Author: newsdesk

  • Pak Suzuki suffers losses of Rs17.23 million due to rising production costs

    Pak Suzuki suffers losses of Rs17.23 million due to rising production costs

    Pak Suzuki Motor Company Ltd. (PSMC) reported its half-yearly results, which were completed on June 30, 2022. The company reported a net loss of Rs17.23 million against a net profit of Rs1.19 billion, according to the automaker’s latest filing on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX).

    According to Mettis Global, the company’s sales revenue climbed 30 per cent YoY, from Rs66 billion to Rs112, 62 billion, mostly due to volumetric growth and pricing increases.

    As a result of growing input costs and the significant depreciation of the local currency, the gross margins during 1HFY22 decreased from 5.98 per cent to 3.74 per cent.

    Regarding the company’s primary expense heads, distribution and marketing costs came in at Rs1.64 billion, up 30 per cent YoY, while administration costs dipped to Rs1.48 billion, up 11 per cent YoY.

    In contrast to Rs866 millionn in 1HFY21, the company additionally received Rs1.56 billion in other income.

    Furthermore, as a result of rising interest rates, finance costs increased by 6.2x YoY, from Rs292 million to Rs1.8 billion.

    The company also paid Rs767.84 million in taxes, which represents an increase of 57 per cent YoY because of the impact of super taxes.

  • ‘Three crore people have become homeless due to floods’: Ahsan Iqbal

    ‘Three crore people have become homeless due to floods’: Ahsan Iqbal

    Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal said that 55 lakh households were affected, while more than three crore people became homeless due to the devastating floods and rains across Pakistan.

    “A safe analysis suggests that 55 lakh poor households have been affected, while more than three crore people have been displaced due to the floods. We need more than one million tents for these people,” said Iqbal while speaking on Dawn News programme, ‘Live with Adil Shahzeb’.

    At least 151 people lost their lives in rains and flash floods in Punjab, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) says in its report.

    Four more people have died in the rain and flood-related incidents in Balochistan during the last 24 hours, according to PDMA.

    Read more: Here is how you can help flood victims

    A report issued by the PDMA Balochistan said the death toll since June 1 in the rain-destructed province has reached 234. The deceased include 110 men, 55 women and 69 children.

    Federal Minister for Climate Change, Sherry Rehman said that death toll in Pakistan has gone up to 903.

  • Picture of dead woman relatives smiling with her body goes viral

    Picture of dead woman relatives smiling with her body goes viral

    A picture of a family in India smiling at a funeral is going viral on the internet. The photograph was taken at Mariyamma’s funeral, a 95-year-old woman who had been unwell and bedridden for nearly a year. She had nine children and 19 grandchildren, all spread across the globe but most of them were at their family home when she died.

    The ‘happy’ picture is being criticised on social media. At least 40 members of the family were seen smiling as they gather around the funeral casket for a “family photograph”.

    “The people who cannot acknowledge the picture are those who have seen only tears after death. Instead of lamenting, the dead have to be bid adieu merrily. We have done the same,” said a family member of the dead woman in an interview with an Indian media outlet.

    “We sat around her body and shared memories about her. Her life was so inspiring and we felt so proud of her. We all decided to take that photo with smiling faces as there was nothing sad to feel about grandmother as she had led a fulfilled life,” Mariyamma’s granddaughter Harsha Elma Joseph told Times of India.

  • ‘Naqal ke liye aqal ki zaroorat hoti hai’: Qasim Suri trolled for sharing fake CNN screenshot

    ‘Naqal ke liye aqal ki zaroorat hoti hai’: Qasim Suri trolled for sharing fake CNN screenshot

    Former National Assembly (NA) Deputy Speaker and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Qasim Suri shared a fake screenshot of CNN covering PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s rally in Haripur on Wednesday.

    “PTI Power Show in Haripur, Massive Crowed,” read the caption shared in the fake CNN screenshot shared by Suri.

    Soon after Suri tweeted the fake CNN screenshot with the caption, “Hunnh aaraam aye?” (Are you satisfied now?), several people pointed out that it was fake.

    CNN journalist Sophia Saifi also replied to Suri’s tweet.

    Suri deleted his tweet after being called out for posting a fake screenshot with wrong spellings of ‘crowd’.

    However, Twitterati did not spare him and soon “crowed” started trending on Twitter.

    https://twitter.com/CorollaViruss/status/1562499608521035776?s=20&t=-qzlJ79cspn3jmGZyRjAUw

    This is not the first time that a PTI leader shared a fake screenshot.

    In April, PTI leader Ali Muhammad Khan went overboard as he shared a photo from the United States (US) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), claiming that it was from the party’s rally.

    The picture shared by the PTI leader actually shows the lights in the Iberian Peninsula, which falls in Spain and Portugal.

  • Pakistan or India: Shane Watson predicts who will win Asia Cup 2022

    Pakistan or India: Shane Watson predicts who will win Asia Cup 2022

    Former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson predicted the winner of the upcoming Asia Cup 2022, which starts on August 27 (Saturday).

    There will be eight teams in two groups competing against one another in the upcoming Asia Cup 2022. The most awaited-match between Pakistan and India will take place on August 28 (Sunday).

    There are many strong contenders – India and Pakistan favoured most among them – but Watson picked India to win the tournament. 

    “My predicted winner is India,” said Watson in the latest episode of The ICC Review. “They’re so strong and depending on what the conditions are, they adapt easily to conditions.”

    “Pakistan,” said Watson when asked about the biggest threat to India’s success. He said the winner of the India-Pakistan clash on Sunday (August 28) would go on to win the Asia Cup.

    “That first game is going to be very special to watch because Pakistan have full belief now that they can beat this Indian team,” said Watson. “I think, really, whoever wins that game is going to go on and win the Asia Cup.”

    Pak-India clash

    “I’m sitting on the fence a little bit!” Watson laughed. “But I think Pakistan have a chance to win that game because of the confidence they’d have got out of winning for the first time in a long time against India.”

    Watson added that Pakistan’s “confidence is going to be flying high”.

    “India is hard to contain, especially their batting. But Pakistan, and as I’ve always known playing against them, when their confidence is high, they’re nearly unstoppable. And their confidence is high now that they know they can beat India in a big tournament.”

  • US firm to buy Pakistan’s Cloudways for $350 million

    US firm to buy Pakistan’s Cloudways for $350 million

    Cloudways, a Pakistani company that offers small and medium-sized businesses cloud hosting and software as a service (SaaS) capabilities, will be acquired by New York Stock Exchange-listed company DigitalOcean Holdings for $350 million.

    A large amount of the consideration, according to a business statement posted on Wednesday, would be paid over a 30-month period after the transaction closes in September.

    According to DAWN, this will be one of the largest acquisitions in Pakistan’s history due to the hefty amount of the transaction. According to the company, this deal will make workflows simpler for small and medium-sized companies that are seeking less complicated ways to develop and grow their digital operations.

    The projected revenue for Cloudways in fiscal 2022 is more than $52 million, which would indicate a three-year compound annual growth rate of more than 50 per cent.

    Since 2014, DigitalOcean and Cloudways have been strong collaborators. About 50 per cent of Cloudways’ clients are currently powered by DigitalOcean infrastructure.

    Serving a clientele that is both global and expanding, both companies will service more than 124,000 clients who make monthly payments of over $50, or around 84 per cent of the pro forma company’s total revenue.

    For specific small and medium-sized enterprises wishing to outsource their on-ramp to the internet, Cloudways offers straightforward on-boarding and day-to-day management.

    The company assists such organisations in offloading the challenges of cloud infrastructure so they may focus more on managing and growing their operations.

  • Wife, boyfriend plan to kill husband, boyfriend commits suicide, husband survives

    Wife, boyfriend plan to kill husband, boyfriend commits suicide, husband survives

    Trigger warning: Suicide

    A woman in India planned to murder her husband with the help of her boyfriend but the plan backfired.

    The incident happened in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Police have identified the woman as Anupallavi and her boyfriend as Humavanath Kumar. They both put together a plan to kill her husband, Naveen Kumar.

    Anupallavi’s husband Naveen is a taxi driver. Her boyfriend and Anupallavi hired three contract killers to execute their plan.

    The contract killers kidnapped Naveen and took him to a house and kept him there. However, they could not muster the courage to kill Naveen. They befriended him and ended up partying with him.

    When Anupallavi and her boyfriend asked for an update on the plan of murdering Naveen, the contract killers poured ketchup on Naveen’s body to make it look like he had been killed. They sent a photo of Naveen with ketchup on his body to communicate that the plan had been executed.

    After receiving the picture of Naveen’s dead body, Anupallavi’s boyfriend committed suicide out of fear of punishment.

    After his safe return, Naveen narrated the whole incident to the police.

  • VIDEO: Babar Azam meets Virat Kohli in Dubai ahead of Pak Vs India clash

    Team India landed in Dubai on August 23 and went straight to the nets to prepare for India’s match against Pakistan on August 28 (Sunday). Ahead of the much-anticipated match, players from both the teams met each other in Dubai.  The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shared a video in which Virat Kohli could be seen meeting Pakistan skipper Babar Azam.

    In the video, Hardik Pandya and Yuzvendra Chahal were also chatting with Muhammad Nabi.

    Babar Azam retained his top spot in the International Cricket Council (ICC) T20I rankings. He is at the top of the rankings with 818 points, whereas Kohli has been struggling of late.

    Comparisons between the two had started long back and gathers steam ahead of a match between the two rival sides.

    Read more: ‘This too shall pass’, Pakistani captain Babar Azam backs Virat Kohli to regain form

    Asia Cup is all set to start from August 27 and Pakistan will be playing its first match against India on August 28 in Dubai.

    Babar and Kohli’s video has drawn massive reaction of fans from both countries. Here are some tweets.

  • Neighbour kills 7-year-old, dumps her body in water tank

    Neighbour kills 7-year-old, dumps her body in water tank

    Trigger warning: Murder

    A seven-year-old minor girl was killed in the Karpa area of Islamabad by a female neighbour and her male accomplice.

    According to the girl’s father, his daughter was burnt and her body was dumped in a water tank. After the incident, the minor girl’s father lodged a complaint against his female neighbour and her unidentified young abettor.

    In the First Information Report (FIR), the complainant told the police that his mother and wife along with daughter Maira went to their neighbor’s house to participate in Quran Khawani.

    The minor went up to the roof. After some time, the visitors smelled something burning. When they went to the roof, they saw a burning mattress but no sign of Maira. Later, Maira’s burnt body was recovered from a water tank kept on the roof.

    The complainant said his family members saw their female neighbour and an unidentified man fleeing the scene.

    Islamabad Police Operations Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) has also taken notice of the incident and directed the related police officials to arrest the suspects.

  • Qatar to invest $3 billion in Pakistan following PM Shehbaz Sharif’s official visit

    Qatar to invest $3 billion in Pakistan following PM Shehbaz Sharif’s official visit

    The state-owned investment fund of Qatar plans to invest $3 billion in Pakistan, an official statement from the office of Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani said on Wednesday, August 24.

    The administrative office of Qatar’s emir released the statement as Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif held official talks with Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in Doha after a meeting with the sovereign fund official the day before.

    In the statement, the $450 billion Qatar Investment Authority announced its “aspiration to invest $3 billion in various commercial and investment sectors in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan”.

    The PM thanked the Qatari Emir for his hospitality and the $3 billion investment in Pakistan.

    Shehbaz Sharif is returning to Pakistan today, August 25, after his two-day official visit to Qatar.