MCB, Telenor TeaM up To furTher enhanCe digiTal Banking eCosysTeM

MCB Bank Limited, one of Pakistan’s leading banks has entered into a strategic partnership with Telenor Pakistan a leading telecommunication services provider, to facilitate its digital banking customers with greater access to Telenor Pakistan’s prepaid recharge services, special bundles and post-paid services Under the partnership MCB Live users will be able to pay for new Telenor packages, special bundles, post-paid services and a host of other services directly from within the MCB Live app, at a single click of a button The integration provides MCB Live users greater flexibility and convenience in acquiring Telenor Pakistan s services on the go

O rientation session for conduc t of 7th Population and Housing Census

IsLAmAbAd: Pakistan Bureau of statistics (PBS) is striving hard for the smooth execution of 7th Population and Housing Census which will be conducted digitally for the first time in history of Pakistan PBS, has completed all the necessary preparations for conduct of census, accordingly one of the key requirements is nomination of Provincial Census Commissioners by provincial governments as per General Statistics Reorganization Act 2011 As the execution of Field Enumeration is the responsibility of Provincial Governmentstherefore an orientation session was arranged for all provincial Census Commissioners/Census Commissioners of provinces/region DrNaeemuz Zafar, Chief Census Commissionerwelcomed all participants from Provinces and briefly explained that the role of the Provincial Census Commissioners is crucial for smooth p R

CDA chief reviews expansion in Metro bus routes

IsLAmAbAd: Chairman Capital Development Authority Captain (R) Noorul Amin Mengal presided over a meeting at CDA headquarters regarding Metro bus service in the city at CDA headquarters on Thursday The meeting was attended by Member Engineering, Member Admin and other officers of the relvant formations In the meeting, a detailed briefing was given to Chairman Capital Development Authority Captain (R) Noorul Amin Mengal regarding the operations of Metro bus service and its routes On this occasion, Chairman CDA Noorul Amin Mengal issued instructions and said that Metro bus service should be expanded on new routes in the city of Islamabad and along with this the service of the existing bus services should also be expanded p R

Sohail Aftab, civil ser vant of Information Group successfully defends his Phd Thesis

IsLAmAbAd: Sohail Aftab has defended his PHD Thesis successfully with distinction as he obtains SummaCum-Laude He did his PHD research from University of Hamburg Germany being a scholarship holder of German Academic Exchange Service (GAES) under the supervision of a prominent privacy law scholar Professor Dr Marion Albers His thesis topic was Protecting the right to privacy in Pakistan” learning from theoretical approaches and European Experiences” Under his thesis, Mr Sohail Aftab has undertaken an extensive content analysis of Pakistani media and has highlighted media’s intrusive practices in its coverage of sexual violence and issues related to children and women p R

T h e B

The Bank of Punjab celebrated opening of its 780th branch in Lahore on 25th January 2023 making a total of 116 branches opened during 2022 only Mr Zafar Masud (President & CEO – BOP) along with key officials of the bank attended this occasion Speaking at the event, Mr Zafar Masud (President & CEO – BOP) appreciated the efforts of the team in achieving the milestone of highest ever branch opening in a single year by the Bank of Punjab from wherever they may be

The agreement was signed between Mr Shahzad Ishaq – Group Head Digital Banking, MCB Bank and Mr Umair Mohsin – Chief Marketing Officer, Telenor Pakistan at MCB House, Lahore in the presence of Mr Jaffar Abbas Shirazi – Division Head Digital Channels & Branchless Bank- ing MCB Bank, Ms Ambreen Latif Bawany – Head Marketing MCB Bank and other representatives from MCB Bank and Telenor Pakistan

Speaking at the occasion, Mr Shahzad Ishaq, Group Head Digital Banking, MCB Bank lauded the shared objective of creating customer convenience and enhancing customer experi-

Educ ational boards with modern facilities essential for progress: Tanveer

Islamabad p R

Federal Minister of Education & Professional Training Rana Tanveer Hussain while addressing the inauguration ceremony of Student Facilitation Center equipped with modern facilities and Online Attestation Portal at the Secretariat of Inter Board Committee of Chairman (IBCC) said that without revolution and innovation in the education system of the country, the development and stability is not possible The ladder of development of nations is education, despite the economic situation of the country, education is the first priority of the government IBCC s Student Facilitation Center equipped with modern facilities and Attestation Portal will be a milestone for resolving student problems

IBCC is solving the problems of students by bringing positive changes in the system day by day

With the inauguration of online attestation portal student don’t need to visit IBCC In addition, Federal Board has installed a self operated machine KISOK at IBCC facilitation center, which benefits the students of FBISE and they don’t have to visit Federal Board for verification of their documents and to get sealed envelope They can also pay their fee and generate applications through KISOK

On this occasion, Secretary IBCC Dr Ghulam Ali

Malah said that educated youth will lead Pakistan on the path of development, most of the country's population is youth who have the right to be educated IBCC is working hard to solve the problems of the student and bringing automative reforms within the organization The initiative of QR based attestation and equivalence certificates the students don’t have to visit IBCC for verification purpose The can verify their documents from anywhere around the world within no minute In addition to this, the inauguration of state of the art Facilitation Center the students will benefit from it IBCC is also bringing digital payment module in all their processes, with the addition of this facility the student don’t need to stand in the long queues for submission of their fee they can submit it through mobile banking etc

S uppor ting Returning Migrants: A step towards reintegration and empowerment

Islamabad p R

Overseas Pakistanis Foundation (OPF) in line with the vision of honorable Prime Minster of Pakistan is developing the capacity of returnee migrants and providing them with trade-specific toolkits as an In-Kind support to help them start sustained self-employment

In this connection, a ceremony was organized in Islamabad under OPF s Pak – German Facilitation & Reintegration Centre (PGFRC) where toolkits were handed over to 170 returning migrants in the fields of culinary arts fashion designing information technology, motorcycle mechanic, solar technician, electrician, plumber, carpenter, and mason received their toolkits alongwith Loader Rickshaws, Passenger Rikshaw and Motorcycles for self-employment These returnee migrants had also completed a comprehensive business development training from PGFRC in their selected

He added that by opening 116 branches in 2022, Bank has taken a lead in the industry which by any standards is a remarkable achievement

In his address to the team, he shared his vision of expanding the Bank of Punjab s total branch network to 1000 branches by the year 2025 which will give the bank adequate coverage throughout the country He also emphasized on the growing need of Islamic banking and advised the team to further enhance their focus on Islamic branches expansion Mr Masud mentioned that as part of a pilot, bank is planning to convert a few conventional branches from our Public sector department to Islamic Banking which will support and help the Government in executing its Islamic Banking initiatives

Recognition certificates were also distributed among the officials who played a pivotal role in the opening of highest number of branches in a single year taking the total branches network size to 780 (Conventional and Islamic)

The Bank of Punjab plans to open another 110 branches in the year 2023 with major focus on Islamic Banking This expansion will cover and improve the Bank’s presence in major parts of the country and help in securing low-cost private sector deposits ence through offering Telenor packages and bundles to MCB Bank customers He also said that “Having a direct connectivity between leading players in banking and telecommunication will be a beginning of deeper cooperation between the two companies We will continue building sharedvalue to succeed our customers ”

Mr Umair Mohsin, Chief Marketing Officer, Telenor Pakistan also added, “We’re continuously exploring new channels to facilitate our customers, and this partnership is a testament to that Through our digital collaboration with MCB, we are creating even more accessibility for our customers so they can recharge their package and make product/bundle purchases from the comfort of their homes Direct integration with MCB will give sustainable connectivity and improved portfolio ”

PRCS to expand humanitarian programs in Punjab

LAHORE: Chairman, Pakistan Red Crescent Society, Sardar Shahid Ahmed Laghari says PRCS will expand its humanitarian programs in Punjab province with the support of donors and National Headquarter will take all possible measures to strengthen Red Crescent Punjab to ensure efficient delivery of humanitarian services to vulnerable communities, he said this on his visit to PRCS Punjab Provincial Headquarter and Red Crescent College and Teaching Hospital in Dina Nath here on Thursday PRCS Chairman visited and inspected various departments at PHQ and Red Crescent Medical College and Teaching Hospital in Dina Nath Chairman PRCS Punjab Branch Justice (R) Sheikh Ahmed Farooq briefed the Chairman about the ongoing programs and activities of PRCS provincial branch Sardar Shahid Ahmed Laghari appreciated the humanitarian work done by Red Crescent Punjab branch He stressed upon improving the PHQ s capacity, volunteers base, and its coordination with National Headquarter and with district chapters so that humanitarian services can be rendered to the vulnerable communities in effective and efficient manner p R

Lucky Core Industries announces results for quar ter, six-month ended Dec 31, 2022

KARAcHI: Following the meeting of the Board of Directors, Lucky Core Industries Limited announced its financial results for the quarter and six months ended December 31, 2022 Financial Highlights:

During the period under review, the Company entered into a Share Purchase Agreement with Morinaga Milk Industry Co Ltd Japan (Morinaga Milk), for a partial divestment of approximately 26 5% of the issued and paid up capital of Nutrico Morinaga Private Limited (NMPL) Accordingly, as per IFRS 5 –Non-current Assets Held for Sale and Discontinued Operations the same has been classified as discontinued operations in the financial statements for the half year ended December 31, 2022 On a consolidated basis (including the results of the Company’s subsidiaries: Lucky Core PowerGen Limited (PowerGen) (formerly ICI Pakistan PowerGen Limited), Net Turnover for the six months period from continuing operations under review rose by 6% to PKR 49,582 million compared to the same period last year (SPLY) p R