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Vote Verification via SMS: ProPakistani |  |
- Vote Verification via SMS
- UBL Omni Wins GSMA Global Mobile Award 2012
- Mobilink Partners with DIL for Literacy Initiative
- Etisalat to Deduct $73 Million for Properties to Settle $800 Million Dispute with GoP
- PTA Improves Ranking in OICCI Perception Survey
- FourQuants Aims to Lend Financial Trainings Through Internet and Mobile Apps
- Wateen Bags Consumer Choice Award
| Posted: 29 Feb 2012 12:05 AM PST
Service has been up an running for all operators, throughout the country. Election Commission said that this SMS verification service, in collaboration with cellular operators, happens to be world's largest verification service of any kind. ECP said that 85 million registered voters can check their records through a single SMS. How to Check your Vote Status?
You will soon receive a reply with following information:
Note: Reply message is likely to have words in Urdu (unicode). You may not be able to read the text message if your phone doesn’t support unicode. Election Commission said that it has purposefully not included the voters' name and home address to avoid any privacy violations. Charges:
What if you are not registered or registered with incorrect details? Election Commission of Pakistan has said that that voters, in case of any issue, should immediately contact district election commissioner to get the details corrected. For the purpose, Election Commission is also arranging the establishment of display centers where voters can go an check their details and to get the information corrected. Related posts:
To read more, click: Vote Verification via SMS |
| UBL Omni Wins GSMA Global Mobile Award 2012 Posted: 28 Feb 2012 10:52 PM PST
Other contestants included:
UBL Omni won the award for for a transparent and efficient Cash Disbursement service after the 2009 IDPs Crisis and the 2010 Flood Crisis. Omni happens to be one of the largest Branchless Banking cash disbursement initiatives to date and has proved to be a quick and transparent mechanism for the way cash disbursements are made by the Government of Pakistan and non-profit organizations. UBL Omni provided the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), a poverty alleviation initiative by the Government of Pakistan, and the World Food Programme (WFP) with a transparent and convenient cash disbursement mechanism for victims of the 2009 'War Against Terror' IDPs Crisis and the 2010 Flood Crisis. Beneficiaries were issued unique cards and PINs which were used to withdraw funds from conveniently located UBL Omni retail shops, where agents logged into their mobile based applications to execute quick cash disbursements. Judges commented over Omni saying:
The GSM Association Awards are considered as the most prestigious contest and mostly called as Oscar for the mobile phone and telecommunication industry. List of winners for GMSA Awards 2012 for 23 different categories is available here. Related posts:
To read more, click: UBL Omni Wins GSMA Global Mobile Award 2012 |
| Mobilink Partners with DIL for Literacy Initiative Posted: 28 Feb 2012 10:20 PM PST
As part of the partnership, DIL will provide the IT curriculum and teacher training, while Mobilink has provided the hardware and equipment for this. Mobilink has sponsored a total of ten computer systems, one printer, twenty audio headsets and ten webcams for online lessons. This hardware was handed over to the school management by Mobilink Torchbearers during a brief ceremony, with the Torchbearers also utilizing the opportunity to interact with students and emphasize the importance of IT literacy. On the occasion, Omar Manzur, Director Public Relations and CSR Mobilink highlighted, "As Pakistan's premier cellular services provider, we are fully cognizant of the importance of IT literacy for the economic development of the country and bridging the digital divide. It is indeed an honor to provide this support for IT education at the very basic level, where it is needed the most." The DIL Model School is located in Khuda Ki Basti, which is a community housing project of "Saiban" a local NGO. The housing scheme is for the low income group of Sheikhpura, located in Kala Shah Kako. DIL establishes, adopts and manages primary and secondary schools for underprivileged children in partnership with non-governmental organizations in all four provinces of Pakistan. The Mobilink Foundation remains committed towards leading social responsibility in Pakistan, with a history of helping the deserving across the country. The Mobilink Foundation has a dedicated and efficient team of Torchbearers; trained employee volunteers who enable the Foundation in the various causes it identifies for the relief of the underprivileged across Pakistan. Each Mobilink Foundation Torchbearer is empowered to clock an average of five (5) dedicated hours per month during official working hours. Related posts:
To read more, click: Mobilink Partners with DIL for Literacy Initiative |
| Etisalat to Deduct $73 Million for Properties to Settle $800 Million Dispute with GoP Posted: 28 Feb 2012 07:20 PM PST
Paper said that the resolution involves a mechanism agreed by both the parties, under which Etisalat will deduct the market price of those properties that Pakistan has failed to transfer. "We proposed an out of the box solution to this longstanding dispute and hopefully the issue will be settled soon," stated Dr. Mirza in an interview with paper.
This news surfaced only days after State Bank of Pakistan warned of financial instability if Government of Pakistan fails to raise funds. Pakistan is eyeing $800 million from Etisalat and another $ 1 billion from 3G auction to save its credit situation. It is not the first time that Pakistani officials have hinted a resolution of pending payment dispute. For example, Mr. Waqar Ahmed Khan, Pakistan's minister of privatization was once quoted as saying that Etisalat will pay the pending payment of $800 by March 2010. Which obviously didn't happen. It maybe recalled that PTA is working on a policy under which Etisalat or any of its subsidiary will be held disqualified to bid for 3G auction in case of non-payment. Related posts:
To read more, click: Etisalat to Deduct $73 Million for Properties to Settle $800 Million Dispute with GoP |
| PTA Improves Ranking in OICCI Perception Survey Posted: 28 Feb 2012 07:07 PM PST
Overseas Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI) recently revealed the results of its perception survey based on its member companies' feedback saying the telecom authority is supportive to foreign investors in dealing affairs of telephony utility. The views expressed about PTA are related to multinational companies of different sectors however, foreign companies of IT and Telecom sectors were less interested to participate in the perception survey.
But plans and concerns of IT and Telecom companies' are almost similar with multinational companies of different sectors, which are positive investment plans in the next two to five years despite issues of security, access to energy and governance. PTA is one of the most active regulators in the country which has shown tremendous performance in the past one decade keeping the interest of consumers on priority and maximum facilitation to investors. Despite all of criticism, it has taken some strict actions against telecom companies involved in violation of rules of business and infringement of consumers rights. In 2011, Pakistan topped in Asia Pacific for having best telecom regulatory environment by LirneAsia, an ICT policy and regulation think tank. At present, PTCL, Mobilink and Telenor are the member companies of OICCI in the telecom sector. In IT sector, Hewlett Packard, Teredata Global Consulting, Teradata Pakistan, TPL Holdings TRG Pakistan and UNISYS Pakistan are members of overseas chamber.
Related posts:
To read more, click: PTA Improves Ranking in OICCI Perception Survey |
| FourQuants Aims to Lend Financial Trainings Through Internet and Mobile Apps Posted: 28 Feb 2012 07:05 PM PST
FinanceTrainingCourse is a partially free portal while FourQuants caters to enterprise customers through subscriptions. One may call this FinanceTrainingCourse inspired by Khan Academy, however, both FinanceTrainingCourse and FourQuants takes next level route to teach and train professionals of a narrowed niche i.e. finance, with premium content for which they charge as well. The portals themselves are designed for anyone interested in finance, students and professionals alike. The team behind the ventures has taken an easy approach to the material which has helped them gather and serve customers from 162 countries and over 5,000 cities over the world. Free material is available and paid courses are also there. Some of the paid materials include things like downloadable pdf guides, sample excel model templates and subscriptions to their high end enterprise learning portal dedicated to risk, pricing and treasury management. Recently they released iPhone, iPad and Android apps under the FourQuants name. The app allows customers to download and view free sample videos related to the field of computational finance, capital adequacy and risk management. The videos are aimed at practitioners, bankers and regulators. The application allows one to access 6 full length video lectures and another forty 2 – 5 minute samplers through the FourQuants YouTube channel. The application also allows you to purchase video, pdf and excel content on various topics such as pricing, valuation, interest rate modeling and risk management. Topics in the free samples include:
In Jawwad's own words, "Ultimately people need help in building models, validating models and explaining models to people who don't come from a financial modeling background. We have been doing just that for the last 10 years as part of our risk practice. While we do very well with our site, the smart phone and tablet market was the next big thing. It was right there in front of us and we took it." The iPhone, iPad and Android apps were built by Pepper.pk, the award winning mobile application studio run by Five Rivers Technology in Lahore. The links to the apps as well as both the websites are given below:
Related posts:
To read more, click: FourQuants Aims to Lend Financial Trainings Through Internet and Mobile Apps |
| Wateen Bags Consumer Choice Award Posted: 28 Feb 2012 07:00 PM PST
The award was presented at 7th Annual Consumer Choice Awards, held in Karachi and attended by representatives of the country's leading national and multinational brands. In total, around 85 awards were presented in various categories, ranging from financial services to FMCG to telecommunications. The award was presented by Mr. Raza Haroon, provincial minister for Information Technology, along with Mr. Nisar Khoro, speaker of the Sindh assembly, to Mr. Jalil Ahmed Farooqi, Wateen's head of consumer for the southern region. The Consumer Choice Award is especially rewarding as the winners are selected by a wide cross-section of Pakistani consumers, who are comprehensively polled in objective surveys carried out through the Consumer Association of Pakistan's websites. Wateen beat other internet service providers after being selected by Pakistani consumers as the country's leading ISP for its reliable internet services and committed customer care. Over the past year, Wateen has taken several steps to help improve service levels and optimise the network's efficiency, including the relocation of over 200 sites. The company also introduced multiple payment methods for customer ease, including online e-banking, EasyPaisa, as well as NADRA e-Sahulat Centers. The company has also worked closely with international vendors to improve customers' browsing experience by installing caching revolutionary solutions on the network. The company has also seen great support from its principals at the Abu Dhabi Group, which has continued to show great confidence in Wateen and its new management and has provided cash support of over US$57 million in the last 12 months. Despite the recent fire that engulfed Wateen's headquarters, the company has successfully ensured that customers did not suffer any loss of quality in their services. Commenting on the award, Wateen CEO Mr Naeem Zamindar said, "To be selected by Pakistani consumers as their choice of preferred and most reliable internet service providing company is an honour and a testament to the improvements brought in to the network over the last year." Related posts:
To read more, click: Wateen Bags Consumer Choice Award |
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