Salman Wassay Joins Ufone: ProPakistani

Salman Wassay Joins Ufone
PTCL Profit Falls in Q1FY12
SHC Gives 10 Days to PTA for Filing Comments On Explicit Websites
PTA prepares ICT security guidelines : Chairman PTA
KaroKuch, a Community Service Aimed for Calculating Corruption

Posted: 19 Oct 2011 07:51 AM PDT

Salman Wassay, Director Marketing at Zong and the key person behind Zong's uplift since it's start of operations, has resigned today to join Ufone as Chief Operating Officer, reported ApnaTime and we have confirmed this with our sources in both Zong and Ufone.

From what we have heard is that Mr. Wassay's appointment at Ufone has been announced by Mr. Abdul Aziz, President and CEO of Ufone, however, an official confirmation to us through PR department has not reached so far.

This move by Salman Wassay is another hit on Zong after Mr. Zafar Usmani and Mr. Ali Raza Mehdi left the company in span of just few months.

Ufone that was struggling with sales network has apparently picked Mr. Salman Wassay to do what he is good at. We are told by sources that few more people from Zong are set to join Ufone as well.

Here's what ApnaTime notes:

According to a senior official at a local cellular company, "After crossing Warid, Zong's management found it relatively easier to target Ufone in the coming months.

However, considering the gravity of situation, Mr. Abdul Aziz and the Etisalat management has played smartly to deal with the future situation by making commitment with the man who is doing wonders at the moment".

We are told that moral of employees at Zong is low – who are taken by a shock with the announcement of Mr. Salman's resignation from the company.

To read more, click: Salman Wassay Joins Ufone
ProPakistani.PK

PTCL Profit Falls in Q1FY12

Posted: 18 Oct 2011 10:59 PM PDT

PTCL's revenues jumped by 4.2 percent in 1QFY12, over the same period last year, but cost of services increased as well by 6.5 percent. As a result, PTCLs gross profits slid down by roughly one percent, over the same period, said Business Recorder citing a KSE notice.

Consequently, the earnings per share fell from Rs.0.41 in 1QFY11 to Rs.0.28 in 1QFY12.

The Company’s administrative, general, selling and marketing expenses; all expanded during the period. However, the biggest hit came under the head of other operating income.

Citing Sources BR reveal that this decrease in other operating income was brought on mainly because of the fact that Ufone; a subsidiary of PTCL, did not give a dividend in the 1QFY12. On the other hand, Ufone had announced a handsome dividend in 1QFY11. This time around, Ufone did not treat its major stakeholder with a payout since it had also handed out a handsome dividend in the previous quarter.

PTCL will likely perform better in the upcoming quarter, due in part to expectations of a sizeable dividend announcement by the company’s cellular services provider subsidiary.

PTCL's broadband service has also displayed appreciable growth and will likely add some sunshine to the presently gloomy performance.

Via Business Recorder

To read more, click: PTCL Profit Falls in Q1FY12
ProPakistani.PK

SHC Gives 10 Days to PTA for Filing Comments On Explicit Websites

Posted: 18 Oct 2011 10:46 PM PDT

Read this post in Urdu

Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday granted 10 days time as the last chance to Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) for filing comments on petition seeking ban on explicit material, websites on the internet.

A division bench, comprising of Chief Justice Mushir Alam and Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, was hearing a petition filed by Human Rights activist Syed Iqbal Kazmi who submitted that obscene material, websites were available on the internet, but Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) & PTA failed to block these sites, resulting in increasing number of cases of sexual violence against women.

He submitted that respondents were bound to prevent printing, publication, circulation and display of obscene literature and advertisements. But no efforts were being made for the eradication of such social evils in the society.

He prayed to direct respondents to block such websites containing obscene material, take action against internet companies found violating laws.

On Tuesday, Standing Counsel requested for time despite being granted time earlier by the SHC on different occasions since April 2011 for filing comments of respondents.

SHC division bench order said, "On May 10, 2011 Ashiq Raza, then DAG had requested time to call comments from respondents. On August 9, 2011 Ashraf Mughal, DAG, sought two weeks time. Today, Standing Counsel requests further time to call for comments from Respondent 2 (PTA). As a last chance 10 days time is enlarged. In case no comments are filed this Court would impose cost and pass such order as may be appropriate."

Via Express Tribune

PTA prepares ICT security guidelines : Chairman PTA

Posted: 18 Oct 2011 10:22 PM PDT

Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Dr. Mohammed Yaseen has said that PTA has completed a thought-provoking exercise in collaboration with renowned industry players for drafting "ICT Security Guidelines" for Telecoms, GoP and End-users.

The documents have been shared with respective stakeholders to assist them, while building Information Security practices. This he said while addressing as Chief Guest to 7^th International Information Security Conference "Info-Sec 2011" in a local hotel on Tuesday.

Chairman PTA said that Information Security is emerging as one of the most critical factors behind effective IT implementation, but it is also promising that public awareness about the information security has risen with the passage of time and Asia now reports higher maturity levels across more capabilities than any other world region and has more vigorous focus on strategic issues such as alignment of security with the business and the crucial need to protect data.

Later in a talk with media men Dr. Mohammed Yaseen said there is a good progress in respect of policy formation regarding 3G and we have road map and potential to launch the product.

Chairman PTA shows the hope that we will be able to come up with 3G by the mid of forthcoming year. He said that there stands a continuous increase in the threats faced by information and communication systems and to cope up with these, information security experts try to foresee the unforeseeable like How much malware will there be next year? What kind of new spamming techniques can come over? How many application vulnerabilities will arise in the new financial system? How many patches or solutions will come out for the software products we use.

He emphasizes that individuals and organizations should practice standardized information security procedures and techniques due to their enormous reliability and stability. They must also initiate information security awareness campaigns in order to educate their staff about information.

Mohammad Kamran Shahzad, Deputy Governor State Bank of Pakistan and others also address the conference. At the end of session, Dr. Mohammed Yaseen distributed the shields amongst the speakers and participants.

KaroKuch, a Community Service Aimed for Calculating Corruption

Posted: 18 Oct 2011 09:15 PM PDT

Read this post in Urdu

KaroKuch, a project done by students from UET Lahore, is an anonymous SMS based bribery watch system.

http://www.karokuch.com/

How to Use KaroKuch:

To send a report regarding a bribe you were forced to pay, you can send a text to 0336-4239229 in the following format:

loc (insert text) amt (insert text) msg (insert department).

Example: “loc model town amt 500 msg Paid bribe to the tax department.”

Potential:

Corruption is one of the most major issues Pakistan is facing and KaroKuch aims to provide a platform for people who want to report it easily and anonymously from their cellphones.

The team behind the project will compile all the data on the reported bribes and it will be showcased for the public to see and analyze.

It's an interesting use of technology to address the issues facing our country and it's the first of the projects that would be launched under "KaroKuch".

Right now the system is available only in Lahore but its reasonable to assume that they would expand to other cities if the response is positive enough. If successful, the data from KaroKuch could eventually be used to hold corrupt institutions responsible.

Challenges:

But there's also the question of how they intend to keep the data reliable. Since it's an anonymous service, the authenticity of the report of the bribe could be called into question. A charged institute/individual might simply say that they were framed through bogus reports. So there still might be a few kinks that need ironing out but the site is in a test mode and I'm sure feedback will improve it and build on the idea.

Startups like this usually have a tough time reaching the breakeven point. Right now the target audience is in Lahore; for the rest of us it's not much use until it comes to our cities (unless we want to check out the stats).

Future KaroKuch:

It's intended as a service that benefits the community but there's only so much time before you stop paying server and hosting bills out of your pocket. For this particular website, their best bet to grow and sustain themselves would be to get themselves sponsored by a company like Telenor which would be interested in adding such a startup to their "Khamoshi ka boycott" campaign. It would give them media exposure as well as increase traffic to the website.

world on your screen

Wednesday, October 19, 2011