Malik Naureed Awan and MMA Group of Companies Exposed as Scam in Pakistan

The owner of MMA Airlines and many other companies such as the name of MMA have been exposed to be fraud. It is being claimed by TV channels that the owner Malik Naureed Awan is an international fraudster who has fled dubai due to his illegal work. 

If you got a chance to be in Islamabad over the recent months, you must have seen excessive advertisement of MMA forex, MMA Bank and MMA Airlines on every major road.

A 26-year-old Pakistani businessman from Abbottabad, Malik Naureed Awan, who also happens to be singer Annie Khalid's Husband, claims that the worlds forex market is $3.9 trillion, and his company share is $1 trillion of conducting business. I wonder how did he even dare to tell a lie on a media so bluntly. He even allured anchors for personality boost to provide them forex account trading for income purposes.

It is said that 99% Online Forex Trading companies in Pakistan conduct fraud. They use fake online trading software where they can control each and every thing. They transfer client's money in their abroad accounts and then control client's trading.

Take a look at the profile of MMA Group of Companies:

• MMA Airline is part of the MMA Group of Companies which has interests in heavy machinery and equipment trading, financial services (forex trading), advertisement and events management.
• The company's business spreads across Ireland, Switzerland, Uganda, South Africa and the UAE. 
• MMA Online Trading Services (MMA Forex) is one of the world's leading online forex trading brokers, with over 100,000 registered customers worldwide, and volumes of more than $20 billion a month.
• Awan said he started his business in forex trading in Ireland by setting up a company in 2006 with a team of finance professionals and experts.
• However, MMA Group's origin lies in MMA Heavy Machinery, set up in 1995.
• Having several branches in about 75 countries, mostly in Europe, MMA Forex made its entry in to the Middle East in 2010.
• MA Forex is backed by a major financial institution with over $17 billion in assets under management and is rated A+ by an S&P affiliated rating agency.
• The company launched MMA Bank GT in Zurich, last year.

Watch this video for more details:

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Minhaj-ul-Quran Website Minhaj.org Gets Down

Those of you trying to access http://minhaj.org may have noticed that this website is undergoing some problem for last 24 hours now. minhaj.org is down and it is failing to receive a 200 OK HTTP status code as a response at the moment. This means that the website is currently unavailable and down for everybody (not just you).

Minhaj-ul-Quran International (MQI) and Minhaj youth seem to be sleeping without considering the fact that Tahir ul Qadri Sb wants them to be active on social networks even more than before in fighting against the propaganda that is being raised against him. 

For example what is the reason of unconditional support of MQM which is a dangerous sign for the nation. Just before the Jalsa, MQM's top Rabita Committee leader sent a tweet message to US state department congratulating on the successful Jalsa. Why would MQM send a Mubarak baad message to US government? What is MQM and US government up to?

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Etisalat Group CEO, Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar Elected to GSMA Board

Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Group, Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar has been elected to the GSM Association (GSMA) Board. Mr. Julfar joins 24 other global CEOs and senior executives reflecting the largest operator groups as well as smaller independent operators with global representation.

GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, spanning more than 220 countries and uniting nearly 800 of the world's mobile operators with more than 230 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers and Internet companies, as well as organisations in industry sectors such as financial services, healthcare, media, transport and utilities. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo.

Mr. Julfar will work with the GSMA Board and the GSMA to help shape the future of mobile communications and develop a new future for the individuals, organizations and governments throughout the world. Mr. Julfar will serve on the GSMA Board for a two-year term from January 2013 through December 2014.

“Group CEO Etisalat, Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar’s representation on the GSMA Board is a source of great pride for the whole Etisalat family”, said President & CEO PTCL. “This success is a testament to Mr. Julfar’s dynamic role as the leader of one of most vibrant and fastest growing telecommunications companies in the world”, he added further.

As Group CEO of Etisalat, Mr. Julfar is driving Etisalat to have a direct impact on the social and economic growth of the 18 international markets it operates in. His role includes the delivery of the Group’s commercial, technological, financial, business development and overall organizational goals as Etisalat strives to become one of the world's top telecommunications companies.

"It's a pleasure to welcome Mr. Julfar to the GSMA Board, and we are all looking forward to working with Etisalat Group on the GSMA's efforts to advance the strategic priorities of the operator community," said Franco Bernabe, Chairman of the GSMA Board and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Telecom Italia Group.

Etisalat operates across Asia, the Middle East and Africa, catering to consumers, businesses, international telecommunication companies, ISPs, content providers and mobile operators. Etisalat has been at the forefront of the Middle East's technological revolution and for close to forty years, the company has developed and grown to become one of the world's leading telecommunications companies.

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Why Do Foreign Online Withdrawals Get Delays and How to Receive Funds Timely

Ever wonder why does it take so much time for funds to arrive in you local account in Pakistan or any other part of the world. When you withdraw money online from your abroad account (whether it is forex trading account or any other simple transaction) and wait for its arrival in your debit card or credit card where sender party claims that they executed your withdrawal request the same day you requested and amount will reflect in your card within three business days but actually process takes two weeks or even more than a month in most cases.

For those of you who are going to try this first time may go through the worst scenarios. When you complain to sender party that after a week you have not received the funds, they provide you with proof that the funds are processed from their side and you should ask your bank where is the delay. Unluckly your bank won't be helpfull also because most of bankers rarely know the scenarios you are discussing with them.

There are cases where you will find yourself helpless when you wont have any support online as well, probably becasue you are the first who got indulged into this and finally end up posting a review all over the internet claiming that they are an un licenced scam that steals clients moneys.

Well friend of mine come from a banking background and in his experience an intermediary bank is usually used by the sender’s bank when sending funds in a currency that is different from it’s home currency. So for example, if you send USD (from US) to Spain (where the home currency is EUR), your bank will use an intermediary bank. If on the other hand, if their bank sends EUR to France (where both countries have EUR as the home currency), their bank will not use an intermediary bank. He believes that this is the issue in the delay of receiving the funds.

So if your in Pakistan having Rupee account and you make an international transaction online via credit card or debit card, this is obvious that you will be charged in foreign currency lets say US Dollar. In case you look for funds to be back in your card, you make a withdraw request, you have to be aware that you will get your funds after they get cleared from intermediary bank.

Alternatively if you want to make frequent transactions online and keep sending and receving funds, it is highly recommened that you open an account in that currency you are dealing with for funds to arrive within a week (three business days) becasue that way you are filtering intermediary bank and having funds delivered directly to your home bank.

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Get Free Downloads of WhatsApp and Other Apps for iPhone and iPad

As shared permanent opportunity to download highly paid apps of iPhone and iPad for free, today we’re adding several other apps and games to our list, including the popular Game Your Video, and the WhatsApp Messenger app, which are currently absolutely free.

Following is the list of the apps (just click link to download) just in case you are coming after free download offer is over, login with username and password mentioned at the end of post and download them all for free.

• WhatsApp Messenger (for iPhone) – Free
• Flick Golf Extreme! HD (for iPad) – Free
• Game Your Video (for iPhone) – Free
• Gabi Facebook client (for iPhone) – Free

It’s worth mentioning that most of these app come with a ‘limited time only’ to download for free. So while it would make sense for free downloads to last through Christmas, it’s not guaranteed — meaning make sure you don’t wait.

UN: ptetechdonwloads@gmail.com
PW: ptetech@321

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Wateen CEO Participates in SAP Conference on Digital Marketing

Wateen Telecom, Pakistan’s leading converged communications provider, recently participated in the prestigious Digital Marketing Conference 2012, held in Karachi on 18th December 2012.

The Digit conference was held under the auspices of the Pakistan Advertisers Society as a platform to bring together Pakistan’s marketing and advertising communities on the subject of reinventing and reshaping marketing media. The conference, which is EC-Pakistan’s 2nd Digital Marketing Conference, was held under the theme of “Digital Marketing: Today, Tomorrow & Beyond” and was specially designed to keep an eye on present and future digital marketing/social media trends, tools, techniques and approaches.

As the country’s leading converged communications provider, Wateen Telecom acted as one of the headline sponsors for the event. Mr Naeem Zamindar, CEO Wateen Telecom, also addressed the conference as a keynote speaker. Mr Zamindar spoke of the increasing importance and role of convergence in Pakistan’s telecommunications technologies during his address on Mobile Marketing.

Specifically, Mr Zamindar talked about mobile content and measurement, and how brands can work together with telecommunication companies such as Wateen to deliver content. He also commented on the impending advent of 3G technology in Pakistan, adding that the availability of high speed broadband on mobile devices would prove to be a tipping point for both the mobile and internet industries.

Commenting on event Mr Zamindar said, “Wateen is really pleased to be a part of this visionary conference. Pakistan’s IT and communications industry has grown immensely in the past few years and we feel privileged to have been a facilitator in Pakistan’s communication sector.”   

He added: “We at Wateen are strong evangelists of the digital revolution in Pakistan – and we believe that telecommunications technologies, such as high speed broadband and WiMAX, have the ability to enable and transform the lives of the average Pakistani. The DigIt conference is one step in demonstrating how digital and telecoms technologies can add value for both brands and individuals.”

The conference was attended by CEOs, VPs, Directors, Senior Managers and professionals from varied backgrounds, ranging from Brand Management & Marketing, Advertising & Promotions, Communication & PR, Digital Strategy & Planning, Ad Agency & Media Buying, Web Design & Online Content Development, Research & Measurement Specialists, Publishers and Technology Providers.

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Get iPhone and iPad Free Downloads of Highly Paid Halfbrick Games and Other Apps

Australia-based app-maker Halfbrick Studios announced yesterday a massive end-of-the-year celebration sale. 

For the next 24 hours, all of their games, on both the iPhone and iPad, is completely free. The sale is only for 24 hours, so expect it to end early tomorrow morning. This is amazing but what about those of you iPhone and IPad users who missed the chance of downloading these highly paid apps for free. Well considering it the once in a lifetime chance PTE Tech has downloaded them all for you so that you can download them for free anytime you want using the apple id made just for users of this blog.

While we mostly see a number of users buying these apps all the time. Take my advice and take advantage of this while you can. Even if you don’t play all of them right away, at least download them so they’re in iCloud.

This offer includes apps which has never been free before like Jetpack Joyride, and Fruit Ninja.

See some comments from Halfbrick:

“This is by far the biggest sale we’ve ever had,” said Phil Larsen, Chief Marketing Officer at Halfbrick. “Over the past three years we’ve given everything we have to make our games the best, and were rewarded a million times over with love and support from our fans. Now it’s time to give something back, kick some ass and start 2013 with more momentum than ever. Have a blast playing Halfbrick’s finest!”

Following is the list of the apps (just click link to download) just in case you are coming after 24 hours and free download is not available, go ahead and simply login with username and password mentioned at the end of post and download them all for free. Universal apps can be used on iPhone and iPad.

• Jetpack Joyride - Universal
• Fruit Ninja - iPhone
• Fruit Ninja HD - iPad
• Age of Zombies - Universal
• Age of Zombies Anniversary - Universal
• Monster Dash - Universal
• Fruit Ninja: Puss in Boots - iPhone
• Fruit Ninja: Puss in Boots HD - iPad Only
• Blast Off - iPhone

UN: ptetechdonwloads@gmail.com

PW: ptetech@321

Note: We will bring more of these free downloads for visitors. This is a US based apple id which will also enable you to download all the free apps that are available for US users only like Google Voice and other amazing apps which are not available to download for apple ids of other differnt countries, so keep downloading free games and apps and have fun. For security reasons password of the apple id will be chaged once in a day and will get updated here.

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Google to Drop Exchange ActiveSync Support for Gmail

For iOS and other non-Android devices, Gmail account syncing is about to get a lot tougher. The Mountain View company has just announced that it will be ditching support for the Exchange ActiveSync protocol next month as part of its ‘Winter Cleaning’ initiative, reported idownloadblog.

What’s Exchange ActiveSync?

It is an XML-based protocol, developed by Microsoft, that allows the synchronization of email, calendar, contacts, and other data between servers and mobile devices. And it’s by far the easiest way to sync your Gmail account with your iPhone…

But unfortunately, come January 30th next year, you’re not going to be able to use it. Here’s the announcement from Google’s blog post:

“Google Sync was designed to allow access to Google Mail, Calendar and Contacts via the Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync® protocol. With the recent launch of CardDAV, Google now offers similar access via IMAP, CalDAV and CardDAV, making it possible to build a seamless sync experience using open protocols. Starting January 30, 2013, consumers won’t be able to set up new devices using Google Sync; however, existing Google Sync connections will continue to function. Google Sync will continue to be fully supported for Google Apps for Business, Government and Education. Users of those products are unaffected by this announcement.”

Google Sync will continue to work for users who already have it setup, for the foreseeable future at least, as well as those who have paid for a Google Apps account for business, government, or education. But starting in January, new users will have to use IMAP and xDAV.

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Be More Explicit in Search Query When Looking for Adult Material on Google, Not in Pakistan

To prevent users unknowingly tripping on adult content on its image search engine optimization, Google has improved its criteria to make adult pictures a little harder to find, reports CNET.

"We are not censoring any adult content, and want to show users exactly what they are looking for - but we aim not to show se*ually-explicit results unless a user is specifically searching for them," the report quotes a Google representative explaining the change.

Although Google insists it is not censoring adult content, the tweak now makes it harder to happen upon se*ually explicit pictures unless Google is sure you meant to search for them.

This means that users have to be more precise in their searches, especially when keywords are uncertain, even with SafeSearch turned off. The new change in Search engines image search has been applied on google.com but not yet on Google's Pakistan for search engine google.com.pk.

PTE Tech examined some keywords to be provided with precise image outcomes on search google.com.pk but the outcomes from google.com were mostly harmless as compare Google Pakistan. If you are in Pakistan, you will still get it even if you don't want it so that means PTA fails to deliver when Google has taken initiative and ready for it.

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Wateen Collaborates with Pakistan Advertisers Society to sponsor Digital Marketing Conference 2012

Wateen is looking to support worthwhile initiatives especially if they focus on technology. In this regard they have teamed up with Pakistan Advertisers Society as the official Wi-Fi partner at the Digital Marketing Conference, 2012. The conference will be held at the Sheraton Hotel, Karachi on 18th December 2012.

Pakistan Advertisers Society initiated this conference as a platform that aims to bring the Pakistani marketing and advertising community together on the subject of reinventing and reshaping. The conference will be attended by CEO’s, VP’s, Directors, Senior Managers and professionals from different backgrounds related to Brand Management & Marketing, Advertising & Promotions, Communication & PR, Digital Strategy & Planning, Ad Agency & Media Buying, Web Design & Online Content Development, Research & Measurement Specialists, Publishers and Technology Providers etc.

With the help of its engineering team, Wateen is deploying a WiFi mesh at the venue to enable the expected guests attending the event, especially bloggers, in using social media at the conference.

As the official Wi-Fi partner, Wateen shall be gaining the mileage through logo placement on all promotion in print and online mediums which has begun from this week. In addition to this, Wateen is using its own social media space, especially Facebook and Twitter to improve its fan following in this space.

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Pakistan Hacks Foreign Ministry and 26 Other Bangladeshi Websites [UPDATED]

A cyber brawl started between Pakistani and Bangladeshi hackers when the latter hacked the official website of Punjab Assembly (PA) (www.pap.gov.pk) but Pakistani hackers regained control of the website and restored it within half an hour.

Bangladeshi hackers, calling themselves “Cr4ck-Br4iN, RoTating RoTor and Ablaze EVER”, used unknown IP addresses and hacked the Punjab Assembly’s official website on Sunday morning.

As a result official page of Bangladeshi Foreign ministry has been hacked. When visited yesterday evening – was found hacked and defaced with the message that proclaimed the green letters with a black background on the ministry's website www.mofa.gov.bd, reported bdnews24.

They also gave a list of 26 websites hacked. Most of the hacked websites belong to educational institutions.

Yes, Mofa.Gov.Bd along with 26 other Bangladeshi websites belonging to educational institutions were hacked yesterday (and are still defaced). The list includes the website of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation.

The foreign ministry has so far failed to restore its site until late Sunday night.

Currently hackers identifying themselves as 'Pakistan Army' on Sunday claimed to have jammed websites of at least 26 government offices, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

With the slogan, "Pakistan Zindabad" hackers in their message concludes with the threat of outage of more websites by stating "More to come.

Several Upazila Parishad websites and a part of the website of Bangladesh Air Force were also on the list.

The hackers used some symbols just below the announcement on the site.

"This is a PayBack From Pakistan Cyber Army. This is not a game you kidz, Don't play with fire," the writing continued on the site.

"If you lamers wont stop fucking around with our Cyber Space, we will make your Cyber Space Hell."

Check below the of hacked Mofa.Gov.Bd – which is still in-tact for few users.

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PTCL Holds Annual Sales Conference

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) held its day long Annual Sales Conference 2012 yesterday at a local hotel in Islamabad.

Senior Executive Vice President (SEVP) Commercial PTCL, Naveed Saeed and Senior Executive Vice President (SEVP )Human Resources PTCL, Syed Mazhar Hussain led the conference by sharing valuable insights and holding brainstorming sessions, focusing on improving the processes and methodologies determining the customer experience.

“Our people empower our business by conceiving ideas, sharing insights, and working together to create solutions with a single minded focus i.e. boosting our customers confidence for the offered products and services”, said Senior Executive Vice President Commercial PTCL, Naveed Saeed, while chairing the conference. “Innovative thinking and out of the box business ideas are vital to remain competitive in the ever changing telecom industry”, he added further.

Themed “It matters not how far your goal is, but how far you are ready to go”, the conference was attended by PTCL’s countrywide sales management teams comprising consumer sales, direct and indirect sales, corporate sales, contact centers, one-stop shops, wire-line and wireless departments.

Senior officials from the company’s Commercial, Human Resource and Marketing departments as well as General Managers from different Regions also attended the conference.

Comprising of various interactive and creative sessions, the conference gave the opportunity to the participants for knowledge sharing and discussed in detail different initiatives & promotions regarding existing and new products & services at regional and national level.

PTCL management emphasized upon maximizing customer experience by providing timely after-sales services. Top performers were also rewarded for showing excellent performance for the company.

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Wateen Shuts Down Coverage Map and Other Portals

Wateen broadband footprint just got disappeared from internet as Wateen stopped providing coverage information on its map at coverage.wateen.com. Currently Wateen coverage map website is accessible and live, however apparently as per the message “sorry the service is not available now” they no longer wish to provide coverage info to customers momentarily.

As reported earlier that Wateen Telecom is no longer offering services in six cities Hyderabad, Sukkur and Quetta, Peshawar, Dera Ismail Khan and Faisalabad. Possible reason behind shutting down coverage map would be to redesign map with the latest coverage that Wateen itself owns for customers. 

Following is the look of Wateen coverage website:

It merits mentioning here is that this is not the first time Wateen is taking some service away from you, there is a lot more you really need to know about what is Wateen management of Websites/Portals is upto:

Wateen had a portal wateen.net that covered lifestyle, entertainment, fashion, events, technology and most importantly it had a forum for customers to complaint about Wateen which was a great way to bring the real picture of what Wateen is capable of in terms services. It was helpful for the existing and new customers as they were easily being familiar with the latest issues that occurs while using services and how to get them fixed. 

Hope you remember Wateen gaming portal games.wateen.com it attracted a lot of customers but strangely enough it has been closed down also.

Wateen Gaming Portal offered following services:

Having thousands of registered users the Gaming portal was home to the Online Gaming Community in Pakistan
The service offered competitive, online gaming supported through a proprietary software which stream lines the process of playing online

Wateen offered following online games to its customers for free

Counter-Strike 1.6
Counter-Strike: Source
Call of Duty 4
Call of Duty 5
Medal of Honor: Spearhead
Team Fortress 2
Battlefield 2
Left 4 Dead
Quake III Arena
The Witcher
Fall out 3
Metal Gear Solid 4

Gaming Cafes on Board

Neomatrix Gaming Network
Fariya Xtreme Gaming
Each network had multiple cafes in their respective cities (Lahore and Karachi) and were connected on the Wateen Gaming Network.

I hope you are familiar with the recent shut down of Wateen Entertainment Portal www.wateen.com/portal that brings movies to download, entertainment, music and more.

Wateen Presented "Yellow Pages Of Pakistan" City Xplorer www.wateen.net/home/yellow-pages.html that has also been shut down since long, it had following features:

It was Pakistan's First Mobile Phone Yellow Pages. City Xplorer CX  was Pakistan's prime and most searchable portal. City Xplorer helped users to surf & search any source in Pakistan specially in Karachi, Lahore, & Islamabad. It assured global visitors by delivering updated Business Data and Place of Interests (POI) of Pakistan, using State-of-the-Art Technology. It helped you find business in Pakistan, Buyers & Sellers were never as accessible to browse and find but with City Xplorer - Pakistan Yellow Pages.

Following images are being pasted just for a reference: 

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PITB and MIC Lahore Organizes Boot Camp On Windows Azure

The Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) and Microsoft Innovation Center Lahore (MIC) invite general public and organizations related to telecom sector at the boot camp on "Windows Azure". 

The Boot Camp is organized for IT Pros & Software Developers of Pakistan. The objective of this boot camp is to empower and train IT Pros & Software Developers for the upcoming Technologies. 

Adnan Shaukat ETS (Enterprise Technology Strategist) Microsoft Pakistan will deliver the boot camp.

Following will be shared discussed during the event:

-Introduction to Windows Azure
-Setup Windows Azure tools for developers
-Building application with Windows Azure
-Managing, Monitoring and Debugging Windows Azure application
-Provisioning of IAAS, PAAS & SAAS

The registration is based on the first come first served basis and will be confirmed by the MIC Lahore.

Including

- Name
- Organization
- Email Address
- Mobile number

Event Details:

- Date: 10th & 11th December, 2012. (2 days)
- Venue: MIC Lahore, Office: 1, Level: 5, Arfa Software Technology Park Ferozpur Road Lahore.
- Time: 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM (Both Days)

You can send your registration till 9th December 2012, 5:00 PM here

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Warid Joins White Ribbon Campaign to End Violence Against Women

Warid Telecom this year again joined hands with White Ribbon campaign which is aimed at spreading the message to end violence against women and girls in all its forms. Men and boys in their various roles as individuals, community members, leaders, educators, fathers, and family members have a responsibility and important role to play in promoting gender equality and ending violence against women and girls. In this regard the employees of Warid Telecom marked the day by pledging while the company also broadcasted awareness SMS toits subscribers and spread the message on its social mediums and company website.

While appreciating the continuous support by Warid Telecom, CEO of WRCP Mr. Omer Aftab said that the involvement of Warid, its employees and their overall contribution and support helped spreading the message at a wider level.

Omer further added that as per the Social Institutions and Gender Index 2012, Pakistan is ranked 55th out of 86 in the list of countries violating social norms and rights concerning women. The country was ranked 94th out of 102 in the Gender Inequality Index, 2009 however this year its ranking has dropped to an alarming rate. Pakistan ranks lowest in the South Asian region in terms of GDP per capita for women. Right to education, discriminatory family codes, restricted physical integrity, son bias, restricted resources and civil liberties are some common forms of biases against women that need serious consideration.

About White Ribbon Campaign:

The White Ribbon Day against gender inequalities is an international campaign initiated by White Ribbon Campaign here in Pakistan. It starts from November 25- International Day against Violence against Women- and ends on December 10- International Human Rights Day- to symbolically link violence against women and human rights and to emphasize on the fact that biases of all sorts are a violation of human rights. With such activities, the campaign aims to express its support towards free will of individuals, be it men or women, in order to raise voice and create awareness about discriminatory behaviors and practices against women.

White Ribbon Campaign Pakistan is a project of Women’s Empowerment Group and Vision 2015.

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PTA: No decision to unblock YouTube

YouTube was restored in Pakistan by some ISP's as per news appeared on GEO News, Dunya TV and some other channels, they even sent messages to their subscribers for the sake of breaking news that PTA has lifted ban on YouTube even without verification.

Update: There has been no decision to unblock YouTube nor was it officially opened according to the Director General of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Farooq Awan.

PTA Chairman Mr. Awan said they would investigate those Internet Service Providers (ISPs) who opened the video sharing website in some cities of Pakistan on Monday.

The DG PTA added that action would be taken against the ISPs which opened YouTube and their licenses’ could be suspended.

It merits mentioning here that news channels like GEO News are much concerned about the breaking for more and more traffic and they rarely consider the conditions where public gets confused whether it be national matters or matters related to Telecom.

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No Elections in Pakistan - A Patriotic Caretaker Government is The Right Option

Before we start it merits mentioning here that we as Pakistanis should be unbiased for the sake of Pakistan. Most of you might not like this but to us this does really make sense considering the situations we are in. Right to information of everyone of you, remains the purpose of this article.

PTI supporters want that one chance must be given to Imran also and for that elections must be held under these anarchic war conditions despite the fact that country is already facing a total system failure with a failed judiciary, treacherous media and an urban anarchic war at hand. OK, lets take the argument on its face value. If suppose there are free and fair elections (which is impossible wit

h Zardari and MQM controlling all the state organs), then there can be only 3 possibilities.

1. PTI sweeps the elections, get a majority vote, become the largest party to make a government with IK as PM.

2. PTI also get few dozen seats just as other parties and all MQM, PPP, ANP, PML(N) and JUI like snakes also make it to the parliament and it is a hung parliament where all parties make government just as it is today. PTI becomes just another party with couple of ministries in the government.

3. PTI gets very few seats and decides to sit in the opposition and let the PPP, MQM, ANP, JUI and PML (N) run the government as they do now, looting and robbing the country with impunity.

PTI members say they will never accept option 2 and will never make a government with Zardari, Altaf, Fazal r rehman and Nawaz. If this happens, the scenario would be exactly the same as it is today. Same parties, same corruption and powerless PTI. So whats the point of elections ?

That means we have only Option 1 and 3 left.

If option 3 is forced upon PTI, then the government would be exactly the same as it is now -- all the corrupt parties back in power with PTI sitting alone in the opposition, without power and authority. So again whats the point of elections ?

Only option 1 suits PTI, which in all honesty is impossible. MQM and Zardari are already fixing the elections. Over 3 million votes from Karachi have been shifted to upcountry to defeat all non-MQM parties. In recent senate elections, each senator was sold for nearly 65 crore rupees right under the nose of the Supreme Court and the CJ stays silent. How can they control the corruption in general elections in times of war ??? PTI is still not a strong party in all provinces and would at best bag 30 to 40 NA seats in a house of over 300.

On the other hand, risk of holding elections under these conditions is so catastrophic that the country would not be able to recover from the chaos, anarchy and violence which would follow the elections.

We understand the emotions of the PTI members. They are young and impulsive and feel that they have a chance but they do not realize the risks and threats to the country and the stakes involved if option 1 is not materialized. Remember Syria and Libya. The enemy is waiting to exploit the internal anarchy to turn our mistakes into catastrophic blunder.

It would be much better to have a patriotic technocratic caretaker government for 3 years to stabilize the country, remove the corruption and defeat the TTP and the gangs of Karachi and then bring about a representative government through a system change to make sure that only those people come to power who do not violate article 62,63 of the constitution. PTI should itself demand a patriotic caretaker government and support the army and judiciary to bring good people who can recover Pakistan from this chaos.

If the purpose is to serve Pakistan, a patriotic caretaker government is the right option. If the purpose is to grab power only, then go for the elections. You will soon regret.

Today, if elections are held, every snake from these present ruling parties would be back in power, violating article 62,63 of the constitution and then we will never be forgiven by Allah (swt) for our collective sins and blunders. SC is not interested in justice or the constitution else all political parties of Pakistan would be disqualified.

We know, it would be difficult for the PTI members to understand and accept this reality. We do not blame them. They were not born when East Pakistan tragedy took place and when the country went into a civil war after the elections. Perhaps, this generation only wants to learn the hard way and do not wish to take sincere advice. If this is what Allah wills, then this is what this nation will get. We don't care what others think about us. Our duty is to warn you. If you do not listen, then wait. you will soon find out.

Via Syed Zaid Zaman Hamid

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Mobilink to Invest $1b to Enhance Nationwide Network

Mobilink has already invested over $3.9 billion till date as part of its vision to reshape lives through connectivity.

Mobilink will be investing over $1 billion towards enhancement of its voice and data services, paving the way towards introducing 3G services as soon as it is licensed in Pakistan, said Jo Lunder, Group CEO, VimpelCom – Mobilink’s parent company – during a meeting with Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf at the PM House, according to a press release.

VimpelCom continues to have a positive outlook on its operations in Pakistan, with Mobilink already having invested over $3.9 billion till date as part of its vision to reshape lives through connectivity. The additional investment of $1 billion is part of VimpelCom’s aggressive plans to further consolidate its leadership position in Pakistan with the deployment of state-of-the-art next-generation mobile network equipment.

Via ProPakistani

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PTA: Who Handles Your Website?

It feels good that Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) has started the URDU version of its website www.pta.gov.pk, but it still hurts to know about many things that PTA website lacks that needs to be available on the website.

PTA remains unable to recognize the users platform whether it is web version, or mobile platform. As you visit the website, they have set it to ask visitors to go to web or mobile platform.

It merits mentioning here that the webmasters of the website are sleeping all the time as the rarely care about updating the website with the latest press releases which might only be the reason for someone to visit it most often. 

As reported previously that they also fail to share the list of banned websites and the reasons behind it.

Just a reference: A press release that was held on 20^th September 2012 was updated on PTA website on 30th November 2012. Awe full isn't it? 

Let take a look at pathetic PTA services:

It's time that PTA should compose a list of blocked websites available to public exposing each and every website/URL. This is particularly important at once when elections are just ahead.

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PTA Suspends 789 SIMs Activation System

Verification system 789 has been suspended on the directives of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and hundreds of thousands of new SIMs could not be activated on the networks on Friday, reported Daily Times today.

This is the first time in the history of the country as the SIMs activation was stopped by mobile phone operators after it started in February 2009.

A large number of customers, who bought SIMs from retail outlets and franchises in the recent days failed to get their connections activated due to change in policy by the authority and Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf’s announcement to revert new SIMs mechanism.

Customers making request on 789 found the recorded message that SIMs activation system had been suspended as per directives of PTA.

Our company has been ordered by PTA to suspend SIM Activation System 789 to stop SIMs sale at customer care centres, franchises and retail shops as per directives of Ministry of Interior, which earlier proposed a new system of SIMs sale to the residents of customers, an official of the mobile phone company said.

Despite the orders issued by the prime minister to continue SIMs sale via activation system 789 with National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) verification, the companies have not received the notification so far, thus the sale of SIMs has been stopped, he said on the condition of anonymity. We have been waiting for the notification of PTA in accordance with the directives of the prime minister.

PTA spokesperson Malahat Rab said the authority has not issued any new notification after the prime minister’s decision. She did not inform Daily Times about the new development regarding the issuance of fresh directives to cellular operators by PTA.

On November 29, a day before deadline of new SIMs sales process proposed by the Ministry of Interior, all chief executive officers of cellular phone companies met the prime minister and expressed their reservation of business viability and investment decline due to the new system.

Raja annulled the decision of the Interior Ministry and allowed operators to continue SIMs sale at franchises and customer care centres while stopping its sales at retail outlets by November 30.

Industry sources said the notification regarding the decision of the prime minister to continue sales at customer care centres and franchises has not been received by PTA, therefore, it did not pass it on to operators with new directives.

At present, customers at large have made panic buying of SIMs on the proposed change fear of loss of their money and connections particularly those who bought connection cards at retail shops.

I had purchased a SIM on November 28 from the franchise of a company and completed due verification process on the same day, but I have not received my SIM so far, said Shakirullah who purchased a new SIM for avoiding new process.

Industry sources said that companies SIMs sale have been increased significantly in the last two weeks due to significant increase in demand after Interior Minister Rehman Malik’s announcement in media to change subscription process from the starting month.

Franchise owners and retail agents had reduced the cost of SIMs to unload their stocks as much as possible to save themselves from losses. Even it has been reported that SIMs have been sold out at Rs 50-20 and even for free by a few companies.

The SIMs sale usually recorded at 30,000 to 40,000 per day increased to 50,000 to 60,000 per day though it crossed 100,000 level in a few days particularly of those companies selling SIM cards at reduced rates or free of cost.

This has disturbed the whole chain system of the companies including registration of CNIC copy at franchises or outlets, verification of customers data and its activation.

Once a customer gets registered their CNIC number at the time of SIM sales, he has to verify his identity from customer care centre through dialing 789.

Customers bought SIMs recently said that they faced problems while making request in November as companies officials got extremely engaged in processing verification at increasing requests of customers. Resultantly, they have to wait from three to five minutes, which happened due to too much requests that jammed the networks of a few operators.

I bought SIMs from a company’s roadside stall a week ago, but my SIM has not been activated though I made verification from the company on the same day, Ahmed Rayyan, a customer said.

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