News Update Times

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir)  People are at the foundation of every business and we are concerned about the society we do business with. Too often, typical Business compliance programs fall short of ensuring that worksite-based Societies and its improvements have meaningful impacts on worker’s livelihoods beyond the workplace. However, Rouge London is a company dedicated to bringing a positive change by focusing on empowering the Societies and uplifting the socio economic conditions of the vulnerable and underprivileged communities of Pakistan . Company’s CEO Rizwan Anwar Said: ”The Rouge London takes a unique approach to addressing the needs and issues of the marginal communities Instead of forcing new initiatives on employees, Rouge London has partnered with Youth Revolution Clan to accelerate the advocacy campaigns for United Nations Sustainable Development Goals during the Covid 19 pandemic. Rouge London has a strong CSR Vision and starts its Social Projects by focusing on Zero Hunger, No Poverty, Quality Education and Better workplace environments”. Under its First Campaign 1000 Food Ration Bags will be distributed, 3000 New School admissions will be facilitated and consistent advocacy campaigns will be launched to accelerate the efforts to achieve the SDG’s. Whereas in the second phase Rouge London will partner with various Local NGO’s and non-profit organizations to implement programs that deliver to achieve the United Nations Development Agenda. Rouge London is a Registered Company in the United Kingdom with the Companies House of the UK Government.

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), the largest public sector commercial bank, has taken measures to reduce power and energy consumption across its network in the country. The initiative will support Government of Pakistan’s drive towards energy and fuel conservation.

NBP staff (other than the branches & critical staff) have been advised to observe ‘Work From Home (WFH)’ and operate remotely on Wednesday and Friday (for Head Office staff) and Tuesday and Thursday (for Regional Office staff).

All the premises will be closed by 7pm or earlier. However, call centers, Alternative Delivery Channels (ATMs and digital application, etc) will remain available for customers. NBP will also switch-off all its electrically illuminated sign-boards (except ATMs) of branches to decrease energy load. It is pertinent to mention that NBP has more than 1500 branches across the country and recent measures of energy conservation are expected to effectively contribute towards the national energy conservation effort.

Under the leadership of NBP’s senior management special task teams have been established to monitor the mechanism to oversee the progress toward energy conservation.

Sharing his thoughts on the initiative, President and CEO (A) of NBP, Mr. Rehmat Ali Hasnie said, “NBP stands with the nation to conserve energy and totally support the SBP and Government of Pakistan in this effort. We encourage all our staff members to adopt energy and fuel conservation practices. This multifaceted approach will also play an important role in curbing the rising cases of COVID-19’s sixth wave. NBP has directed all its branches and offices to strictly adhere to the SOPs”, he added.

Pakistan (Muhammad Yasir) The Huawei ICT Competition 2021-2022 Global Final in Shenzhen drew to a close on June 25. This year marks the sixth Huawei ICT Competition, which included three competitions – Practice, Innovation and Industry – attracted 150,000 students from more than 2000 universities in 85 countries and regions around the world. After making it through the national and regional competitions, 130 teams from 43 countries and regions faced off in the global final, making this year’s finals the largest yet. This year’s participants were also the first to compete for a new series of Women in Tech Awards which have been designed to honor the outstanding talent displayed by the young women contestants in the Competition. A TECH4ALL Digital Inclusion Award was also presented during the awards ceremony, as part of Huawei’s TECH4ALL Digital Inclusion Initiative.

2021-2022 Regional finals winners, Pakistan’s team one; Sateesh Kumar, Iqra Fatima, and Bhagchand Meghwar along with their instructor Dr. Faheem Khuhawar and team two; Hafiz Rizwan, Adnan Ali, and Mukhtar Memon along with their instructor participated in the practice competition. These students hail from Mehran University of Engineering & Technology, Islamiya University Bahawalpur and UET Lahore.In the Innovation Competition, two further teams from Pakistan were nominated this year. Osman Ahsan Sheikh, Muhammad Abdullah Ahsan Sheikh, Aqsa Amir and their instructor Merai Syed represented team ‘Homevism’, comprised of students fromNUST. The second team, ‘Boltay Haroof’, from LUMS consisted of Umer Farooq, Tabish Rafiq, Areej Ahmed and their instructor Muhammad Saeed. After a hotly contested competition, in the Network category of the Practice competition, Pakistan Team One clinched the 1^st prize, while Pakistan Team Two grabbed the 3^rd prize. In the Innovation competition, Team Boltay Haroof won the 2^nd prize, while Team Homevism were awarded the 3^rd prize.

Huawei Enterprise’s President of Global Partner Development and Sales Xiao Haijun spoke at the event about how indispensable ICT has become to our work and lives. As one of Huawei’s key initiatives in talent cultivation, the Huawei ICT Competition is designed to help build an ecosystem that students around the world can use to bridge digital divides and accelerate global digital transformation by improving their ICT knowledge, skills, and innovation capabilities.

CEO Huawei Pakistan, Mr. Mark Meng stated, “Despite the lingering pandemic, this Huawei ICT Competition attracted more participants than before. The achievements and milestones Pakistan students and teachers have achieved reflects on the great vision and determination of Pakistan government towards ICT talent nurturing, innovation and technology adaptation.”

Dr. Faheem, proud mentor of Pakistan’s Team One stated, “This is nothing short of a privilege and honor for Pakistan, we highly appreciate and are thankful to Huawei for the continuous support throughout this journey that led to achieving this level of success. Their cooperative nature and professionalism to resolve issues that ICT academy instructors and students face from all over Pakistan are extremely noteworthy.”

Bhangchand Meghwar, who was born in Tharparkar, Sindh, exclaimed, “I come from a village where there aren’t a lot of resources on hand, being able to represent and win for Pakistan on such a prestigious platform has been nothing short of a dream come true.”

In the future, Huawei plans to continue building education, industry, and public talent ecosystems by establishing talent alliances, integrating talent standards, improving talent capabilities, and demonstrating talent value. Huawei has also announced plans to nurture 1 million certified ICT professionals by 2024 to improve the digital skills of society as a whole. This is intended to promote scientific and technological progress, industry development, and sustainable social and economic development.

Karachi (Muhammad Yasir) Soneri Bank has maintained its market position in the industry while strengthening its overall risk profile with stable outlook. Pakistan Credit Rating Agency Limited “PACRA” has accredited Soneri Bank with “AA-” (double A minus) for its long-term rating and “A1+” (single A one plus) for Bank’s short-term rating.

Karachi (Muhammad Yasir) Meezan Bank, Pakistan’s leading Islamic bank has installed its 1,000^th Automated Teller Machine (ATM). This landmark cash dispensing terminal has been installed at Chashma in District Mianwali. Since its inception, the Bank has expanded its ATMs across Pakistan’s rural and semi-urban regions, providing round-the-clock access to cash and furthering basic banking and financial inclusion for the masses.

The Bank’s ATMs  enable access to NFC-enabled and bio-metric transactions, cash deposit into own and other bank accounts and integration with various digital wallets while also operating on solar power and consuming significantly less energy than conventional machines. As the only bank in the country to offer the fastest debit card activation service through its ATM terminals, the Bank is also the first in the industry to allow withdrawals up to PKR 100K in a single transaction.

“Meezan Bank is committed to grow its state-of-the-art ATM network across Pakistan while offering the highest standards of ATM services with the best up-time in the industry,” said Mr. Shariq Mubeen, Head Alternate Distribution Channels, Meezan Bank. 

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) realme’s hottest selling realme C35 comes with an international stamp of quality in the price segment There are many things you can consider when purchasing a new smartphone: camera performance, display size, design, and many other aspects. However, the most weight in the decision should be given to the quality of the tech that you are purchasing. Purchasing new tech is an investment which is expected to be long-lasting. Performance issues and physical frailty can really dampen the experience of using your new smartphone. The realme brand comes with a long legacy of high quality products. This is why the realme C35 comes with an internationally acclaimed TÜV Rheinland High Reliability Certification which acts as an assurance for realme customers that the product they are about to purchase is durable and worth the investment. TÜV is a German business consultancy which specializes in certifying compliance with various safety and qualification standards. With over 20,000 employees working in subsidiaries, laboratories, and testing centers across the world, TÜV Rheinland aims to ensure quality and safety for an increasing number of new products and technologies in more new markets. Certificates provided by the international testing body are accredited globally by a variety of national standards organizations. Currently, TÜV Rheinland has issued approximately 23,000 valid certificates for companies worldwide for quality management alone.

The process of getting a product or system certified by TÜV is fairly simple. Working together with TÜV the organization needs to get its product or system tested and audited. Once the product passes the inspection, a product certificate is issued which re-affirms the product has met the required safety and quality criteria. A test mark is also assigned by TÜV which can be used in corporate communication by the organization. Being the blueprint for smartphone quality, realme collaborated with TÜV Rheinland in order to create the Smartphone High-Reliability Certification. TÜV Rheinland and realme worked together to create SOPs that would be used for testing and quality control across realme’s complete range of smartphones. This new certification soon became the quality standard benchmark for smartphone brands in major world markets.

The process of gaining a TÜV Rheinland Smartphone High-Reliability Certification involves 23 major tests overall. 10 of these tests relate to daily use scenarios such as wear and tear or drop impact, 7 involve extreme environments such as extreme humidity, extreme temperature, or voltage fluctuation, and 6 tests assess the reliability of the system’s components. When taken together these tests provide a holistic evaluation of the quality of the assessed smartphone.

For realme, smartphone build and performance quality are of paramount importance. The tech-democratizer has developed a 6-stage smartphone design process for how their handsets are designed, developed, and tested. Every step in the process is shadowed by the quality control team who have the authorization to redesign any product from scratch is it does not meet the standards that have been set. Even after all of this rigorous quality testing, the realme C35 comes with additional protection for its screen provided by a layer of Panda Glass coating, giving you added protection against cracks and scratches.

The realme C35 isn’t just a durable device, it also has a host of incredible features. Featuring an exciting Glowing Silk Design, an advanced 50MP AI Triple Camera setup, massive 5000mAh, and so much more, the realme C35 delivers superior value and benchmark quality in its price segment.

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir)  Savyour, Pakistan’s first and largest cashback app, launched its #NotSoSmall initiative on the United Nation’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Day to extend additional support to the hundreds of small and medium businesses that are currently partnered with the platform. Through a week-long campaign, Savyour will be helping partner brands reach a wider audience through mentorship hours by business heads free of charge digital/in-app marketing and cashbacks upsurge to provide consumers with added incentive.

Since its launch in 2020, Savyour has been helping small and medium businesses from all over Pakistan grow, by providing them with a marketing channel that requires zero upfront investment and only charges them a commission for every sale made through the platform. For consumers, this enables them to discover lesser-known brands that have unique offerings at great price points. Till date, over 80% of the brands listed on Savyour fall under the small/medium business category.

The #NotSoSmall initiative has been launched as a long-term effort by the platform to give assistance to smaller businesses that may get hit harder by the current local and global economic conditions. Often referred to as ‘the backbone of our economies’, approximately 3.25 million SMEs account for nearly 90% of all the businesses operating in Pakistan. This sector holds nearly 40% of the country’s annual GDP.

Saad Gadit, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer, Savyour, said “MSMEs play a crucial role in any nation’s growth – not just for the economy, but also for the respective communities they serve. They are a part of several aspects of our day-to-day lives whether it’s through the consumers they cater to or the employment opportunities they create. When it comes to expansion in this day and age, technology can help bridge the gap for them and that’s where Savyour comes in. We had started off with a clear goal of empowering the smaller sized businesses of Pakistan, and this initiative is a reinforcement of our commitment. These are challenging times for enterprises, but we have immense respect for their resilience and by offering our support, we hope to play our part in enabling their success”.

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir)  All is set to enthral the car lovers and popular auto players to exhibit their innovations at the Pakistan Auto Show 2022 (PAPS-22) at the International Expo Centre, Lahore, on the 29th, 30th, and 31st, July 2022, under the theme “MADE IN PAKISTAN.”

The Pakistan Association of Automotive Parts and Accessories Manufacturers, a leading trade body of more than 350 members, is behind this mega event which fascinates the leading auto-players of the auto world. The well-known official sponsors of this much-awaited mega event, as of now, are MG motors, Indus Motor Company (IMC), Honda Atlas Cars Pakistan Limited (HACPL), Atlas Honda Ltd., (AHL), Al-Haj Automotive (Pvt) Ltd, Pak Suzuki Motor Company Limited (PSMC), and Chevron Pakistan Ltd. More than 150,000 local visitors show up every year at PAPS to see the renowned companies from Japan, Germany, Korea, China, France, Turkey, Thailand, Taiwan, England, USA, UAE, and Sri Lanka; while over four hundred international visitors, including 150 global buyers and delegations too visit this bustling Auto Show.

The diverse categories of exhibitors include Passenger Cars, Trucks, Buses, Tractors, Rickshaws, Motorcycles, Auto parts Manufacturers, Services providers, Machinery makers, Toolmakers, Antique cars, and Heavy motorbikes, along with related service industries like accessories, tracking & insurance, etc. The Chairman of PAPAAM, Mr Abdur Razzaq Gauhar, stated, “With the exponential growth of auto and related industries in Pakistan, the local consumers and international investors are showing keen interest in the automotive sector.” PAAPAM is seeing the growth potential of local industry and, keeping in mind the needs of consumers, provides a platform, Pakistan Auto Show, to display their products to the masses and have B2B and B2G meetings. The Pakistan Auto Show 2022 (PAPS-22), the country’s largest exhibition of the Auto Industry, will take place at the Expo Centre in Lahore on the 29th, 30th, and 31st of July 2022.

The ‘Pakistan Association of Auto parts and accessories manufacturers (PAAPAM), representing over 350 large, medium & small auto part industries from all over Pakistan, has taken a noteworthy initiative. The theme of this year’s PAPS show is “MADE IN PAKISTAN.”