Ericsson embraces 5G edge opportunity with new Local Packet Gateway

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  • Ericsson unlocks new 5G edge use cases with the launch of the Local Packet Gateway as a pre-integrated solution, providing easier and faster time-to-service for communication service providers (CSPs) to deploy new enterprise services.
  • New Ericsson solution provides optimized dual-mode user plane footprint designed for on-premises and edge applications.
  • For CSPs it means lower cost for infrastructure deployment and a lifecycle management highly optimized for the edge.

 

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) launches the Ericsson Local Packet Gateway, enabling CSPs to unlock innovative edge opportunities in both hybrid private networks segments and on the network edge, to support high-data bandwidth and low-latency use cases. The Ericsson Local Packet Gateway is an all-in-one appliance – including hardware, Container-as-a-Service (CaaS), software and lifecycle management – that makes edge applications easy to deploy and manage.

The optimized cloud-native user plane and service functions will enable new 5G edge use cases. It has a very compact deployment in a one-server low footprint, with integrated lifecycle management enabling fast time-to-service for new edge use cases.

The Ericsson Local Packet Gateway brings dual-mode 5G Core user plane and network slicing to the edge, enabling both mobile broadband and enterprise use cases, from small user plane deployment in a CSP core network, to routing to local applications. Examples of CSP enterprise use cases include sport events applications, virtual reality (VR) gaming and augmented reality (AR) for inspecting factory quality.

Laurent Leboucher, Orange group CTO & Senior Vice President Orange Innovation Networks  says: “At Orange, we continue developing meaningful networks to adapt to the needs and uses all over the world. According to enterprise customers’ needs, a first option is to create a virtual private network on Orange’s public network. A second solution is to create a hybrid private network relying on shared equipment in the Orange network and dedicated equipment at the customer’s site for critical flows and data. Ericsson’s 5G Core for standalone, including the Local Packet Gateway help us meet both these enterprise customers’ needs.”   

Monica Zethzon, Head of Solution Area Packet Core, Ericsson, says: “With the launch of the Ericsson Local Packet Gateway we have taken yet another step in supporting our CSP customers to address the enterprise market, by providing a powerful, slimmed-down user plane that’s easy to deploy at the edge, using an integrated lifecycle management making it easy to scale.”

Caroline Chappell, Research Director, AnalysysMason, says: “CSPs want flexibility in deploying 5G private networks and delivering network slices and will therefore need a user plane solution that is fast and easy to install and manage on customer premises. Ericsson Local Packet Gateway, with its pre-integrated, appliance-based solution including in-built lifecycle management and a form factor optimized for the enterprise edge, will be familiar from a management perspective and help with time-to-service for new enterprise use cases.”

Faysal Islami is offering complete Shariah compliant banking solutions and investment opportunities

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Faysal Islami is offering complete Shariah compliant banking solutions and investment opportunities in Pakistan under the RDA umbrella

Karachi (Muhammad Yasir) Faysal Bank Limited successfully hosted an interactive seminar on Roshan Digital Account with overseas Pakistanis residing in the UAE at the Pakistan Pavilion of Dubai Expo.

The seminar was graced by the presence of Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UAE, Mr. Afzaal Mahmood, Mr. Yousaf Hussain President & CEO of Faysal Bank, prominent Pakistani community members and other senior officials.

The speakers engaged with the Pakistani community members and briefed them about the salient product features and benefits of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) led RDA initiative. What interested the attendees most was that Faysal Islami was offering complete Shariah compliant banking solutions and investment opportunities in Pakistan under the RDA umbrella. The efforts of SBP to increase foreign remittances in Pakistan and digitization of the economy through Roshan Digital Account initiative were greatly appreciated. Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UAE, Mr. Afzaal Mahmood encouraged all Pakistani’s residing in UAE and across the globe to open their Roshan Digital Accounts through Faysal Bank and to benefit from the best Islamic Banking services being offered by the Bank.

Senior officials of Faysal Bank were present to answer all the Roshan Digital investment related queries of the participants. Faysal Bank with its state of art digital platform and 24/7 support is making continuous efforts to promote this national cause and is committed to conducting more such events in the future also for awareness of this initiative in overseas Pakistani communities globally.

PUBG MOBILE Celebrates 4th Anniversary with a Special ‘Game Strong Hai’

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PUBG MOBILE Celebrates 4th Anniversary with a Special ‘Game Strong Hai’ Anthem by Bilal Saeed and Aima Baig

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir)  PUBG MOBILE, Pakistan’s most popular mobile video game is marking four years of entertainment, vibrance and thrill for players with a host of celebratory activities. These include a Version 1.9 Update and more importantly a ‘Game Strong Hai’ anthem sung by two of the country’s most legendary artists. A unique collaboration between Bilal Saeed and Aima Baig, the song represents the playing spirit and commitment that PUBG MOBILE has shown towards its local audiences.

The celebration of PUBG MOBILE’s four years in Pakistan are being touted in an extremely decorated way. The highlight of the festivities is a catchy and attractive anthem that is unprecedented. The ‘Game Strong Hai’ song by Bilal Saeed and Aima Baig marks an engaging instance in the music and entertainment landscape of Pakistan. Through the song, PUBG MOBILE is symbolizing the transformation it has brought to the country’s gaming and entertainment ecosystem. The platform has not only created diverse avenues for exciting gameplay but also built revenue generation pathways for individuals across the nation. 

Ever since it launched in Pakistan, PUBG MOBILE has been extremely successful in enthralling audiences and players through distinct opportunities for online gaming and entertainment. Marking its 4th birthday party, a number of amazing changes are coming to Erangel, Livik and Spawn Island maps for an enhanced gaming experience for users. A new floating gameplay mode in the sky, new themed camps, vehicles, and more are now available to players. Players will also have a chance to get a new X-Suit, enjoy a new Season and Royale Pass Month, and experience the new collaboration with the massively multiplayer online game Warframe.

PUBG MOBILE’s Version 1.9 Update also introduces Cycle 2 Season 5. A whole new set of legendary rewards are available including Glasses, Set, Parachute, MK14, Mask, and Cover. New 4th Anniversary-themed missions will also be available, allowing players to unlock commemorative titles and exclusive rewards through collecting souvenirs. Other updates include the adjustment of Ranked Classic Mode team ranges, Season Tokens that can now be obtained through activity in Ranked Matches, and changes to the shop and season purchase limit.

New content is coming to Royale Pass Month with Month 9: Cosmic Clash. Work through the ranks and unlock the Wukong Prime Set, Fluorescent Flash Set, and the themed PP-19 Bizon, Kar98K, and QBZ finishes! Players can unlock these rewards and also earn a free RP Voucher (60 UC) for the next Royale Pass Month, Micro Battle, by participating in the server-wide Golden Chicken event. 

Riphah International University Opens the First-Ever All-Female Campus in Gulberg Greens Islamabad

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Lahore (Nut Desk)

In the recent years, an upsurge in the development of the education sector is observed leading to an increase in the number of university graduates from 6% in 2009 to 15%. Even though the rise in numbers of higher education graduates is increasing the literacy rate of Pakistan but the ratio of female literacy is still low resulting in multiple social and familial issues. In 2019, Pakistan’s total literacy rate was around 58% and women’s literacy rate was less than the average rate of 46.9% which reinforces the dire need for female education. 

The factor resulting in lower female literacy rate varies with respect to culture, place, and city however, the major issue is the lack of Female-only universities and Co-education. In the Twin cities, Islamabad, and Rawalpindi, only 3 Government Women Universities are working to accommodate the educational needs of women which is far lower in comparison to the demand ratio. 

To increase the Female education ratio and to facilitate the students of Twin Cities, Riphah International University has taken an inspiring initiative of introducing the first-ever Female Campus in beautiful vicinity of Gulberg Greens Islamabad. This is first time that an exclusive campus for female students has been opened by a private sector varsity. The campus has been made fully functional in march 2022. It can accommodate the learning needs of more than 3000 students offering professional degree programs including Health Sciences.

Riphah International University’s Gulberg Greens Campus is equipped with modern learning and campus management resources with a focus on a low energy footprint and it provides a healthy natural learning environment that will be culturally in line with the Islamic ideology of Pakistan. This project is designed with a view of making a state of art education system with medical and DPT labs, medical laboratories, libraries, and up-to-date academic blocks. This is the first-ever Female campus that will provide medical education especially the programs related to rehabilitation sciences including Doctor of Physical Therapy, Speech Therapy, and Psychology. The campus will also offer Computer sciences programs as well as social sciences subjects.

Along with the theoretical knowledge, the RIU administration has created up-to-date modern labs and laboratories in which the students can practice their skills and gain firsthand experience. RIU administration is also planning to build a 600 Bed Hospital within the campus boundaries to provide healthcare services to the public and to help students practice their skills in it. On this campus, the students will get every facility to meet their academic goals and achieve the highest. In terms of geographical location, RIU-Gulberg Greens Campus is the first university that will facilitate the people living in and around the local domain of Gulberg Greens Islamabad which itself is a huge achievement. 

For the past 25 years, Riphah International University has made a remarkable contribution in the education and healthcare sector of Pakistan. The presence of University in six different cities through twelve campuses allow it to fulfill the learning needs of more than 23000 students at present. In the coming years, Riphah International University is determined develop further infrastructure and to initiate more programs to increase the literacy rate and to contribute in overall development of Pakistan in terms of producing highly qualified, self-sufficient citizens.

 

 

Infinix Announces World First Future Light-Painting Leather Technology

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Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) Infinix today proudly announced its release of the world’s first Future Light-Painting Leather. The technology works when UV light interacts with the smartphone’s back cover, adding innovative and flexible color options to Infinix users’ smartphones to express their style and mood. This world’s first innovation marks a huge step forward in technological breakthroughs for Infinix and sets a new standard for leather back covers on smartphones.

The layers of the leather. “Infinix seeks to improve the aesthetic experience of the modern-day smartphone through the use of innovative materials and fresh new colors. With Future Light-Painting Leather technology, users can experience satisfying color-changing as well as custom patterns created by shading light on the back cover of their smartphone.

It introduces a unique way for our customers to interact with their smartphone and to express themselves,” said Manfred Hong, Senior Product Director of Infinix. Next-Level Smartphone Technology Future Light-Painting Leather technology is a reversible color change technology that occurs when exposed to UV light. Infinix integrated photochromic polymers into the leather, where the molecular structure changes in the presence of UV light which causes the color changes. When users take their device back indoors the leather reverts back to the original color. This is a passive color-changing technology that does not require additional energy from the smartphone to produce color changes. It breaks the limitations of traditional leather with a single color and will bring a new look to smartphones with two or multiple color switches.

Light Paint Your Smartphone The Future Light-Painting Leather is not only about the aesthetics, but also about the expression of the user’s personality. With this creative new feature, users are able to use light to paint their smartphone and create different patterns on the back cover giving users endless possibilities to customize their device. Before & after light painting. Built to Last The Future Light-Painting leather technology is a result of Infinix’s deep understanding of their target consumers’ lifestyle, needs and preferences. The development process lasted six months and the engineers tested the leather hundreds of times to achieve the desired effect.

Infinix overcame the common issue of leather yellowing by adjusting the leather structure, ensuring the leather’s color remained vibrant after extended use. Additionally, the back cover maintains a thin profile in a complex structure, providing a comfortable grip for the user along with strong protection against knocks and drops.

The Future Light-Painting Leather back cover will be available with future Infinix devices, which will be announced accordingly with future media releases from Infinix. Stay tuned! – XXX- About Infinix: Infinix Mobility is an emerging technology brand that designs, manufactures and markets an expanding portfolio of devices worldwide under the Infinix brand which was founded in 2013. Targeting Generation Z, Infinix focuses on developing cutting-edge technology embodied in meticulously designed mobile devices that offer refined style, power and performance.

Infinix devices are trendy and attainable with the end-user at the forefront of every step forward. With “THE FUTURE IS NOW” as its brand essence, Infinix aims to empower today’s youth to stand out from the crowd and show the world who they are. The company’s portfolio of products is sold in more than 40 countries around the world, covering Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and South Asia. Expanding at a phenomenal rate, Infinix grew an unprecedented 160% during 2018-2020 and has huge plans to continue creating flagship-level devices offering striking designs and strong value propositions.

NdcTech positioned as a major contender in Everest Group’s Temenos IT Services PEAK Matrix® Assessment 2022

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Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) Leading global research firm, Everest Group®, has recognized NdcTech, an award-winning partner of Temenos, as a major contender in its Temenos IT Services PEAK Matrix® Assessment 2022. NdcTech is a leading service provider in the banking sector and has been a long-standing partner of Temenos for more than 20 years.

The PEAK Matrix® evaluates service providers on the dimensions of Market Impact, Vision & Capability. It also considers other relevant factors like competitive landscape, strengths, weaknesses and Temenos service capabilities. Based on these factors and the exceptional performance in the global market, NdcTech has been recognized as a Major Contender

The report highlights the performance, role, and significance of NdcTech and other important strategic partners of Temenos who have played a vital role in carrying out large-scale digital transformations of Banks across the globe and have been a front runner in delivering maximum value to their clients.

Ammara Masood, CEO & President, NdcTech shared her thoughts on this achievement: “This is a proud moment for everyone at NdcTech. This recognition is a testament to NdcTech’s market impact globally and ability to deliver successfully. Established 22 years ago, we started with the vision to build Banks of the future by harnessing the power of technology. This recognition is an incredible honor for us and will continue to give us the positive momentum going forward.”

NdcTech’s 20+ years of legacy of providing unmatched transformational services to the banking sector, skilled expertise on Temenos product stack, in depth knowledge of accelerated methodologies and tools, compliance to the central bank’s regulatory requirements, and focus on customer-centricity have been the key drivers towards achieving this recognition.

International Rescue Committee’s recently published white papers

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International Rescue Committee’s recently published white papers shed light on fundamental challenges adversely impacting girls’ education in Balochistan

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) “The past couple of decades have witnessed Government of Balochistan’s efforts to improve education service delivery in the province. Nevertheless, the struggle to effectively serve most marginalized learners particularly girls continues,”  said Tayyaba Aurangzeb, Acting Country Director, International Rescue Committee, in a press statement issued by the International Rescue Committee(IRC). To understand the key barriers to education in Balochistan, particularly for adolescent girls, and identify potential solutions, the International Rescue Committee reached out to key stakeholders and communities.

Based on the discussions, the International Rescue Committee published a five-part series of white papers under its Teach and Educate Adolescent Girls with Community Help (TEACH) initiative. The white papters point to five main challenges that adversely impact girls’ education:  insufficient schools, long commute to schools, dearth of female teachers, lack of basic facilities in schools and the absence of gender responsive budgeting. “Each published white paper focused on one fundamental issue facing girls to access education and proposed a set of recommendations,” shared Tayyaba Aurangzeb, Acting Country Director, International Rescue Committee.

On the demand-side coherent awareness raising campaigns to propagate the importance of girls’ education and discourage practices such as early and child marriages can go a long way in improving girls’ access to education as well as their retention in school and completion of post-primary education.

The key supply-side barriers that require immediate rederessal include the provision of basic facilities such as clean water, gender-sensitive health and hygiene facilities, boundary walls, and electricity. Trained female teaching and administrative staff in post-primary schools, and the provision of subject specialist teachers in science and math are also important supply-side considerations that require immediate attention. Finally, the commencement of second shifts in existing primary schools, up-gradation of existing primary schools, and construction of new post-primary schools for girls were among the short- and long-term solutions presented in International Rescue Committee’s white papers. Ms. Aurangzeb added, “A coherent gender-sensitive approach to education service delivery will be needed that addresses demand- and supply-side barriers to girls’ education through a variety of innovative strategies to ensure that the access, quality and retention concerns are resolved.”

International Rescue Committee’s TEACH initiative is designed to overcome prominent barriers to education for girls in Balochistan. TEACH also aims to raise nationwide awareness about binding constraints that continue to deprive more than 13 million girls across Pakistan of their right to education.

Pakistan’s first-ever Inter-University eSports tournament, Free Fire Campus Championship’s Grand Final steals the spotlight.

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Free Fire Campus Championship Grand Final held in Karachi, Scholarships worth PKR 2 Million distributed

Karachi (Muhammad Yasir) Free Fire Pakistan’s most recent introduction in Esports Competitions FFCC, the Free Fire Campus Championship was Pakistan’s first inter-university Esports competition to be held on a National Stage.

The Grand Final was held on the 20th of March in Karachi at Ramada plaza. Last year, Free Fire had announced Pakistan’s first-ever Esports Scholarship, under their Campus Challenge competition, which took place across 9 different universities in Pakistan. Free Fire Campus Championship 2022 took place across 5 major cities of Pakistan, namely, Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Bahawalpur & Peshawar in 12 different universities. The winning team from each University progressed to the Grand Final Event held on 20th March where the contestants competed for a Scholarship prize pool worth PKR 2,000,000.

The winning team receiving PKR 700,000 was from City University Peshawar, with the team from Comstats following up. Registration desks went live across universities as students played the qualifier tournament to be crowned as their University’s champions. The winning teams went on to represent their University on the National Stage where they compete for a scholarship worth up to PKR 700,000 each. The Grand Final event mesmerized spectators with an incredible light show and performance featuring the famous Young Stunners. Commenting on the occasion, Zafeer Khan, Esport & Community Manager said, “I’m glad to see FFCC garner such a great response at these Universities.

These grass root efforts provide us extreme motivation when we’re able to see the passion students have for Esports in Pakistan first hand. We saw this during the overwhelming response from our Campus Challenge and how much these Scholarship opportunities really meant to these Students. We’re here to stay- our community is growing everyday, the future for Esports in Pakistan is bright” Free Fire is also behind FFPL, Pakistan’s First Professional Esports League, FFPL III Grand Finale will take place on the 27th of March in Lahore, where the final 12 teams compete for a grand prize pool of PKR 10,000,000 & the chance to represent Pakistan in FFWS, the largest Free Fire tournament in the world, held later this year in Singapore with a grand prize pool worth $2 Million.

(IMC), aligning itself with the spirit of Toyota’s global corporate initiative, “Start Your Impossible” (SYI)

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Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) Indus Motor Company (IMC), aligning itself with the spirit of Toyota’s global corporate initiative, “Start Your Impossible” (SYI), has signed on an emerging mountaineer, Asad Ali Memon as its newest SYI champion. Asad is a 24-year-old, high potential sportsman from Larkana, Sindh. Since the beginning of his mountaineering career in 2016, he has summitted several peaks both in Pakistan and internationally and made multiple records, which brought Pakistan under the spotlight of international attention.

In 2021, he set a world record when he climbed the Kilimanjaro and back in 20 hours. The Seven Summits Challenge is a mountaineer’s ultimate dream that entails climbing the seven tallest mountains in each of the world’s seven continents. Of these seven peaks, Asad has already conquered three in Europe, South America and Africa. His next stop is Mount Denali in Alaska, USA, the 3rd most prominent and 3rd most isolated peak on Earth, after Mount Everest. Asad will be the first Asian to scale the impressive 23,000+ feet mountain in May this year. Until then, he will be training for the climb in Sindh, Islamabad and Skardu.

At the tripartite contract signing ceremony with Asad Ali Memon and HANDS, at the Company’s head-quarters at Karachi, IMCs Chief Executive Ali Asghar Jamali expressed, “We believe in fostering opportunities for young people with aspirations and this is a great one to promote extreme sports in Pakistan and creating awareness. It also aligns with Toyota’s SYI and transformational vision, ‘Mobility for All’, for creation of a more inclusive and sustainable society in which everybody can challenge their impossible”.  Voicing his thoughts, Asad Ali Memon said, “I want to thank Indus Motor for making it possible to live my dream to be the first Asian and first ever in Pakistan to achieve the target of climbing the Seven Summits.

My ultimate vision is to promote mountaineering as a key sport and help young people train and become professionals in this unexplored extreme sport.”  Earlier in 2018, IMC had supported two national athletes, Saadi Abbas, the Asian Karate Champion from Lyari in Karachi and Zainab Barkat, the star wheelchair Table Tennis Champion from KPK, standing by their side in their journey towards the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in Tokyo 2020. 

foodpanda partners with Extreme Commerce to promote vendor acquisition

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Karachi (Muhammad Yasir) Enhancing the e-commerce avenues, foodpanda, Pakistan’s leading delivery app has partnered with Extreme Commerce to promote vendor acquisition where people can go and learn how to become a successful HomeChef with foodpanda.

A signing ceremony took place at foodpanda headquarters in Karachi to kick-off this partnership. Ahsan Malik, Head of HomeChefs – foodpanda, and Kashif Jaffri, CGO – Extreme Commerce along with other officials were present at the occasion.

foodpanda aims to strengthen the HomeChef ecosystem in Pakistan through this partnership with Extreme Commerce. Ahsan Malik elaborated on the collaboration by highlighting that it is in-line with foodpanda’s vision to empower people with the right skills and do their professional capacity building. “Our aim is to make Pakistan the hub of international ecommerce by utilizing Extreme Commerce via both physical incubators and digital platforms to acquire new vendors and spread awareness through webinars, and open-house. We will also be creating video content for their Video Boot Camp (VBC) platform to grow and empower HomeChefs ecosystem and facilitate food entrepreneurship in Pakistan,” he said.

Kashif Jaffri, CGO – Extreme Commerce shared his view at the occasion and said, “We are looking forward to work with foodpanda to economically empower people and create financial and digital inclusion for talented individuals of the country. We will create awareness and highlight this initiative through our platforms and generate economic opportunities for the masses. I believe together we can make a lot of difference and add significant value to the communities in which we operate.”