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CONTENT {May 2010 | Volume 2 | Issue 10}
IntervIeW
As per the Indus Basin Water Treaty, India may
12 We Will Work in Pakistan,
DesPite oF security conDitions
By 2015, annual mobile data traffic will reach 23 Exabytes -
build reservoirs with certain limitations but New equivalent to 6.3 billion people each downloading a digital
Delhi started constructing dams without in- book every day.
forming Pakistan. India's stubborn attitude is
costing Pakistan a lot, especially country’s agri-
culture sector has been hit hard. Despite con- telecoM
tinuous efforts of Pakistan, India has never
become serious in settling the issue.
15 etisalat DisPute, neeD to Promote
investor-FrienDly Policies
Now whether the privatization of PTCL was right or wrong,
the decision was taken by the Government of Pakistan and
terms of agreement were set to implement the deal so it ...
touch2, a useful
sMartphone 28 technology
HTC Touch2 is not a new phone, its here in the local market for last cou-
18 Digital meDia extenDs neW
Dimensions to human liFe
ple of months but this time, actual difference is its official warranty. Facebook, SMS, blogs, YouTube, Twitter have become buzz-
words of our time. We can watch live matches and other tel-
evision programmes on our computer,...
26 WithDraWal oF Duties is
neeDeD, anD not the ban on
useD comPuters/ accessories
The ban on used computers will only benefit the multina-
tional companies, but will certainly take the technology out
of poor person’s reach who would include a large number ...
revIeW 39
30 neW technology For healthier
liFestyle
Most of us aspire to achieve a greater purpose in life. Per-
sonal health and fitness is instrumental to our journey to-
wards attainment of our goals...
Month In focus
32 - 40
Pakistani ProFessionals
41 a scholar unnoticeD at home
The Government must realize that our youth has enormous
potential and if they are provided the right opportunities,
they can produce amazing results.... 36
energy
42 PeoPle’s reliance on exPensive
PoWer generators
Reportedly, generators amounting to $141 million were im-
ported in February alone this year. The deteriorating situa-
tion has also provided enormous opportunity of minting....
agrI tech
46 revamPing agriculture
lenDing is neeD oF the hour
n It took the radio 38 years to have 50 to enable swift economic growth and 2005-2007 and now again the diminish-
million users, TV did it in 13 years, Internet consumer satisfaction. The Theme of the ing trend has brought it down to US $ 264
did the same in only 4 years whereas, Face- conference was “Taking Pakistan to the Million from US $ 1,937.7 Million in 2005-
book took 9 months to add 100 million Next Level of Technology Frontiers. 06 and US $ 1,898.7 in 2006-07.
users. A US department of education study Every one talked about the fact that Dr. Mohammad Yaseen, Chairman
in 2009 showed that 1/6 students in higher voice was no more an affective medium to PTA, highlighted the stimulus in the Tele-
education are registered with an on-line in- earn profits, the major revenue source in com Policy, from which the proactive
stitution and that on-line students outper- the future is data and the local content, this telecom operators could derive the via-
formed those registered in conventional is the area where tremendous efforts are to bility of introducing new technologies.
face to face curricula. 80% of the compa- be made. Though, the problems were He provided insight on the expected
nies hire through LinkediN. 80% of the highlighted but it was also felt that opera- challenges during such a broad-based
twitter use is on mobile devices. People like tors, vendors and the government entities transformation and invited the specialists
to stay connected any where and every- are not doing sufficient work to make data to devise solutions for streamlining the
where. in 2009 Boston college stopped giv- usage a part of people's life style. current infra-structure with the advance-
ing email to their incoming students, The much awaited technologies, 3G ments in global telecom. On behalf of
assuming that they will be connected and 4G are mainly concerned with data PTA, he assured the telecom sector about
through some social networking site. usage but no one from the government timely responses on all necessary revi-
Youtube has become the 2nd largest and the regulator could tell the exact time sions in the regulatory framework.
search engine having over 100 million frame as to when these technologies will The conference featured numerous
videos. Wikipedia has over 13 million arti- be implemented in Pakistan. It appears prominent personalities as chairpersons in-
cles and over 78% are not in English. 70% that the year 2010 will not be able to see cluding Mr. Naguibullah Malik, Secretary IT
of the 18 to 30 year old people watch TV on 3G making grounds in Pakistan despite of & Telecom, Ministry of IT & Telecom, GOP,
the web. 35% of the books sold on Amazon the fact few of the network installer and Dr. Mansoor Sarwar, Dr. Naveed A. Malik,
were for ‘Kindle’, a device to read the books. the operators are ready but it is also a Rector of Virtual University Pakistan.
Today, 24 of the 25 largest newspaper are point of concern that among the opera- The President & CEO, SHAMROCK Com-
experiencing record decline in circulation. tors, there is no clear consensus on the ex- munications (Private) Limited, Mr. Menin
These were the statistics from one of ecution of 3G. This lack of consensus has Rodrigues, the Chairman of TeleCON-2010
the speakers and it clearly shows the im- become a major bottleneck for the newer thanked the delegates from all leading
portance of data and on-line medium technologies and foreign investments to telecom companies, for enriching TeleCON
using fixed or mobile devices. pave way into the country. as a widely recognized annual forum for
Telecom specialists and distinguished Currently, Telecom sector is giving the progress of telecommunications in
speakers at the 3rd Global TeleCON-2010 17% of foreign direct investment of the Pakistan. He also spoke about his high ex-
presented some truly worthy ideas for total FDI in Pakistan. This investment fig- pectations from the capable telecom ex-
deployment of Next-Generation tech- ure was lowest in 2001-02 (less than $ US perts, to speedup economic growth
nologies in the Telecom sector of Pakistan 24 Million), reached at the highest level in through innovative telecom facilities. n
More got a unique chance to talk to telecom gurus at the 3rd global telecon 2010, which was
attended by experts as well as distinguished speakers from leading telecommunication enti-
ties. this is what they say about the present and future state of technologies in pakistan.
What do you say about this has dropped too much. Investment is
conference? coming into the country, it might have
The conference is a big success be- slowed down to some extent but it is not I do not agree
cause there has been enough brainstorm- a danger level. We are taking measures so
ing with all the telecom stakeholders that we could attract more and more FDI with the fact that
under one roof. The bigger outcome for very soon.
me is that I have had lots of ideas which foreign direct in-
will be helpful for the reformulation of When will 3g be implemented
Telecom Policy, currently in progress. It in pakistan? vestment in Pak-
was nice to see everyone participating Though I can not tell you the exact
and presenting their ideas. I would call it period but it will happen very soon. istan has dropped
a wonderful opportunity for all the stake-
holders. there is too much talk about too much
It parks and It cities but there
telecom investment graph is no reality so far?
has come down drastically We have created an IT park in Lahore possible time. By the grace of God we
over the past few years, your and it is operational. Yes, it is not an opti- have enormous potential as well as op-
views please? mal activation but you see Pakistan is a portunities, it will just take a little more
Not at all, I do not agree with the fact late bloomer as I keep on saying but Pak- time and we shall be very well placed in
that foreign direct investment in Pakistan istan has achieved a lot in the shortest the international market Inshallah.
What pta and private compa- SMSes and Emails? So we need local con- there were 80 million SIMs in the market
nies are doing to make the tent here. There is a huge gap and only ac- and 10 million were blocked but at the
local content? are you pushing ademia can fill this gap. They should guide same time we can not rule out the growth
the youth to do it? the researchers to move ahead in the direc- factor so we keep adjusting our data. We
3G is just a pipe. The current pipe which tion that could benefit our society and the have corrected it from 97 million to 95 mil-
is 2 or 2.5G is smaller than 3G. There will be industry. lion after the adjustment.
a change in technology but basic thing is
usage pattern and for that we are going to you keep mentioning that mil- few operator are pushing to in-
universities and have planned to start a lions of unregistered sIMs have crease the rate of sMs by 10
road show with the help of a telecom ven- been blocked, and still you paisas. What pta is doing to
dor. We are focusing to urge the students to quote that there are 95 million undo it?
develop local content for us. It is equally re- sIMs? We are being asked too many things in
warding for the students because after When we say that certain numbers of the media but sometimes there is no re-
completing their telecom degrees, not all SIMs have been blocked, we do not mean search work behind the queries. Networks
will easily get a job. Therefore, students to block them permanently. If you have a are designed for certain number of users and
need to create local content keeping in SIM that is not in your name, we block that packages are introduced depending upon
view our social values, trends and patterns and then you get it reactivated by register- the usage trend on that particular network.
and become entrepreneurs. For example, ing in your name so SIMs blocked are reac- To increase the usage, offers are made and
we all know Gmail that how an Indian tivated at the same time. There is a very they can be taken off if the target is achieved
started it. We have 95 million subscriptions small portion that we block permanently. so there is no point of network being
but still most of people are using roman Through 668, over 16 million people ap- chocked. Yes for 10 paisa charges on SMS,
Urdu in text messages and I do not under- proached us, 0.9 million complained and operators have approached us that the cost
stand why? Same is the case with emails. after verification from operators we only of service has increased and they want to
Are there not enough skilled people who blocked 0.5 million SIMs permanently while raise the charges to compensate it, but we
could develop Urdu typing way to write the rest are active. When we started 668 have not decided it yet and are reviewing it.
What are your hopes from tele- your competitors are working operators and academia very soon. Cur-
con's discussion? for youth and educating them rently, we have a linkage with one univer-
The discussion was very fruitful, espe- about the next technologies to sity and we plan to add more universities.
cially the last session in which we dis- be implemented in pakistan,
cussed 3G and 4G. The important aspect what nsn is doing? Investment is slowing down in
which should have been discussed in de- The required industry-academia part- pakistan, what will be the status
tail was the 3G area, its licensing and im- nership in the telecom industry has not at the end of this year?
plementation. If we could discuss it been into action so far like we have seen in Market was stagnant and we have not
dedicatedly in the first sessions it would the IT sector. The reason is that IT is a little seen investment in the last one year. Local
have been more helpful. But in any case mature industry in Pakistan whereas tele- and global economic crunch are the obvi-
it was a good conference. com is still evolving, however, we are ob- ous reasons but things have started to pick
serving consolidation in the industry and up and we are moving out of that phase
In your opinion, should we go you will be seeing lot of linkages between and there are signs of growth. So this year
for 3g or 4g? is going to be good but you will not see
Long Term Evolution (LTE) is the next very high growth, it will still be two to three
generation in the telephony. The thing is
we can go for it but the issue is that we
To wait for LTE (4G) percent but still that’s better.
everyone is talking about acquire a 128KB or 256KB connection ects that Wi-tribe is working on.
data. do you think companies have moved to 512KB now. But you are
should do something to in- right, Data usage awareness must be should data companies en-
crease the awareness for data taken care of. gage in price war at this early
usage? stage?
Definitely and besides the govern- When will we see people If the price goes down, it’s in the in-
ment, we the telecom companies are also using data and applications terest of user but price should not go
responsible to increase the awareness on the move in pakistan? down at the cost of quality. Companies
level. There has been an improvement I think that is a little bit far cry because can not remain profitable by reducing the
during the last year. Users who used to for DATA and related applications, the prices and keep giving quality service.
main device is laptop which is still 10 to Good service is the most important thing.
15 per cent of the market and this state When we say we are going towards
will last long in Pakistan because laptop broadband that means better quality and
We should not is still beyond reach of the masses. To if we can not provide it then there is no
have the large usage of Data, we should point reducing the price. We should not
do what GSM did be looking towards cheaper computers in do what GSM did by putting the quality
by putting the the government and private sectors. aside and started playing with the prices.
your views about the telecon 2010? unless we have a local content and applica- Karachi first and we are the leading WiMax
After a long time we are witnessing a tions available it will not grow the way it hap- service provider in Karachi. We are working
telecom conference in Lahore. I think there pens in the developed countries. In USA, to launch services in Lahore, Islamabad and
should be more events like this as telecom- Europe and other developing countries, peo- other cities soon.
munication is a big community. Most of the ple pay their bills online, search maps, do
events are held in Islamabad and Karachi banking, buy day-to-day things online. We do What is your market share in Wimax?
but it is a good start in Lahore as well. not have such a trend, here people use inter- In the WiMax category, we have 10 per-
net for entertainment or infotainment rather cent market share countrywide and in the
every one is talking about content, than using it for their regular tasks. Organiza- whole broadband area we cover some 18
where Pakistan stands in Data? tions must make it available to the people percent of the market.
Pakistan is in its very early stage. We have through local applications. People need to
only 0.7 million broadband customers. Only make Internet a part of their lifestyle. What government must do to support
10 percent of our population use Internet the sector?
that becomes approximately 18 million in a What are you doing for the local content? The government must focus on our
population of 180 million so we are begin- We are just focusing to deliver broad- backbone for example PTCL provides us
ners unlike the developed world. As speakers band connectivity because for local content costly Internet connection as a backbone
mentioned that Google and Yahoo have in- you need a good bandwidth. Our group has as compared to its own consumer. PTA
troduced lots of mobile applications which launched a few portals but we have to launch should play its role to ensure level playing
are on internet as they are IP based. We are them here yet. Once the broadband connec- field for everyone. At the end of the day,
far behind in IP and we are catching up but tivity is satisfactory we shall be launching our current competition is not bringing good
we have witnessed a lot of growth and cur- local portal so we could see local trends there. profitability to the investor. Prices have
rently major foreign investment is coming in gone to a very low level so the government
the broadband domain. We need to educate Why your Wimax business is limited to must support us because down the road
a lot. We do not have local applications, peo- karachi only? when we have volumes, these low prices
ple normally go to Google and read news but It is our strategy to test the city of will not hurt us.
By 2015, annual mobile data traffic will reach 23 Exabytes - cation for next generation networks that
will bring scale and efficiencies for ven-
equivalent to 6.3 billion people each downloading a digital dors, choice in network equipment and
book every day. And it’s not just the fact that downloading a devices for operators, and ultimately lower
costs and more benefits to consumers.
YouTube video is equivalent to sending 500,000 SMS messages With the demand for mobile data services
and investor friendly policies. The situation like that with the Eti- bright for the foreign investors and the
anticipated figures show that the sector
salat is hurting Pakistan’s marketing policies, as an attractive place would grow at an accelerated pace, and
for investment. credit must be given to the Government
and Pakistan Telecommunication Author-
ity for providing the right impetus. Many
tional and external counsel that all steps for of agreement were set to implement the incentives have been provided to attract
sale of the asset had been followed and the deal so it would be truly unfair on part of investment in the telecom sector, and it
acquisition was legally valid under the Pak- the government to raise the issue of deal’s has been given the status of an industry
istani law. legality. After all, the privatization of one whereby subsidies and incentives given
Earlier this year, the National Assembly’s of the biggest national assets was done to other industries are now available to
Standing Committee on IT and Telecom after thorough consultations and debate. telecom sector. Taxes and duties have
had also called the officials of the Ministries There may be some flaws in the process been reduced to the minimum in order to
of Privatization as well as IT and Telecom but it does not mean that the government make business viable for the operators.
who were involved in the privatization should retract from its agreement with the All formalities for acquiring licenses for
process of PTCL. The Committee’s meeting, investors. This is not a good gesture for the any services have been reduced to mini-
presided over by Mr. Birjees Tahir, had investors, especially when the foreign in- mum and window operation has been
shown its concern over the entire process vestors are already reluctant to come to provided by placing Frequency Alloca-
of PTCL’s of PTCL, which they said was a Pakistan. The Minister for Privatization tion Board under PTA.
profit-earning entity at the time of its priva- should have been very cautious while giv- On one hand, we are attracting and
tization. The Members also observed that ing the above-mentioned statement be- facilitating the investors while on the
Etisalat did not fulfill its contractual obliga- cause even if there are problems those other every possible trick is being played
tion despite grant of unprecedented con- should be resolved through dialogue and to discourage and disturb a major invest-
cessions by the government. not through blackmailing. At this point in ment player. It does not mean that there
However, the secretaries of both the time in the country’s history, when every should be no checks and balances but
ministries argued that transparency was sector is badly hit by the financial crisis in that should not dominate the efforts to
ensured during the whole process and talks addition to security problems, our govern- attract huge investments. n
Why did htc decide to come to live to ensure that HTC devices suit them.
pakistan? You cannot have successful marketing with-
NT: We have a rich heritage of innova- out quality of service or product that’s why
tions and aim for our products to continue it is ensured that there is no compromise on
being the devices of choice on the Microsoft quality. In some cases, one has to avoid the
Windows Mobile and Android platform in status-quo and create a more natural way to
Pakistan. We are bringing to the market a interact. HTC’s strategy of implementing
portfolio of products that is impressive as HTC sense across its entire portfolio of
much for its hardware innovation as for its phones will enable it to differentiate and
wide range of features and functionality, build closer relationships with people.
naeem tabish,
Country Head, Brightex from business-friendly smartphone for
heavy email users to more compact multi- how Brightex will take care of
media smartphones for first-time users. the warranty and after sales
n A leading cellphone distribution service aspect?
company with an extensive network across What makes Brightex different NT: We are offering the standard war-
the world, Brightex (Pvt.) Ltd has introduced from others? ranty service but the difference in our after
innovative distribution solutions that have NT: The Brightex ideology stems from sales and warranty service is that we focus
revolutionized the cell phone wholesale its belief in ‘Innovation’ and delivering on "YOU", which means that customer is al-
trade. Established in 1986 in Hong Kong “nothing short of the best”. Everyday re- ways right and his/her time is precious. The
having its service in 15 countries, Brightex sellers depend on us to help them cost-ef- response time we are offering is 48-72 hrs
has been increasing its outreach and taking fectively support the needs of end users of and the customer does not need to come
the latest products and services to newer all sizes. Our superior logistics operations, to our service center, they can just visit the
markets and finding new ways to bring which efficiently expedite the delivery of shop from where they have purchased the
value to the customers. Very recently, the more than two million pieces a year, are mobile, from there the Brightex represen-
company started off its services in Pakistan managed out of our logistics centers in Sin- tatives will handle it themselves.
as a distributor of HTC mobiles, with a com- gapore and Hong Kong. The founders of
mitment to develop pioneering technolo- Brightex have earned the respect and trust how do you see the other cell
gies and efficient processes. of their business partners and customers by phone companies involved in
In an interview with MORE, Mr. Naeem their dedication, in-depth knowledge of sales in pakistan?
Tabish, Country Head, Brightex emphasizes markets and customers, reliability and by NT: I would say what is important for
that as a vital link in the cell phone value chain, the strict adherence to proven values. HTC is our capability to show differentiation
Brightex has created sales and profitability to the consumers. We will continue to em-
opportunities for its vendors, carriers and re- What will be your marketing brace competition through innovation and
sellers through unique marketing programs, strategy? provide the consumers the best mobile ex-
outsourced logistics services, technical sup- NT: “You do not need to get a phone perience. From day one, HTC has focused
port, product aggregation and distribution. rather you need a phone that gets you.”This on creating cutting-edge innovations that
Tabish explains what is different that Brightex represents HTC’s commitment to focus on deliver unique value for people looking for
has to offer to the cellular customers: people, their needs and how they work and a smartphone. n
places, respectively.
The performance of Pakistan has been remarkable in the cate-
gories of Individual Readiness, mobile cellular tariffs, at 8th position,
and residential telephone connection charges at 11th position. In
the category of Business Readiness, the country has done well in
business telephone connection charges with 15th position and
business monthly telephone subscription at 17th. A marked im-
provement is seen in country’s capacity for innovation, which has
gone up to 56th from 73rd last year. A slight improvement is also
visible in the quality of educational systems, where Pakistan ranks
at 99 from 104 last year, internet access in schools improving by six
places to 75 and company spending on R&D getting better by six
places to stand at 80.
Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF), a collaborator of the
World Economic Forum and a combined project of the Federal Fi-
nance Ministry and the USAID, has made some recommendations
n Though pace may be slow but the economies around the to ensure that Pakistan’s IT and telecom sector contributes in a
world have started improving after the historic recession, but in more progressive way to enhance nation’s overall competitiveness
this whole process of recovery the role of information and commu- rankings. It has suggested that telecom operators in Pakistan
nication technologies (ICT) can not be underestimated since it has should adopt strategies for creating a conducive and competitive
become an integral part of the very fabric of any economy, be it a infrastructure cost sharing environment. It has also recommended
developed nation or the one that is struggling on the path to de- amplifying the bundled offers like voice and SMS with value added
velopment. services including MMS, Mobile TV, Mobile Banking and GPRS. An
There is good news that Pakistan has improved its position in emphasized has been made on maintaining a close coordination
IT by 11 places and has now taken the 87th as compared to 98th with the universities by setting up incubation centers.
position in the previous year, as revealed by the Global Information Although Pakistan’s performance in absorbing the ICT inno-
Technology Report ranking for 2009-10. The report, which is being vations has been encouraging, there is a need to strengthen the
regularly published by the World Economic Forum for the last nine realization that information and communication technologies
years, gives a detailed account of over 130 nations around the play a key role in sustaining the economic growth. Besides, these
globe. It is regarded as the world’s most wide-ranging and authen- have a significant role in ensuring environmental and social sus-
tic assessment of the ICT influence on the development process tainability, both as an industry and as a key element of enabling
and the competitiveness of nations. infrastructure. In this regard, the steps taken by the Higher Edu-
During the reporting year, Sweden, Singapore and Denmark cation Commission (HEC) of Pakistan to strengthen the ICT infra-
have earned the first, second and third positions, respectively, em- structure of the higher education institutions is a best example
phasizing the fact that these nations have a strong ICT foundation. follow. HEC’s initiatives like Pakistan Education and Research Net-
The United States has moved two places to 5th, while China and work (PERN), Digital Library, Video Conferencing and Pakistan Re-
India are at 37th and 43rd positions, improving nine and eleven search Repository are truly remarkable, especially when we see
n The Government’s plan to remove regime, the growth of country’s economy was a much-awaited requirement of the
the taxes and duty on the import of new would have been much higher. It became IT industry to be given a tax holiday that,
and used computers is a welcome step one of the biggest reasons for Pakistan to if given, should prolong for at least a
and it is hoped that the initiative will not lag behind in the field of Information decade. Also, the Government will have
only give further boost to the IT industry Technology, as compared to many other to keep in view that illegal ways may be
but will have positive and far-reaching countries like India, Malaysia, Indonesia, adopted to import computers for smug-
impacts on almost every sector. Had this China etc., who have achieved a tremen- gling to other countries having higher
policy been adopted during the last dous growth in this area. In Pakistan, it rates of duties and taxes.
weight instantly, high levels of stress or a is facilitating a fast-paced lifestyle that many
workaholic lifestyle. A study conducted by young individuals in Pakistan are adopting.
AC Nielsen revealed that in Pakistan one Increasing demand from work, family and
out of every four adults skip their breakfast. friends has forced a number of people to
The study also indicated that adolescents rely on technology for time saving, budget-
are more likely to skip their breakfast than friendly and convenient solutions.
people of older or younger age group. Dawlance – a trusted household name
These statistics shed light on just one of in Pakistani home appliance market is now
the many aspects in which a majority of introducing the next generation of healthy
people are careless towards their health. refrigerators as part of their Health Zone (H-
Not only we ignore the most important Zone) initiative. These hi-end H-Zone refrig-
n Most of us aspire to achieve a meal of the day but satiate our cravings erators are expected to use a special H-light
greater purpose in life. Personal health and during the later part of the day by consum- that forms a protective shield on all items
fitness is instrumental to our journey to- ing food which is high in calories and de- stored in refrigerator. This light has proven
wards attainment of our goals. prived of essential nutrients. What we don’t to be highly effective in increasing food life
Unfortunately, many of us from 3rd realize in the process is that by practicing twice its regular refrigerator life. Lab tests
world countries don’t realise the impor- this kind of unhealthy behaviour, we rob showed that the preservation factor is most
tance of good health and the extent to ourselves off a ore fulfilling and happy life. predominantly visible on green vegetables.
which it can support us in turning our Healthy food includes richly coloured Green vegetables, when stored in these re-
dreams into reality. The rationale behind fruit, dark green vegetables, lean meats and frigerators, not only stayed fresh for longer
good health and better performance is whole grains to give your body optimum but also retained their natural green color
fairly simple. A healthy person falls sick less energy. There are different methods of and texture. The fan attached inside refrig-
often, is more active and has a more atten- preservation used today to keep the key erator close to the source of light helps in
tive mind leading to better performance at nutrients of the food intact. Of all common spreading the H-light in each and every cor-
whatever task he/she undertakes. methods of preservation, refrigerator is ner of refrigerator covering every single
A small section of our society however, considered the most convenient and effec- food item in its protective shield. This spe-
is becoming more health-conscious with tive appliance for short-term food preser- cial light completely retards bacteria
passing time and is likely to grow as increas- vation today. growth within the food to maintain the
ing number of marketers attempt to raise Realising the need for better health, original fresh condition in which the food
awareness about health to create space for technology has also shifted its focus to- was placed in the fridge. The technology
their health-based products. wards products that support a healthy only stops bacteria from growing; it cannot
However, a considerable section of Pak- lifestyle. Technology which is prevalent in reverse fungal growth already present in
istani population doesn’t pay attention to one form or the other in our everyday lives food when it is placed in fridge.
their diet and to make matters worst we is moulding itself with our changing This new breed of HZone refrigerators
even skip meals. The reasons for this kind of lifestyle too which is a positive sign. It is is a marvellous addition in Dawlance port-
behaviour can be as varied as desire to lose technology that in today’s dynamic world folio and is available in the market. n
What does your company do? What is your target for the coming years?
My company aims to improve corporate governance on the SECP has made our program compulsory for every company. It’s a
level of board members. We provide training and do certification, certification program and compulsory for all listed companies and they
all of which is of international standards. We believe if the board have to get one of the board members certified. So we are assuming
level is in the right direction, the company’s other areas will auto- some 3000 directors to be trained in the next couple of months.
Mr. Menin Rodrigues , President, SHAMROCK Communications Mr. Nuguibullah Malik, Secretary IT & Telecom presenting
presenting shield to Dr. Muhammad Yaseen, Chairma PTA shield to Mr. Faisal Khaliq, CIO Ufone
n Sub Keh Do Day was celebrated for the second year on children and gives them an avenue for self-expression.
April 12, 2010, with an emphasis on open communication and To mark its first year in business in 2009, Zong launched an
maintaining relationship. Looking at its popularity and unique- emotive music video that appealed to all age groups. Directed by
ness, it could be described as a wonderful accomplishment of Saqib Malik and performed by Shafqat Amanat Ali, the music video
the Zong brand. The day celebrated the importance of self-ex- is based on the brand’s core philosophy of promoting a healthy
pression superbly, by encouraging people including children, communication in society, joining hearts and eroding misunder-
adults, housewives, professionals, and workers to express standings. A clear and uninhibited channel of communication is at
openly whatever is in their minds, and clear misunderstandings the root of any healthy relationship and this video shows how a
and build positive communication. bond of love and understanding may be build by removing all bar-
riers, which might exist in communication. The
video effectively shows how satisfying it can be if
The latest video urges the youth of the country, which makes the majority,
one does not hold back the deep feelings in heart
to use their energies in the best possible manner as there is a lot of hope or the thoughts in mind, but comes out with these
from them, and that they must not forget the duties they owe to their coun- to create harmony and understanding.
try. It encourages the viewers to work hard so that we prosper as a nation, Now another video on the second anniversary
free of extremism and other such menaces. This also gives a lesson to the of Zong has not only an emotional but a very prac-
Government to come forward with such ideas, not only to spread awareness tical message for the viewers. It gives a message of
hope and commitment and tells us that everything
among the masses but also embark upon development projects for the
is possible provided you are dedicated towards the
welfare and betterment of the people, especially the neglected ones. cause. It tells the youth of the country, which
makes the majority, to use their energies in the
A major activity in the Sub Keh Do campaign is the one-on- best possible manner as there is a lot of hope from them. And that
one interaction with the common public, including painting they must not forget the duties they owe to their country. It en-
and essay writing competitions in more than 100 schools in courages the viewers to work hard so that we prosper as a nation
Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. Sub Keh Do teams interacted free of extremism and other such menaces.
with students and encouraged them to express themselves This also gives a lesson to the Government to come forward
though painting and essays, and the activities were broadcast with such ideas, not only to spread awareness among the masses
on all major television channels across Pakistan. This is indeed but also embark upon development projects for the welfare and
an interesting activity, which cultivates talent and creativity in betterment of the people, especially the neglected ones. n
Mr. Tahir, Fest International receiving shield Sheikh Javed, Al-Hafeez Photo receiving Mehmood naqvi,
from Mr. Manzoor Khan shield from Mr. Manzoor Khan Executive Director Ruba Group
Mobile Monday
Arrives in Pakistan
n MobileMonday (MoMo), the global
community of mobile industry visionar-
ies, developers and companies, launched
its 100th chapter in Islamabsad in April at
a glittering event attended by key players
of the telecommunication industry, gov-
ernment officials, diplomats, dignitaries,
media and others. Representatives of the
global MoMo community who had espe-
cially flown into Pakistan for the launch
were also present.
The remarkable MobileMonday phenom- Jari Tammisto, CEO, MoMo, Zibber Mohiuddin, Country Manager, Ericsson Pakistan,
enon began almost by accident in Mohsen Tavakol, President, Ericsson Pakistan, CIIT Rector, Dr S. M. Junaid Zaidi and other
Helsinki, Finland in the autumn of 2000. dignitaries at the launching event
A couple of well-known Finnish visionar- working and partnerships locally and is very special as it is the 100th.”
ies invited the who’s who of the Finnish globally by providing a platform for in- In Pakistan, the COMSATS Institute of Tech-
mobile industry to an informal get-to- dustry players. MoMo also contributes to nology (CIIT) is the local counterpart for the
gether and incidentally the time that generating awareness amongst the Mobile Monday network. The CIIT with 7
suited everybody was Monday evening. broader public through various means. campuses countrywide, 42 degree pro-
After this first meeting the group decided Pakistan has now come into the global grams, 17,000 students’ enrollment, 11,000
to continue meeting on the first Monday limelight with the launch of MoMo’s graduates and 1700 faculty members of its
of each month — and thus, MobileMon- 100th Chapter in Islamabad, which began own is the fastest growing institution. It is
day was born. Towards the end of 2004, with an address by H.E. Osmo Lipponen, currently ranked at seven by the Higher Ed-
the movement started to spread to other Ambassador of Finland to Pakistan. This ucation Commission of Pakistan.
areas of the world and new MoMo chap- was followed by speeches by H.E. Shahid CIIT Rector, Dr S. M. Junaid Zaidi (S.I.) said
ters were started in Tokyo, the Silicon Val- Kamal, Ambassador of Pakistan to Ger- that Pakistan has immense potential to
ley in USA and Rome and Milan in Italy. many, Jari Tammisto, the Founder and benefit from the global networking and
Since then, the number of MobileMonday CEO of MoMo Global and other speakers. peer support offered by MoMo.
chapters and members has dramatically "Pakistan is a huge mobile market where Some of the activities that MoMo Chap-
increased making MobileMonday the there is much innovation the world ters initiate are workshops, seminars, in-
world’s leading mobile community. should be aware of. MobileMonday is ex- formation hubs and a website with the
MoMo today is a hub of influential stake- cited to invite Pakistan's mobile commu- latest mobile technology information in
holders of the ICT industry, fostering co- nity to connect with peers globally," said one place. Just like mobiles and internet
operation and cross-border business Tammisto and added “After several suc- services the important thing is not the de-
development through virtual and live cessful launches in other countries, in- vice but the opportunity created by its ex-
networking events to share ideas, best cluding the most recent ones in Uganda istence. Similarly, the MoMo community
practices and trends from global markets. and Kenya, MoMo's global team is excited creates tremendous opportunities for the
It also facilitates the creation of peer net- by this milestone - the Islamabad launch ICT industry and the general public.
WorldCall at Jinnah
International Airport
mian muhammad rafiq, chief executive, ali Qizilbash ceo of mobile outlet says, Dummy
aa mobiles, told us that Dummy Mafia is strength- Mafia is active at Hafeez Center as well. We try to min-
ening its roots at Hall Road and looting innocent peo- imize the loss of customer by asking the guards to keep
ple. Though, we have guards who keep an eye on the an eye but these people follow the customers, ask
business and try to catch Mafia people but they are them to buy cheap handset which they can't get from
still running their show. Few of the shopkeepers sup- a shop and then sell them something Dummy. We
port these Mafia people. have caught them couple of times but due to the sup-
port of other shopkeepers they get freed.
variables regarding investor’s behaviour haviour that helps to scrutinize the stock
on the KSE. The study covers the most sig- market in future. It can also explain the
nificant variables that have a great impact worth of stocks, where do they stand, and
on investors’ decision-making behaviour facilitates the investors whether their risk
Dr. Mohammad Azam and provides a pattern for investors par- has been increasing or decreasing and
ticularly ‘ordinary investors’ as how to what is the point where investors should
n Muhammad Azam has success- make a better investment in the equity enter or exit from the stock market?
fully completed his PhD under a scholar- market. The research done by Dr. Azam
ship from the Higher Education It has been argued that the model will proves that if our academia and industry
Commission (HEC) of Pakistan from the eliminate the bubble also or any great work in collaboration with each other
University of Paris Ouest-Nanterre La De- crash like “KSE March 2005 Crash” perma- keeping in view the national priorities,
fense, France. The title of his thesis was nently in the stock market. KSE “March nothing can stop Pakistan to prosper and
“Investors’ Behaviour and Stock Price Vari- 2005 Crash” inspired the scholar to work stand high in the comity of nations. And
for this to happen, it is indispensable that
the government plays a proactive role.
The Government must realize that our youth has enormous poten- The analysis and findings of the afore-
mentioned research should be duly con-
tial and if they are provided the right opportunities, they can pro- sidered by the relevant government
duce amazing results agencies like Securities and Exchange
Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and re-
lated ministries so that the proposals
ations in the Karachi Stock Exchange”. on stock price variations to save the small made by the researcher are translated
Dr. Azam, who is currently an Assis- investors’ capital from big players who into practical steps.
tant Professor at Iqra University Karachi, manipulate the stock market through The Government must realize that our
completed his PhD studies under Com- media announcements and many other youth has enormous potential and if they
mission’s scheme “Overseas Scholarship sources. No similar studies have been are provided the right opportunities, they
Programme (Phase-I)”, which was aimed made earlier on the Karachi Stock Market. can produce amazing results. Lack of gov-
to create a critical mass of highly-quali- The researcher has developed a Stock ernment’s attention is costing this nation
fied human resource in all fields taught at Prices Variations Model (SPVM), which fol- a lot as many of our bright young minds
the advanced level in the world. lows the approaches of M. J. Gordon are preferring to stay and work abroad
Dr. Azam’s research deals with the in- (1959) and Kothari and Zimmerman where, unlike Pakistan, they are given ap-
vestors’ behaviour and stock price varia- (1995) models by adding more explana- preciation as well as incentives. There is a
tions for the period 1998-2008 on the tory variables according to the institu- dire need to capitalize on the precious
Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE). The objec- tional/professional Investor’s behaviour human resource that Pakistan has, and
tive of this research was to determine the of KSE (Fund Managers, Brokers, Financial encourage and support scholars like Dr.
stock price variations with respect to the Analysts, etc). The model has been devel- Azam so that they may serve their moth-
macroeconomic, firm-specific accounting oped by observing the past investor be- erland in the best possible manner. n
n While presiding over a mid-term re- tain their outstanding loans. The Govern- 89 percent of agriculture loans in 2009
view meeting of the ‘Agricultural Credit Ad- ment on its part should take immediate against 86 percent in 2008 and 81 percent
visory Committee’ recently, the Governor of steps to develop cordial environment and in 2007 respectively, which is a good omen
the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has asked mechanism for the promotion of agricul- because if the loan recovery system is
the banks to revamp and restructure their ture credit through banking system. strengthened, it will become much easier
agriculture lending mechanism through in- A proper strategy should be in place to for the government to allocate much more
novative products and by adopting best spread awareness among farming commu- funds for agriculture lending.
practices. This is a very timely directive as nity about banks’financial services and other It needs to be analyzed whether credit
the agriculture sector is one of the most sig- cropping-related information. Unfortunately, going to farmers is sufficient and whether
nificant areas for country’s economic the smaller provinces have always been it will have any meaningful effect in the ab-
growth. And unless small farmers are given a lesser share in the agricultural credit, sence of other measures for ensuring their
strengthened through agriculture lending the issue needs to be given top priority. economic viability. In this context, creation
and other related measures, the sector will For fulfillment of their basic needs like of production and employment opportuni-
remain unable to play its due role. seed, fuel, fertilizer, pesticides etc, a big ma- ties in the rural sector through public in-
There has been a considerable develop- jority of the farming community is depend- vestment assumes critical importance.
ment in this sector, however the issue of ent on the credit support. Therefore, while Besides increasing the agriculture credit,
agriculture lending has remained a neg- working in a crisis-like situation, the banks the banks should also be asked to restruc-
lected area. Surveys show that banks have must devise plans to spare money for this ture and reschedule the outstanding debts
shown least interest because of which per- purpose, with a special attention to rural and make special offers for farmers of the
centage of agriculture credits has de- and far-flung areas. The fact of the matter is affected areas, which will definitely lead to-
creased in the last couple of years. But the that of cities and tehsils have better oppor- wards strengthening the whole sector.
latest SBP initiative is a welcome step and tunities, while those of rural areas are al- Being one of the largest producers of
things are expected to change gradually. most devoid of them. cotton, rice wheat as well as milk, what Pak-
The banks should adopt special strate- Critics say that Zarai Taraqiati Bank Lim- istan urgently needs is streamlining the agri-
gies for lending to small scale farmers. In ited (ZTBL) caters to a large community of culture lending, and facilitating the small
this regard, coordination with the associa- farmers who have no problem of access to farmers. The country that was self-sufficient
tions of farmers for raising awareness as institutional credit and enjoy debt write-off in basic food is now importing even onions
well as marketing of agriculture industry by the bank. If it is true, it would be in the and tomatoes, not to speak of wheat at
and loan products is very important. This fitness of things to convert it into a rural times. Our problem is not resources but
will also help the financial institutions to ob- bank. A good news is that ZTBL recovered proper planning and implementation. n
It is always a million dollar question for you to find out which computer is best depending
upon your working style, computing requirement and of course your budget.
Feeling the urge for best solution and to help customers, Dell Pakistan has categorized the
latest products for you. Below is the largest variety of notebooks with Core i processors from
Dell. All of them are in the colors (except XPS which is black and red) -Obsidian Black, Cherry
Red, Gecko Green, Ice Blue, Alpine White, Pretty Pink, Passion Purple and Midnight Blue
Bifurcation is as below:
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