E-reader growth has surpassed tablets

E-reader growth has accelerated in the past six months, as tablet growth has stagnated slightly. Ownership of the portable reading devices has reached double digits.

The reason for the more rapid rise of e-reader use when compared with tablets is the fact that e-readers are becoming more like tablets offering a variety of applications. Moreover e-readers offer such features at a much lower price point than tablets such. As compared to last year about 12 per cent people now in United States own a kindle which was previously 6 per cent. During the same period the incline in use of ipad rose to 8 percent from 5 percent. E-reader ownership among adults aged 18 to 49 grew at the most rapid pace of all age groups, while tablet ownership grew most among adults aged 18 to 29.

With the rapid increase in investment of tablet market it can be indicated that there is great potential for tablet uptake at the same rate or faster than e-reader.

SBP announces monetary policy for coming 2 months

State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has announced the monetary policy for the coming two months, News Trends reported on Monday.
Inflation has been declared as the biggest problem of Pakistan whereas the basic interest rate has been increased from 13.5 percent to 14 percent.

The new monitory policy was announced during a meeting presided over by the president of State Bank Shahid Kardar in Lahore. According to the bank sources the interest rate has been increased in order to control inflation and to control the budget deficit due to increased number of loans taken by the government. The bank also decided that the provinces would not be given loans exceeding their revived limitations in future.

According to the monetary policy inflation since the month of January this year has been 12.5 percent greater than its rate during the same period last year. Serious concerns were also shown during the meeting over the increased number of loans taken by the government.

Shah Rukh Khan replaces Akshay Kumar as highest tax payer

Shah Rukh Khan has proved that he is indeed the ‘Baadshah of Bollywood’ as he emerged as the No.1 tax payer for the second quarter of Financial Year (FY) 2010-11. The actor paid Rs. 5 crore to the Income Tax (IT) Department as compared to Rs. 3.5 crore that he paid during the same quarter last year.

Akshay Kumar, who was the leading tax payer last year, came at No.2 position by paying Rs.4.5 crore as Income Tax for the second quarter of FY 2010-11. As for the other Khans, Aamir is placed at No.3, Saif at No.4 and Salman at No. 6 having paid Income Tax to the extent of Rs. 4 crore, Rs. 2.5 crore and Rs. 2 crore respectively. Teenage hearrthrob Ranbir Kapoor also found himself among the Top 5 names having paid income tax of Rs. 2.5 crore.

Among the females, Katrina Kaif leads the brigade having paid Rs. 1.3 crore as Income Tax for the second quarter of FY 2010-11 followed by Kareena Kapoor who paid taxes to the extent of Rs. 1 crore.

As for the directors, it was Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Vishal Bhardwaj who were among the highest tax payers in the second quarter of FY 2010-11 having paid income tax of Rs. 50 lakhs and Rs. 25 lakhs respectively.

Shah Rukh Khan replaces Akshay Kumar as highest tax payer

Shah Rukh Khan has proved that he is indeed the ‘Baadshah of Bollywood’ as he emerged as the No.1 tax payer for the second quarter of Financial Year (FY) 2010-11. The actor paid Rs. 5 crore to the Income Tax (IT) Department as compared to Rs. 3.5 crore that he paid during the same quarter last year.

Akshay Kumar, who was the leading tax payer last year, came at No.2 position by paying Rs.4.5 crore as Income Tax for the second quarter of FY 2010-11. As for the other Khans, Aamir is placed at No.3, Saif at No.4 and Salman at No. 6 having paid Income Tax to the extent of Rs. 4 crore, Rs. 2.5 crore and Rs. 2 crore respectively. Teenage hearrthrob Ranbir Kapoor also found himself among the Top 5 names having paid income tax of Rs. 2.5 crore.

Among the females, Katrina Kaif leads the brigade having paid Rs. 1.3 crore as Income Tax for the second quarter of FY 2010-11 followed by Kareena Kapoor who paid taxes to the extent of Rs. 1 crore.

As for the directors, it was Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Vishal Bhardwaj who were among the highest tax payers in the second quarter of FY 2010-11 having paid income tax of Rs. 50 lakhs and Rs. 25 lakhs respectively.

easyjet

EasyJet lowers earnings outlook after ash easyJet (EZJ 68.20, +3.67, +5.69%) said Tuesday that its first-half net loss narrowed to 58.9 million pounds, from 85.9 million pounds recorded at the same point a year ago. Revenue rose to 1.2 billion pounds, from 1.0 billion pounds last year. The firm said that capacity, measured in seats flown, for the second half of the year is expected to increase by 7%, and by 7.5% for the year. This is lower than the planned 10% growth due to the impact of volcanic ash related disruption. Prior to the disruption, the firm was expecting to report a 2010 pretax profit in a range of 175 million pounds to 200 million pounds.

An easyJet statement said it expected annual pre-tax profit of £100-150m instead of £175-200m because of the ash cloud fallout, which continues to force the closure of airports.
But the company’s outgoing chief executive Andy Harrison said the airline was still on course to ‘deliver substantial profit growth in 2010′.

It said that losses after tax narrowed to £58.9m in the six months to March 31 from £85.9m during the same time in 2009.

EasyJet was hoping for between £175 million and £200 million in profits this year but put the cost of the cloud at between £50 million and £75 million, forcing it to adjust its annual profit expectations to between £100 million and £150 million based on current fuel prices and exchange rates.

Computer,TV Use Multitasking Up Sharply: Study

NEW YORK : The amount of time people in the U.S. spend on the computer while watching TV is going up sharply.

The Nielsen Co. said Monday that people who multitask this way spent an average of three and a half hours doing so in December. That’s up sharply from the two hours, 29 minutes that Nielsen reported only six months earlier.

The percentage of TV viewers who do this isn’t going up that fast. That increased by 57 percent to 59 percent during the same period. But those who are doing it spend much more time at it.

Television executives have pointed to this trend to help explain why big events like the Oscars and the Grammys have been doing so well in the ratings — people watching and making comments to their friends through social Web sites like Twitter and Facebook.

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Computer,TV Use Multitasking Up Sharply: Study was first posted on March 23, 2010 at 4:41 pm.
Copyright @ A Pakistan News.Com

WAPDA retain National Senior Weightlifting Championship

LAHORE: Defending champion Pakistan WAPDA won the 57th National Senior Weightlifting Championship here on Thursday while Pakistan Railways secured the second position.

Teams of all the four provinces along with Pakistan WAPDA, Pakistan Railways, Higher Education Commission, Pakistan Police, Pakistan Army and Islamabad participated in the two-day championship held here at the Punjab University Old Campus Ground from March 30.

WAPDA displayed brilliant performance in the event and defended its title with 74 points while the Railways came second with 43 and HEC finished third with 30 points.

Shoaib family issued seven visas for India

LAHORE: Seven visas for India have been issued to Shoaib Malik’s family.

Family sources of Shoaib Malik told Geo News that among the persons issued the visa are Shoaib’s mother, brother, sister, brother-in-law and children while one of his sisters and a few close relatives have applied for Indian visa from Germany.

Sources said that as the marriage will take place on April 11, the Shoaib’s family will leave for Hyderabad Deccan three days earlier for attending other wedding rituals and both families are finalizing dates in this regard.

Former captain Shoaib Malik is currently in Dubai for playing Bangladesh League and he is due to return in two or three days after which all the wedding programmes will be finalized.

Training camp for Azlan Shah hockey from April 21

LAHORE: Secretary Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) Asif Bajwa said that the traning camp of the national hockey team will begin from April 21 in Karachi.

The camp will be organised for the preparations of the Azlan Shah Hockey Cup tournament which will be held in May.

Talking with media here on Thursday, Asif Bajwa said that the players for the camp of the national team would be selected during the National Hockey Championship to be held from April 3 to 18.

The team management will also be decided during the same period.

He said that captain Zeeshan Ashraf has returned from India and he would play in the national championship.

Bajwa said that Salman Akbar’s decision of playing league hockey is his personal matter and the federation cannot stop any player from playing abroad.

He said that report on the reasons behind the team’s poor performance in the hockey World Cup has been sent to the Ministry for Sports and the Senate.

Asif Bajwa said that the Pakistan junior team would be sent on the tour of Europe before the Youth Olympics.

Remittances Rise Over 17Pc To $5.79bn

Remittances sent home by overseas Pakistanis continued to show a rising trend as an amount of $5,786.89 million was received in the first eight months (July?February) of the current fiscal year 2009?10, showing an increase of $868.26 million or 17.65 percent over the same period of the last fiscal year. The amount of $5,786.89 million includes $1.0 million received through encashment and profit earned on Foreign Exchange Bearer Certificates (FEBCs) and Foreign Currency Bearer Certificates (FCBCs).
In February 2010, an amount of $588.78 million was sent home by overseas Pakistanis, compared with $641.32 million in the same month last year.
The inflow of remittances in the July-February, 2010 period from UAE, USA, Saudi Arabia, GCC countries (including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman), UK and EU countries amounted to $1,317.17 million, $1,173.37 million, $1,148.86 million, $826.93 million, $596.26 million and $171.41 million respectively as compared to $1,035.55 million, $1,156.51 million, $962.30 million, $783.39 million, $344.08 million and $150.05 million respectively in the July?February, 2009 period. Remittances received from Norway, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Japan and other countries during the first eight months of the current fiscal year amounted to $550.65 million as against $486.34 million in the same period last year.
The monthly average remittances for the July?February 2010 period comes out to $723.36 million as compared to $614.83 million during the same corresponding period of the last fiscal year, registering an increase of 17.65 percent.
During last month i.e. February 2010 remittances from Saudi Arabia, UAE, USA, GCC countries (including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman), UK and EU countries amounted to $149.45 million, $136.88 million, $111.48 million, $89.21 million, $45.91 million and $13.48 million respectively as compared to $123.64 million, $166.62 million, $127.48 million, $93.09 million, $54.12 million and $18.31 million in February 2009. Remittances received from Norway, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Japan and other countries during February 2010 amounted to $41.13 million compared with $58.04 million in the same month last year.

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