per cent), Pulse Mash (12.46 per cent) and Vegetables (11.58 per cent).

    Garments and others

    Increased: Electricity Charges (56.20 per cent), Liquefied Hydrocarbons (53.35 per cent), Motor Fuel (36.22 per cent), Footwear (25.47 per cent), Cleaning & Laundering (22.03 per cent), Washing soap/Detergents/Match Box (17.95 per cent), Motor Vehicle Accessories (14.04 per cent), Woolen Readymade Garments (13.03 per cent) and Plastic Products (11.72 per cent).

    Year-on-Year Inflation – March 2022

    CPI National for the month of March, 2022 increased by 12.72 per cent over March, 2021. The Urban CPI recorded an increase of 11.94 per cent while Rural CPI recorded an increase of 13.88 per cent.

    Edible items in urban areas

    Increased: Tomatoes (148.65 per cent), Mustard Oil (59.91 per cent), Vegetable Ghee (49.56 per cent), Cooking Oil (48.05 per cent), Pulse Masoor (38.32 per cent), Vegetables (34.92 per cent), Fruits (32.00 per cent), Gram whole (25.37 per cent), Meat (23.68 per cent), Chicken (19.59 per cent) and Beans (13.62 per cent).

    Edible items in rural areas

    Increased: Tomatoes (158.82 per cent), Cooking Oil (63.47 per cent), Mustard Oil (57.2 per cent), Vegetable Ghee (56.43 per cent), Vegetables (45.62 per cent), Fruits (37.80 per cent), Pulse Masoor (37.46 per cent), Meat (25.19 per cent), Beans (17.38 per cent), Wheat Flour (16.22 per cent), Chicken (15.09 per cent) and Tea (11.74 per cent).

  • All banks to remain open this Saturday

    All banks to remain open this Saturday

    State Bank of Pakistan has recently announced that all banks and their branches would be open on Saturday, April 30, 2022.

    In accordance with SBP’s orders incorporated in Banking Policy and Regulations Department (BPRD) Circular Letter No. 11 of 13 April 2022, all banks and their branches will remain open on Saturday, April 30, 2022.

    Following the announcement by the Pakistani government of public holidays on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr from May 2 to May 5, the general public is encouraged to conduct their banking transactions on Saturday, April 30, 2022.

    Read more: Pakistan’s forex reserves inch up to $17.05 billion

    Moreover, banks have been advised to make Alternate Delivery Channels (ADCs) such as ATMs, Mobile Banking, and Internet Banking available 24 hours a day, seven days a week during the Eid holidays.

  • CDA to spend Rs80 million on maintenance of street lights in Islamabad

    CDA to spend Rs80 million on maintenance of street lights in Islamabad

    The Capital Development Authority (CDA) would spend about Rs80 million on street light repairs and maintenance to keep the city lit at night.

    On several main highways, intersections, connecting roads, marketplaces, and streets in Islamabad, the Authority’s Street Light Department will install new street lights and replace damaged street lights and transformers, according to a CDA spokesman on Wednesday. The tender will be published in national publications soon before work begins.

    He said the administration was committed to providing the necessary resources to the street lighting division in the best interests of the capital city and its citizens, under the leadership of CDA Chairman Aamer Ali Ahmed.

    The continuous functioning of street lights was necessary to offer inhabitants safe transportation and to ensure the city’s security at night, according to the spokesman.

    Allocated Budget for Sectors

    According to information, a budget of about Rs20 million has been put aside for the construction of new street lights on different important highways and linking roads between GT Road and Haj Complex, as well as Sector I-14/2-3.

    Moreover, about Rs19 million has been set aside for the installation of new and contemporary street lights on Sector I-11/2’s key highways, link roads, and marketplaces, as well as the upkeep of broken street lights.

    Read more: Shopkeepers fined in Islamabad for not adhering to DC rates

    Similarly, Rs16 million has been set aside for sector I-16 in order to ensure sufficient illumination on major highways, service roads, and marketplaces. In addition, Rs11 million would be spent on lighting from Sector I-10, Faqir Appi Road, to Victory Pipe Industrial Area.

    The administration has agreed to spend Rs11 million to install new and modern street lights in Sector I-14-1, I-14/3, and I-14/4 to ensure sufficient lighting, and Rs7 million to install new street lights in Sector H-11 from NUST University to Srinagar Highway.