Heena Sharma Blog

Cash-strapped Pakistan has received an emergency loan of $1.39 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to boost its foreign exchange reserves in the wake of the coronavirus crisis . The $1.39 billion loan is in addition to the $6 billion bailout package that Pakistan had signed with the IMF in July last year to stave off a balance of payment crisis. "SBP (State Bank of Pakistan) has received $1.39 billion under the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) from the IMF," the central bank said in a tweet on Wednesday. Pakistan in March had requested the global moneylender for a low-cost, fast-disbursing loan under its Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) to deal with the adverse economic impact of the pandemic. The RFI is used to provide financial assistance to IMF member countries facing an urgent balance of payments need without requiring them to put a full-fledged programme in place. Read More

With the spectre of slowdown haunting the economy and rising unemployment, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday constituted two new Cabinet committees under his chairmanship to spur economic growth and investmentb and employment. The five-member Cabinet Committee on Investment and Growth includes Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Road Transport and Highways and of MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal. Another 10-member Cabinet Committee on Employment and Skill Development has been formed as well. Listen to this podcast for more. Article Source -> Business Standard

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) how Google's mobile payment app , GPay, was facilitating financial transactions without the requisite authorisation from it. A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice A J Bhambhani posed the query to RBI while hearing a PIL which claimed that GPay was acting as a payments system provider in violation of the Payments and Settlements Act as it has no valid authorisation from the central bank of the country to carry out such functions. The court issued notice to RBI and Google India seeking their stand on the issue raised in the plea by Abhijit Mishra, who has contended that GPay does not figure in RBI's list of authorised 'payment systems operators' released by the central bank on March 20, 2019. Read More Article Source -> Business Standard

Your personal data may be up for sale on Dark Web for as low as Rs 3,500 that includes stolen social media accounts, banking details and credit card information from sites like Uber as well as gaming and porn websites, a new research has warned. According to cyber security firm Kaspersky Lab that investigated Dark Web markets to find out how much personal data is worth, cyber criminals can sell someone's complete digital life for less than $50 (nearly Rs 3,500). "This can include data from stolen social media accounts, banking details, remote access to servers or desktops, and even data from popular services like Uber, Netflix, and Spotify, as well as gaming websites, dating apps, and porn websites which might store credit card information." The Dark Web, also referred to as the Dark Net, is an encrypted portion of the internet that is not indexed by search engines. The Kaspersky researchers found that the price paid for a single hacked account is ...

Children are more likely to receive fewer hours of sleep if their mothers have tight work schedules compared to those whose mothers gained flexibility, according to a new study. The findings of the study suggested that consistent bedtimes of children may be the key to offsetting damage done by tight work schedules. "We have seen this link between inflexible work schedules and children's sleep patterns before, but we did not know why it was happening. If parents can be there for their kids on a regular basis, and help them by having a regular bedtime routine, all of that is very beneficial for their long-term growth and development," said Orfeu Buxton, Professor at the University of Pennsylvania in the US. "We know positive routines especially are very important for positive child growth, so sleep may suffer if it's not there," he added. For the study, published in the journal of Child and Family Studies, the team from the varsity examine...