Day: February 27, 2022

The Galiyat Development Authority (GDA) has imposed an immediate ban on the entry of tourists in the Galiyat Division as a precautionary measure in view of the continuous heavy rain and snowfall in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

According to details, Galiyat Division is currently witnessing its tenth snowfall spell of the ongoing winter season. The spell started earlier this week and has continued intermittently throughout the week.

Local residents have claimed that low-lying areas of Galiyat Valley received around six inches of snowfall on Friday alone and authorities have not yet started operation for clearing the roads in rural areas of the region.

On the other hand, GDA’s spokesperson, Ahsan Hameed, said that the department has been forced to place a ban on the entry of tourists for their own safety as unrestricted entry during unrelenting snowfall led to a tragic incident last month.

He added that low-lying areas of the Division have received up to ten inches of snowfall while high-altitude areas such as Ayubia, Mushkpuri, and Changla Gali have recorded up to one foot of snow.

The spokesperson confirmed that rural areas have been cut off with the main Abbottabad-Bariyan Road and heavy machinery is working extremely hard to clear the snow despite the slippery conditions.

Source: Pro Pakistan

American chipmaker Nvidia was recently hit by a massive cyberattack that completely compromised the company’s internal systems for almost two days. Nvidia has confirmed to The Verge, Bloomberg, and others that its currently investigating the “incident”.

Nvidia spokesman Hector Marinez said:

We are investigating an incident. Our business and commercial activities continue uninterrupted. We are still working to evaluate the nature and scope of the event and don’t have any additional information to share at this time.

Even The Telegraph, which originally reported the cyberattack, is claiming that Nvidia hasn’t had any data stolen or deleted. There is currently no evidence suggesting that the cyberattack is related to the recent Russia-Ukraine war. It’s been three days since Russia invaded Ukraine and cyberattacks have been part of the offensive. Internet infrastructure has also been a target.

Bloomberg is now reporting that the “incident” was only a minor ransomware attack according to a “person familiar with the incident”.

If a major US-based company like Nvidia is targeted by Russia, it is going to have serious consequences. It would provoke retaliation from America as the US President Joe Biden said:

If Russia pursues cyberattacks against our companies, our critical infrastructure, we’re prepared to respond.

Source: Pro Pakistan

State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has further relaxed the condition of housing finance for customers, facilitating them to avail bank financing in projects being completed.

Accordingly, purchasers of housing units in under-construction projects may avail housing finance against their housing units in projects where builder/developer has not availed construction financing.

In such cases, the builder/developer will have to create a mortgage charge over the project’s land in favor of the bank/DFI through an agreement. The charge will only be vacated after completion of the project and transfer of housing units to the purchasers. Moreover, the builder/developer will comply with all other provisions of subject guidelines, stated by the SBP circular.

Any bank/DFI can provide housing finance to a purchaser of a housing unit in such under-construction projects. However, if the purchaser wants to avail financing from a bank/DFI other than the mortgagee bank/DFI, then it will have to obtain NOC from the mortgagee bank/DFI in this regard. Moreover, the financing bank/DFI of such purchasers will also be required to enter into a bilateral arrangement with the mortgagee bank/DFI to secure its risk.

Previously, purchasers of housing units in the project availing mortgage finance shall sign a tripartite agreement with the builder/developer and bank(s)/DFI(s) specifying superior rights of the bank(s)/DFI(s) over the project land and constructions thereon. Further, banks shall also obtain informed consent from the purchasers who do not avail mortgage finance under these guidelines.

With regard to the requirement of informed consent prescribed earlier, it is clarified that the builder/developer will be responsible to arrange written informed consent from the customers who intend to purchase housing units from their own sources without availing mortgage finance. The letters of written consent of such purchasers will be submitted to the bank/DFI in original by the builder/developer.

Source: Pro Pakistan

The Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has taken cognizance of the poor quality of locally manufactured vehicles and called upon the concerned officials from the Ministry of Industries and Production to discuss the matter.

It met on Thursday under the chairmanship of Rana Tanveer Hussain to assess the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) audit objections for 2019-20.

Additionally, MNA Khawaja Asif highlighted the problem of low-quality vehicles being manufactured in Pakistan and stated that many cars lack airbags because of which Pakistan is unable to export them.

It was also brought to PAC’s attention that the commodities impounded by FBR were not auctioned punctually, and Senator Talha Mahmood stated that captured vehicles are sold only when they are rusty and disintegrating.

Chairman Hussain claimed that the police take the recovered automobiles for themselves, and (MNA Munaza) Manza Hassan remarked that many of the parliament’s cars are broken down.

Officials from FBR responded that it has devised a policy for using tampered vehicles and that they might be given to government departments.

Source: Pro Pakistan