KARACHI: The business community has said that the recent pledges for the restoration of the flood victims will not resolve the economic crisis in the country, a statement said on Saturday.
The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry’s Businessmen Panel (BMP) has said the multilateral donors and friendly countries’ huge aid pledges might not bring any significant influence on the struggling economy, as the sustainable solution to Pakistan’s economic issues lies in the structural reforms and consistent policies.
FPCCI former president and BMP Chairman Mian Anjum Nisar said that it is high time that the government should start thinking about debt rearrangement, including foreign and domestic.
The verdict to take more loans will keep confusing the problems in the long term, as the government needs $23 billion in foreign debt repayments for this fiscal year, which is the direct result of such decisions of taking loans from foreign nations.
For Nisar, the country’s economy is plunging into an ever-deepening ravine with plummeting foreign exchange reserves, with the continuation of the flawed policy of keeping the interbank dollar rate artificially low that is increasingly being attributed to the government rather than the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) irrespective of the autonomy granted to it.
Meezan Bank, Pakistan’s leading Islamic bank, has recently signed an agreement with Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), the largest combined gas company in North Central Pakistan, to enable digitalization of consumer bill collection via the bank’s state-of-the-art transaction banking solution (eBiz+), a statement said on Tuesday.
Irfan Siddiqui, founding president and CEO of Meezan Bank, and Ali J Hamdani, managing director and CEO of SNGPL, signed the agreement in the presence of other key management members, including Ariful Islam, deputy chief executive officer; Abdullah Ahmed, group head corporate and official banking; M Saqib Ashraf, head transaction banking; and M Munir, head payments and cash management from Meezan Bank; and Faisal Iqbal, the chief financial officer of SNGPL.
As per the pact, Meezan Bank will provide transaction banking services (eBiz+) to SNGPL, enabling the payment of gas bills by the residents of Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJ&K) via e-channels and branch banking avenues offered by the bank.
On the instance, Hamdani shared SNGPL’s ambition to become a leader in sourcing energy across Pakistan, while providing ease of access to its consumers via eBiz+ collection services. Siddiqui said: “The agreement between Meezan Bank and SNGPL will not only strengthen the bank’s transaction banking portfolio but will also improve the bill collection process by making it more accessible to millions. SNGPL is already a trusted corporate client for the bank and this agreement further fortifies our relationship.”
Twitter proclaimed Sunday it would no longer allow users to promote their accounts on several rival social media platforms including Facebook and Instagram, but the site’s mercurial owner Elon seemed to backtrack on the new policy just hours later.
The sudden shift in the rules was the newest in a series of contentious changes made by Musk since he took over the company in October — upheaval that has led a growing number of users to encourage followers to view their posts on other sites.
The random billionaire even put his future as Twitter’s CEO to a vote.
“Should I step down as head of Twitter?” he tweeted, asking the site’s users to click yes or no.
“I will abide by the results of this poll,” he added, with the vote open until the early hours of Monday.
Twitter had proclaimed that the company would “no longer allow free promotion of specific social media platforms.”
“At both the Tweet level and the account level, we will remove any free promotion of banned 3rd-party social media platforms, such as linking out (i.e. using URLs) to any of the below platforms on Twitter, or providing your handle without a URL,” the company explained in a statement.
Users would thus be barred, for example, from posting “Follow me @username on Instagram,” Twitter said.
Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey questioned the new policy with a one-word tweet: “Why?”
Pakistan on Friday summoned Afghanistan’s charged’ affairs in Islamabad and “strongly condemned” the recent unprovoked cross-border shelling by its forces.
“Pakistan’s strong blame over recent incidents of senseless cross-border shelling by Afghan Border Security Forces in theChaman-Spain Boldak area, resulting in loss of life, injuries and damage to property, was conveyed,” a statement issued by Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch read.
Islamabad told the Afghan envoy that civilians’ protection is both countries’ primary duty, adding that the recurrence of such incidents must be prevented.
The spokesperson said: “It was fixed to use established institutional mechanisms in this regard. Pakistan remains committed to maintaining fraternal relations with Afghanistan. Peace along the Pak-Afghan border is intrinsic to this end.”
Karachi: Pakistan’s largest real estate enterprise – Zameen.com organized a property sales event at a private hotel in Karachi.
A total of 22 property projects including Roomi Icon, Saeeda Residency, Aziz Excellency and Athar’s Aman Castle were presented by Zameen.com in the event.
The projects showcased during the two-day property saga are all being exclusively marketed and sold by Zameen.com.
In the property sales event, Zameen.com’s Senior Director Sales Taha Mehmood along with Director Sales Shoaib Anees and other senior officials were also present to offer exclusive insights about the real estate sector.
Speaking to the media on this occasion, Zameen.com Senior Director Sales South Taha Mehmood said that the main objective of property sales events is to provide all the guidance related to buying and selling property, to the people under one roof.
He said that there are golden investment opportunities in this region of the country and the investment made in the property sector will give good returns in the near future.
Shoaib Anees, Director of Sales at Zameen.com, said that Karachi is the economic hub of Pakistan, the economic changes taking place in this city have an impact across the country, so the property event held here will be beneficial for the property market across the country.
Tech experts and writers wished the $1,499 Meta Quest Pro headset could have captured mixed reality at its launch so they could have shown us what they observed during testing. Version 47 of the software, which unlocks that ability, has already started to roll out to certain users and will shortly reach the rest of them. When utilizing this software that chains your real world with a virtual one, you’ll be able to hit record, Cameron Faulkner from The Verge explains. The video below shows how grainy it appears there. It’s good that this function was added so soon after the headset’srelease.
Multan: Zameen.com — Pakistan’s largest real estate enterprise — successfully organized a 3-day property sales event in the city. The event was attended by a large number of people and their families.
Zameen.com’s Associate Director Sales Multan Rana Farukh Nadeem attended the event.
The event showcased over 11 real estate projects, which are already popular among property buyers and investors of Multan.
These included Downtown Rumanza, Golf View Rumanza, Boulevard Heights, De Orion Mall, Platinum Villas and Snapish Villas. The projects on display were exclusively sold and marketed by Zameen.com.
Speaking at the event, Zameen.com Associate Director Sales Multan Rana Farukh Nadeem said that all projects marketed and sold by Zameen.com are not just modern and safe for investment, but these projects also provide profitable capital to the investors.
He also mentioned that the number of people attending the Property Sales Event shows how profitable real estate industry is in Multan.
He reiterated that the Zameen.com doesn’t onboard any project without first checking the requisite government approvals and documents from all the authorities concerned.
Meta is expanding its digital literacy program, ‘WeThinkDigital’, to Gilgit-Baltistan in collaboration with Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) and the Gilgit-Baltistan Department of Education.
The program aims to equip the people who live in one of the most marginalized regions in the country with the necessary skills to become responsible digital citizens.
With the expansion of the WeThinkDigital program to the Gilgit-Baltistan subregion in Pakistan, Meta expects to train over 30,000 students and more than 10,000 women to help them think critically and share online thoughtfully.
Lt.Col. (R) Abaidullah Baig Senior Minister Industries, Labour & Commerce, Gilgit-Baltistan attended as the Chief Guest and said, “Really appreciate Meta for supporting people of Gilgit-Baltistan with a major program of this calibre and scale.”
The WeThinkDigital program was initiated in 2021 in Pakistan and it is one of Meta’s multifaceted approaches to building a safe and informed community in the country.
The program has reached 130,000 students and 3,094 teachers across 28 districts of the country providing them with a collection of accessible learning modules that help people think critically and share online thoughtfully, as well as empowering them with the skills needed to be informed and safe online.
Commenting on the development, Raja Azam Khan, Minister of Education, Gilgit-Baltistan said, “Over the last few years, our region has witnessed rapid and significant progress across diverse digital fronts.”
“As we continue to explore broader horizons for learning and development of our community, it is a pleasure to have key players like Meta assisting in our objectives to bring sustainable change across Gilgit-Baltistan,” he added.
Through its expansion in the Gilgit-Baltistan region, the program focuses on building awareness regarding cyberbullying, potential abuse over the internet, safe internet practices, safeguarding personal interests, and assisting vulnerable segments like women and children on how to navigate digital spaces.
Speaking at the launch event Yasas Vishuddhi Abeywickrama, Policy Programs Manager, South Asia at Meta said, “We care deeply about the safety of our community – and providing resources that can help people have meaningful interactions online is an important part of the work we do to help keep our community safe.”
We are grateful for the collaboration with the Gilgit-Baltistan Department of Education and hope this program will empower people in Gilgit-Baltistan with the necessary skills to become responsible digital citizens,” he added.
The initiative will see Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi as a key partner in implementing the objective.
Zameen.com recently organized another successful Property Sales Event (PSE) in Lahore. More than 45 investment projects were also presented at the event, including Beach Resort by Icon, Jinnah Square Residential Apartments and Urban Premium Residences.
It is pertinent to mention that all projects on display are exclusively marketed and sold by Zameen.com. Moreover, to make the event even more lucrative, special deals and discounts were offered for on-spot bookings.
Zameen.com’s high-ranking officials were present for this grand one-day property affair, including Senior Director Sales (Lahore) Chaudhry Laeeque Iftikhar, Directors Project Sales Basil Hafeez, Hafiz Usman Sarwar, and Ali Rehan, along with other relevant stakeholders.
During the event, launching ceremonies of Residency One and B 45 projects were also held.
On the occasion, Zameen.com Senior Director Sales (Lahore) Chaudhry Laeeque Iftikhar stated that Zameen.com had introduced innovative property trends in Pakistan’s real estate market, which had resulted in the overall progress of the sector.
Lahore, Pakistan, November 19, 2022 – Xiaomi today announced the launch of their new budget efficient device, the all-new Redmi A1+. The new Redmi entry-level smartphone has a paystylish design and is equipped with versatile features, aiming to provide an excellent experience at a massively affordable price..
With a 6.52’’ HD+ large display at 1600×720 resolution, the Redmi A1+ offers an immersive experience when watching videos or when gaming. For extended viewing, the device offers a dark theme and Night Light Mode, which help prevent strain on the eyes.
The Redmi A1+ is equipped with an 8MP main camera paired with an auxiliary lens¹ to enable portrait shots and a 5MP front camera. Both rear and front cameras are loaded with versatile modes including portrait, short video, and time-lapse, offering users diverse shooting options. The smartphone is also packed with a large 5,000mAh battery and 10W charging, effortlessly lasting through daily use.
In terms of performance, the Redmi A1+ is powered by MediaTek Helio A22, which ensures enough performance to run apps and supports high-resolution display, and power efficiency. Additionally, it also supports expandable storage up to 1TB, which frees up space on-device for additional data storage.²
Redmi A1+ has an impressive hardware price-to-performance ratio, it also has a notable design. Inheriting family design from Redmi Note Series, Redmi A1+ is in Black, Light Green, and Light Blue, all with a stylish flat-frame design. Accentuated by a clean, minimalistic curved back, its leather-like texture resists fingerprint smudges and marks. In addition, Redmi A1+ comes equipped with an advanced and responsive rear fingerprint sensor for quick unlocking.
Market Availability
The Redmi A1+ is now available at Mi Store, corecart and on Daraz.pk as well.
Redmi A1+
2GB+32GB: PKR 19,999/-
Device Specifications
Display
6.52’’ HD+ large display at 1600×720 resolution
Rear Camera
8MP main camera with Auxiliary Lens
Front Camera
5MP Selfie Camera
Battery
5000mAh Battery
Processor
MediaTek Helio A22
About Xiaomi Corporation
The Xiaomi Corporation was founded in April 2010 and is listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange since July 9, 2018 (1810.HK). Xiaomi is a consumer electronics and smart manufacturing company with smartphones and smart hardware connected by an IoT platform at its core.
Embracing our vision of “Make friends with users and be the coolest company in the users’ hearts”, Xiaomi continuously pursues innovations, high-quality user experience, and operational efficiency. The company relentlessly builds amazing products with honest prices to let everyone in the world enjoy a better life through innovative technology.
Xiaomi is one of the world’s leading smartphone companies. The company’s market share in terms of smartphone shipments ranked no. 3 globally in 2021. The company has also established the world’s leading consumer AIoT (AI+IoT) platform, with more than 400 million smart devices connected to its platform as of September 30, 2021, excluding smartphones and laptops. Xiaomi products are present in more than 100 countries and regions around the world. In August 2021, the company made the Fortune Global 500 list for the third time, ranking 338th, up 84 places compared to 2020.
Xiaomi is a constituent of the Hang Seng Index, Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, Hang Seng TECH Index, and Hang Seng China 50 Index.
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