Toyota Yaris 2020 1.5 ATIV X CVT-i: Review

Toyota Yaris was one of the most anticipated cars in Pakistan before its launch in March this year. Toyota Yaris has replaced the 1300cc variants, XLi and GLi, of Corolla lineup. This is a compact sedan that is set to rival Honda City. Toyota Yaris comes in both 1300cc and 1500cc engine options, just like Honda City.

It was launched with a total of six variants in Pakistan and in six different exterior colors.

Exterior 

Toyota Yaris comes with LED Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) and halogen headlamps. This variant also has fog lamps integrated into the front bumper. The front grille of this car is very wide and is designed with many horizontal bars. The ATIV X variant comes with 15-inch allow rims and tires.

On the sides of the car, the door has pronounced cuts and design lines that help in dealing with air resistance. These design lines also give a sporty look to the car. Side mirrors are body-colored, and door handles are given in chrome finish.

Side mirrors also have integrated turn signals in them. The taillamps have LED bar lights that are bright and look elegant in the car.  At the rear, you can also find reflectors integrated into the bumper, high-mounted brake lamp, and an antenna on the roof of the car.

Rear chrome garnish and an acoustic laminated green windshield are also provided in this variant. The front grille also has a partial chrome plating to give it a premium look.

Interior

Toyota Yaris ATIV X comes with an auto airconditioning unit and a 4.2-inch colored TFT multi-information display. Push-start and a smart key with a remote trunk opener are given. There is a 3-spoke tilt power steering with MID, audio, and Bluetooth switches. Seat upholstery is a comfortable premium ivory fabric with stitch design. There is an in-dash infotainment system with a 6.8-inch capacitive touch screen.

The infotainment system has Bluetooth, MP3, DVD/VCD, USB, mirror link, radio, and AUX Connectivity. The inside door handles are also made out of chrome. Sunvisors with vanity mirrors are provided for both the front passenger and the driver. Storage spaces in the car are ample with cupholders and bottleholders.

The interior color scheme is a mixture of black and beige. The quality of the dashboard is good, with silver trim pieces around the center part.

Former Punjab food secretary tears into inquiry report on flour crisis, terms it attempt to deceive PM Imran

Naseem Sadiq says Inquiry report is a deliberate attempt to confuse flour crisis with wheat procurement

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Former food secretary Punjab Naseem Sadiq.

ISLAMABAD: Former food secretary Punjab Naseem Sadiq on Saturday said that the inquiry report into the shortages of flour in the country was being deliberately confused with crisis of wheat to provide leeway to certain 'mafias' so they could avoid blame for the whole episode.

Sugar and wheat shortages in the country at the turn of the year had led to severe criticism of the governance of the incumbent federal government. Prime Minister Imran Khan had earlier this year ordered an inquiry into the shortages, promising to hold the culprits to account.

Earlier this month, a preliminary report into the shortages had been leaked to the media. Sadiq was subsequently removed from his post, and was commenting on the contents of the leaked preliminary findings. The detailed report into the shortages is expected to be released by April 24.

Also read:Here is everything you need to know about the laws governing public inquiry commissions

'Members of inquiry committee hold personal grudges against me'

Sadiq termed the preliminary crisis report a proverbial fable of Greek philosopher Aesop. In a detailed response submitted toChief Secretary Punjab on April 8, he claimed that an abortive attempt had been made to relate the flour crisis to wheat procurement.

Sadiq further termed the report a backlash in the form of prejudice that needed to be investigated in a competent law forum. "Two members of the inquiry committee, including Deputy Director General Intelligence Bureau (IB) Mubarak Zeb, had personal grudge against me," he said.

Sadiq alleged that the inquiry committee was diverting attention away from a tangible crime by creating a smoke screen for the benefit of a 'mafia' involved in the flour crisis. "If allowed to go scot free, at this juncture, it shall again resurface to play havoc," he claimed.

Also read:Key takeaways from the probe into sugar and wheat shortages

“This factually incorrect information has been intentionally inserted in the report to deceive the Prime Minister of Pakistan, by deliberately building a false case of some imaginary failure of Punjab government in wheat procurement," he added.

'Riddled with incompetency, inconsistency'

According to Sadiq, the preliminary report is riddled with incompetency, inconsistency, and a vocally misleading paradigm. "It appears that the report prima facie was prepared by someone else and signed by the committee members without bothering to read it," he claimed.

"Except to my extent where some personal attention was given. Had that not been the case, they would have noticed that their investigations and major premise drawn were regarding the Wheat Procurement Campaign 2019-20 and not 2018-19," Sadiq revealed.

Also read:Tareen questions criteria for audit of his nine sugar mills

The attempt to mislead the premier was criminally cognizable, he added. "I shall prove the same hereinafter with undeniable documentary evidence, additionally corroborated from the glaring contradictions, popped up throughout the report itself," Sadiq claimed.

“The major allegation against me is that I delayed wheat procurement for 22 days that resulted in failure to procure wheat as per the target, during my posting as Secretary Food Punjab. Quite interestingly, wheat procurement campaign had started eight days before my joining," he said.

"So, how can I be held responsible for delaying the campaign for 22 days even before my becoming Secretary Food Punjab? No delay otherwise occurred at all in wheat procurement in the Punjab and this factually incorrect information has been intentionally inserted in the report."

Also read:PML-N spokesperson Aurangzeb demands PM Imran, CM Buzdar be summoned for sugar crisis inquiry

'Report aims to pull attention away from flour crisis'

Sadiq further said that the trajectory in the report regarding deflections, diversions, and contortions was made to pull attention away from the flour crisis and pin blame on some imaginary failure of wheat procurement campaign in Punjab.

“The next allegation against the whole wheat procurement campaign 2019-20 in the Punjab is that a tacit approval was given to poultry feed mills to procure wheat. Again, the said permission, rather sale by the Food Department Punjab, was done much before my joining," he said.

"Such an allegation is totally misplaced and depicts lack of knowledge and understanding by the Committee Members as they seemed to have not gone through the approved Wheat Procurement Policy 2019-20. I did neither prepared the said policy nor could I alter it," he claimed.

UN Agency warns Rolling back

WHO warns against easing restrictions as deaths top 100,000.       UN agency warns rolling back.measures could lead to a 'deadly resurgence' as global death toll surges.                                The death toll of new coronavirus has exceeded 100,000 worldwide, as the United Nations'  global health agency - the World Health Organization - warned governments against rolling back measures introduced to curb the spread of the pandemic.                                                WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday the agency would like to see an easing, but cautioned that "lifting restrictions could lead to a deadly resurgence". 

                                        

Musarat Shaheen Contacts Magicians & Astrologists to Defeat Fazlur Rehman

Musarat Shaheen Contacts Magicians & Astrologists to Defeat Fazlur Rehman

Pakistani Actress MEERA's new expose

Petrol price fixing scandal: Call for oil giant bosses to be jailed if found guilty 

 

The bosses of oil giants engulfed in a price fixing scandal could be jailed if they are found guilty, David Cameron warned yesterday.
Mr Cameron said new legislation means the firms and their executives would face “major consequences” if they have ripped off drivers by fiddling wholesale oil prices.
His stern words follow raids on the London offices of BP and Shell – companies which have both raked in multibillion-pound profits this year – by investigators probing accusations of price rigging.
There are fears that millions of drivers have been paying well over the odds for petrol and diesel for a decade.
The investigators said if oil prices had been made artificially high it would have led to rocketing costs at the pumps.
The alleged price rigging has been going on since 2002.
Between then and now petrol prices have risen by an astonishing 80% to an average of 135p a litre.
It is not just motorists who would have been clobbered by the scandal.
The probe relates to a pricing process used by ­information specialist Platts.
Figures produced by the firm and other agencies are used as a guide for pricing a wide array of oil-related products.
So price rigging may have affected the cost of everything from gas to chemicals used to make plastic in products we all use.
Platts in London was also raided on Tuesday as part of the probe across the continent by the European Commission’s competition authorities.
The AA and the RAC yesterday demanded to know the truth – as haulage firms said they would demand compensation if claims of price fixing were proved.

 

Pakistan world ranking in information Technology.

Pakistan’s global ranking in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been downgraded from 102nd in 2012 to 105th in 2013, according to World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Information Technology Report 2013 released on Wednesday.
Despite the fact that in Pakistan Ministry of Information Technology was headed by two former prime ministers Yousuf Raza Gilani and Raja Pervez Ashraf, the country was unable to show a remarkable improvement in the country’s ICT development.

published under the theme, Growth and Jobs in a Hyper connected World, Pakistan continues to lag behind in the rankings. Unable to achieve a sustained rapid economic growth may put Pakistan’s ICT-competitiveness in jeopardy unless the right investments are made in ICT, skills and innovation.
A partner institute of Global Competitiveness and Benchmarking Network of the WEF, Mishal Pakistan Chief Executive Officer Amir Jahangir said, “As other countries are improving rapidly, Pakistan has shown little change, this a matter of concern. Pakistan is 37 ranks behind India. The big challenge for the next government in Pakistan would be to put more emphasise on ICT environment and regulatory framework. The role of ICT for a sustained economic growth and job creation is crucial to improve Pakistan’s competitiveness. ICT has revolutionised the way businesses are done and the country has not being able to capitalise on this.”
Some of the areas where Pakistan lost its ICT competitiveness are; govt’s procurement of advance technologies, which ranked 109 this year as compared to 91 in 2012. Although Pakistan has improved the fixed broadband Internet tariff substantially by making Pakistan the 68th most competitive broadband provider in the world, individuals using Internet, which depicts affordability of Internet for citizens is shrinking. Pakistan lost 22 points in 2013 and ranks at 120 on individuals using Internet. The report highlights that the gains in broadband affordability are being achieved by cannibalizing the individual Internet users.
Pakistan achieved significant gains in the last decade, when it embraced the mobile technologies and led the region by providing human resources capital and technical know how to the global pool of mobile communication providers. However this gain has been greatly diminished due to lack of advancements and inconsistency in decision making to adopt new technologies at the right time. The Importance of ICTs to government’s vision has deteriorated from 92 to 117 in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Making ICT as one of the least priority areas for the govt. in Pakistan.