PQA to set up coal-fired power project

KARACHI: Port Qasim Authority (PQA) on Thursday signed an agreement with Port Qasim Electric Power Company to set up 1,320MW coal-fired power project at an estimated cost of $1.75 billion.

The project is jointly sponsored by Sinohydro and Al-Mirqab of Qatar to set up and operate the facility with a dedicated jetty for coal handling. Both the groups have formed a local company under Companies Ordinance 1984 for this project, said a press release.—Staff Reporter

Facebook unveils phone-calling Android app

NEW YORK: Hello? Anyone there? Facebook unveiled a new voice-calling app for Android phones on Wednesday, the same day that its WhatsApp messaging service introduced voice-calling for iOS devices.

Phone calls, it seems, are not dead yet. Called “Hello,” the stand-alone app is the seventh child of Facebook Creative Labs, the company’s arm tasked with creating new applications outside of Facebook.

Others, such as the news-reading app Paper or the video sharing app Riff, have met with limited success.

Hello’s aim is to give people more information about who is calling them. Because it’s connected to Facebook, Hello users can see information about their callers’ identity even if they don’t count them as a contact.

Hello is currently available in the US, Brazil and Nigeria.—AP

Procter & Gamble hit by strong dollar

NEW YORK: Procter & Gamble took a hit from the strong dollar, like almost all U.S. companies with business overseas, pushing third-quarter revenue below expectations.

Because of the unfavourable currency environment, the company believes revenue for the year will slide 5 per cent to 6pc. It said Thursday that it still expects adjusted earnings to be in line to down low single digits compared with last year.

Procter & Gamble Co., which makes everything from Gillette razors to Crest toothpaste, earned $2.15 billion, or 75 cents per share for the period ended March 31. That compares with $2.61bn, or 90 cents per share, last year.

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2015

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