Unregistered Builders & Developers Can Work Till 31st December Only

on 22/07/2020

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has made it compulsory for builders and developers to get themselves enlisted with the FBR till December 31, 2020. The registration will help them to avail Prime Minister’s amnesty scheme for the construction sector and disallowed payment of fixed tax in instalments, after the expiry of the deadline of Sep 30, 2022.

          FBR arranged an online session to resolve the issues and answer the queries of those builders, developers and people’s associated or interested in construction business under the PM motivating force Package for Construction Sector. The session was decided for one hour but extended for more half an hour on the request of the stakeholders, in which more than two hundred queries have been solved.

          Tax authorities have educated the industry that up to 3000 square yards the per square yard charge rate will be charged and in the area of development would surpass, at that point the rate would be charged at Rs 125 for each square yard. There will be no top on the size of development as it could be built from 2 marlas to any boundless roofs.

          The FBR has also given instructions to the non-resident builders and developers working in Pakistan need to file their income tax returns, registration with the FBR is mandatory foravailing the incentive package, renovation business not covered under the amnesty scheme and facility of temporary registration with the FBR is available till submission of missing documents.

In the session a question was asked whether past activities are secured under the plan, FBR authorities reacted that the plan would be accessible to ventures started before December 31, 2020, and existing continuous tasks enrolled with the plan. The new and ongoing projects would be required to be enrolled on the ‘IRIS’ portal of the FBR and the progressing activities should tell about their fruition proportion and need to pay taxes for the rest of the work under the new fixed tax scheme.

Zhob-Kuchlak Western Route: Bidding Process in Progress: CPEC Chairman

on 21/07/2020

Prime Minister’s Assistant on Information and Broadcasting Lt-Gen AsimSaleemBajwa (retd) declared that bidding process for a part of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) western route Zhob-Kuchlak (Quetta) street was in progress via tweet.

He said the venture was desperately required for the Balochistan individuals and it would open the entryways of financial advancement of the local people.

Moreover, Bajwa said that according to per plan, a matter of Chinese Funding for Dera Ismail Khan-Zhob segment of CPEC Western route was being handled to be remembered for a forthcoming gathering of Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) of CPEC. And also mentioned that this project would make a freeway route from Islamabad to Quetta. The National Highway Authority (NHA) has just welcomed offers from qualified firms for works bundles of dualization of 298 kilometresKuchlak-Zhob area of N-50. The task will be finished in five bundles including 65 km Zhob-Tangi, 65 km Tangi-QilaSaifullah, 50 km QillaSaifullah-Nasai, 65 km Nasai-Khanozai, and 53 km Khanozai-Kuchlak.

Ecnec Favors Road Ventures Worth Rs 290bn

on 20/07/2020

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) on Thursday affirmed four significant street ventures worth Rs290 billion in Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.         

TheEcnec meeting chaired by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh approved the development of the 306-kilometre-long Hyderabad-Sukkur Motor-route at an expense of Rs165.67bn. The venture to be finished on the Build-Operate-Transfer premise conceives and includes a six-path, get to the controlled roadway.

The motorway is proposed to be a fast expressway office for productive and safe transportation, which will begin from Hyderabad (End of Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway M-9) and end at Naro Canal (Start of Sukkur-Multan Motorway M-5).

It passes through Jam-shoro, Tando Adam, Hala, Shahdadpur, Nawabshah, Moro, Dadu, NaushahroFeroze, Mehrab­pur, Rasool-pur, Larkana, Khairpur and Sukkur.

The task is now remembered for the open private association mode under which a private gathering will fund its development, work it for a characterized concession period and move it back to the National Highway Authority at no expense toward the finish of concession time of 25 years. The M-6 venture is assessed to take 33 months to finish.

Ecnec additionally affirmed the development of 47.55km Khyber Pass Economic Corridor venture at an expense of Rs77.9bn, development of 146km Hoshab-Awaran-Khuzdar Section of M-8 undertaking worth Rs26bn and land procurement for Swat Motorway Phase-II at an expense of Rs20bn.

The corridor venture comprises of two segments development of Peshawar-Torkham Motor­way and link-road interfacing motorway to Badabher (N-55) meeting N-5 bet­ween Chamkani and Jhagra (55km) long. It visualizes the development of 47.55-kilometre-long, four-path wide, double carriageway fast access-controlled motorway from Peshawar to Torkham.

The Peshawar-Torkham Motorway is a piece of the Peshawar-Jalalabad-Kabul Motorway Project. The extent of work incorporates the development of extensions, trades, flyovers, trams, underpasses, box ducts, dairy cattle creep, street furniture, seepage works, and holding dividers alongside unified offices. The undertaking was conceived based on a credit program offered by the World Bank.

The Hoshab-Awaran-Khuzdar Section of M-8 Project imagines the development of 146km street from Hoshab to Awaran at an expense of Rs26bn. The street begins from Hoshab and crosses through QilaDarwesh, Ashal, Dandar, Sahar Kalat, Gorari, Laljan, Duddar, Razai, Nurdin, Madak, Malar, LabachDargo lastly ends at Awaran. The extent of works incorporates the movement of utilities and securing of 29,200 kanals of land for 100m of Right of Way.

The Swat Motorway Phase-II venture visualizes securing of 10,000 kanals of land for development of four-path motorway of 79.69km length from Chakdara to Fatehpur as Phase-II — augmentation of the Swat Motorway. The motorway is proposed as a rapid expressway office for effective and safe transportation. The Right of Way proposed for the motorway is 50m.

While Dealing Senate Body Blamed Govt. Being Incompetence With PSM Issue

on 20/07/2020

The Senate Standing Committee on Industries and Production on Wednesday communicated alarm over the administration’s treatment of the Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) and requested that issues faced by resigned workers ought to be settled on an immediate basis.

          The committee, chaired by Senator Ahmad Khan, said thatPSM was the profitable mill in the country, it was the source of bread and butter for the thousands of families and also the playing a significant role in the economic development.

          Muhammad Hamad Azhar, Industries Minister mentioned that the mill was shut down in 2015 by the last government.

          The minister said that a part of PSM land were being given on lease. He further said that the industry needs a serious attention for bringing it in a money-spinning sector.

The minister presented the Govt.’s policy regarding PSM that it would run in a joint effort with private enterprises, including that it has not been privatized and there will be bidding for joint venture till the end of the year.

Azhar additionally said he has composed letters to 12 worldwide organizations of which six have just visited the steel plants.

He told the council that in 2008, PSM had a store of Rs10 billion, however the circumstance started to fall apart not long after as the deals dropped because of low steel costs.

Azhar also criticized the actions of previous governments as around 4,500 workers were made permanent in 2010 regardless of a running shortfall.  While the normal creation of PSM in 2010 dropped to around 40 percent and later it was just 6pc and the plants were shut down by the last government in 2015.

Air pollution in US ‘causes 100,000 deaths a year’

on 16/07/2020

A new study provides insight into the causes of poor air quality in the US and its effects on human health.

Conducted by researchers at the University of Minnesota, the study has found that air pollution from sources in the United States leads to 100,000 deaths in the US each year. About half of these deaths are from burning fossil fuels, but the researchers also identified less obvious sources of lethal pollution. The researchers believe that by targeting specific emission sources, this could reduce the mortality across the country.

“People usually think of power plants and cars, but nowadays, livestock and wood stoves are as big a problem. It’s also our farms and our homes,” said Sumil Thakrar, a postdoctoral research associate in the Departments of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering and Applied Economics.

The researchers found that while some sectors of the economy, such as electricity production and transport, have reduced pollution amid government regulations, other sectors such as agriculture and residential buildings have received less attention. 

For the study, the team analysed data from the Environmental Protection Agency on all pollution sources in the country, including their location and how much pollution they emit. Then, they used newly-developed computer models to determine where pollution travels and how it affects human health.

The researchers focused on one harmful pollutant: fine particulate matter, also known as PM2.5, which is commonly associated with heart attacks, strokes, lung cancer and other diseases. 

In examining the data, the team found around half of all PM2.5 air pollution-related deaths are from burning fossil fuels, with the remaining largely from animal agriculture, dust from construction and roads, and burning wood for heating and cooking.

“Essentially we’re asking: ‘what’s killing people and how do we stop it?’” Thakrar explained. “The first step in reducing deaths is learning the impact of each and every emission source.”

In the US, air quality is largely regulated by the federal government, which sets maximum allowable levels of pollution in different areas.  States and local governments are then charged with enforcing those limits. The researchers suggest regulators can improve this broad-brush approach by focusing instead on reducing emissions from specific sources.

“Targeting particularly damaging pollution sources is a more efficient, and likely more effective, way of regulating air quality,” said Jason Hill, a professor at the Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering. 

“Think of springing a leak in your boat while out fishing. Why fret too much about how much water is coming in when what you really should be doing is plugging the hole?”

The researchers also found that as well as soot — such as the exhaust from a dirty bus — or road dust, PM2.5 also forms from other pollutants like ammonia which can have a detrimental impact on human health. 

Ammonia is released from animal manure and the fertilisation of crops. But unlike many other sources of PM2.5, ammonia is not regulated to any large extent, despite being responsible for about 20,000 deaths, or one-fifth of all deaths caused by PM2.5 pollution from human activity, the researchers said. 

To improve air quality in the future, the researchers suggest more drastic reductions of emissions from sources that are already regulated, such as electricity generation and passenger vehicles. 

Furthermore, they suggest novel ways to target pollutant sources that have not been as extensively regulated, such as manure management, changing personal diets and improving formulations of cleaning supplies, paints and inks.

The researchers said this study — the underlying data and results of which are available to the public — can complement current efforts to mitigate climate change and other environmental problems.

“Our work provides key insights into the sources of damage caused by air pollution and suggests ways to reduce impacts,” Thakrar concluded. “We hope policymakers and the public will use this to improve the lives of Americans.”

ER