News Update Times

Lahore –  The Citizens Foundation (TCF), Pakistan’s leading education sector not-for-profit organization held its annual Teachers’ Awards ceremony to recognize and encourage the dedication of its teachers and principals. After multiple award ceremonies held in the major cities of Pakistan, the final awards ceremony concluded here in Karachi. The event was attended by more than 4,000 teachers and principals of Karachi and interior Sindh along with the head office staff and senior management. The awards were presented by TCF’s CEO to the teachers who exhibited the best performance this year.

TCF employs 12,000 female teachers and principals across its network of 1,441 schools in Pakistan. This makes TCF one of the top women employers in the country offering a female-friendly work environment. These teachers and principals are the backbone of TCF’s education movement teaching more than 200,000 students every day to help them become true agents of positive change. A fleet of 800 TCF vans embark on the journey of enlightenment every day to transport the female faculty to TCF schools in remote areas, making quality education possible for the children of less privileged areas.

“TCF largely owes the success that we have achieved so far to our teachers. A good teacher can build a future of a child and change his life for the better. A good principal can run a school with discipline and empathy for her students, guiding them in the right direction as and when needed. All the principals and teachers associated with TCF that I have come across are resilient and inspiring to say the least. They invest a great deal of time in their students to not just impart knowledge but also contribute to teaching the moral values. They take ownership of their students and nurture them as their own children. Today, I just want to tell you that I am so proud of the hard work you put in to help these children so devotedly and selflessly: you are putting the building blocks of an enlightened Pakistan,” said CEO & President of TCF Syed Asaad Ayub Ahmad.

The awards were presented to 1,400 teachers for extraordinary performance this year in the following categories:

1. Service and Attendance awards
2. Teacher Competency awards
3. Board / Matric awards

Special awards were also presented to the students with exceptional performance in the matric board exams 2017.

Speaking on the occasion, Riaz Kamlani, VP overseeing education outcomes said, “At TCF, everything operates under a certain thought process. We believe in operating differently to achieve different and better results. Being one of the leading organizations empowering women, we feel it necessary to provide a comfortable environment to our teachers. Hence a special emphasis is placed on training them regularly for continuous improvement. The improving results of our students and their success in professional life is a testament of the dedication of our teachers. On this teachers awards, I also want to highlight that TCF school curriculum promotes an interactive, child centered teaching approach with emphasis on hands-on activities that help children learn, question and enjoy the learning process. Our teachers with their ambition and commitment enable the children to learn and understand this curriculum based on the learning needs of the children who represent different ethic backgrounds.”

TCF understands that specialized principals’ and teachers’ training is a prerequisite for imparting quality education in all its schools. While teachers have a direct impact on students in classrooms, principals affect all students in the school. Our training team, therefore, aligns an extensive teacher and principal training programme every year. For teachers, the modules are designed based on their training needs assessmentranging from Classroom Management to Motivating Learners to Usage of Visual Aids. Principals on the other hand receive training for effective school leadership. Their training includes courses like Communication Skills, Conflict Management, Delegation, Prioritizing and Taking Action. The objective is to produce and sustain a positive learning environment that generates strong learning outcomes in classrooms, ensuring students’ academic success. TCF believes that good teachers are its greatest asset and will continue to invest in them for the best education outcomes.

Lahore –  Faysal Bank Limited (FBL), one of the leading banks in Pakistan has signed a BancaTakaful distribution agreement with Jubilee Life Insurance Company Ltd. Window Takaful Operations (JLI-WTO) for sales of their Shariah compliant Takaful products through its distribution channels.

Commenting on this occasion Mr Yousaf Hussain, President and CEO, Faysal Bank stated, “This business alliance between two leading brands FBL & Jubilee Life is a testimony of our commitment to provide the most diversified financial solutions to our customers from our Wealth Management platform.”

Mr. Javed Ahmed, Managing Director and CEO, Jubilee Life Insurance Company Limited, said, “BancaTakaful has shown significant growth in the last two years since we initiated the Window Takaful Operations. It has strategically assisted the penetration of insurance in a much wider audience base. We are confident that this partnership with Faysal Bank coupled with our top-quality service would create room for business longevity by providing a one stop solution to customers for all their financial needs.”

Faysal Bank through this partnership will further enhance its Wealth Management Takaful proposition and aims to build a robust financial platform to meet the saving and protection needs of their customers.

Lahore – The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and BASF signed three agreements, paving the way for wider dissemination and adoption of direct-seeded rice (DSR) tools and technologies. Through this partnership, the two organizations will establish a multi-stakeholder DSR Consortium and further research on the use of non-genetically modified, herbicide-tolerant rice.BASF will also become a founding member of a new multi-party research consortium led by IRRI on the mechanized and precise direct seeding of rice. This and future partnerships will be coordinated by the new Rice Knowledge Center, which was inaugurated today at BASF’s Agricultural Research Station in Bay, Laguna, Philippines.Under optimal conditions, direct seeding is considered a more efficient and cheaper method of growing rice than manual rice transplantation. It requires less resources such as labor and water, and it emits less greenhouse gases compared with other rice growing methods.Although direct seeding is widely practiced in the United States and South America, challenges such as higher yield losses due to weed infestation have limited its wide-scale adoption in Asia.

The new research consortium aims to:

• develop robust mechanized dry- and wet-DSR systems,
• investigate solutions to manage weeds, and
• formulate agronomic practices suited for DSR farms in Asia.

Furthermore, the consortium will enable IRRI to develop DSR technologies and test rice varieties suitable to Asian environmental conditions. Membership is open to the public and private sectors, research organizations, NGOs, and farmer groups.The partnership will also advance research on non-genetically modified, herbicide-tolerant rice to safely control weed infestation in DSR systems. Once these varieties are introduced to the market, a third-party organization will assess their impact on rice productivity, profitability, and ecological sustainability.

About the International Rice Research Institute

The International Rice Research Institute is a nonprofit, autonomous, nonpolitical, international organization established in 1960 under international treaty, with a mission to reduce poverty and hunger through rice science, improve the health of rice farmers and consumers and ensure environmental sustainability through collaborative research, partnerships and strengthening of national agricultural research and extension systems.

About BASF’s Crop Protection division

With a rapidly growing population, the world is increasingly dependent on our ability to develop and maintain sustainable agriculture and healthy environments. BASF’s Crop Protection division works with farmers, agricultural professionals, pest management experts and others to help make this possible. With their cooperation, BASF is able to sustain an active R&D pipeline, an innovative portfolio of products andvservices, and teams of experts in the lab and in the field to support customers in making their businessesbsucceed. In 2016, BASF’s Crop Protection division generated sales of €5.6 billion. For more information, please visit agriculture.basf.com.

About BASF

At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. The approximately 114,000 employees in the BASF Group work on contributing to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio is organized into five segments: Chemicals, Performance Products, Functional Materials & Solutions, Agricultural Solutions and Oil & Gas. BASF generated sales of about €58 billion in 2016. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (BAS). Further information at www.basf.com.

Lahore –  Pakistan’s leading home appliance brand – Dawlance, today unveiled its new and exclusive range of as many as 7 small domestic appliances (SDA) for its customers, stepping up further on providing an advanced level of convenience and supreme performance for the large consumer base of Dawlance in Pakistan.

The exclusivity of this new range builds upon the idea of ‘Made for the creative minds, happy faces and healthy hearts’, which speaks for itself, as these appliances aren’t just build on the advanced technology standards, but also ensures the consumer content by giving them comfort and peace of mind with regular usage in their everyday lives.

The new SDA range features 2 vacuum cleaner models; DWVC-6724 and DWVC-770, 1 steam iron; model: DWSI-7282, an express boil kettle; model: DWEK-7220, an easy-to-use toaster; model: DWT-7290, Sandwich maker; model: DWSM-7900, along with a powerful food processor; model: DWFP-7128.
Commenting at the occasion of launching the new SDA range, Hasan Jamil, Head of Marketing Dawlance, said, “The entire Dawlance team is excited over the launch of this new SDA range. With the growing demand for these appliances built on modern technology standards, it was imperative for us to offer professionally crafted products to the homemakers to experience this whole range in its full glory and functional form.”
Adding to this, he said, “In Pakistan, there has always been a huge demand for quality and distinctive products in the built-in space, and this newly launched range of appliances is the answer to our consumers, who are guaranteed to experience exquisite features of fine craftsmanship, durability, robustness and meticulous attention to the detailing of all these appliances.”The exclusive range of Dawlance SDA products are carefully thought through and comes with beautiful design and crafted features which are exceptionally functional, conveying a sense of substance, durability and authenticity while meeting the practical requirements of professionals, housewives or anyone passionate for the effective usage of these appliances in their everyday walk of life.