Visa Launches Bilingual Website for Pakistan: ProPakistani

Visa Launches Bilingual Website for Pakistan
Microsoft Pakistan Announces Results of Second Innovative Education Forum
Illegal Gateway Exchange Ceased in Multan
Google to Introduce Ice Cream Sandwich Devices
Students Love Technology [infographic]
Mobilink Reports Positive Revenue Growth in Q2 2011
Warid Introduces Ramadan Value Added Services

Visa Launches Bilingual Website for Pakistan

Posted: 11 Aug 2011 03:53 PM PDT

Mymoneyskills.pk will become the cornerstone of Visa's Pakistan financial literacy effort.

Pakistan is growing market and is a priority for Visa, which is why this is one of the few regions where we are launching dedicated website in Urdu in order to cater larger audience, said Amer Pasha, Country Manager for Visa in Pakistan and Afghanistan

Providing fundamental personal finance information in both Urdu and English on topics such as learning how to plan a budget, preparing for the future, using a credit card wisely and spending responsibly, MyMoneySkills and Financial Football form an engaging platform for
young people, families and schools to improve their financial literacy skills.

There are billions of people who do not have access to the convenience, reliability and security of digital currency or inclusion in the financial mainstream. This restricts people to a cash and carry existence, negatively impacts productivity and, ultimately, economic growth, he said.

Visa partnering with financial institutions, governments, businesses and technology leaders to make our network smarter and more accessible to more participants, Pasha further said.

The website (www.mymoneyskills.pk ) also featuring a free FIFA World Cup™ branded educational video game designed to help people of all ages across Pakistan strengthen their knowledge of personal finance.

Visa's dedicated financial literacy website in Pakistan is a core part of the company's global commitment to reach 20 million people worldwide with financial literacy information by May 2013.

Visa is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable digital currency. Underpinning digital currency is one of the world's most
advanced processing networks—VisaNet—that is capable of handling more than 10,000 transactions a second, with fraud protection for consumers and guaranteed payment for merchants.

Briefing the features, Ms. Lama Kabbani, Corporate Communications Manager for Visa in the Middle East said the website is further to what Visa started earlier this year by conducting first ever seminar on 'Financial Inclusion' exclusively for media personnel in Pakistan.

The website, available in Urdu and English, covers financial basics such as budgeting, saving, bank account management, using cards wisely, online shopping and precautions against fraud, she further added.

Harnessing the popularity of football in the Pakistan and worldwide, Visa has created the FIFA World Cup™- themed Financial Football, a free, fast-paced, educational video game that tests players’ knowledge of financial management skills as they advance down field and try to score goals. Pakistan is the fifth region in which Visa has rolled out the game, following UAE, Brazil, the U.S. and Mexico.

Financial Football and MyMoneySkills are the latest components of Visa's decade-long commitment to financial literacy which has helped millions of people worldwide learn how to manage their money wisely.

Microsoft Pakistan Announces Results of Second Innovative Education Forum

Posted: 11 Aug 2011 02:52 AM PDT

Microsoft Pakistan1 Microsoft Pakistan Announces Results of Second Innovative Education Forum Microsoft Pakistan has announced the results of the second Innovative Education Forum (IEF) in Islamabad recently.

According to the details, Ms. Musawara Shaukat of Let's Serve Humanity – an NGO that works in the field of education – won the first position for her project titled, "ICT – A Tool for Deaf and Dumb."

Ms. Tayyaba Noureen of Roots School System won the second position for her project titled, "21^st Century Schooling," while Mr. Rehman Baig of The City School was declared third for his project titled, "Kids Light TV."

The winners of the second Innovative Education Forum from Pakistan will participate in the second round to be held in Jordan in September this year.

For this year's competition Microsoft selected two prominent personalities to head the judges' panel who have more than 25 years of experience in the fields of teaching and information technology. The judges' panel was chaired by Dr. Syed Shahid Afzal, Dean – IT, Preston University, Islamabad and Dr. Rahat Hussain Bukhari, Head of Computer Section, Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad.

Expressing his views about this year's competition, Kamal Ahmed, Country General Manager, Microsoft Pakistan said that the project received enthusiastic response from teachers and educationists, and added:

"We had received registrations from teachers for this competition from all over Pakistan. The best 15 projects meeting the set criteria and having innovation were selected for final presentations. This way, after a tough competition, we got our best innovative teachers of 2011. These teachers will present their projects in MEA Innovative Education Forum."

Dr. Rahat Hussain Bukhari, Head of Computer Section, Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad who was part of the judges' panel thanked Microsoft for organizing the program and making it success and said:

"We need to think out of the box to cater to the requirements of Information Technology and education in the 21^st century. I am sure that these successful projects will go a long way in helping students take advantage of information and communication technology for the benefit of society."

As part of the Innovative Education Forum (IEF), Microsoft holds two competitions every year: Innovative Schools Program and Innovative Teachers Forum.

Local offices of Microsoft all over the world organize such forums in their respective countries and then the winners compete at regional level. The winners from regional level then go to participate in World Wide Innovative Education Forum where winning teachers from regional forums and innovative schools selected from all over the world show case their projects. The projects are then assessed on the basis of teacher-student engagement, innovation and contents and three top projects for each of these categories are declared.

Illegal Gateway Exchange Ceased in Multan

Posted: 11 Aug 2011 12:49 AM PDT

pta logo Illegal Gateway Exchange Ceased in Multan Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) alongwith Federal Investigation agency (FIA) has conducted a successful raid in Multan and seized three operational VoIP Gateways.

According to details PTA and FIA teams through combined efforts not only traced the exact location but also carried out raid in areas of Altaf Town, Tariq Road, Multan. One person running the setup was also apprehended during the raid.

This successful raid, which was made possible because of continuous monitoring, by PTA, shows the effort it is putting in curbing the menace of grey traffic.

The confiscated illegal setup consists of gateways, Tellulars, Switches, Routers and number of SIMs of different operators. Moreover, the campaign against illegal telephony resulted in blocking of more than 60,000 mobile SIMs alongiwth IMEIs.

It may be added that PTA with the state of the art monitoring facility is observing the international traffic coming in to the country, round the clock. The aim of monitoring is to identify the illegal gateway exchanges and track the elements operating them.

Chairman PTA, Dr. Mohammed Yaseen appreciated the joint efforts of PTA and FIA teams and also warned all those involved in the illegal telecom business to stop their activities, otherwise PTA shall take strict action against them as per the law.

Google to Introduce Ice Cream Sandwich Devices

Posted: 11 Aug 2011 12:31 AM PDT

Seems like there is a pro foodie behind Google who names Android operating systems.

Now after Gingerbread, new Android OS is expected to hit market in this October named – The Ice Cream Sandwich.

Moreover it is said that with the launch of its next-gen Android OS (version 4.0) Google will also roll out a new smartphone from its Nexus series. As we didn't hear anything from Google after it introduced The Royal Droid – Nexus S.

This time seems like company has planned to compete with Apple since iPhone 5 with iOS5 is expected to hit markets in the first week of October.

At the moment Google is taking smartphones and tablets separately with Gingerbread for smartphones and Honeycomb for tablets. With the launch of Ice Cream Sandwich, Google will unify both platforms thereby smartphones will be able to incorporate many features of honeycomb.

Students Love Technology [infographic]

Posted: 11 Aug 2011 12:00 AM PDT

Technology advancement has affected each and every walk of life, leaving its effects on all generations. Out of all, Students are considered to be more stirred than anyone else.

Instead of pencils and registers what we see now are tablets and other gadgets. These tech-obsessed students are mostly from age group of 18 – 22.

OnlineEducation.net has plotted following facts in one infographic that depicts how tech-savvy our students are.

Mobilink Reports Positive Revenue Growth in Q2 2011

Posted: 10 Aug 2011 10:00 PM PDT

Mobilink has posted positive results in it's second quarter for current fiscal year, said an earning report issued by Orascom Telecom, parent group of Mobilink.

Report said that Mobilink generated a total of Rs. 24.94 billion rupees in second quarter of 2011, up from 23.55 billion a quarter earlier.

Mobilink's combined revenues for first half 2011 stood at Rs. 48.48 billion compared to 47.45 billion during the same period in previous year, showing an YoY growth of 2.2 percent.

Company EBITDA Margin grew 4.1 percent in first half 2011 as compared to last year to reach 40.3 percent.

At the end of second quarter 2011 Mobilink managed to increase it's ARPU in local currency that stood at Rs. 243 up from Rs. 235 in Q1 2011. Company's subscriber churn rate increased to reach 7.1 percent up from 5.9 percent a year earlier.

Stats said that company had attained 33.38 million subscribers by June 2011 depicting 3.7 subscriber growth in an year.

Warid Introduces Ramadan Value Added Services

Posted: 10 Aug 2011 09:59 PM PDT

This Ramadan Warid is bringing back to back offers for its subscribers.

Earlier the company introduced SMS alerts for Sehar, Iftaar and Namaz timings and now it comes up with different value added services for its customers.

Now you can listen to your favorite Naats, Hamads, Qawalis, Duas and the Tafseer of Quran from your Warid number. To listen to these services dial anyone of the following numbers:

Ramadan Alerts:

Also you can have alerts for Sehr, Iftar, Namaz timings as well as daily Duas, Ayats, Hadiths and much more by subscribing to Ramadan Alerts.

How to Subscribe:

You can subscribe to these alerts by sending RA to 1601 and 2602.

Quran Over SMS:

Quran over SMS is the new feature that Warid has added to its existing value added services. You can search Quran over SMS, subscribe and receive the requested Ayats and Surahs. Moreover you can also receive Ayats pertaining to a particular topic.

How to subscribe: