PAK-QATAR FAMILY TAKAFUL DISTRIBUTES 28PC SURPLUS FOR 2016
Pak-Qatar Family Takaful Limited (PQFTL) has announced the distribution of 28 percent surplus among its Individual Family Takaful Participants (Direct Sales Force-DSF) for the year 2016. With this declaration of Surplus, PQFTL is the only Takaful operator in Pakistan to declare distributable Surplus for Individual Family Takaful in all nine years of its operations.
The single-rate method has been adopted to calculate the Surplus and will be distributed amongst the participants through a defined manner in relation to the “Cumulative Net Contribution’ received in the IFTPF (Individual Family Takaful Participant Fund) by each participant. Furthermore, the actual distribution of surplus will be done only to those Participants leaving the pool during the year 2017, by way of Permanent Withdrawal, Death or Maturity of the memberships.
After this important announcement of Surplus, Pak-Qatar Family Takaful Limited will now become the only Takaful Operator in the country, which has been consistently declaring distributable surplus for Individual Family Takaful, every year, over the past nine years of its operations. It is important to note that in the year 2008, PQFTL had declared a surplus of 10%, which has seen consistent growth to reach 28% in the year 2016.
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THE DAWOOD FOUNDATION ORGANIZES FREE-OF-COST SUMMER CAMP
The Dawood Foundation is conducting a summer camp at Dawood Public School for underprivileged children to inspire them to pursue education and realize their dreams. 115 children are participating in the three-week summer campfrom various upbringingsguided by experts in art and crafts, computer, yoga, science, music, indoor and outdoor games. The camp is organized in partnership with Pakistan Science Club, RoboTech and GarbageCan.
The aim of the summer camp is to educate children in a fun-filled environment where they would feel free to exhibit their creative flares. The Arts & Crafts module embarked kids on a colourful and imaginative journey mixed with fun and learning. The Music classes let them have a jolly good time where they sung their favourite rhymes and songs.
Pakistan Science Club sparked the love of science in excited children with their basic experiments that captivated the young minds. RoboTechis teachingchildren basic maths through abacus and quick math techniqueswhileGarbageCanis educating children regarding Karachi’s trash crisis and how to reuse, recycle, reduce. This gave young minds to come up with great solutions to manage waste!
Likewise, yoga practice instilled in them the notion of physical fitness and wellbeing coupled with the excitement of indoor and outdoor games. Over at the computer lab, government teachers are introducing the knowledge of MS Office and In Page.
Speaking about this extraordinary initiative, Mahvash Roshani, Principal O levels, Dawood Public School said: “We believe that imparting education to this segment of our society would help us in bringing a positive social change. Through this summer camp, our teachers and staff are dedicatedly inculcating learning, critical thinking and problem-solving skills among these children. In this way, we areable to amplify their self-confidence.”
The camp centred on the idea of inclusivity for children hailing from underprivileged backgrounds. It comprised of students from Rahat-e-Islamia School (adopted by TDF), Khatoon-e-Pakistan Govt School, children of support staff at Dawood Public School. information please visit www.thedawoodfoundation.org
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NOKIA 5 NOW AVAILABLE IN PAKISTAN
HMD Global, the home of Nokia Phones, announced the launch of its second Nokia smartphone – the Nokia 5 in Pakistan, which will be available to buy through Advance Telecom. Unveiled earlier this year at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the devices combine superior craftsmanship, distinctive design and powerful entertainment features, offering you the ability to use your phone, your way.
Commenting on the Nokia 5 launch in Pakistan, Kamran Khan, Head of Near East, HMD Global said, “Following the positive response we rec eived after the launch of Nokia 3, we are very pleased to bring the Nokia 5 to consumers in Pakistan today.”
“We have been overwhelmed by the amount of love the Pakistani people have shown us, and we wanted to reward these loyal Nokia phones fans further with the new Nokia 5.
The Nokia 5 has been precision engineered out of a single block of 6000 series aluminum to create a perfect pillowed body that flows seamlessly into the laminated 5.2″ IPS HD display with sculpted Corning® Gorilla® Glass. The Nokia 5 comes with the dual SIM variant in Pakistan Featuring a ground-breaking innovation in antenna design the Nokia 5 bringsrobust structural integrity, attention to detail and the quality of a high-end flagship.
Powered by the Qualcomm® SnapdragonTM 430 mobile platform, Nokia 5 delivers excellent battery life, improved graphics performance – all in a package that perfectly balances everyday usability with a premium quality design. With additional features including an 8MP, 84-degree wide-angle front facing camera – to squeeze even more scene into your selfie – and excellent sunlight and low light screen visibility, there are plenty of reasons to keep the Nokia 5 out of your pocket and in your hand where it belongs. The Nokia 5 is available in four distinct colors – Matte Black, Silver and Tempered Blue, and will retail at PKR21,900/-
With all Nokia smartphones you will always have the latest pure Android experience for your device. With monthly security updates your Nokia smartphone is safe, up-to-date as well as clutter-free – putting choice at the heart of the consumer experience. And with the latest Android come the latest features including the latest capabilities of Doze, which saves battery life while the phone is in a pocket or bag. The new Nokia smartphones feature Google’s most recent innovation, the Google Assistant, builds further on a great Android experience. Our teams have worked together to ensure conversations with the Google Assistant happen seamlessly on Nokia smartphones.
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INCREMENT IN MONTHLY PENSION FOR ALL NBP PENSIONERS APPROVED
The President and board of directors of National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) have approved an increase in the monthly pension of all NBP pensioners who retired and families of employees who deceased, on or before 2016. As per the details, a 20% increase was approved for those who retired before December 1998, while a 15% for those who retired between 1999 to 2009, and 10% increase was agreed for those who retired between 2010 to 2016.
Considering that a big number of pensioners have pension amounting to below PKR 6,000 even after the latest increase as given above, it has been decided that the minimum amount in case of pensioners is fixed at PKR 6,000/- per month whereas monthly benefit amount for family for those pensioners who have passed away, has been fixed at PKR 4,500/- per month with effect from January 2017. It was also decided that the Bank will pay its arrears along with revised monthly pension on the next payment date.
While making this announcement, NBP’s spokesperson said: “All bank employees are backbone of the institution. We are a family and employees have to have full commitment to the development of NBP. The relationship with all employees continues even after their retirement. We care about our NBP family as, in majority of cases, a working life time has been spent to provide services to bank’s customers. With this decision, we are promoting a favorable workplace culture to show that the bank truly values its employees and that continues even after the retirement.”
On this occasion the President of NBP Mr. Saeed Ahmad stated that our pensioners who had rendered valuable service during their employment, are pride of the bank. He said that he was happy to fulfil a promise which he made with the pensioners of the bank and other stakeholders soon after his appointment as President. He also emphasized that all customers who visit NBP branches whether for the purpose of drawing pensions or salaries, paying their bills or are our depositors / borrowers must be treated with respect and branch managers must make sure to provide good services in comfortable environment.
A copy of the announcement shall be dispatched to the concerned pension payee branch, pensioners, and families of deceased pensioners at their last known addresses on record with the bank. In case of any discrepancy, all those concerned are advised to approach the Employees Benefits Wing, HR Services Division, HR Management Group, NBP Head Office, Karachi for necessary corrections.
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NBP’S RE-ORGANIZATION FOR RESPONDING TO THE CHALLENGES OF TOMORROW
Mr. Saeed Ahmed, after assuming charge as President National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), has undertaken major organizational and structural reforms aimed towards promoting service quality, business growth, empowerment of field functionaries for improved turnaround time, and addressing the challenges posed by the banking industry, witnessing a gradual shift from the brick and mortar concept to branchless banking.
NBP being the Nation’s Bank considers provision of banking services to the masses (even to the remotest areas) among its primary objectives. To materialize this objective and to promote State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) vision for financial inclusion, the bank recently established a separate group for Payment Services and Digital Banking. This initiative will facilitate NBP to have a more focused approach towards digitization for providing better quality and efficient services for G2P & P2G Payments; customer ease and convenience; and to reduce operational cost translating into increase profitability and value creation for stakeholders. The Bank recognizes that the future of banking is in innovation, digitization, and branchless banking through the alternate delivery channels, thereby providing cost effective solution to the masses. In view of this the bank is planning to strengthen its alternate delivery channel like mobile banking, internet banking, card services and partnering with telecos so as to bank the unbanked segment of the populace thereby promoting financial inclusion.
The bank considers its customers as assets and works on the philosophy of Happy Customer – Our Success. To promote this inherent value and belief and to strengthen the service culture and serves its customer better, the bank has taken another initiative of creating a dedicated service quality division reporting directly to the President. The said division will provide guidelines and trainings for inculcating and strengthening of the service culture in the bank, conduct customer satisfaction surveys, inculcate competition for service culture among field functionaries, reduce complaints through effective management and resolution within minimum possible time, define service standards and improve turnaround time for various levels of service.
Further, the bank has also taken various other restructuring initiatives so as to have a more focused approach towards innovation, fraud prevention, product & business development, focused approach towards SME, Agriculture and Commercial sector loans, trade business, network planning, image building and strengthen our footprint across the globe.
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TELENOR MICROFINANCE BANK LAUNCHES MASTERCARD-BRANDED VIRTUAL DEBIT CARD
In yet another instance of innovation aimed towards facilitating digital payments and e-commerce in the country, Telenor Microfinance Bank (formerly Tameer Microfinance Bank) through its mobile banking platform, Easypaisa, has launched the country’s first MasterCard-branded Virtual Debit Card to facilitate online shopping on local and international e-commerce shopping websites – using Easypaisa Mobile Accounts.
Now, any Easypaisa Mobile Account customer using the Easypaisa smartphone App can instantly generate a Virtual Debit Card on their smartphone and then use this card for online payments – wherever MasterCard is accepted. The Virtual Debit Card generated would include all relevant card details to process an online transaction, such as the 16 digit PAN number, expiry date and the CVV. When a purchase is made on any online website, funds in PKR would be deducted from the customer’s Easypaisa Mobile Account in real time. Anyone in Pakistan can get this card instantly regardless of their SIM operator – all they have to do is download the Easypaisa App from the Google App store, create an Easypaisa Mobile Account, deposit or IBFT funds to that Easypaisa Mobile Account, create a Virtual Debit Card and then use this card online.
Telenor Microfinance Bank’s Easypaisa Virtual Debit Card is the most secure debit card in the country, because of the controls and flexibility it gives to the customer at the time of card generation. Customers can define a maximum spending limit to allocate to their Virtual Debit Card, the number of times a card can be used online, the ability to activate or deactivate a card, and to delete and re-generate a new Virtual Debit Card at any time. No fee will be charged to generate or use a card or any of the controls while the currency conversation rate on international transactions would be the lowest than any other credit or debit card issued by any Bank in the country.
“This is a huge step forward in pursuit of our mission of innovating financial services for the convenience and security of our customers,” said Ali Riaz Chaudhry, President & CEO, Telenor Microfinance Bank. “With e-commerce growing exponentially, we are delighted to introduce Easypaisa virtual debit card, the most secure debit card in the country for online transactions. We, at Telenor Microfinance Bank, are humbled to continue to lead the transformation of financial and digital landscape of the country.”
The Easypaisa Virtual Debit Cards would boost customer trust and strengthen the country’s digital payments landscape. In addition to e-commerce portals like AliExpress, Amazon or Ebay, the Easypaisa Virtual Debit Card can be used to make payments anywhere online where MasterCard is accepted. For instance, the product would be a huge help for: students looking to pay their TOEFL, SAT or GRE fee, or applying to a university abroad; small and medium businesses in purchasing licensed online software and paying international certification fees; and tourists paying for visa application fees and making logistical payments such as hotels, flights and transportation etc.
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MAHVASH & JAHANGIR SIDDIQUI FOUNDATION PARTNERS WITH DEVELOPMENTS IN LITERACY
Mahvash & Jahangir Siddiqui Foundation (MJSF) and Developments in Literacy (DIL) join hands to support the right of education, for underprivileged children. To initiate this cause, MJSF provided laptops to DIL, to be distributed at various schools, managed and operated by the latter. The distribution event was held at a local school managed by DIL, where the management of both the organizations was present. Furthermore, MJSF is actively providing support to Pakistani citizens, through their ongoing and upcoming projects in the field of education
Speaking at the occasion, COO MJSF, Muhammad Ali Charanya said, “Our partnership with DIL reflects our commitment of working towards the betterment of education in Pakistan. I’m very confident that this collaboration will play a huge role in overcoming the barriers to child education.”
Contributing towards healthcare, education and social enterprise, The Mahvash and Jahangir Siddiqui Foundation is a non-profit organization, which mainly focuses on development of women, children, minorities and disabled individuals. The aim is to promote economic development that will result in improved quality of life, by helping individuals explore their full potential and eliminating barriers to opportunity.
Operating 126 school campuses, across three provinces in Pakistan, DIL provides education from primary to matric level. The organization actively promotes female education with an enrollment rate of 67% along with comprising nearly 90% of women, as part of the school staff. DIL model focuses on a child-centered approach, emphasizing on gender sensitivity and inclusiveness for all, relying heavily on community support and participation.
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JAZZCASH MOBILE ACCOUNT NOW COMES WITH VISA DEBIT CARD
JazzCash, the number one Mobile Account provider in Pakistan, has launched Visa Debit Cards for its Mobile Account customers. JazzCash Visa Debit Card will be linked to customer’s Mobile Account and will bring convenience to millions of JazzCash Mobile Account customers by enabling them to make purchases at more than 49,000 merchants across Pakistan that accept Visa cards.
Speaking on the occasion, Aniqa Afzal Sandhu, Chief Digital & Financial Services Officer – Jazz, said, “As a leading provider of Digital Financial Services, at JazzCash we realize the importance of enabling retail purchase transactions and with the launch of Visa Debit Card we have taken a major step in this direction.”
“This is an exciting one of a kind partnership for Visa in Pakistan where customer’s debit card will be linked to their Mobile Wallet and we are pleased to partner with JazzCash to enable this. This is the latest in our efforts to bring more Pakistanis into the financial mainstream, a move we believe enhances the welfare of individuals, merchants, and the economy as a whole,” said Kamil Khan, Visa Country Head for Pakistan and Afghanistan.
JazzCash Mobile Accounts are rapidly gaining popularity in providing digital financial services to Pakistanis. The product primarily serves the unbanked population, who are now accessing their Mobile Accounts through their mobile phones to deposit and withdraw funds at more than 70,000 JazzCash Agents across Pakistan. The service fulfills all basic financial services needs of customers including Deposits, Money Transfer, Bill Payments, Mobile Top-Ups, Savings, Insurance and Payments for a variety of services.
JazzCash Visa Debit Cards are currently available for a nominal fee of PKR 200 and are initially only available at nationwide Jazz Experience Centers; going forward they will be made available at more distribution points. To get this debit card, customers will need to have a JazzCash Mobile Account which can by registered free of cost by dialing *786# by Jazz/Warid subscribers whereas other network subscribers can register their Mobile Account through biometric verification at Jazz Experience Centers.
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ISL ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE PROGRAM FOR KARACHI
International Steels Limited (ISL) announces the pioneering “ISL Artists in Residence” Program. A unique platform that brings together some of Pakistani’s most talented emerging artists. Indeed the Art Residency is a manifestation of ISL’s commitment to incubate and facilitate the culture of art and nurture individual artists by providing an enabling environment.
To this end, International Steel Limited has collaborated with one of Pakistan’s leading art authorities, Canvas Gallery and powerhouse gallery director Sameera Raja to facilitate the residency.
The ISL Artists in Residence program will commence on the 22nd of July and will house artists Aamir Habib, Ahsan Dada, Fahim Rao, Mahbub Jokhio, Safdar Ali and Yasser Vayani. Each artist will be developing pieces of art utilizing various materials present at the location. ISL has further collaborated with some of Pakistan’s most acclaimed and seasoned artists to mentor the emerging artists throughout the Residency. These Mentors include, Amin Gulgee, hailed by the Metropolitan Museum of Art as among Pakistan’s most influential sculptors and recipient of the President’s Pride of Performance award; Asma Mundrawala, Assistant Professor, Department of Fine Art at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture and internationally acclaimed artist Munawar Ali Syed.
The ISL Art Residency will culminate in an Open Day in August where the artists’ work will be displayed at ISL premises.
Speaking on the program, Samir Chinoy, Director Sales and Marketing ISL, said “As the pioneering flat steel manufacturers in Pakistan, we seek to promote art through enabling and empowering emerging local artists. Through this Residency, we wish to incubate talent, driving collaboration and providing a space for the mentoring of new artists, along with creating an environment supportive for art to flourish”.
Commenting on ISL’s Residency program, Sameera added, “Art and culture are the cornerstones upon which societies evolve and it is heartening to find a patron of arts in ISL, who is conscious of the need to promote art and who provides an enabling environment for emerging artists to express their artistic ingenuity”.
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IGI GLOBAL USA PUBLISHES DR. MUHAMMAD WASIM’S RESEARCH WORK IN ITS LATEST EDITION
Upholding its mantle of being Pakistan’s leading science and technology institution, Usman Institute of Technology (UIT) announced in its statement that one of the world’s leading international academic publishers IGI Global of USA has published its faculty member, Dr. Muhammad Wasim’s research work in its latest edition titled “Encyclopaedia of Information Science and Technology – 4th Edition”.
Dr. Muhammad Wasim is one of leading research professors in the Department of Computer Science at UIT in the domain of Artificial Intelligence. He has been at the forefront of a research project involving facial recognition systems. His innovative new facial recognition system is based on a dot-based grid design used to recognise human faces. It not only decreases chances of error, but also completely does away with health risks that previous facial recognition systems posed.
Commenting on the development, Dr. Wasim expressed his delight stating, “Facial recognition systems are considered to be the most significant application of image analysis in this day and age.” He explained further that, “The benefits of a dot-based grid enable reduced noise effect and easy extraction of coordinates for a human face. I would like to thank UIT for all of its support and will continue to work further the applications of this technology in law enforcement and commercial domains.”
Founded in 1988, IGI Global, headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania (USA), is a leading international academic publisher of more than 3,600 reference books, 170 journals, encyclopaedias, teaching cases, proceedings, and databases focusing on the areas of Science and Information Technology.
Dr. Zahir Ali Syed, Director, UIT, commented on this momentous achievement and said, “Encyclopaedia of Information Science and Technology – 4th edition is a huge collection of recent research trends and applications of different authors from all over the world. We are extremely proud of Dr. Wasim for his achievement and will do everything to further his research and take it to greater heights.”
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IBA SIGNS MOU WITH ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALDIVES
The Director of the Centre for Excellence in Islamic Finance at the Institute of Business Administration (Karachi), Mr. Ahmed Ali Siddiqui, visited the Islamic University of Maldives on the 18th of July, 2017 for a training session on Islamic Banking and Finance. During his visit, Mr. Ahmed signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Deputy Vice Chancellor of IUM, Dr. Mariyam Shahuneeza Naseer to work on collaborations for cross border learning opportunities in Islamic Finance.
Mr. Ahmed also conducted a fruitful meeting with the Senior Management of the Bank of Maldives, including Mr. Zulkarnain Bin Taman, Director of BML Islamic, Ms. Fathimath Manike and Mr. Ahmed Firas and their team to discuss effective propositions for international linkages within the industry for the Centre. Another meeting with Mr. Ibrahim Didi, the Managing Director for the Maldives Center for Islamic Finance was conducted to discuss future prospects for collaborations in terms of training and education between Pakistan and Maldives.
The visit was extended to Seychelles, where Mr. Ahmed met with Mr. Christopher Edmond, the First Deputy Governor and Mr. Naadir Hassan, Head of Financial Services Supervision of the Central Bank of Seychelles.
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IBA-KARACHI SIGNS UP AS KNOWLEDGE PARTNER FOR 17TH ITCN ASIA EXHIBITION
From its inception in 2001, ITCN Asia has evolved as the biggest IT & Telecom exhibition and conference in Pakistan and it is now being organized for the 16th consecutive year on 19th to 21st September 2017, at the Expo Centre in Karachi. Most powerful brands of the world will showcase their state-of-the-art products and services, which will allow the user-community to get exposure to a wide range of technologies and solutions under one roof.
The Institute of Business Administration – IBA has signed a Memorandum of Understanding to become the “Knowledge Partner” for the 17th ITCN Asia 2017. This year’s event is expected to host more than 300 International and/ National Exhibitors, representing more than 350 Companies, that shall showcase 600+ Brands.
This series of International Conferences comprises of a 3-day annual event. This year, it will feature insightful sessions like: China Pakistan Economic Corridor-CPEC opportunities for the ICT sector of Pakistan. It will cover important topics like: Challenges of Digital Security for Media. It will feature discussions during; A Telecom Summit, a CEO’s forum for Pakistan Software Export Board – PSEB, a conference on Information Security, and a Summit on Start-up Asia.
More than 3,000 CXO’s from different verticals of the ICT industry are expected to witness this event, while a grand exhibition also enriches this annual event, organized by the E-commerce Gateway Pakistan (Pvt.) Ltd. Thus, ITCN Asia has catapulted the local IT and Telecom Industry, by attracting major enterprises from all over the world.
It is designed to create major opportunities for business-to-business alliances, leveraging their mutual strengths. It plays a pivotal role in strengthening the image of Pakistan on the IT Map of the world, to bring in huge foreign and local investments in the Country. Today, Pakistan’s IT sector has over 100 ISO certified companies, due to a continued focus on quality.
The industry also requires more competent Human Resources, with access to more Space and Bandwidth. There is a need for more Public Sector Development projects under which training programs, tailored to the specific needs of the Industry, can be implemented by the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB). The Higher Education Commission has also created stronger Industry-Academia linkages, to improve the quality and knowledge of fresh IT graduates. Software Technology Parks (STPs) are also being set up on a large scale, all over Pakistan. On the bandwidth front, Today, Pakistan has 3 separate submarine cables for International connectivity that provide much needed resilience to the data networks.
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HUAWEI RANKED 83 IN THE TOP 100 OF FORTUNE 500 LIST
In this year’s Fortune 500 that came out in the evening of July 20th, HUAWEI climbed up the list to the 83rd place from the 129th of last year with revenue of $78.51 billion, making the top global 100 for the first time.
The Fortune 500 list has always been the most prestigious and acknowledged list that ranks large companies all over the world, known as the “ultimate list”, released every year by the Fortune magazine. The Fortune 500 list ranks the companies according to their revenue and profit, focusing more on the size of the companies compared with other lists. The Fortune 500 rankings have become an important indicator that renowned companies use to measure their own strengths, size and international competitiveness, a parameter of global economy that transcends beyond borders, nationality and cultural differences.
HUAWEI’s brand value, on the other hand, is also recognized by multiple authoritative agencies and selected for several prestigious brand value lists of the world. For example, HUAWEI was the only Chinese company making the World’s Most Valuable Brand List released by Forbes in 2017; ranked the 49th in the 2017 BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands list; and climbed 7 places compared with last year to No. 40 on the Brand Finance 2017 Global 500 list of the top most valuable brands in the world.
As one of HUAWEI’s three business groups, HUAWEI’s Consumer Business Group is committed to becoming a signature culture and technology brand popular among consumers worldwide. According to market research statistics from wide-acknowledged agencies such as IDC, SA and Trendforce, HUAWEI ranked the third in terms of market share in the global smartphone market in Q1 2017, and Number 1 in China. Its flagship P series and Mate series have won the heart of many consumers, building a solid foundation for HUAWEI to increase its impact in the medium to high end of the market.
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DEWAN MOTORS AND JS BANK REWARDED THE ALL-NEW BMW X1 TO SARFRAZ AHMED
Dewan Motors and JS Bank take immense pleasure in presenting the all-new BMW X1, Sport Activity Vehicle to our national hero Mr. Sarfraz Ahmed, Captain of the Pakistan Cricket Team.
“On behalf of our Chairman, Dewan Yousuf Farooqui and our C.E.O.,
Ms. Nabiha D. Yousuf; Dewan Motors is proud to present the all-new BMW X1 Sport Activity Vehicle to our national hero, Sarfraz Ahmed, Captain of the Pakistan cricket team” said Mr. Kashif Riaz, Director Operations, Dewan Motors.
“It is under Sarfraz’s brave and visionary leadership that Pakistan has won its third major ICC tournament. He not only led from the front, but inspired every single team member to raise their level to the invincible heights. JOY is the core brand value of BMW and Sarfraz has filled our entire nation with JOY. And we are sure that this BMW X1 will bring JOY to Sarfraz and his family”, added Mr. Riaz.
Present at the ceremony, both Dewan Motors’ and JS Bank’s managements jointly handed over the keys of the brand-new BMW X1sDrive18i to the winning captain at Dewan Motors’ sales office in Karachi.
“Sarfaraz Ahmed is an exceptional cricketer and a tremendous inspiration for the whole Nation. His leadership and performance throughout the Champions Trophy will last forever in our minds. The way he led our young cricket team in such a pressure tournament was remarkable. We hope that he continues to serve Pakistan & inspire our youth for years to come”, said Mr. Kamran Jafar, Group Head – Corporate & Retail Banking, JS Bank.
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BASF INTRODUCES FIRST NEW CLASS OF PUBLIC HEALTH INSECTICIDE FOR MALARIA PREVENTION IN MORE THAN 30 YEARS
BASF SE, Germany (BASF) has received a recommendation from the World Health Organization (WHO) for Interceptor® G2, a long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito net (LN) based onchlorfenapyr. Chlorfenapyr is a completely new insecticide class for combating mosquitoes for public health. This is the first WHO recommendation for a product based on a new insecticide class in more than 30 years.
Working with the Innovative Vector Control Consortium (IVCC) and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in a collaboration lasting over a decade, BASF’s scientists successfully repurposed chlorfenapyr to be effective on mosquito nets and meet stringent WHO performance thresholds for public health.
Dave Malone, IVCC Technical Manager, said “The collaboration with BASF gave us access to an insecticide with a rare combination of attributes: New to public health, effective against resistant mosquitoes, and able to coat polyester netting with a long-lasting formulation.”
A second chlorfenapyr product, an indoor residual spray named Sylando® 240SC, is also in the final phases of WHO evaluation.
Around the world, every two minutes a child undergoes a fatality due to malaria
Around the world, every two minutes a child dies from malaria and there are more than 200 million new cases every year, including an estimated 1 million malaria cases in each year Malaria is also a major cause of global poverty and its burden is greatest among the most vulnerable.
Long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets (LN) and indoor residual sprays (IRS) are the cornerstones of malaria prevention, particularly insub-Saharan Africa. But 60 countries have already reported resistance to at least one class of insecticideused in them.Part of the problem is that there were previously only four WHO-recommended insecticide classes for adult mosquito control: Only one of them, the pyrethroid class, was recommended for LNs. Continual use of the sameinsecticidesenabled the highly-adaptable mosquito to develop significant levels of resistance.
Independent trials in Benin, Burkina Faso, Tanzania and Ivory Coast have proven the efficacy of Interceptor G2 and Sylando 240SC against local insecticide-resistant mosquitoes.
Medical entomologist Professor Hilary Ransonfrom the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine has studied the problem for many years. “We’ve got to take insecticide resistance very seriously,” she said. “In some countries, the local mosquito population has increased its level of resistance 1,000-fold. It has been years since a new class of public health insecticide has appeared on the market. Alternatives are urgently needed.”
Following the WHO recommendation, BASFwill start preparations to launch Interceptor G2 for malariaprevention. Depending on local registration processes, the new mosquito net is expected to be available to health ministries and aid organizations startingtowards the end of this year.
“New resistance management products aredesperately needed to prevent mosquito-borne diseases and save lives,” said Egon Weinmueller, Head of BASF’s public health business. “Thisdevelopment breakthrough strengthens my personal belief that we really can be the generation to end malaria for good.”
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ACCA PARTICIPATES IN 5-YEAR CELEBRATIONS OF ARTHUR LAWRENCE’S SUCCESS
Arthur Lawrence – a company recognized by IAOP® to be among the world’s Top 100 outsourcing service-providers, celebrated the Five Years anniversary of its JV Partnership with ZT Wealth, a fast rising wealth-management company from Texas, USA. This event held in Karachi with the theme; “Journey towards Excellence”, was attended by more than 250 professionals and industry stalwarts.
Mr. Taseer Badar – a renowned young American entrepreneur; the CEO & Chairman of ZT Wealth and Altus Health, and winner of the prestigious Ernst & Young ’Entrepreneur of the year’ award 2016, was the keynote speaker of the event. Mr. Badar flew in especially from Houston, Texas to join his extended team members in Karachi.
The Head of ACCA in Pakistan – Mr. Sajjeed Aslam thanked Mr. Taseer Badar for the opportunities being provided to the Finance and Accounting professionals in Pakistan, as Arthur Lawrence is a key strategic employer of ACCA affiliates and members. Mr. Sajjeed also presented ACCA’s vision for Pakistan’s youth and his plan for making Pakistan a preferred destination for Shared-Services Outsourcing, while outlining the initiatives of ACCA.
Mr. Badar gave a valuable message to the attendees, highlighting his humble start, continuous struggle, and pursuit for the highest standards of professionalism and quality of services for the clients and investors. He said: ‘If you make a commitment to anyone, you ensure that not only the commitment is met, but it is also provided with a white-gloved service attitude’.
The Managing Partner of Arthur Lawrence – Mr. Wajid Mirza highlighted Mr. Taseer Badar’s historic successes and contribution to the development of skills and standards of Professional Services. He applauded his team’s efforts, the company’s rapid growth and journey to the “Inc.5000” list of ’Fastest Growing Companies in America’, in two different categories; ’Finance and Accounting’ and ’Technology-Consulting’. He also thanked Mr. Badar for his trust in the young professional team of Arthur Lawrence, which is playing a critical role in the development of ZT & Altus Health-Care.
Ms. Zeba Shafi – Director Programs D.I.L . thanked both Arthur Lawrence and ZT Wealth for their support and internship opportunities for D.I.L graduates. She emphasized on education for the underprivileged classes and grooming the youth for the main stream professional environment. Dr. Zahir Syed – Head of Usman Institute of Technology also graced the event, as the renowned Motivational Speaker – Umair Jaliawala conducted an energetic session on progressive thinking.