Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan breathed his last in Islamabad Sunday morning at the age of 85. He was given a state funeral at Faisal Mosque and later buried at the capital’s Sector H-8 graveyard.

Condoling his death, Prime Minister Imran Khan announced a state funeral for the national icon.

“In pursuance of announcement by Prime Minister of Pakistan, State Funeral shall be accorded to Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan. The national flag of Pakistan shall fly at half-mast on Sunday, 10th October, 2021”, read a notification issued by the Ministry of Interior.

Taking to Twitter, PM Khan said, “Deeply saddened by the passing of Dr A Q Khan. He was loved by our nation bec of his critical contribution in making us a nuclear weapon state. This has provided us security against an aggressive much larger nuclear neighbour. For the people of Pakistan he was a national icon.”

Shortly after the news of the nuclear scientist’s death broke, celebrities through their social media accounts expressed sadness and grief over the passing of “father of Pakistan’s nuclear programme”.

“Saddened to hear about the loss of Dr #AbdulQadeerKhan. He was a patriot and the nation will always be indebted to him for his services to our country,” tweeted renowned actor and singer Ali Zafar.

Actor Imran Abbas said, “The father of Pakistan’s nuclear programme Sir Abdul Qadeer Khan is no more. Inna Lillahe wa Inna Elehe Rajeoon. Standing ovation to our hero for giving us strength and power with the grace of Almighty and his endless contributions.”

Actor Adnan Siddiqui in a condolence message posted on his Twitter handle said: “We are a nuke-power today only because of AQ Khan. Forever indebted. Khuda Hafiz, Mohsin-e-Pakistan. May Allah grant you higher place in Jannah tul Firdous. Aameen.”

“His contributions made us stand proud and strong. We are forever indebted to you #DrAbdulQadeerKhan,” wrote actor Ahsan Khan.

Actress Saba Qamar tweeted: “Sorry to hear about the passing of #DrAbdulQadeerKhan. Thank you for your services Sir! My thoughts and prayers are with his loved ones.”

 

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Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Lahore police arrested an associate of the female Tiktoker and victim in Minar-e-Pakistan harassment incident, Rambo, and seven others after a blackmailing complaint was filed with the police

According to Punjab’s investigation police, seven people including Amir Sohail aka Rambo have been arrested during separate raids in Lahore. The police also conducted a raid to arrest an accomplice of Rambo, Badshah, in Rawalpindi, however, he fled before the raid.

Earlier in the day, a female TikToker who was allegedly manhandled and harassed at Minar-e-Pakistan on Independence Day has blamed her associate, Rambo, for the entire episode at the Greater Iqbal Park in Lahore.

In a written statement submitted to DIG Investigations, Ayesha Akram said that it was Rambo, her associate, who made the plan to visit Greater Iqbal Park on Independence Day, which later led to the horrific incident.

“Rambo used to blackmail me using some of my obscene videos he possessed,” she said adding that he had so far received Rs1 million from her through blackmailing tactics besides also regularly receiving half of her salary.

The female Tiktoker further alleged that Rambo used to run a TikTok gang along with his associate named Badshah.

On August 14, the woman TikToker was assaulted and harassed at Minar-e-Pakistan by a mob of nearly 400 men. The incident came to light weeks later after videos of the horrific episode went viral on social media, forcing the authorities to launch a crackdown against all those involved in it.

Police arrested multiple people while using CCTV footage and other technology and during an identification parade, the female TikToker had identified at least six suspects during the process.

 

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) LCBDDA initiates plantation drive at “Lahore Prime”; a project by Lahore Central Business District Development Authority. During this plantation drive over 5,000+ saplings will be planted at Lahore Prime site, in order to further the, Prime Minister, Imran Khan’s initiative of “Plant for Pakistan”. DG NLC, Major General Yousaf Jamal and CEO – LCBDDA, Mr. Imran Amin, inaugurated this campaign by planting plants at CBD Punjab Site.

Talking on the occasion, Mr. Imran Amin, CEO – LCBDDA said, “We are fully aware of the adverse effects of deforestation on climate change. Therefore, we are committed to maintain the ecological balance of CBD Punjab Construction site and promote eco-friendly urbanism in Lahore and Pakistan.”

LCBDDA, aims to revolutionize real estate business in Pakistan, by supplying Bespoke and Innovative real estate, in an ecologically sound environment.

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

The government is all set to launch the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) programme today (Wednesday) which will be inaugurated by President Arif Alvi.

Confirming the news, Federal Minister for Science and Technology Shibli Faraz took to his official handle to say: “Excited to be leading the STEM pilot project by @MinistryofST.”

Excited to be leading the STEM pilot project by @MinistryofST. The step is taken to enhance problem based learning along with self directed learning in schools. Looking forward to the launch today alongside hon’ble president @ArifAlvi. pic.twitter.com/4ngjrhke2H

— Senator Shibli Faraz (@shiblifaraz) October 6, 2021

He added that the step is being taken to enhance problem-based learning along with self-directed learning in schools. In a short video message, the minister said: “Four subjects — Science, Technology, Engineering and Math — have gained importance worldwide.”

Sharing the details of the project, Faraz said that under this it — which was initiated in 2020 on Prime Minister Imran Khan’s directions — the project will be implemented in 50 schools during the first phase.  The minister clarified that the selection of these schools was based on merit and not on political basis. “Special laboratories will be established in these schools and teachers will be provided trainings,” he added.

Regarding the expectations from this project, Faraz said: “We hope that because of these STEM schools, we will move towards a new phase of development through which we can produce internationally-competitive youngsters.”

The programme is based on three parts including fab labs, teacher trainings and STEM modules.Meanwhile, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhary  wrote on Twitter: “Pakistan Science Foundation is going to launch a programme today which will be a game-changer.”

In a series of tweets, the minister said he had designed the project to convert 450 government schools into STEM schools because “the country cannot change unless government schools are modernised.”

He added that after the first phase — which includes 450 schools — more schools will follow this model.
Chaudhry said universities have been asked to take schools under their wing and improve the quality of science education at the school level.

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Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Chief Minister Punjab Usman Buzdar has removed Fayyaz ul Hassan Chohan from the post of Punjab government spokesperson. The Punjab government has appointed Hasaan Khawar as the spokesperson in place of Chohan.

Khawar will now hold the position of official spokesperson of the Punjab government along with managing the post of the Special Assistant to the Chief Minister on Information and Special Initiatives.

Chohan had been appointed as the spokesperson of the Punjab government in August.

Chohan was previously serving as Minister of Prisons for Punjab since August 2018. He had also served as the provincial minister for information.

The Punjab government has appointed spokespersons to help streamline the information dissemination process, defend its stance, and notify the public of its policies. 

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Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Legendary comedian Umer Sharif’s body arrived from Turkey early Wednesday’s morning.

According to the aviation sources, Turkish Airlines flight TK-708 took off from Istanbul at 12:53 am. The scheduled flight landed at the Jinnah International Airport at around 5:33 am. Umer Sharif’s body was flown to Munich from Nuremberg, Germany, before being flown to Istanbul aboard Turkish Air flight TK-1634.

The deceased’s wife Zareen Ghazal also returned to Pakistan on the same plane. His sons and other relatives received his body at the airport. Among others, PPP leader and Sindh minister Saeed Ghani, MQM’s Kishwar Zahra also arrived at the airport’s cargo terminal.

The PPP leader paid tribute to the comic genius. “I call upon the people to attend Umer Sharif’s funeral in large numbers as a message to the entire world that Pakistanis remember their legends even after they had passed away,” Ghani said while talking to media. 

Later, his body wrapped in the national flag was shifted to the Edhi morgue at Sohrab Goth. Fans of the comedian showered the vehicle carrying his body with rose petals in tribute to him.  

Umer Sharif’s sons – Jawad Umer and Fawad Umer – have said that their father’s funeral prayers will be offered at 3pm at the Umer Sharif Park opposite the Ziauddin Hospital in Clifton. 

He will be buried in the cemetery adjacent to the Abdullah Shah Ghazi shrine in the area, as per his wishes. People are showing up in large numbers outside the comedian’s Gulshan-e-Iqbal residence to pay tribute to him. 

Sharif was born on April 19, 1955, to an Urdu speaking family in Liaquatabad, Karachi. The star was well-acclaimed as one of the biggest comedians in Asia. 

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Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Scores of people took to social media to wish Prime Minister Imran Khan on his 69th birthday Tuesday. Social networking platforms Twitter, Facebook and Instagram were abuzz with wishes for the prime minister. 

#HappyBirthdayPMIK quickly became one of the top trends in the country.

Highlighting the records broken by the premier during his days as a cricketer, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) shared a post highlighting a track record of his phenomenal performances.

The PCB wrote on Twitter: “3,807 runs and 362 wickets in Tests, 3,709 runs and 182 wickets in ODIs, the third leading wicket-taker for Pakistan in Tests.”

3807 runs and 362 wickets in Tests 🔴
3709 runs and 182 wickets in ODIs ⚪️
Third leading wicket-taker for Pakistan in Tests 🥉
A match-winning all rounder ⭐
A @cricketworldcup winning captain 🏆
And our Prime Minister 🇵🇰

Happy Birthday @ImranKhanPTI! pic.twitter.com/AJuhwir3yl

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) October 5, 2021

The PCB wished its patron-in-chief by referring to him as a “match-winning all-rounder and @cricketworldcup winning captain Happy Birthday!”

Many other users took to the internet to post messages of good health, happiness and long life to the incumbent premier, who is followed by millions of fans across all social media accounts. 

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Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Maj-Gen Shahzad Naeem Khan (retd) has joined Nutshell Group as Chief Public Affairs Officer, whereas Brigadier Riaz Ahmed (Retd) has joined as Group Executive Director.

Maj Gen Shahzad Naeem Khan (retd) has had an illustrious 40-year career in the Pakistan Army; he remained on various important positions, notably Division Commander and General Officer Commanding at Karachi, Brigade Commander at Multan, and Director General at Joint Staff Headquarters, Rawalpindi.

He is a graduate of Command & Staff College Quetta, and National Defence University (NDU) Islamabad. He also has overseas experience, including a stint in a UN Peace Mission in Africa and as Defence Attaché in Pakistan High Commission, Dhaka.

Brigadier Riaz Ahmed (retd) brings more than 30 years of professional experience in strategic and operational planning, policy formulation, security operations, management of large organizations, building and leading high-performance teams, administration, and human resource management.

He served as Commander Station HQ Karachi, President Cantonment Board Clifton / DHA, and Director Combat Evaluation and Doctrine Formulation at General Headquarters (GHQ). Brigadier Riaz Ahmed (R) is currently a PhD scholar of Public Administration at the University of Karachi.

He holds an M Phil from NDU Islamabad, a Masters in Management & Defence Studies from Canberra University, Australia, and another Masters in Political Science from Peshawar University. He is also a graduate of Command & Staff College Quetta, and Australian Command & Staff College, Western Creek, Canberra.

Expressing his views on these appointments, Muhammad Azfar Ahsan, Founder & CEO, Nutshell Group, said “I am elated that Maj Gen Shahzad Naeem Khan (retd) and Brigadier Riaz Ahmed (R) have become part of the Nutshell Group. I am confident that the rich and diverse experience they bring with them will contribute significantly in the growth and advancement of the organization and its future endeavors.”

Nutshell Group comprises Nutshell Conferences, Nutshell Communications (Private) Limited and Nutshell Solutions (Private) Limited. The group has been in the business of convening, attracting, harnessing, and sharing excellence for the last 18 years.-PR

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Saudi Arabia Tourism Development FundLaunches Digital Lending Service with Temenos & NdcTech in Just 60 Days

 

•  New digital service streamlines access to financing solutions from TDF to advance tourism projects in Saudi Arabia
• Temenos cloud banking platform enabled rapid development and time-to-market
•  Powered by Temenos and implemented by NdcTech,the service offers digital customer onboarding and loan origination, providing a fast, frictionless customer experience

 

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) Temenos (SIX: TEMN), the banking software company, announced that Saudi Arabia’s Tourism Development Fund(TDF) has gone live with a digital lending service on Temenos in just 60 days. The new service provides investors and businesses in the tourism sector with rapid access to financing solutions from TDF. The SAR 15 billion (USD 4 billion) fund was established to enable private sector tourism investments and develop the tourism sector as part of plans to diversify the Saudi economy.

In the face of unprecedented global challenges due to the ongoing pandemic, the new digital service makes it faster and easier for local and international tourism investors to access financing solutions for tourism development projects. The service currently offers corporate lending and treasury investment products with seamless digital onboarding and origination.

The solution is powered by cloud-native Temenos Infinity digital banking platform and Temenos Transact next-generation core on the Oracle Cloud datacenter in Saudi Arabia. With Temenos’ ready-to-go features,modern microservices architecture, and a low-code environment, TDF benefits from speed, agility, and rapid time-to-market.With support from local implementation partner NdcTech, TDF was able to build and launch incrementally, going live with the first phase of the digital servicein just two months.

TDF provides tailored financing solutions for investors in the tourism sector with attractive financing rates.  Leveraging the pre-built country-specific functions and integration of Temenos Infinity helped the Fund to shorten implementation timelines.

Tourism is one of the main pillars of Saudi economic reforms. The country has opened up to international tourists and foreign investors and hopes the sector will contribute more than 10% of gross domestic product by 2030, up from 3% currently.

Qusai AlFakhri, CEO, Tourism Development Fund,commented: “With Temenos, we have been able to build a greenfield digital service to serve our investorsin record time. The first phase of the project was live within 60 days, and funding is already beginning to flow to tourism projects across the Kingdom. The Tourism Development Fund has a vital role to play in driving the growth of KSA’s tourism sector and in the diversification of our economy. Therefore, it was essential to have a technology partner that shared our vision and ambition. Temenos was the obvious choice. It is the global leader in banking technology with an agile platform and deep expertise that enables us to build rapidly and scale.”

Yasser Alkhathlan, Executive Director – Business Technology, Tourism Development Fund,added: “Temenos has an unmatched reputation in digital banking with many successful projects with financial institutions and lenders in the region. This deep experience and expertise was key to the rapid go live with TDF. With Temenos, we have streamlined access to funding that will advance important tourism projects. Over time, we plan to leverage the rich out-of-the-box banking functionality of the Temenos digital banking platform to continue to enhance the service and customer experience.”

Jean-Paul Mergeai, President – International Sales, Temenos, said: “Launching a digital banking service in less than two months is a fantastic achievement. It shows the dedication and commitment of the Tourism Development Fund and its teams. TDF has bold ambitions, and Temenos’ open and flexible platform will allow TDF to continue innovating at speed and scale in the cloud as it grows. In addition to advanced technology, TDF will benefit from our 25 years of experience in the Middle East working with 120financial institutions in the region, from digital challengers such as STCPay to the largest banks, including Al Rajhi. Together with TDF, we are proud to make access to funding that will boost tourism investmentfaster and easier.”

Ammara Masood, CEO and President NdcTech, commented: “Our many years of experience on the Temenos platform allowed us to launch TDF’s system in such a short time on the OCI Cloud. TDF’s team was extremely collaborative, and working together as one team with Temenos made this rapid implementation possible.”

Temenos is the platform of choice for digital banks that want to launch fast. It has over 70 neo and challenger banks worldwide running on its platform, more than any other vendor, and is ranked the top seller in the category in the IBS Intelligence Sales League Table 2021.

Temenos successfully completed the project as part of a consortium led by Almoammar Information Systems (MIS) with National Data Consultants (NdcTech), Temenos’ Saudi specialized implementation partner. Working together, the combined resources and expertise ensured a smooth integration and shortened the implementation time.

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Prime Minister Imran Khan inaugurated his government’s much ambitious Kamyab Pakistan Programme (KPP) under which soft loans worth Rs1.4 trillion will be given to 3.7 million families.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony in Islamabad, Prime Minister Khan said that such a programme should have been launched 74 years back.

“We made the biggest mistake 74 years ago. We thought we should first collect revenue and then the country would prosper. This was a wrong decision,” he lamented, stressing the need for zeroing in on public welfare to alleviate poverty in the country.

“The Medina state’s was the most successful model in world history,” the prime minister maintained, adding that our country will move forward if it follows the Medina state’s principles of humanity and justice.

He regretted that our system benefits only a handful of elites, noting that inequality and injustice lead to the downfall of societies. Efforts are on to change priorities to uplift the living standards of the downtrodden, he said.

Talking about skyrocketing inflation, PM Khan said the government is well aware of the problems facing the poor due to price hike. He announced that a programme is being launched to provide targeted subsidy on essential commodities like flour, ghee and sugar.

The Kamyab Pakistan Programme consists of five components, including interest-free loans for farmers under the Kamyab Kisan programme, financing of up to Rs500,000 for setting up a business under the Kamyab Karobar programme, financing for construction of housing units under Sasta Ghar scheme and provision of skilled based scholarships to youth. Sehat Insaf Card will also be linked with the KPP.