Govt injects Rs500m in FWBL

KARACHI: The federal government has released another Rs500 million as equity in the First Women Bank Ltd (FWBL) to help it meet minimum capital requirement (MCR), said a press release issued by the bank on Friday.

The MCR for the bank was reset in January this year by the State Bank, on the government’s recommendation.

The bank now needs to maintain paid-up capital of Rs3 billion.

The new injection after capitalisation process will increase the government’s share in the bank by 72 per cent. The remaining shares are held by the five big commercial banks — NBP, HBL, MCB, UBL and ABL.—Staff Reporter

Apple suppliers ‘treated workers poorly’

LONDON: Workers in Chinese factories making Apple products are poorly treated, with exhausted employees falling asleep on their 12-hour shifts, British broadcaster the BBC found in an investigation broadcast on Thursday.

Reporters who took jobs undercover at the Pegatron factories found workers regularly exceeded 60 hours a week — more than the company’s guidance — and that standards on ID cards, dormitories, work meetings and juvenile workers were also breached.

The broadcaster said promises made by Apple to protect workers in the wake of a spate of suicides at supplier Foxconn in 2010 were “routinely broken”.

Apple said that it disagreed with the BBC’s conclusions.

“We are aware of no other company doing as much as Apple to ensure fair and safe working conditions,” the US consumer electronics giant told the BBC.

“We work with suppliers to address shortfalls, and we see continuous and significant improvement, but we know our work is never done.”

Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2014