Faysal Bank Ltd. and Pakistan Cricket Board Join Hands to Promote “PCB Grassroot Cricket Development Program”

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Karachi (Muhammad Yasir) Faysal Bank Limited (FBL) joins hands with Pakistan Cricket Board for the promotion of PCB Grassroots Cricket Development Program. An introduction and promotion event was recently held at a local hotel in Karachi in this regard.
 
Faysal Islami, a leading Islamic bank, firmly believes in promoting all initiatives that contribute towards the positive projection of Pakistan, both nationally and internationally. Healthy sporting activities in general, and promotion of our current and future sporting stars in particular, is one avenue through which the Bank is actively playing its part towards a bigger national cause. “Diversity and Inclusion is a part of our core ethos, which entails grooming young talent and engagement on a positive and sustainable basis. The intent has always been to further strengthen the infrastructure for opportunities and development of the youth across all segments of society as we have immense talent that remains untapped,” said Yousaf Hussain, President & CEO of Faysal Bank Limited. Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Yousaf Hussain applauded the efforts of PCB towards the nurturing of talent in Pakistan and expressed the Bank’s keen intent to aggressively support PCB in this remarkable initiative also. 
 
Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board, Ramiz Raja said “I am delighted to welcome Faysal Bank on board. One of the core objective of the Pakistan Cricket Board is to strengthen the cricket base in the country by providing state-of-the-art facilities and the desired knowledge to cricketers from a very young so they groomed into top-notch cricketers, who are ready to serve the country at the international stage.”
 
He further said “Through this partnership, we will develop a strong grassroots structure to help our up and coming cricketers and bring foreign coaches into our domestic cricket who will impart their vast knowledge and depth about the game. It is vital to have coaches – who have coached and played around the world – at domestic level as that is where a player is fine-tuned and graduates to the international level.”
 
Along with Ramiz Raja (Chairman PCB), the event was attended by PCB Board of Directors, Senior Management of FBL, dignitaries from the corporate world and other legendary cricketers. The guests were excited at the prospect, potential and promise of the program and hoped to see great outcomes as a result of it.

Huawei: 5.5G is a key milestone on the path to an intelligent world Striding Towards the Intelligent World White Paper Release

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Pakistan (Muhammad Yasir) The Striding Towards the Intelligent World Summit at HUAWEI CONNECT 2022 successfully concluded today. David Wang, Huawei’s Executive Director of the Board and Chairman of ICT Infrastructure Managing Board delivered a keynote speech titled Embracing the 5.5G Era: Striding Towards the Intelligent World at this summit. In this speech, he stressed that 5.5G is a key milestone on our path to an intelligent world and released Huawei’s latest series of white papers on the intelligent world. Wang also called upon the ICT industry to coordinate efforts around eight facets of this vision. By working together to further define and refine the industry vision and standards for the 5.5G era, the industry will move ever faster towards the 5.5G era and the intelligent world. In the future, individuals, households, and industries will have higher requirements for digital infrastructure. For individuals, immersive services like XR and holographic communication are maturing, and connectivity experience is set to increase from 1 Gbit/s to 10 Gbit/s. Mobile DOU will surge from today’s 15 GB to 100 GB. Requirements for latency and ubiquitous connectivity will also increase. For households, the demands generated by advanced services like 24K 3D VR games and holographic education and meetings are creating a full-fiber, 10 Gbit/s era. For industries, digital transformation has now entered the fast lane. Industrial-grade applications such as smart manufacturing and power grid dispatching are raising diversified requirements for connections, quality, and sensing, while also triggering explosive growth in demand for computing power and storage. Wang noted, “We must continue to work hard if we hope to reach an intelligent world. The 5.5G era is an important milestone on this path – one we cannot miss. In the 5.5G era, we will need ubiquitous 10 Gbit/s experience; intelligent and high-quality compute scheduling; highly autonomous L4 networks; Cloud Native 2.0 services for enterprises, and a 10-fold increase of computing effectiveness, storage, and infrastructure energy efficiency.” He went on to highlight Huawei’s belief that it will need the support of customers, ecosystem partners, industry organizations, and academic institutions to continue evolving and reinforcing digital infrastructure, thereby accelerating the advent of the 5.5G era and intelligent world. More specifically, he said that industry players would have to come together to: 1. Promote the allocation of more spectrum to accelerate industry development and continue exploring new 5.5G use cases with greater commercial value 2. Define the technical paths forward and standards for F5.5G 3. Quickly reach a consensus on evolution towards Net5.5G 4. Define a profile for L4/L5 autonomous networks and promote unified standards 5. Build an open and diversified computing industry for shared success and redefine the computing architecture 6. Define a storage architecture that meets diversified data processing requirements 7. Build a cloud foundation for the intelligent world and cultivate a stronger cloud service industry ecosystem 8. Adopt a unified NCIe system to help industry save energy and reduce emissions with innovative ICT technologies and solutions. Wang also released Huawei’s latest series of white papers, which are titled Striding Towards the Intelligent World. Guided by the next steps relating to the eight facets mentioned above, these white papers explore both the opportunities and challenges that will be presented to major ICT infrastructure domains by emerging business needs and technological developments. The white papers also outline key trends in these domains and specify actions that the company recommends the industry should take before 2025. Huawei’s Chief Strategy Architect Dang Wenshuan then took the stage to discuss the contents of the white papers in more detail. He emphasized two concepts the company would like to promote as we move towards 5.5G and eventually the intelligent world: 1. “ICT for Intelligence” which focuses on constant innovation and evolution in different ICT domains to improve key capabilities, and 2. “Intelligence for ICT” which focuses on the intelligent and architectural innovation within the ICT industry itself that will be needed to address challenges like increasingly complex O&M, ensuring user experience in diversified service scenarios, and green development. Addressing these challenges will help us make the most of existing and coming core ICT capabilities and lead us to the intelligent world faster.

DG NLC Reviews Progress Of Infrastructural Work At CBD Punjab.

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Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) Director General National Logistic Cell (NLC), Major General Yousaf Jamal visited Central Business District (CBD) Punjab to review infrastructural work in progress. Chief Operating Officer of Punjab Central Business District Development Authority (PCBDDA), Brigadier (R) Mansoor Janjua, Mr. Riaz Hussain, Executive Director Technical, (PCBDDA) and the support staff of CBD Punjab were also present at the site visit. DG NLC was given a detailed briefing about the progress of the ongoing construction work by Mr. Riaz Hussain, Executive Director Technical, PCBDDA. During the briefing, he talked about the completion of the excavation, column work, steel fixtures and concrete pouring for the raft of the under-construction parking plaza along with the overall infrastructure work in progress. Talking on the occasion Brigadier (R) Mansoor Janjua, Chief Operating Officer of PCBDDA said” the pace of the construction of parking plaza and infrastructure work of phase 1 is very encouraging. We have a healthy working relationship with NLC and our other consultants onboard, with their continuous support we will deliver a world-class amenity to the residents of the district”. While sharing his views during the visit DG NLC said “I can witness the progress in the construction of the parking plaza and infrastructure development. The synchronization between the consultants and CBD Punjab site support team is laudable which has made the construction work flawless”. He further added that as a contractor NLC will ensure that international standards are being implemented throughout the construction process. High-end quality standards and procedures are being observed during the construction of the parking plaza and infrastructure development at the CBD Punjab site, which is a step forward in turning the dream of an economically stable Pakistan into reality.

 

Pakistani team can win the ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup, which begins next month says Ramiz Raja

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Pakistan (Nut Desk) Ramiz Raja, chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) saying that the team can win the ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup, which begins next month.The PCB chief continued to say he tries to communicate to Babar Azam that he will have to win every single match. “I ask Babar Azam to always keep this pressure on him as the memory of cricket fans is very short.”

Misconceptions about Single National Curriculum-Way forward

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By: Prof. Amer Jamil

Education, no doubt, has the central place in development of any nation. The difference between a developed and an underdeveloped nation lies in strength of education and training of its youth. The leading nations have, in fact, knowledge-based economies. A strong foundation at school level is mandatory to build concepts that could lead to critical thinking and analysis. Merely getting education is not enough for effective learning by the children. It is quality education that is essentially needed to get the desired results in our youth.

Pakistan is a country with diverse cultures and languages. On top of that there are diverse types of education systems that exist in the country; Government and ordinary private schools, elite class schools and so on. The curriculum being taught in these schools is also very diverse. The kids coming out of elite class schools have advantage over the kids from ordinary schools in all walks of life. The training part is mostly missing from all types of schools whether elite class or ordinary. Practically what we observe in our society is failure of all sorts of education systems to train our youth. All of them are running for getting more and more marks by using some shortcuts. Students getting 95% or more marks are unable to write a letter or application from their own. And there is no such training to observe etiquettes and other social norms, leading to increase in chaos in the country. We see the graduates feel no shame in breaking law, crossing red traffic signal, doing corruption etc., although they learn by heart many of such norms in Islamic Studies, Pakistan Studies etc.

In this backdrop, the ex-government gave the idea of Single National Curriculum to bring unity and harmony among nation, and to bring an equal ground for children coming from different backgrounds. Unfortunately, as done with other things, this idea was politicized. Quite surprisingly, some of our intellectuals also opposed the idea saying that it would hamper originality and creativity of the kids because they would have to follow the same curriculum. According to them, the SNC would spoon-feed the children with certain well-defined concepts. In fact, they fail to comprehend the philosophy of the SNC. The implementation of SNC in schools never means to implant certain type of knowledge in our students. It only gives a uniform curriculum for whole of the country so that the students may have similar levels of education, augmented by strong foundation of Islamic ideology in the form of study of Quran with translation and the life of the holy prophet. It is a misconception that only purely secular type of studies at school level may prepare our students competitive globally. Character-building is equally important component of school education. We need a generation who not only is market competitive but also has strong moral values.

Such intellectuals might be confusing the SNC implementation in school system with the University system. Otherwise, the same system exists in almost all developed countries where public schools are meant for education of children without any class discrimination. As mentioned earlier, the existing school system is total failure leading to learning poverty in the country. In most of the schools, teachers come in classrooms, give lecture, students take notes, no questions asked, and homework given to students. Students do homework, which usually is composed of re-writing the notes or answering the questions given by the teacher followed by mere cramming of the lessons. Students don’t even have time to play or enjoy other hobbies due to this useless activity. What it is to do with SNC?

Therefore, the real learning crises in the country is due to ineffective teaching methodology. There is a strong need to develop curriculum that covers the contents for international competitiveness. Unfortunately, there are myths in our society such as heavier content with more and more stressful work to the students will help prepare them to compete the world. Therefore, the content of different disciplines comprises of too much detail at early age which in fact takes away their innovation and leisure time vital for personality building. The education until class 5th should comprise of training mostly with three books; English (covering basic concepts of science), Urdu (covering Islamic Studies and Pakistan Studies) and Mathematics. Regional language at this stage is also no appropriate as we need a unified nation with integration. Already we are being divided on ethnic basis in different sects. The languages may be included at college level where students are able to understand the philosophy behind the languages rather than cramming different stories. Special attention should be given to teach manners to the students. Then from class 6th to 12th, the subjects like Science and Mathematics should be taught in English as it is the international medium of instruction. The subjects like Islamic Studies should comprise of subjects like Quranic translation of the verses dealing with daily life and Seerat-un-Nabi, and Pakistan Studies and Geography in Urdu so that the students may comprehend it in true sense. Examination is the most important part of the any education system that brings critical thinking in the students. If we prepare students for the questions like Write a note on 14 points of Quaid-i-Azam or write translation of some verses etc., the students will go only for cramming. The teachers will also teach in the similar way so that they would give maximum marks to the students who replicate the same on the paper, and this is actually happening! We should ask the students the questions like “what was impact of 14 points on struggle of independence of Indian Muslims” etc. Similarly, problem solving approach should be followed in all science subjects. Trainings of our teachers for implementation of such educational system is mandatory. Moreover, we need to motivate and incentivize our teachers so that they may do the work with full devotion and commitment. Exploitation of the teachers is common especially in ordinary private schools where teachers are highly underpaid as compared to workload given to them.

Conclusively, we not only have failed for the last 75 years in bringing innovation, critical thinking and problem-solving approach in our students, but our education system has brought in class difference and ethnicity among them. SNC is one solution in minimizing such differences and to make a nation with uniformity. The expensive private schools are afraid of the SNC that their business will be affected due to its implementation. Whereas their business would not be affected. The difference between such private and public schools should be of the facilities such as air conditioning, co-curricular activities etc., and not based on content that is creating nothing but class difference. The one who can afford better facilities may send their children to the private schools with such facilities. But the whole nation should be given the same education. We need to bring both Professional and Personal excellence in our youth if we want to emerge as a developed nation.

 

 

Civil Society organized National Peoples’ Assembly to Highlight Contemporary Challenges of Pakistan

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Islamabad (Muhammad Yasir) In the wake of recent super floods and climate change, experts from different fields stressed on Global emission targets and reparations to be reconsidered by the rich countries who are responsible for the accelerated and relentless nature of climate catastrophes hitting countries such as Pakistan.
These thoughts were expressed by experts from civil society, media and politicians during a National People’s Assembly on contemporary challenges faced by Pakistan, held today. The session was jointly organized by Awaz CDS, Global Call to Action Against Poverty, The People’s Vaccine, UGOOD, Pakistan Development Alliance with the purpose of developing a charter of demands to be presented to the government for immediate actions.
The session was addressed by CEO Awaz CDS, Mohammad Zia ur Rehman, Convener Pakistan Development Alliance, Mr. Ishtiaq Gillani Executive Director UGOOD , Ms. Sameena Nazeer President PODA, Zafarullah Khan, Convener Parliamentary Research Group, Mustafa Talpur, Regional Director Oxfam International, Aftab Alam, Resilient Future International, Hafiz Tahir Bureau Chief Jang Group, Afzal Butt, President PFUJ,  Senator Seemi Aizdi PTI, Dr. Rubina Feroz Bhatti, PPP representative, Basheer Shah  Awami Workers Party (AWP) and various other representatives of Civil Society, Media and Politicians attended the event.
The session had three t panel discussions in which politicians, civil society members and media representatives shared their thoughts on contemporary challenges faced by Pakistan, especially climate change, natural disasters, global emissions, environmental degradation, role of government & international organizations like IMF, IFIs, WB, ADB etc. regarding reconstruction and rehabilitation in flood affected areas,  and urged NDMA and PDMAs to play their role in developing early warning systems devising mechanisms  for disaster preparedness & management, loss mitigation etc.
Mohammad Zia ur Rehman, CEO Awaz CDS and National Convener Pakistan Development Alliance highlighted the contemporary challenges that Pakistan face such as political instability, human rights and democracy, economic governance and delivery as well as poverty and high inflation rates that are making people’s lives miserable. He further said that UNGA session is going on and people’s assemblies are being organized globally and Pakistan is among these counties.  The National People’s Assembly was held with aim to develop a charter of demands to present it to the government of Pakistan and urge it to take immediate actions to tackle challenges especially in the wake of recent super floods.
Basheer Shah, representative Awami Workers Party said that neoliberalism is the root cause of abysmal economic conditions and inequalities between rich and poor. Capitalist economies do not care about the rights of people, governance or democracy. Capital is there sole interest and wealth concentrates in the hands of few.
Zafrullah khan, Convener Parliamentary Research Group spoke about Human rights and situation of democracy in Pakistan. He highlighted systematic and structural issues Pakistan faced and recommended viable solutions which according to him will take long time to improve. He appreciated conducting People’s Assembly to address the issues at this critical time but expressed disappointment that the national assembly has not met since April this year.
While addressing the impacts of climate change on agriculture in Pakistan and crop losses due to floods, droughts and heatwaves, CEO Resilient Future International, Aftab Alam spoke about food security especially in the wake of recent super floods.
Regional Director Oxfam international, Mustaf Talpur appreciated the role of organizers in conducting this much needed assembly during these times. He talked about the inequalities in Pakistan, their root causes and solutions.

SAP Driving Digital Transformation for Progress in Pakistan

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Pakistan (Muhammad Yasir) Saquib Ahmad, Country Managing Director, SAP Pakistan, held a media meet-up at a local hotel to apprise the press of the impact and contribution of SAP’s operations in Pakistan.

 SAP is deeply-rooted in all segments of business and operations. For Pakistan, it has been instrumental in shaping and expanding the industry to create a global footprint for commerce and business.

 The avenue created an excellent opportunity for Mr. Ahmad to showcase and explain SAP’s contribution and ongoing enrichment of the business operations of their clients, large and small. 

 “From industries producing household products, to automobile and energy industry, education networks, pharmaceutical companies and textile hubs, SAP has proven to be the success factor in enabling them with expansion and efficiency towards meeting targets and widening the horizon.” Saquib further added that the list of clients for SAP Pakistan varies from conglomerates to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), and SAP is equipped to provide a tailor-made solution to consolidate all the requirements of the client and enhance it to achieve desired vision. He validated this further by relaying the example of a retail store that utilized the services of SAP and grew from a single unit to a national-level entity.

He was clear on SAP Pakistan’s vision. Profound yet simple, to help the world run better and improves people lives better. SAP, through their software, ensures a design and workflow that impacts the lives of the users (company and customers) most positively.

Answering one of the questions from the media regarding the security of sensitive information, Mr. Ahmad elaborated, “SAP ensures and controls security at all levels. We guarantee full compliance with all governmental protocols”. SAP’s strength lies in its efficient supply chain that expedites and delivers on time.

Mr. Ahmad emphasized the support provided to the economy by SAP. It enables economic expansion and creates more employment opportunities. The digital transformation provided by SAP helps creates a larger international footprint for Pakistan.

Presently, SAP holds a 70% market share for digital and IT-related services in all realms of business, industry, and education and is working towards an energized ecosystem for technology-driven Pakistan with a global presence.

Huawei Launches Innovative Infrastructure Solutions to Drive Industry Digitalization

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Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) On the second day of HUAWEI CONNECT 2022 Bangkok, Huawei launched a range of innovative infrastructure solutions to drive industry digitalization by finding the right technology for the right scenario. Industry stakeholders gathered and held discussions around the theme “Innovative Infrastructure to Unleash Digital”, exploring the future directions and opportunities for industry digitalization. They analyzed the challenges of different industries striving to go digital, and Huawei introduced solutions supported by its technical strengths to help address these challenges. Ryan Ding, President of Huawei Enterprise BG, said in his keynote speech “Empowering Industry, Creating Value” that “Deeper digital transformation will help companies better adapt to an ever-changing world.”

Bob Chen, Vice President of Huawei Enterprise BG, in his keynote speech themed “Innovative Digital Infrastructure Accelerates Digital Transformation”, said, “Data is at the core of digital transformation, and data ingestion, transmission, storage, and analysis are key steps. “Huawei provides full-stack products and product portfolios to support end-to-end data processing, accelerating customers’ digital transformation,” he added. At the event, Huawei launched the Huawei Empower Program, a global partner development plan, which is intended to help develop a thriving digital ecosystem for global partners. This program will help Huawei’s partners build three types of capabilities to better serve customers: digital transformation consulting and planning, product and portfolio expertise, and solution development.

During the event, Huawei also officially released its white paper, Data Storage Power – The Digital Cornerstone of High-Quality Development. It aims to help governments and enterprises better evaluate, design, and build data storage capabilities. Gu Xuejun, Vice President of Huawei IT Product Line, said, “The data storage capability is currently measured by capacity. However, with the rapid development of the industry and the emergence of new, diversified data services such as AI and big data, capacity alone is not enough to measure the future development and construction of storage systems.”

The three-day conference in Bangkok is the first stop on HUAWEI CONNECT’s global tour in 2022. For the first time in the Middle East, Huawei will introduce its Huawei CONNECT global event to Dubai. The 2nd stop of Huawei Connect 2022 will be running in parallel with GITEX GLOBAL 2022 on October 11th and 12th at Madinat Jumeirah.

Globally acclaimed film “Joyland” ready to grace the cinemas on 24th November.

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Pakistan (Muhammad Yasir) Federal and Provincial boards have already issued Censor certificates with minor cuttings. “Joyland” has received standing ovations at prestigious Cannes Film festival with two awards Un Certain Jury Prize and Queer Palm along and Best Film of the Subcontinent from Indian Film Festival of Melbourne. Produced by Sarmad Sultan khoosat , Directed by Saim Sadiq “Joyland” will release in cinemas from the platform of Distribution Club in November.

After generating great response and receiving standing ovation at the 75th annual Cannes Film Festival, Pakistani film ‘Joyland’ is ready to hit the screens on November 24th. “Joyland” premiered at the Cannes Film Festival held in France this year, where it was awarded with great reception and success, and the film won two prestigious awards, including the “Jury Prize” and the “Queer Palm” at the Cannes Film Festival.

Later in August “Joyland”, won best Film of the Subcontinent award from Indian Film Festival of Melbourne as well. The producers and distributor team have decided to release the film “Joyland” in November after the T20 Cricket World 2022. The film will be released in cinemas across the country including Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad simultaneously. During premiere at the Cannes in May, “Joyland” highly impressed the international film fraternity and film critics praised “Joyland” whole heartedly. Directed by Saim Sadiq, Joyland is a fictional story set in Lahore about a middle-class family in which a wheelchair-bound yet severe patriarch rules over his two sons and daughters-in-law. He wants his kids to give him grandchildren, but all changes when his younger son has a different plan. The Film highlights the incidents in the life of transgender in a thought provoking manner.

The cast of Joyland includes Ali Junejo, Rasti Farooq, Alina Khan and Sarwat Gillani and Sania Saeed. Executive Director Distribution Club Sheikh Abid Rasheed said that “Joyland” has been approved by the federal and provincial Censor Boards of Punjab and Sindh for screening in cinemas across the country with minor cuttings and now the preparations for the release of the film have entered the final stages. The versatile artist Sarmad Sultan Khoosat, who is one of the producers of “Joyland”, said that “Joyland” is an interesting story-based film which has gained worldwide attention due to its sensitive subject. He said that in the next few days, the teaser and trailer of “Joyland” will be released and regular promotion will be started.

 

Pak-Qatar Asset Management Company Limited announces approval of Shariah

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Pak-Qatar Asset Management Company Limited announces approval of Shariah Compliant Collective Investment Schemes

Karachi (Muhammad Yasir) Pak-Qatar Asset Management Company Limited (PQAMCL) recently announced that SECP has accorded approval for the launch of its Shariah Compliant Collective Investment Schemes (Mutual Funds). PQAMCL is going for IPO of its funds. PQAMCL obtained its license to operate as an Asset Management Company and Investment Advisor in December, 2021.

The Company has obtained approval to launch three (03) Shariah Compliant funds along with six (06) plans catering needs of masses. PQAMCL, being a group company having strong takaful arms will augment Takaful benefits with its investment plans.

Farhan Shaukat, CEO, Pak-Qatar Asset Management Company Limited said on the launch occasion, “We are pleased to announce obtaining approval to offer a wide variety of Shariah Compliant collective investment schemes with a flavor of Takaful which is unique in the existing market that allows our customers to diversify their investment portfolio. We are also the second company that is exclusively offering the Shariah Compliant Collective Investment Schemes in Pakistan. We aim to encourage our customers to invest in our funds that are designed specifically for their investment needs. We are looking forward to providing the best investment solutions in the country to our customers”

PQAMCL has a vision to “improve people’s lifestyles through the right investments with Riba-free returns”. With our expertise, we aim to offer our valued customers with the best-in-class technology advanced investment solutions, mutual funds, and investment advisory services.

Pak-Qatar Asset Management Company Limited is a part of the Pak-Qatar Group, which comprises of Pak-Qatar Family Takaful Limited (PQFTL), Pak-Qatar General Takaful Limited (PQGTL), and Pak-Qatar Investment Limited (PQIL). The Group has been operating in Pakistan since 2007 and has a rich and diverse experience of more than 15 years in providing protection and investment solutions through Takaful. PQAMCL is registered with and supervised by, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP). A Qualified Shariah Scholars certify all products and operations for Shariah compliance.