News & Updates, Health , Mobiles and Telecom

Let us discuss 5 tips for controlling as well as reducing your belly fat and size.

1. Change your lifestyle by replacing your favorite taste with alternatives e.g. Fruits for sweets and water of fruit juice for carbonated drinks. Change your diet items while not starving yourself or reducing your intake drastically. Avoid sugar, butter, pizzas for some time.

2. Walking is the best exercise. If you are overweight do not start dreaming about running in a marathon within a week. Changes have to happen steadily and not over night. Start walking 1-2 hours with your family members, alone with some music gadget etc. so that you do not feel bore in the morning or at night.

3. Drink good amount of water everyday as water helps flush all that dirt out of your body and cleanse your system.

4. If you drink alcoholic beverages then remember that excess is poison and even if you have no excuse for drinking in your official get together then reduce the amount, but I suggest quitting that habit once and for all.

5. If you are found of dancing, skating, horse riding, aerobics or any other sports then you are half way to your goal. Make it a regular habit in weekends or whenever you can devote time in a week to play your favorite sport and stick to it .

Self awareness and motivation is more important than any other thing. Also have a look at- Trying to lose weight? and health tips for further help.

“Staying healthy is a lifestyle in itself”.

ISLAMABAD: The government, facing a liquidity crunch, is all set to announce two weekly holidays in its next cabinet meeting to stave off the rising petroleum bill, Finance Minister Naveed Qamar said during a chat with a select group of journalists here on Friday.

“This will help combat the escalating oil import bill, which is adversely affecting the current account deficit. We want to discourage the use of oil, especially high-speed diesel (HSD), in the country and two weekly holidays is a step in this regard.”

The minister also hinted at reduction in the CNG price by Rs 6. However, he said a final decision will be taken by the Ogra very soon. The decision of two weekly holidays, the minister stressed, would be taken in line with the multi-pronged strategy the government had adopted to deal with the widening trade and fiscal deficits and the fast depleting foreign

reserves. Moreover, the government is also going to impose regulatory duty on the export of high-speed diesel to Afghanistan to offset the impact of subsidy it is extending on the HSD.

Apart from oil import, the government is also vigorously working to impose a sizeable duty on the import of non-essential and luxurious items to contain the overall import bill. “Duty has been imposed on the import of a lot of items. However, it would be well within the WTO-bound rates.”

The minister said the government had already placed 35 per cent duty on non-essential and luxury items. In addition, financing for the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) has also been reduced by Rs 100 billion.

“The government, in a bid to reduce the current expenditure, has also placed a ban on all kinds of purchases. It has also imposed immediate ban on unnecessary official foreign tours and visits abroad and this directive also applies to visits by important people accompanying the prime minister. Unnecessary persons would not be included in the visits.

“It has also been decided not to accord approval to supplementary grants in a bid to contain the current expenditures well within the budgetary limits,” the minister vowed. Explaining the massive cut of Rs 100 billion in the PSDP, the minister said it did not mean that the government would drop some development schemes. Rather, the said schemes would be funded either by the private sector or through the public-private partnership.

“The government will not borrow from the State Bank in future. It would utilise other tools to arrange capital for bridging the financing gap, including introduction of new instruments in the National Savings Schemes, floating of Treasury bills, etc.”

The minister hoped to mop up Rs 100 billion from these measures. On the fast-depleting forex reserves, the minister said the government was mulling to float the Workers Remittances Securitisation Bond worth $750-800 million to provide cushion to the worsening foreign reverses situation.

“Besides, two installments each of $136 million from the UAE-based Etisalat against the PTCL privatisation proceeds are now overdue and the government is expecting $272 million, most probably in the next month.”

Source: The News

Aug. 12 (Bloomberg) — MCB Bank Ltd., Pakistan’s biggest lender by market value, agreed to acquire Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc’s Pakistan unit for about $87 million to increase branches and its expertise in financial transactions.

MCB Bank will buy 1.7 billion shares, or a 99.4 percent stake, at 4.22 rupees apiece before making an offer for the remainder, the company said in a statement to the Karachi Stock Exchange today.

The assets will help MCB tap growth in a nation that forecasts an economic revival for the fiscal year that started July 1. Pakistan’s economy may expand more than 6 percent annually on average over the next five years, Shaukat Tarin, adviser to Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, said in March.

“MCB has been wanting to get more aggressive in consumer banking; this will allow them to do that,” said Raza Jafri, an analyst at AKD Securities Ltd. in Karachi. “RBS sold at distressed multiples because it wanted to get out.”

RBS, based in Edinburgh, is selling or shutting businesses in two-thirds of the 54 countries in which it operates after posting the biggest loss in British corporate history last year. Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. agreed to buy its businesses in countries including Singapore on Aug. 4.

MCB Bank’s shares, up 62 percent this year, climbed 2.4 percent to 175.75 rupees at 10:38 a.m. on the Karachi Stock Exchange. RBS Pakistan, which has gained 35 percent during the past month, rose 5 percent, the daily limit, to 22.10 rupees.

Internal Funds

Bank of America Corp.’s Merrill Lynch and KASB Securities Ltd. advised MCB on the transaction. Morgan Stanley advised RBS.

The transaction will be through internally generated resources, MCB said, without providing details.

The purchase of RBS Pakistan, which has 75 branches in 24 cities, will expand MCB’s network of outlets to 1,139, according to the statement. RBS had assets worth 108 billion rupees ($1.3 billion) as of Dec., 31, 2008.

“As a result of this transaction, I am confident that MCB’s position has been strengthened to deliver on our growth plans,” Chairman Mian Muhammad Mansha said in the statement.

Pakistan’s JS Bank Ltd. and Egypt’s Orascom Telecom Holding SAE were also interested in buying RBS Pakistan, according to statements to the stock exchange.

AKD’s Jafri estimated MCB may close as many as 15 RBS branches, which overlap with existing MCB outlets. He also forecast job cuts at RBS Pakistan, saying MCB has an average employee-to-branch ratio of 10, while for RBS it is 20.

There have been eight acquisitions of Pakistani banks since 2002, with the biggest being Standard Chartered Plc’s purchase of Union Bank Ltd. for $487 million in September 2006.

MCB Bank said this week that second-quarter profit rose 1.6 percent to 3.63 billion rupees, or 5.24 rupees a share, from 3.56 billion rupees, or 5.16 rupees, a year earlier.

source bloomberg.net

This interview of Mr. Tariq Qulzar, CFO Warid was recently broadcasted by CNBC Pakistan. We are putting this video interview here for our readers, with permission from CNBC Pakistan.

In this detailed interview, Mr. Tariq Gulzar discussed various issues including

• Warid’s Performance over the years
• Growth of Telecom sector in Pakistan
• Services provided by Warid
• Price War
• Cost of Telecom business in Pakistan
• World Recession and Telecom Industry
• Cost cutting
• Warid’s Network Quality in urban and rural areas
• Foreign Direct Investment and market potentials
• 3G prospects
• Green Technology

Here is the profile of Mr. Gulzar (Taken from Warid’s website)

Mr. Tariq Qulzar,
Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Tariq Gulzar brings with him a combined professional and industry   background gained from over 15 years of experience in assurance, internal audit, accounting, risk management and general consulting in telecom and media   industries.

Mr. Gulzar is a Fellow Chartered Accountant (Pakistan, a Certified Public Accountant (Colorado, USA) and a Certified Internal Auditor (New York, USA).

Prior to joining Warid, Mr. Gulzar was working as the Assistant Vice President in Risk & Regulatory Advisory practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers   (PwC), Canada, where he was responsible for delivering internal audit, sustainable process improvement and risk management services to organizations in   terms of increased revenues, decreased costs, improved efficiency, control and   organizational and process agility in a range of industries.

Mr. Gulzar has also   worked with Mobilink (Pakistan), Millicom International Cellular S.A. Luxembourg) and Modern Times Group AB (Sweden) before joining PwC in Canada

Source: propakistani.com

Co?Chairman China Mobile Zhang ChunJiang called on President Asif Ali Zardari Thursday in Presidency and matters pertaining to enhance existing investment and future prospective areas came under discussion.

Chinese Ambassador in Islamabad Luo Zhaohui and other officials of China Mobile and Secretary IT and Telecom Hifz ur Rehman were also present in the meeting.

The President said that Pakistan’s telecom sector offered excellent investment opportunities and appreciated China Mobile’s investment of over one billion dollars in the telecom sector in Pakistan.

Recalling meeting of the President Asif Ali Zardari with company’s chairman Wang Jianzhou in China, Zhang ChunJiang said “we will continue to expand further our service with very good quality.”

He thanked the President for taking significant initiatives for attracting Chinese investment in Pakistan. He informed that China Mobile intends to further expand its project by further investing in it.

President Asif Ali Zardari said Pakistan and China enjoy deep? rooted, strong relations spanning three generations. He vowed to take these forward to the next generation for the mutual benefit of the two countries.

Source: propakistani.com

President Asif Ali Zardari called for the setting up of a Telecom University, a telecom research and development center and a plant to manufacture and assemble mobile handsets in the country.

He said that the government will provide land for the Telecom Varsity in Haripur where the nucleus of telecom training facilities already existed and also offer facilities for establishing an R&D Center in Islamabad and the mobile handsets manufacturing plant.

Spokesperson to the President former Senator Farhatullah Babar said that the call was made when a delegation of Chinese Telecom conglomerate ZTE called on the President in the Presidency.

He said that the President appreciated the ZTE’s role in the development of Pakistan’s Telecommunication sector and said that Chinese companies had made significant contributions to Pakistan’s economy through direct investment.

The President called upon ZTE to develop technical skills of the local labour force.

The five member delegation that called on the President was led by Luo Pingfan, Dy Chairman ZTE and also included Luo Zhaohui, Ambassador of China.

M. Salman Faruqi, Secretary General to the President, Kamal Majidullah, Special Assistant to PM on Water Resources, Khalil Ahmad, Ambassador at Large and senior official of the foreign office also attended the meeting.

The President said that Chinese investment and cooperation could help develop Pakistan as regional hub for manufacturing for which low cost labour force was available in Pakistan.

He also called upon the ZTE to develop a research and development center in telecommunication and a plant for manufacture of mobile handsets in Pakistan.

President Zardari said that he was keenly awaiting his visit to China later this month to further consolidate the relations between the two countries which he said was ‘an important factor for peace and stability in the region and the world’ .

The President underscored the importance of closer collaboration and coordination between Pakistan and China in view of complexities of regional and global situation.

He said that Pakistan would continue to support China on all issues of national importance to it.

The Chinese delegation thanked the President of Pakistan and the government for providing it necessary back up and support to carry out its investment plan in Pakistan.

Source: propakistani.com

LAHORE: The film star and stage dancer Nargis has said the stage dramas need situational dances, which should be backed by romantic poetry instead of display of body parts, Geo news reported.

This she said talking to Geo news after her arrival in stage dramas following over 18 months’ gap.

She applauded the action initiated by government against the sexually explicit materials and activates including films, photography and dances but urged upon the concerned authorities not to take legal action against those film and stage actresses who are not implicated in such evil deeds, sources said.

Dismissing the media reports, she said my sister Deedar and I have never remained involved in sexually explicit dances in stage dramas.

source: geo.tv

COLOMBO: Pakistan cricket team skipper Younis Khan said inclusion of young players liked Umer Akmal and Fawwad Alam will increase the pressure on seniors to perform well.

Talking to Atiqur Rehman in Geo News program “ Captain’s Corner’, Younis said he himself made public that bookies had connected the team. If one can gets Rs.0.8 or 0.9 million per match, there is no need to earn money by unfair means. Younis termed Muhammad Yousuf as world-class player and sad everyone has bad patch at certain stage.

Source geo.tv