Tag: Water

October 19, 2020: Poverty alleviation has not attained the level of political priority in Pakistan given its importance and urgency stated by Sheikh Sultan Rehman, Vice President FPCCI during an interactive webinar on “Interactive Webinar on Poverty Alleviation in Pakistan: Challenges and Way Forward” organized by FPCCI Head Office Karachi.

He further said that poverty alleviation is not an option, and all the segments of the society must realize their responsibility towards the alleviation of poverty from the country.

The meeting was attended by representatives from leading public and private organizations including Dr. M. Ali Kemal Economic Policy Adviser from Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Support Unit GoP, Dr. Shahid Hussain Javed Senior Economist from State Bank of Pakistan, Mr. Jawad Rehmani representative from National Rural Support Program, Ms. Maryam Anas Ganaie from Small Medium Enterprises Development Authority, Ms. Aisha Salma & Mr. Shehryar Shahid from Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund, Ms. Madiha Hasan, Provincial Focal Person from Benzair Income Support Program, Engr. M.A. Jabbar, ForA dead FPCCI, Prof. Dr. Abdul Jabbar, renowned Economist, Ms. Nazli Abid Nisar, Former Vice President FPCCI, Commodore (R) Sadeed A. Malik Kashir, Dy. Convener FPCCI Standing Committee on Technical & Vocational Education & Training and Pir Muhammad Yaquib Chishti.

During the discussion, Mr. M Ali Kemal highlighted the different techniques for poverty data collection in Pakistan, at present around 24% of our population is living below the poverty line while 19% are the vulnerable. He further encouraged strong coordination between public and private sector for the economic development and poverty alleviation in the country.

Sharing the details regarding the initiatives taken by SBP, Dr. Shahid Hussain Javed said that all the financing schemes of SBP aim to generate economic activities which are essential to provide income generation opportunities for the poor. Ms. Aisha Salma was of the opinion that government’s target to reduce poverty rate from 24% to 19% can be achieved by inclusive growth, participation of women in the economy and education.

Appreciating FPCCI, Ms. Salma further said that private sector must play its social responsibility to the maximum. Ms. Madiha Hasan shared that BISP disbursed around PKR160 million during lockdown. She also said that apart from providing cash assistance, Ehsaas Ministry is also working on education, nutrition, awareness on population control in the rural and remote areas. Ms. Maryam Anas highlighted the significance of SMEs and said that promotion of micro, small and medium enterprises is an important tool for dignified employment generation for the poor and unskilled/less educated class of population. Mr. Jawad Rehmani said that NRSP is working at grass root level for the community development, education, health and the entire primary and secondary aspects of increasing poverty in rural areas.

Engr. M.A Jabbar said that the available data related to poverty measurement in the country in not accurate and expressed his concern over the increasing rate of vulnerable in the country. He further suggested the need of correct utilization and mobilization of resources to the lowest to get positive outcome from government’s poverty alleviation strategies. Prof. Dr. Jabbar criticized the performance of public sector organizations and ministries working for poverty alleviation in country and stressed the need of taking purchasing power parity (PPP) while measuring poverty strong public-private partnership and political will for the better of the poorest segment of the population.

Mr. Sadeed Anver Kashir emphasized on the need of effective poverty alleviation policies particularly for the people depending upon the agriculture income sources. Pir Yaquib identified the significance of population control in the process of poverty alleviation in a country. Ms. Nazli Abid Nisar suggested financial support to the micro level workers without which it will be difficult for the government to contain and reduce the poverty in Pakistan.

While concluding, Sheikh Sultan Rehman said that the government cannot alone reduce the poverty in our country and hence it’s the social and religious responsibility of private sector, community and civil society and they must work together for the alleviation of poverty.

 Press Release

October 19, 2020 (MLN): The price of 24 karat gold increased by Rs. 350 on Monday to Rs. 116,000, against the price Rs. 115,650 reported on Wednesday.

According to the data released by the All Sindh Saraf Jewellers Association, the price of 10-gram gold also increased by Rs. 300 to Rs. 99,451 against the price of Rs. 99,151 reported yesterday.  

The price of per tola silver of 24 Karat and 10-gram silver remained static Rs. 1,260 and Rs. 1,080.24, respectively.

The gold prices in the international market increased by US $12 and traded at US $1,912, the association reported.

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October 19, 2020 (MLN): The Board of Directors of Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL) has appointed Mr. Tariq Kirmani as the new Chairman of Board of Directors, with effect from October 16, 2020.

Mr. Tariq Kirmani has more than 45 years of multifaceted experience in the corporate sector, both domestic and international.

During his career, he has served as the Managing Director of PSO and Chairman & CEO of Pakistan International Airlines Corporation (PIAC). He has also worked as a Director on the Boards of Pakistan International Airlines Corporation (PIAC), Professional Education Foundation (PEF) and Family Educational Services Foundation (FESF).

He also served as the Chairman of Greenstar Social Marketing (GSM), United Bank Limited Fund Managers and Oil Companies Advisory Council (OCAC). He has previously served on a number of Boards of multinational and public sector companies such as Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL), Pak-Arab Pipeline Company Limited (PAPCO), Pakistan State Cement Corporation (PSCC), Pakistan Telecommunications Limited (PTCL), Pakistan Private Infrastructure Board (PPIB), Board of Governors, LUMS, Lahore and National Bank of Pakistan (NBP).

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October 19, 2020 (MLN): Mari Petroleum Limited has reported earnings of Rs. 9.06 billion (EPS: 67.96) for the quarter ended September 30, 2020, i.e. 21% higher than the profits made in the same period of last year.  

The net sales of the company went up by 14% owing to an increase in the overall gas production, as well as depreciation of the local currency against the US Dollar.

On the other hand, the exploration and prospecting cost fell by 40% on account of less expenditure incurred on prospection activities. According to Ismail Iqbal Securities, the decline in exploration expenditure would likely have been due to the nature of seismic activity while the company did most of the activity in 2D format.

The fall in the income from the seismic unit resulted in a non-core income of only Rs. 289 million, against other expenses of Rs. 507 million recorded during the same period.

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October 19, 2020 (MLN): The capital markets remained range bound today as lack of fresh triggers, continued political noise and FATF review which is just around the corner, influenced investors to take a cautious trading approach. The KSE-100 Index concluded the trading session in the green zone on Monday with a gain of 176 points or 0.44% increase to close at 40,340 level.

According to the closing note by Ismail Iqbal Securities, Energy sector stocks (mainly heavyweight E&Ps, IPPs) remained in limelight as Government is working on transfer of DISCOs to provinces (major reform), adjustments in power tariffs for increasing consumption and finalization of K-Electric acquisition by Shanghai Electric.

The Index traded in a range of 423.35 points or 1.05 percent of previous close, showing an intraday high of 40,491.85 and a low of 40,068.50.

Of the 93 traded companies in the KSE100 Index 56 closed up 35 closed down, while 2 remained unchanged. Total volume traded for the index was 182.42 million shares.

Sectors propping up the index were Fertilizer with 88 points, Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 31 points, Oil & Gas Marketing Companies with 19 points, Transport with 15 points and Vanaspati & Allied Industries with 14 points.

The most points added to the index was by ENGRO which contributed 62 points followed by EFERT with 23 points, MARI with 20 points, MEBL with 16 points and PIBTL with 15 points.

Sector wise, the index was let down by Commercial Banks with 15 points, Tobacco with 5 points, Cement with 5 points, Power Generation & Distribution with 4 points and Insurance with 3 points.

The most points taken off the index was by HBL which stripped the index of 13 points followed by MCB with 12 points, POL with 5 points, PAKT with 5 points and NBP with 5 points.

All Share Volume increased by 65.36 Million to 319.56 Million Shares. Market Cap increased by Rs.22.74 Billion.

Total companies traded were 392 compared to 391 from the previous session. Of the scrips traded 233 closed up, 140 closed down while 19 remained unchanged.

Total trades increased by 7,441 to 97,001.

Value Traded increased by 0.23 Billion to Rs.7.96 Billion

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