Tag Pakistan

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir)

The Pakistan Solar Association (PSA) commemorated a year filled with significant milestones during its Annual General Meeting held on September 30, 2023, at the PSA headquarters in Lahore. The meeting was a testament to PSA’s dedication to addressing key issues related to net metering and its unwavering stance against the imposition of the GST on solar products. These accomplishments underscore PSA’s steadfast commitment to the advancement of the solar energy industry in Pakistan.

Chaired by Mr. Amir Chaudry, Chairman of PSA, the meeting centered around the pivotal role of solar energy in Pakistan’s progress and the urgent necessity to cultivate a clean and green energy ethos throughout the nation.

Mr. Amir Chaudry shared the association’s visionary goals, stating, “Our vision is to transform Pakistan into a hub of clean and green energy. The solar energy sector not only holds the potential to mitigate energy shortages but also to generate employment opportunities and significantly contribute to the nation’s economic development. By fostering collaboration within our industry, we can expedite the adoption of solar energy solutions and pave the way for a sustainable, resilient, and prosperous Pakistan.”

Attendees at the meeting unanimously recognized the profound significance of solar energy in Pakistan’s energy landscape. They emphasized how harnessing solar power could serve as a transformative solution to mitigate Pakistan’s energy challenges while concurrently mitigating environmental impacts.

During the meeting, PSA members pledged to forge stronger bonds within the solar energy sector. Their collaborative endeavors will encompass policy advocacy, research and development initiatives, and capacity-building programs aimed at ensuring the sustainable growth of the industry.

The Annual General Meeting of PSA concluded with a resolute commitment from all members to work closely with government entities, private sector stakeholders, and civil society to promote the adoption of solar energy and renewable energy technologies and practices throughout Pakistan.

The Pakistan Solar Association (PSA) is a leading organization dedicated to advancing the adoption of solar energy and sustainable practices in Pakistan. PSA is committed to promoting solar energy as a viable and environmentally friendly solution to Pakistan’s energy needs while supporting the growth of the solar energy industry. The association actively engages in advocacy, research, and capacity-building initiatives to create a brighter and more sustainable energy future for Pakistan.

Pakistan (Muhammad Yasir)

Xiaomi today revealed its latest Xiaomi 13T Series smartphones termed as “Masterpiece in Sight”, designed and engineered for customers worldwide who are ready to unleash their visual artistry. Equipped with advanced performance optimization architecture lasting battery life, and a crystal-clear display, the Xiaomi 13T Series ensures outstanding smartphone experiences whether shooting photos, watching videos, or in daily usage. Both Xiaomi 13T Pro and Xiaomi 13T offer a triple camera setup featuring Summicron lenses co-engineered with Leica, including a 50MP wide-angle camera with 24mm equivalent focal length and a 7P aspherical lens designed to capture more light supporting high dynamic range shooting. Additionally, it offers 100% DCI-P3 coverage³ with support for 68 billion colors, providing end-to-end HDR10+ compatibility. Both Xiaomi 13T Pro and Xiaomi 13T feature wide-ranging power efficiency enhancements and lasting battery life, enabling users to enjoy a faster and more efficient smartphone experience.

Xiaomi 13T is equipped with a MediaTek Dimensity 8200-Ultra, built for superb power efficiency using the latest TSMC 4nm process enabling improvements in CPU and GPU performance.

Xiaomi 13T Pro is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 9200+ chipset with a fast Octa-core CPU, delivering speeds of up to 3.35GHz. It also has a built-in Arm Immortalis-G715 GPU that improves image processing, making gaming experiences smooth and free from worries about battery life.

Market Availability

Xiaomi 13T is now available online at Mistore, Corecart, Daraz, and Xiaomi sale. It will also be available nationwide in all retail outlets. 13T Pro will be available soon.

Our Distributors are Tech Sirat, Airlink Communications, Smartlink Technologies, Core Tech, Phonezo Impex, Burque.

Xiaomi 13T has 1 variant available.

Variant 12 GB + 256 GB. Price is 169,999

Xiaomi 13T Pro also has 1 variant available.

Variant 12 GB+ 512 GB. Price is 234,999

Device Specifications

Pakistan (Muhammad Yasir)

Carrefour, owned and operated by Majid Al Futtaim in Pakistan, celebrates 14 years of excellence in serving the Pakistani community. The ongoing anniversary discount offers will remain available until October 25th, and they are a tribute to the trust and loyalty of Carrefour’s valued customers, who have been an integral part of this remarkable growth journey. Carrefour is offering unbeatable discounts, emphasising its commitment to ensuring affordability and unparalleled customer satisfaction.

The anniversary festivities began with a special cake cutting ceremony, signifying the joyous occasion. Adding to the celebratory spirit of the event, the chief guest for the ceremony was the renowned cricketer, Shahid Afridi, who also launched his drink brand, exclusively available at Carrefour stores.

Umer Lodhi, the Country Manager of Carrefour Pakistan at Majid Al Futtaim Retail, stated, “Our 14 years in Pakistan have been a journey of tremendous growth and customer satisfaction. We have converted millions of shoppers into loyal customers by consistently creating exceptional shopping experiences. Carrefour is now synonymous with providing unmatched value for money and variety to customers in Pakistan, and we are committed to continuing this legacy through our anniversary campaign.”

Shahid Afridi expressed his delight in being a part of Carrefour’s anniversary celebrations, stating, “It’s truly an honour to be here on this special occasion, celebrating 14 years of Carrefour in Pakistan. Carrefour continues to stand strong, offering immense discounts and maintaining top-notch quality products for its customers.”

Since its establishment in 2009, Carrefour has proudly served millions of Pakistani customers annually. The brand presently operates 11 stores, which are strategically located in major cities such as Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Faisalabad, and Gujranwala. With a substantial investment of approximately 12 billion rupees, Carrefour is dedicated to expanding its retail presence to more cities across Pakistan. Notably, Carrefour has played a vital role in supporting the local economy by sourcing 99 per cent of its products from over 700 local suppliers, contributing significantly to human capital development by creating thousands of direct and indirect jobs.

In addition to the delightful in-store shopping experience, Carrefour offers the convenience of a delivery service through the MAF Carrefour (Pakistan) app. Customers can also enjoy instant discounts, earn, and redeem points using the MyCLUB loyalty programme.

For a wide range of products available in stores, visit https://www.carrefour.pk/mafpak/en/.

Karachi (Muhammad Yasir)

A multi-faceted study conducted by Dr Asaad Nafees, Assistant Professor, Department of Community Health Sciences at the Aga Khan University (AKU) is the largest of its kind to determine the effectiveness of a simple intervention in reducing cotton dust-related respiratory health effects on textile workers in Pakistan. The study titled MultiTex RCT, in collaboration with the National Heart and Lung Institute (NHLI) and Imperial College London, marked a crucial step towards revolutionizing occupational health interventions for textile workers in Pakistan and other Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs).

Persistent cotton dust exposure leads to the development of a disease called byssinosis, a disease prevalent among textile workers in LMICs due to limited access to occupational health and safety measures. With an initial cohort of 2031 workers from 38 textile mills in Karachi, the study tested a low-cost intervention package to ascertain if it would mitigate the adverse respiratory effects experienced by these workers. The interventions comprised training in occupational health for all workers and managers, regular refresher sessions, formation of workplace committees to enforce a health and safety plan including wet mopping and safe disposal of cotton dust, and provision of face masks. The results showed clear improvements in respiratory symptoms and lung function of the textile workers.

Funded by the Wellcome Trust for a period of three years, the findings of this important research can be applied to the larger textile landscape helping workers in Pakistan and elsewhere stay safe and minimize their disease burden. Discussing the study outcomes, Prof Paul Cullinan, formerly of Imperial College London, involved in the study said, “Studies of this caliber on occupational health interventions are extremely rare and this work has promise for large-scale uptake since the multifaceted intervention was designed to fit the local context in Pakistan.  There is no obvious reason why it could not be rolled out more widely, nationally, and internationally.  In the 200 years we have been faced with byssinosis, this work represents a landmark in its control”. He underlined the importance of these simple yet transformative interventions, advocating for their widespread adoption for the benefit the workers.

Dr Asaad Nafees, the Principal Investigator, explained that “this trial was a parallel, cluster-randomized controlled study with textile mills as the unit of randomization. It can be replicated across the region to potentially impact respiratory health of all relevant workers, and potentially result in a healthier, more productive workforce.”

Key findings were recently presented at a seminar, where Engineer Sibtain Mughal, Joint Director Labour (OSH), Government of Sindh, committed the government’s support to the implementation of the health measures recommended by the study. “Workers deserve a high level of care and attention since their health holds significant importance for the industrial productivity and economy of the country.”

Several manuscripts have been published in high-impact occupational health journals. The study was also recently accepted for publication in the European Respiratory Journal.

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir)

Governor Punjab, Muhammad Baligh Ur Rehman, paid a visit to the Jazz Digital Park, Pakistan’s largest Tier 3 certified data center, in Islamabad. During the visit, he highlighted the vast potential for growth in Pakistan’s IT sector besides the immense need for digitalization of the country’s education sector.

The Governor highlighted the significance of the IT industry, noting that expertise in IT and technology is essential for national development. He commended the skills and talents of Pakistani youth in various fields and underscored the necessity of equipping them with modern IT skills to capitalize on global opportunities.

Expressing his appreciation for Jazz’s Digital Data Park, the Governor said that the facility offers advanced IT facilities for freelancers, firms, and public and private institutions. He lauded Jazz’s proposal for an efficient learning management system (LMS) for the public universities in Punjab, pledging full support for addressing today’s need for digitization and technological advancement in the education sector, alongside saving costs for the government.

Jazz’s proposed solution for the digitalization of education offers a three-fold approach, involving GSM, Cloud (Garaj), and smartphones, an example of which is already live in The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, setting a precedent for all other Public Universities in Punjab.

Speaking on the occasion, Asif Aziz, Chief Business Officer at Jazz, said that the state-of-the-art cloud infrastructure of Garaj would serve as the backbone for this project. The LMS powered by Jazz aims to simplify educational processes and improve engagement between teachers and students by offering functionalities like creating and managing resources, alongside tracking student progress, and fostering peer-to-peer learning.

Asif added that Jazz is pioneering this initiative to digitally transform education in Pakistan while retaining a significant $1 billion cloud revenue within the country besides ensuring data sovereignty. By establishing local data centers and cloud services, we can break free from international platforms like Amazon, Google, and Cloud, he stressed.

Jazz’s Digital Park is the largest Tier 3 certified data center in Pakistan. Recognizing the importance of secure data storage for businesses of all sizes, the Digital Park offers state-of-the-art facilities, 24-hour backup, scalability options, and convenient pay-as-you-grow payment plans.

Governor Punjab Baligh Ur Rehman expressed his excitement at visiting the Jazz Digital Park, acknowledging the strides made by Jazz in Pakistan’s IT sector. He lauded the transformative potential of Jazz’s Digital Park in bolstering Pakistan’s IT landscape.

He urged IT service providers to extend their services to students, universities, and educational institutions at affordable rates, fulfilling their social responsibility and furthering the growth of the IT sector.

Pakistan’s No.1 ride-hailing company, inDrive, has now reached to small cities in Pakistan, adding five more jewels to its crown.

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) In a move set to redefine the transportation landscape, inDrive, Pakistan’s leading ride-hailing service, is thrilled to announce its expansion into five new cities, including Larkana, Kāmoke, Sheikhupura, Hafizabad, and Okara.

This strategic expansion is a testament to inDrive’s commitment to providing seamless, convenient, and reliable mobility solutions to an even broader audience across the country. With this expansion, inDrive is poised to transform the way residents of these cities travel, work, and explore.

The inclusion of Larkana, Kāmoke, Sheikhupura, Hafizabad, and Okara in the inDrive network reflects the company’s dedication to bringing innovative transportation options to both urban centers and suburban areas. The launch of inDrive in these cities marks a significant milestone, further solidifying the company’s position as the go-to choice for modern, efficient, and budget-friendly mobility. “We are excited to extend the convenience and reliability of inDrive to residents of Larkana, Kāmoke, Sheikhupura, Hafizabad, and Okara,” said Mr.Hasan Qureshi, Senior Business Representative at inDrive. “Our mission is to redefine transportation by providing safe, affordable, and accessible rides to everyone. With this expansion, we are not only enhancing the commuting experience, but also contributing to the economic growth and empowerment of these communities.” “Our new service offers city residents the convenience of accessing transport from their homes, eliminating the need to venture out in search of it. Both drivers and passengers stand to gain significant benefits, including time saved and the elimination of challenges associated with street hailing.

This service addresses issues such as locating rides during odd hours like early mornings or late nights,” stated Sidra Kiran – PR Manager inDrive. She further added, “inDrive ride-hailing presents numerous benefits to drivers in small cities, including flexible opportunities, reduced unemployment, supplemental income, enhanced community connection, and positive contributions to the local economy.”

The launch of inDrive in these cities brings a range of benefits to both riders and driver-partners. Residents will enjoy the ease of booking rides through the user-friendly inDrive app, with access to a fleet of vehicles driven by registered drivers. Drivers, in turn, will have the opportunity to tap into a reliable source of income and flexible working hours through the platform, contributing to their financial independence. Now, drivers do not need to spend their time driving around the streets waiting for orders and burning their fuel. Instead, they can accept offers or negotiate the price for the ride through the inDrive app in one click. As inDrive expands its footprint, the company remains committed to upholding the highest standards of safety, affordability, customer service, and technological innovation.

This expansion follows inDrive’s mission to connect people and places, while also contributing to the growth and development of the people in the region. inDrive is Pakistan’s premier ride-hailing service, and is revolutionizing the way people travel. With a commitment to providing safe, affordable, and reliable transportation, inDrive offers a seamless experience through its user-friendly app, connecting riders with the drivers nearby. With its expansion into Larkana, Kāmoke, Sheikhupura, Hafizabad, and Okara, inDrive is set to bring its exceptional service to even more communities, enhancing mobility and empowering individuals across Pakistan.

Pakistan (Muhammad Yasir)

Cricket fever in Pakistan is all set to reach unprecedented heights this year with an exciting announcement from Daraz, Tamasha, and myco. In an unprecedented move, these leading digital platforms have come together to offer cricket enthusiasts across Pakistan free access to the highly anticipated ICC World Cup 2023.

Scheduled to commence on October 5 and culminate on November 19, the tournament promises to be an exhilarating cricketing event. Thanks to this partnership, fans all over Pakistan can now enjoy every moment of the World Cup through live and exclusive streaming, without any cost.

Digital streaming is now becoming the premier media platform for cricket viewership in Pakistan, especially for ODIs, as users find it increasingly difficult to stay glued to their TV screen for up to 9 hours, particularly during office hours and long commutes. 60% of match air time is now being watched on mobile screens, hence advertisers are also switching their ad spend to digital streaming.

Daraz has been airing the World Cup since 2021. In 2022, Daraz partnered with Tamasha, and now in 2023 there is a unique and exciting set of options through which users can watch the World Cup on Daraz, Tamasha, and a new entrant in Pakistan, myco, which is a MENA based watch&earn platform

“There is a powerful shift happening from big flat screens to small handy ones. We want to democratize cricket viewership in Pakistan so that everyone anywhere can watch cricket. Cricket unites our nation and this is our attempt to get closer to Pakistanis on top of the 27 million monthly active users we have, so they can watch and shop with convenience.” Mohammad Ammar Hassan, Chief Marketing Officer, Daraz Pakistan.

“Be it for marquee cricket tournaments like Asia Cup 2023, HBL PSL 2023, Pakistan bilateral series or local leagues, Tamasha and cricket always go hand in hand. With ICC World Cup 2023, Tamasha is geared up to bring the cricket action on mobile screens, whether at home, office, or on the go. Furthermore, users can access 70+ Live TV channels instantly, watch entertaining movies, and enjoy Tamasha Originals exclusively available to Tamasha users only. World Cup hai tou lagega Tamasha” Aamer Ejaz, Chief Digital Officer, Jazz.

“Having successfully streamed multiple mainstream live sports tournaments in the MENA region and other global markets, we are thrilled to enter Pakistan by securing the rights to stream the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 on myco and to bring our disruptive “watch & earn” streaming model to Pakistani audiences. We are thankful to Daraz and Tamasha for being driving forces in this space and collectively we aim to ignite a new era of digital sports streaming in Pakistan.” – Umair Masoom, Founder & Managing Director, myco

Pakistan (Muhammad Yasir) 

A large number of female doctors are out of job in Pakistan despite the fact that the world’s fifth most populous country badly needs qualified medical practicers.

Ironically, this is happening in a country where the resource-constrained government is spending billions of rupees on subsidizing medical education in public sector universities.

As many as 35% female medical doctors are unemployed in Pakistan, revealed a research jointly conducted by Gallup Pakistan and PRIDE across the country.

Basing their research on Labour Force Survey 2020-21, Gallup Pakistan and PRIDE analyzed Pakistan Bureau of Statistics’ data on labour market specially female medical graduates and disseminated the same for the country’s wider policy circles.

The crises-hit country while is facing a serious shortage of qualified doctors more than 36,000 female doctors are either jobless or opt to remain out of the labor force for various reasons.

“Pakistan has a dearth of trained medical doctors,” said Bilal Gilani, an executive director at Gallup Pakistan.

The survey shows that presently 104,974 female medical graduates are residing in Pakistan. Of the total, 68,209 or 65% are working at various private and state-owned medical facilities.

The country, however, has 15,619 or 14.9% female doctors without any job while 21,146, constituting 20.1% of the total number, are completely out of labour force, the survey shows.

According to Pakistan Medical & Dental Council (PMDC), since its inception in 1947 Pakistan has produced about 200,000 doctors, half of them being females.

The data from Bureau of Emigration show that around 30,000 doctors have left Pakistan since 1970 and on average almost 1,000 are going to settle abroad every year.

“Among females, a major issue is qualified female doctors are not working,” viewed Gilani.

Majority of these doctors studied at public sector universities where the government spends billions of rupees to subsidize education.

An average private university whereas charges the medical students with more than Rs 5 million the government one imparts the same education for less than Rs 1 million.

Thus the government has to give at least a Rs 4 million subsidy to produce a medical doctor.

This taxpayers money goes to waste as one in three of these female doctors are not working, the survey shows.

Almost 50,000 female doctors on whom an investment of at least 200 billion in current value is wasted, it said.

“We need to rethink about both the costs to taxpayers of these not working doctors but also the loss in terms of health outcomes which their absence is causing,” observed Gilani.

Further, Dr. Shahid Naeem, director policy research at PRIDE, said one in every five medical graduates opt to remain out of labour force.

Majority of these ‘out of labour force’ female medical graduates are married, he said.

“This is indicative of the presence of a social trend of getting medical education in order to secure a better spouse,” Dr. Naeem opined urging the government to review its policy of allocation of seats at least in the public sector medical colleges to ensure value for money.

The issue of female medical graduates or doctors who remain out of the labour force after completing medical education is a serious concern that warrants further exploration, he said.

The findings of this survey support the phenomenon of ‘doctor brides’ as widely discussed and reported in Pakistan’s context and stipulates that many families prefer their daughters to have medical education, as it enables them to find a more suitable match for their marriage.

The survey also addresses the regional breakup of the employment pattern of these doctors and found that about 28% and 72% of Pakistan’s total medical graduates reside in rural and urban areas, respectively.

In the rural region, 52% or more than half of Pakistan’s medical graduates are employed and 31% are jobless. 

The proportion of the medical graduates who prefer to remain out of the labour force in rural areas stands lower, 17%, than the national average of 20%.

A close analysis of the data from urban centers reveals that about 70% of the medical graduates were employed while less than 9% were unemployed.

The proportion of the medical graduates who choose to remain out of labour force in Pakistan’s urban areas is more than 21%.

The region-wise comparison shows that employment opportunities for the female graduates are significantly higher, 78%, in urban areas as compared to 22,% in rural areas.

Conversely, the proportion of the jobless is significantly higher in rural areas, 57%, compared to 43% in cities, according to the survey.

When we look at the break-up, by region, of 21,146 female medical graduates who opted to remain out of labour force, it is found that their share in cities stands much higher at 76.6% compared to their 23.4% share in rural areas.

It is pertinent to mention here that around 76% of those medical graduates who opted to remain out of labour force were married. By age group, the most frequent occurrence of female medical graduates (54%) belong to the 25-34 years of age.

“The analysis of the data underlines the importance of targeted policy efforts to improve employment opportunities for medical graduates, especially in rural areas where unemployment rates are higher,” concluded the survey.

The female medical graduates surveyed include persons who had passed the MBBS, BDS, MS/M.Sc., M.Phil. or Ph.D. degrees in any field of medicine.

This survey collected data from close to 99,900 households across Pakistan and gave district level representative results for the first time.

Karachi (Muhammad Yasir)

Lean in Pakistan Foundation launched Lean in Girls Pakistan initiative in follow up to the global launch of Lean in Girls that took place last month in San Francisco, USA, hosted by founder Sheryl Sandberg, former COO, Meta/Facebook. 50 girls and young women were invited from various high schools and universities in Karachi.

The launch was titled “Self-Esteem in a Barbie World” and centered around a purpose-driven workshop. Spotted at the event were Dr. Huma Baqai (Rector, MiTE), Nisha Ghumro (Founder & CEO, Sceptre College), plus-sized model Sana Sultan, event chair Margaret Fialho, and event host Lean In Pakistan Foundation President Tara Uzra Dawood. Alfalah Digital Banking was the venue sponsor, Nighat Misbah at Depilex Beauty Clinic was Beauty Partner, and other Partners included Premo by Xanders, Workhall, Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Eadvisory, Szabist, Indus University, Millennium Institute of Technology and Entrepreneurship, and Sceptre College.

• Senior Delegation Visits Pakistan to Foster Relationships and Explore Collaboration Opportunities.

Pakistan (Muhammad Yasir)   Mashreq, one of the leading financial institutions in the MENA region, is proud to announce the successful incorporation in Pakistan. This marks a significant milestone in Mashreq’s strategic expansion and underlines its commitment in driving digitization and financial inclusion in high growth markets.

 To mark this significant occasion, a high-level Mashreq delegation including senior members of the executive committee visited Pakistan to strengthen ties and consider collaboration to recognize this momentous milestone along with our independent board members Syed Naseer Hassan and Rashid Khan.

Fernando Morillo, Group Head of Retail Banking at Mashreq, said, “Our foray into Pakistan is a pivotal moment for Mashreq, marking a new chapter in our strategic expansion. We eagerly anticipate the opportunities to collaborate with local stakeholders and contribute towards a robust digital ecosystem that will transform the country’s financial landscape. We are committed to playing a vital role in the country’s digitization efforts and financial development, particularly in the sectors of SME, payments, and inclusion. The bank’s tech-ready infrastructure, coupled with its digital DNA, will be leveraged to empower customers in the market, meet their evolving needs, deliver seamless banking experiences and support the country’s vision of a financially inclusive, digitally led economy.”

Currently, Mashreq has a Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Pakistan to deliver a portfolio of innovative products. Leveraging its successful incorporation in Pakistan, Mashreq is confident that its entry into the country will lay the foundation for a fruitful partnership that will benefit consumers, businesses, and the economy alike.

Mashreq is committed to fostering the growth of the country by harnessing local talent and expertise. Through cultivating a digital ecosystem supported by robust infrastructure and institutional frameworks, Mashreq aims to propel Pakistan towards a future of digital innovation and financial inclusivity.