Lahore: The Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) has surpassed the upward revised target of Rs165.5 billion for the financial year 2021-22.

According to provisional collection figures up to June 28, 2022, the PRA collection stands at Rs168 billion, which is 108 per cent of the set target of Rs155.9 billion and 101.5pc of the revised target.

According to the PRA spokesperson, the authority expects substantial revenue in the last two days of the financial year and is hoping to end the year close to Rs170 billion.

It is worth mentioning that earlier this year, PRA became the first provincial revenue collecting agency in the country to cross the psychological barrier of Rs150 billion and the collection in June has further established it as the leading Provincial revenue collecting agency in the country.

This is the third successive year in which PRA has surpassed its revenue collection target. Earlier the Authority collected more than the assigned targets of Rs.105 billion and Rs.125 billion in the financial years 2019-20 and 2020-21 respectively. 

PRA spokesperson further elaborated that this success has been achieved without resorting to any coercive actions such as sealing of premises, attachment of bank accounts or collection of advance payments.

PRA has relied completely on collaboration with all stakeholders and emphasis on taxpayer facilitation and education. More than 200 awareness workshops were held during the financial year with more than 2,000 participants. 

PRA expects the growth trend to continue in the coming years as its management and all workforce is committed to continuing its focus on compliance without resorting to any measures that adversely affect ease of doing business.

Islamabad: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Wednesday appealed the nation to follow the anti-COVID SOPs as a surge was being recorded in the coronavirus cases in the country.

The prime minister, who chaired a meeting to discuss the COVID situation, said that the frontline health workers and doctors had rendered numerous sacrifices to keep the countrymen safe from the disease,, and also paid tribute to them.

Therefore, he urged the people not to squander the success achieved against the coronavirus.

The prime minister directed the chief secretaries of the provinces to ensure implementation of the SOPs at crowded places, besides enforcing full vaccination, booster doses, and use of masks and sanitizers.

He also called for use of masks and sanitizers at the cattle markets set up ahead of Eidul Azha, weddings and other private gatherings.

The prime minister said the adherence to the SOPs was inevitable for the safety of one’s own as well as the dear ones.

ملک میں کرونا کیسز کی پھر سے بڑھتی ہوئی تعداد کے پیش نظر میری پوری قوم سے اپیل ہے کہ کرونا سے متعلقہ ہدایات اور SOPs پر عمل کریں۔ ہمارے فرنٹ لائن ورکرز اور ڈاکٹرز نے ہمیں محفوظ رکھنے کے لیے بہت سی قربانیاں دی ہیں۔ہمیں کرونا کے خلاف ان حاصل کی جانے والی کامیابیوں کو ضائع نہیں کرنا

— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) June 29, 2022

He said the performance of all institutions particularly the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) had been laudable during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The meeting was briefed in detail about the COVID-19 situation at local as well as the global level.

It was told that overall a downward trend was observed in the number of cases across the world.

The participants were told that the new variant of the Omicron led to a recent surge in coronavirus cases in the country. On June 28, over 3% cases were reported in the country on June 28, though the ratio of hospitalization in this variant was lesser than that of the previous waves.

The health authorities told the meeting that 86% of the above 12 years population had been fully vaccinated while 93 percent got at least a single shot. Currently, the country’s capacity was to vaccinate around 200,000 people per day.

It was told that the whole Sindh population had been fully vaccinated while the vaccination process was underway in Punjab and other provinces.

Moreover, the steps were being taken to strictly monitor the movement of people on the border, and Pass Track APP was also being improved to make it easier to use.

The prime minister also directed the authorities concerned not only to ensure the enforcement of the SOPs but also to carry out a mass awareness drive on the subject.

Federal Minister Abdul Qadir Patel, Rana Sanaullah, Sherry Rehman, National Disaster Management Authority chairman, federal secretaries of information and national health services, and other senior officers attended the meeting.

The chief secretaries of the four provinces joined the meeting via video link.

It is pertinent to remember that Pakistan has reported one death and 541 new COVID-19 cases during the last 24 hours, the highest since March 11 when it recorded 571 positive cases. 

According to the figures released by the National Institute of Health (NIH) on Wednesday, an uptick in new COVID-19 cases in Pakistan consistently continues as the country reported over 500 new daily cases for the first time in three months. 

Following the situation, the health ministry said that wearing masks has been made mandatory on all domestic flights, railways and public transport.  

The overall tally of the infected people climbed to 1,535,144 across Pakistan after adding the fresh cases.  

March 23 was the first day without any recorded deaths in Pakistan since the pandemic took hold in 2020. Official death figures are typically lower at weekends and holidays because of a lag in reporting.  

The health authorities have advised the people to restart following COVID-related Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) such as wearing face masks, sanitizing hands, and maintaining social distance.

A Mexican journalist was killed in the northern state of Tamaulipas on Wednesday, the newspaper he worked for said, the latest in a series of attacks in one of the world's most dangerous countries for media workers.

Antonio de la Cruz, a journalist for local newspaper Expreso, was gunned down in his home in the state capital Ciudad Victoria, the paper said.

His death comes after eight others in the media have been murdered in Mexico this year as a result of their journalism, according to human rights organization Article 19.

Presidential spokesperson Jesus Ramirez said on Twitter the journalist's daughter also was injured in the attack.

"We must not allow any more attacks on journalists and activists. These crimes will not go unpunished," Ramirez wrote.

The paper's parent company Expreso-La Razon demanded justice from authorities.

The Tamaulipas attorney general's office said in a statement it had opened an investigation into the incident and that police are collecting evidence and hunting for the attackers.

Violence against the press has skyrocketed during Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's administration, according to a report published by Article 19.

SOURCE: REUTERS