Tag: prices

  • Cellular companies raise call and data bundle prices

    Cellular companies raise call and data bundle prices

    Telecommunications companies in Pakistan, such as Jazz, Telenor, and Ufone, have raised the prices of various call and data package offers.

    According to Propakistani, Jazz has notified its customers of the price increase, and the company has revised the subscription fees for the YouTube and social packages for one week from Rs115 to Rs120, while the price of the WhatsApp package has increased from Rs21 to Rs23 for one week.

    Jazz prepaid monthly premium, which includes 25GB of monthly data and 250 all-network minutes, remains unchanged at Rs650.

    Due to rising inflation, Ufone has also raised its prices. UPower is now priced at Rs120, up from Rs100 previously. The price of SuperCard Plus increased from Rs649 to Rs699 on June 29, 2022. The price of Super Card Gold has also risen by more than Rs100, from Rs999 to Rs1,099.

    Read more: Number of 3G, 4G users in Pakistan increases to 113.89 million

    Telenor package prices have also increased. On June 22, 2022, the price of EasyCard increased from 500 to Rs550; on June 29, 2022, the price of EasyCard increased from Rs650 to Rs700; and the monthly social pack plus increased to Rs100.

    Telecom companies claim that a price increase is required to maintain service quality as inflation rises.

  • Pharmaceutical industry wants to raise drug prices by 25 per cent

    Pharmaceutical industry wants to raise drug prices by 25 per cent

    The government is given the deadline of June 30 to accept the pharmaceutical industry’s demands, or the cash-strapped sector will have no choice but to shut down.

    In order to prevent the collapse of the industry, Qazi Mansoor Dilawar, chairman of the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA), called for the refund of Rs40 billion that the government had collected as sales tax on the import of raw materials, the removal of the 17 per cent sales tax, and a 20 to 25 per cent increase in the price of medications during a press conference at the National Press Club.

    He also called for a 20 per cent increase in the maximum retail price (MRP). According to him, there is already a shortage of about 40 medicines on the market, and if immediate action is not taken, the shortage will grow alarmingly large.

    Dilawar claimed that the previous administration had pledged to refund the sales tax that had been imposed as a result of IMF pressure within 48 hours, but regretted that no mechanism had yet been established, preventing the refund of a significant Rs40 billion.

    The problem was made worse by a three-fold increase in the price of raw materials, a massive increase in freight costs, an increase in the price of fuel and electricity, and a drop in the value of the rupee. He added that 95 per cent of the raw materials used in the sector had to be imported.

    The president of the PPMA dismissed the notion that the industry was reaping huge profits by mentioning that many medications had costs that were higher than their retail prices.

    He asserted that about 70 per cent of Pakistani medications were less expensive than those found in India and Bangladesh.

    In response to a question, he stated that while there was much discussion about the increase in 600 drug prices after 13 years under the PTI government, there was little discussion of the decrease in 400 drug prices.

    The industry was not prepared to handle the challenge this time, according to the former PPMA chairman Qaisar Waheed, who also spoke about the recent increase in Covid-19 cases, particularly in Sindh.

  • Here’s how to build your new laptop without going to a shop

    Here’s how to build your new laptop without going to a shop

    As online purchasing and selling have evolved, you can now choose and order a laptop from a number of Pakistani websites without going to the market in person.

    Some of the most popular websites for online shopping include Daraz, laptopmart.pk, myshop.pk, mrlaptop.pk, telemart.pk and OLX.

    There is a distinct and significantly more effective website that delivers much more than just selling factory goods. The laptop shopping website paklap.pk offers a variety of brands from which you can choose one of your preferred models. Whatever brand or model you’re looking for, Paklap has it, from boxy Lenovo Thinkpads to sleek Apple MacBooks.

    The platform’s most intriguing feature is that it even lets you select your preferred RAM, HDD storage, and SSD storage and provides a precise cost estimate for the laptop after your chosen upgrades. In addition to laptops, the website lists a wide range of computer accessories and numerous gadgets for online shoppers at affordable prices.

    Building your new laptop and obtaining an exact price quote while you’re still in bed seems like a brilliant idea, particularly for those who lack the time to go to the market, haggle, and inquire about the cost of each upgrade.

    Despite the minimal effort, you should still confirm or check the market prices of each item you intend to purchase.

  • Number of railway passengers increases after hike in bus fares

    Number of railway passengers increases after hike in bus fares

    The number of train passengers has enhanced as the cost of travelling by bus or private vehicle has elevated owing to skyrocketing fuel costs.

    Despite a slight increase in railway fares, a spokesperson for Pakistan Railways said that there was no comparison between train fares and bus or other forms of road transportation.

    According to AFP, Pakistan Railways had to jack up ticket prices by 10 per cent on some trains, but train travel was still affordable and convenient.

    On the other hand, due to an increase in petroleum prices throughout the country, bus fares have soared in the last month.

    Sardar Nasir, a passenger at the Lahore railway station, told this scribe that taking a bus with his family was too expensive, so he decided to take the train to Rawalpindi instead.

    Another passenger on the Allama Iqbal Express train to Bahawalpur with her family, explained that the pricing for Bahawalpur by bus was nearly doubled, so she chose to commute by train.

    The booking receptionist at the Faisalabad train station validated that train ticket sales had surged following the increase in petroleum product prices.

  • Here’s why iOS 16 is going to be the finest upgrade ever

    Here’s why iOS 16 is going to be the finest upgrade ever

    On paper, Apple’s iOS 16, the iPhone’s next big software upgrade, appears to be innovative and super secure. iOS 16, which was previewed at Apple’s annual conference, would bring enhancements to communication, personalisation, and privacy. This contains significant upgrades to the lock screen, Messages app, and photos on your iPhone.

    The developer beta for iOS 16 is already available, with a public beta version expected in July. iOS 16 will be released this fall, most likely alongside the much-anticipated iPhone 14. The new software is also compatible with iPhone 8 and subsequent models.

    “Embarrassing errors are a thing of the past,” Apple Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi said as he unveiled three of the Messages app’s most requested additions.

    For starters, you’ll be able to edit sent texts in iOS 16. So, if you find a typo after sending a message, you’ll be able to correct it later. In the message’s status, a small “edited” shows.

    Next, and perhaps the best feature, you can recall a sent message right away. If you mistakenly send an incomplete message, you can utilise the Undo Send feature to prevent it from being read, making your friends and family think you’re crazy.

    Finally, you may flag unread messages and threads. When you don’t have time to answer a message right away but want to make sure you don’t forget about it later, this could be a useful tool.

    The lock screen is one of the first things you see when you open your iPhone, especially if it has Face ID. The iPhone’s lock screen receives the most significant improvement yet with iOS 16. To edit your lock screen, press and hold. You can swipe through a variety of different styles.

    Each design alters the background photo’s colour filter as well as the typeface on the lock screen, ensuring that everything is in sync. This appears to be Apple’s response to Google’s Material You, which debuted with Android 12.

    You can also change the typefaces for the time and date, as well as add lock screen widgets like a calendar, temperature, and activity rings. On the Apple Watch lock screen, the widgets are similar to complications.

    You can also create many personalised lock screens with various widgets and switch between them with a simple swipe. There’s even a photo-shuffle feature that changes the photographs on your lock screen automatically.

    An always-on display was one feature we thought Apple would provide. It’s a feature found on practically all Android phones, as well as the Apple Watch. There’s a chance it’ll be released alongside the iPhone 14.

    As alerts might sometimes obscure the photo on your lock screen, iOS 16 pushes notifications to the bottom of your screen. Instead of being gathered into a list, they show as a vertical carousel as you receive them. This not only looks better, but it should also make one-handed use of your iPhone much easier.

    Another issue with notifications is addressed in iOS 16. You may receive a series of notifications from one app in a sequence, such as the score of a basketball game. Instead of experiencing a succession of interruptions, a new tool for developers called Live Activities makes it easy to remain on top of things happening in real-time from your lock screen.

    Sporting events, workouts, and even the progress of an Uber ride should be easier to monitor with Live Activities.

    Visual Look Up in iOS 15 analyses photographs and can recognise objects such as flora, landmarks, and pets. This is taken to the next level with iOS 16. You may remove a photo’s subject. Interestingly, It’s just a tap-and-hold tool for removing the background from a photo.

    Safety Check is a programme that tries to assist people who are in violent relationships. It’s a new service that is designed to assist those who are in violent situations. It allows you to check and change who has access to your iPhone’s location information, passwords, messages, and other apps.

    Several changes have been made to the focus mode. The first uses widgets and lock screen appearance to apply Focus behaviours. So you could have one lock screen for when Work Focus is turned on and another for when you’re working out.

    Moreover, Apple has added Focus filters to apps that apply your iPhone’s Focus mode. For example, depending on which Focus mode is active, you can limit which tabs are displayed in Safari.

  • Expansion plan for Lahore airport discussed

    Expansion plan for Lahore airport discussed

    Specifics of the Lahore Airport expansion project were recently discussed at a meeting of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) management, and Nespak.

    According to The News, the runway that is now being constructed was also discussed. The discussion went over the operational issues at Lahore Airport, as well as the concerns that travellers confront, and offered remedies.

    Additionally, the attendees discussed the airport’s security status and the importance of developing a comprehensive security policy. The minister was approached with a suggestion to divide the international and domestic lounges at Lahore Airport.

    Lahore Airport’s expansion is urgently needed, according to Federal Minister for Aviation, Khawaja Saad Rafique, since the confluence of flights is causing passengers complications. The presence of birds within airport boundaries threatens aviation safety.

    The meeting was attended by Civil Aviation Authority Director General Khaqan Murtaza, ASF Director General Major General Abid Latif Khan, Nespak Managing Director Dr Tahir Masood, PIA General Manager Syed Zulqarnain Mehdi, General Manager Technical Support Agha Sami, and government officials.

  • Petrol quota for ministers, govt officials in Sindh lowered by 40 per cent

    Petrol quota for ministers, govt officials in Sindh lowered by 40 per cent

    Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Murad Ali Shah lowered the petrol allotment of ministers and government officials by 40 per cent this week as part of his moderation campaign following another spike in petroleum prices.

    Keeping in view a substantial spike in POL prices within the last few days, the decision was made to limit spending and decrease the strain on the national kitty.

    “The rise in petrol price should not be a burden on the exchequer,” Sindh CM Murad Ali Shah said, increasing the treasury’s load entails intensifying the burden on individuals.

    To meet the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) conditions, the government has unleashed another big gasoline bomb on the country after another hike of Rs30. In less than a month, the price of petrol has risen by Rs60 to Rs209.86.

    The latest petrol price hike came just hours after the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) approved a power tariff hike of Rs7.91 per unit.

    The price hike sparked riots in Karachi, with protesters wrecking a petrol pump and torching tyres on University Road. Despite expressing their dissatisfaction with the situation, the general public has requested that the government tightens its belt instead of putting the weight on the populace.

    Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokar, a top PPP lawmaker, also shared this attitude, suggesting a 50 per cent wage cut for politicians, generals, judges, and senior bureaucrats.

    “Why should common folk shoulder the failures of the political, military and judicial elite? This joke has to end”.

    If the average citizen is compelled to narrow his belt, Khokar believes that politicians, generals, judges, and top bureaucrats’ income should be halved and all amenities, including free utilities, should be removed.

    The administration warned on June 2 that it would raise fuel prices by Rs30 for the second time in ten days, as an attempt to obtain the remaining funds from IMF.

  • Inflation in France hits record-high since 1990s

    Inflation in France hits record-high since 1990s

    Preliminary EU-harmonised statistics indicated that inflation in France surged more than projected in May to a new high, putting additional pressure on President Emmanuel Macron before upcoming legislative elections.

    Consumer prices rose 0.7 per cent in May, for a 12-month inflation rate of 5.8 per cent, up from 5.4 per cent in the last month and the highest rate since France started working on European Union methodology to generate the numbers in the early 1990s, as per the INSEE statistics.

    Inflation was predicted to grow to 5.6 per cent on average, considering a poll of eight economists in a report by Reuters.

    High inflation is at the top of France’s political agenda, and following the elections, Macron’s government has promised a new wave of measures to protect buying power.

    Apart from Malta, France has managed to maintain the inflation lower than the rest of the EU due to a 25 billion euro package of measures that includes, among other things, hefty price limits on gas and electricity.

    Annual inflation in France, as measured by the national consumer price index, climbed to 5.2 per cent in May from 4.8 per cent in April, reaching its highest level since September 1985, according to INSEE.

    This month, economists surveyed by Reuters projected an average growth rate of 5.0 per cent. In France, the national index is regularly monitored, whilst outside the country, the EU-harmonised index is used to assess inflation rates among euro-area nations.

  • Pakistan faces Rs615 billion annual deficit due to tobacco consumption

    Pakistan faces Rs615 billion annual deficit due to tobacco consumption

    Pakistan has a substantial Rs615 billion annual deficit owing to diseases caused by smoking and overall tobacco usage, with only Rs120 billion earning in tax revenue from the product.

    The government is expected to improve revenue by raising the tax on cigarettes by 30 per cent according to The Nation.

    This was voiced by speakers at a major symposium held in Islamabad on May 18. The Pakistan National Heart Association (PANAH) held a seminar on the theme ‘Harms of Tobacco Products and the Importance of Tax Policy,’ which was presided over by Patron General (R) Ashraf Khan and hosted by General Secretary Sana Ullah Ghumman.

    As per the speakers at the event, tobacco usage is a major cause of serious heart, lung, and cancer diseases in the country. A fact sheet on the health and economic costs of cigarette usage was released by the Social Policy and Development Centre (SPDC).

    According to the survey, tobacco is used by 31 million persons over the age of 15. More than 260,000 people are predicted to start smoking in the country if tobacco taxes are not raised in the budget for 2022-23.

    Engineer Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, the former governor of KP and a senior PML-N leader, was the special guest at the event. Nisar Cheema, a member of the National Assembly, was also present.

    Read more: Tobacco companies in Pakistan may bump cigarette prices

    PANAH Patron General (R) Ashraf Khan congratulated the attendees and informed them of the organization’s goals and objectives.

    Smoking was declared the primary cause of deaths from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart, cancer, respiratory, and chronic diseases, according to participants, with an estimated 163,360 persons dying in 2017.

  • Open market: Lemon being sold at Rs1,100 per kg in Lahore

    Open market: Lemon being sold at Rs1,100 per kg in Lahore

    The local price of lemon increased by Rs105 per kg, to Rs770 to 775 per kg, and was sold at an unbelievable price of Rs1,100 per kg in open markets and a few online stores with available stock.

    Due to the district administration’s inability to impose official rates at Ramazan bazaars, consumers are unable to get relief from overbilling and skyrocketing rates of fruits and vegetables in Lahore. 

    High prices of perishable commodities are massively affecting the urban population due to rising production costs and transportation costs from rural production centers to urban areas.

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

    Senior administrators and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif paid surprise visits to Ramazan bazaars, but shoppers were not relieved. Containing volatility and successfully administering official rate lists to bring inflation relief to the public is a task for the new government.