The devastating coronavirus pandemic has forced the world into an unprecedented social experiment: a “new normal” of social distancing. In an effort to contain the spread of Covid-19, the pneumonia-like disease caused by the virus, governments have first encouraged, then compelled people to practise social distancing, or keeping a physical distance between individuals. People have been told to stay and work at…
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Authorities in British Columbia have decried a Vancouver protest that depicted Covid-19 as “fake news” and called for the defiance of physical distancing rules, with the provincial health minister blasting “self-promoters” for exploiting the suffering of others. Social media photos and videos showed about 15 people taking part in Sunday’s protest, gathering at City Hall in spite of provincial health…
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Pakistan may have another financing window that may be almost equal to, if not bigger than, the investment under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as the Global Investment Consortium (GIC) mulls over investing billions of dollars into the country. The consortium is considering investing up to €50 billion on a public-private partnership basis in different megaprojects like Naya Pakistan Housing…
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Pakistan plans to seek rollover of half of nearly $28 billion external public debt that is maturing over the next three years, as the Bretton Woods Institutions begin their meetings that will also review possibility of writing off loans of member nations. The country seeks the fiscal space to help out its citizens affected by the coronavirus pandemic, as an…
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China’s air quality has improved dramatically in recent weeks as a result of the widespread city lockdowns and strict travel restrictions introduced to contain the coronavirus epidemic. But experts say the blue skies could rapidly disappear as factories and roads reopen under a government stimulus plan to breathe new life into a stalled economy.According to the Ministry of Ecology and…
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REC Limited, a public infrastructure finance company in India’s power sector, announced that its board of directors had approved a proposal to incorporate seven project-specific special purpose vehicles (SPVs) as wholly-owned subsidiaries of REC Transmission Projects Company Limited (RECTPCL) to develop transmission projects. The RECTPCL is a subsidiary of REC Limited that will be developing the following projects allocated by…
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KARACHI: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on Cabinet’s decision has been taken as surprise to shelve all the LPG air mix plants installation which were meant to provide the poor with a clean, environmental friendly, cheap and safe resource of energy besides uplifting of country’s remote area in Balochistan, Northern Areas and AJK. Baluchistan was first deprived of Sui Gas and…
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There are 70 coronavirus vaccines in development globally, with three candidates already being tested in human trials, according to the World Health Organization, as drugmakers race to find a cure for the deadly pathogen. The furthest along in the clinical process is an experimental vaccine developed by Hong Kong-listed CanSino Biologics Inc. and the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology, which is…
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FPCCI’s Businessmen Panel SVP, President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum and All Karachi Industrial Alliance, and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain on Monday said coronavirus is digging a grave for country’s stressed economy. Giving package to some sectors while at the mercy of the situation is not good policy as all sectors are interlinked that should be bailed out…
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The country’s energy sector circular debt has touched whopping level of Rs 2 trillion as failures are witnessed starting from generation, transmission distribution and recovery. A couple of months ago, Chairman National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra), Tauseef H Siddiqui opened a pandora’s box when he submitted report to the Prime Minister, Imran Khan, challenging all the claims of Power…
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