CONTENT

{June 2010 | Volume 2 | Issue 11}

cover sTory
disclaimer: Where opinion is expressed it is that of the author’s and does not necessarily coincide with the editorial views of the publisher or MORE. All information in

06 facebook epISode, evIl playS

double gaMe
this magazine is verified to the best of author’s and publisher’s ability. However, MORE does not accept responsibility for any loss arising from reliance on it.

When we compare it with the widely publicized issue of

facebook privacy, in that case the situation has become so
problematic for facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, that he had
to cancel the celebration of his 26th birthday and attend
some very important meetings on the privacy matter
HTC Tattoo offers
outstanding
connectivity Telecom
options. 7.2Mbps
HSDPA, Wi-Fi and
10 More
TelecoM’S poTenTIal needS
exploITaTIon
Bluetooth 2.0 are Despite such a big market potential, the country is some-
the highlights, how lacking somewhere, to attract hefty investments. Dur-
ing the last year, the sector’s financial health could not...
besides features
like quad-band
GSM and USB
2.0.
12 chIna preferS naTIonal
InTereST over google
Chinese search engine Baidu saw a huge increase in its
search market share due to the government’s disagreement
with Google.
26
Banking
16 ISlaMIc bankIng: QualITy of
ServIce IS IndISpenSable
Islamic banks should not only target their marketing to-
wards those consumers who have a religious tilt, there has
to be a competitive system whereby specialized products...

Technology
18 InTerneT TelevISIon: a bIg
MedIa revoluTIon
In Pakistan, Internet television is still an advent and going
through the evolutionary period. The online TV service
providers are still experimenting with a variety of access...

20 Technology
cenTre, nuST
IncubaTIon

An important task being carried out by the Centre is to

maintain constant liaison with public and private sector
enterprises and funding sources, government agencies,...
laTesT in Tech
24-25
review
28 unleaSh
fuTurISTIc dell noTebookS
“core I-proceSSor”
Dell is a global technology leader in computers, offering the
latest range of high-performance Notebook computers, in-
cluding the Dell-“Studio” and Dell-“Inspiron” series.
14
32 Say hello To healThy IndoorS
21
Air pollution in our environment has increased multi-folds
and is causing a number of health-related problems for us.
What most of us are oblivious of is that indoor pollution...
25
monTh in Focus
33 - 41
energy
42 looMIng energy crISIS
For long-term viability of the energy sector, it is better if the
government converts the largely state-controlled industry
to a system whereby the government holds a strategic...

agri-Tech
44 ISfarMer
WheaT procureMenT
frIendly?
30 36
pakISTanI profeSSIonalS
45 dr. MudaSSar farooQ,
a Scholar par excellence
Dr. Farooq’s research observes that honey bee networks
demonstrate robust adaptive efficient agent-based commu-
nications and task allocations without centralized...

MobIle phoneS, gadgeTS

46 - 50
MORE Magazine printed at Banquet Printing Press 28-A, Nisbat Road, Lahore and
published by Mudassar Jehangir Mufti at 2nd Floor, Ali Mansion, 41-A, Lower Mall,
Lahore Tel: 042 7321920, 2106737 Email: info@apnatime.com
editor-in-chief Mudassar Jehangir Mufti | group editor Sumaira Mudassar | editor Halima Qureshi | Sub-editor W. khaliqdad
advertising Manager Ahmed Malik (Lahore), Amir Malik (Karachi) designer Assad Chughtai | Marketing executive Syed Faisal
Ahmed, Zain Zahid | International correspondent Ireland: Alina Amir |US: Ovais Qureshi | contributor Fahad Chishty
registration no. PCPB 286
{cover sTory | W. Khaliqdad
}

6 | more | June 2010 www.apnatime.com


n The highly sensitive facebook
episode is finished as the deadline set by
the Lahore High Court is over. About 2.5
million users from Pakistan got off from
the facebook on the court orders and are
back in usual business after some emo-
tional protests on the streets as well as
through emails and certain blogs. Same
expressive but short-lived reaction which
has become our hallmark since long. Both
the Government and the public are to
be blamed, the Government for its ineffi-
ciency to make viable and long-term
proactive policies and not taking other
Muslim nations on board, and the public
for just venting their anger in a dis-
persed manner and, surprisingly rather
shamelessly, majority of the users are
back on the facebook. So what were
they protesting against and what was
the ultimate objective?
No doubt, the world community has
once again shown double standards in re-
sponse to a very very sensitive issue that
had earlier caused worldwide protests by
Muslims in 2005. On one hand the west-
ern powers are big advocates of rooting
out extremism while on the other hand
they only deplore such acts by a Muslim
individual or a group but when a person
or group belonging to their own religions
and beliefs intentionally hurt the feelings
of millions of people, they call it freedom
of expression. Knowing it very well that
such condemnable actions, as committed
by the Danish cartoonist or now a certain
lobby having support of facebook man-
agers, are disastrous for world peace they
just don't care because it does not come
under their definition of extremism. So
one can easily judge that where are the
roots of extremism and terrorism, which
have jeopardized the world peace and the
whole humanity is living in a constant
state of danger.
www.apnatime.com
Just look at the foolish justification of
the perpetrators of this highly deplorable
act, "We are not trying to slander the av-
erage Muslim, we simply want to show
the extremists that threaten to harm peo-
ple that we are not afraid of them. That
they can't take away our right to freedom
of speech by trying to scare us into si-
lence." How naive that they want to teach
lesson to the extremists while getting ex-
Just look at the foolish justification of the perpe-
trators of this highly deplorable act, "We are not
trying to slander the average Muslim, we simply
want to show the extremists that threaten to
harm people that we are not afraid of them. That
they can't take away our right to freedom of
speech by trying to scare us into silence."
tremists themselves. The facebook page,
which is the focus of the current dispute,
had encouraged users to (God Forbid)
draw the sketch of our dear Prophet
Hazrat Muhammad (SAW) with a purpose
to protest threats made by a Muslim
group against the creators of "South
Park", again for blasphemous depiction of
the Prophet (SAW).
Speaking at 37th session of the OIC
Council of Foreign Ministers, Nawabzada
Malik Amad Khan, Minister of State for
Foreign Affairs, rightly said, "Political div-
idends reaped by Dutch extremist Geert
Wilders in regional elections is encourag-
ing extremists in other countries to resort
to Islam bashing in election campaigns.
Negative stereotyping of the Muslims
and defamation of Islam have become
fashionable under the pretext of freedom
of expression."
The double standards of the facebook
managers becomes crystal clear from the
{cover sTory}
following example. A facebook user, Saad
Mustafa Warraich based in Karachi, cre-
ated an Adolf Hitler page to observe how
much the torch-bearers of freedom of ex-
pression were true in their claims. Within
a short time, tens of people joined the
page named “H | T L E R” but, as expected,
Saad was banned for ‘violation of face-
book regulations’ and his account was
disabled a night before facebook was
banned in Pakistan. Look what the web-
sites’ managers had to say in reply to
Saad’s query, “Hi Saad, After reviewing
your situation, we have determined that
you violated our statement of rights and
responsibilities. One of facebook’s main
priorities is the comfort and safety of our
users. We do not tolerate hate speech.
Targeting people based on their race, eth-
nicity, national origin, religion, sex, gen-
der identity, sexual orientation, disability
or disease is a serious violation of our
standards and has resulted in the perma-
nent loss of your account. We will not be
able to reactivate your account for any
reason. This decision is final.”
Like the 2005 incident, this latest act
of extremism via facebook also angered
Muslims who were shocked by the inci-
dent. In Pakistan also, the Government
blocked the facebook on orders of the La-
hore High Court. Rallies were held
throughout the country to protest the
June 2010 | more | 7
{cover sTory}
sacrilegious move wherein demonstra-
tors shouted anti-American slogans and
burned US, Danish and Swedish flags.
Moreover, PTA also banned websites like
Youtube and more than 450 other links
containing blasphemous material. It may
be mentioned here that YouTube was
also blocked by the government in 2008
to stop access to a movie trailer depicting
Quran-e-Majeed as a fascist book.
But this repetition of blasphemous
When we compare it with the widely publicized
issue of facebook privacy, in that case the situa-
tion has become so problematic for facebook
CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, that he had to cancel the
celebration of his 26th birthday and attend some
very important meetings on the privacy matter
acts by these western extremists also
raises question as to what have the Mus-
lims done to convey their resentment and
anger in a forceful manner. Muslim lead-
ers should have sit together, discussed
and adopted a joint strategy to stop such
extremist actions after the unfortunate
incidents of 2005. The ban on websites is
a temporary solution and for a long-term
and permanent resolution, there is a
need to call a special summit of the Mus-
lim countries to identify and agree on the
ways by which the world community is
strongly conveyed the sentiments of the
whole Muslim Ummah.
Another important issue is that how
long the Muslims will remain dependent
on the western nations for adopting
newer technologies. Had we progressed
in latest technology and competed to de-
velop our own systems, the abovemen-
tioned incidents would never happen as
the people indulging in such blasphe-
8 | more | June 2010
mous acts know that they can easily ex-
ploit Muslims' feeling, for example only in
Pakistan there are around 2.5 million users
of social networking websites. We can see
our helplessness that when the facebook
users in Pakistan complained to its man-
agers, the response was not positive.
When we compare it with the widely
publicized issue of facebook privacy, in
that case the situation has become so
problematic for facebook CEO, Mark
Zuckerberg, that he had to cancel the cel-
ebration of his 26th birthday and attend
some very important meetings on the
privacy matter. Not only thousands of
protesters organized the Quit Facebook
Day, they have also spurred the develop-
ment of a potential competitor for face-
book called Diaspora.
Having been blessed with enviable
natural resources, brain power and enor-
mous chunk of population on the globe,
the Muslims shamelessly and callously
are draining away their talent, human
capital and their prestige even. No power
on earth can dare to challenge the ideo-
logical beliefs of Muslims and humiliate
them to the height of the gross miscon-
duct if they raise a unified voice and are
well-versed with the theory and practice
of technological advancements.
Still there is time that Muslims wake
up and get united to compete technolog-
ically in the rapidly developing world. We
have to realize that occasional protests
and blocking websites will never serve
our cause in the long-term. We have al-
ready experienced it as in 2006
blogger.com and all blogspot.com ad-
dresses were blocked in wake of the Dan-
ish controversy but what is the result,
after almost five years we find ourselves
in the same situation again and this time
its effect is much higher. Then there is an-
other issue that when a website is
blocked, people find rerouting addresses
for its access, therefore it is also important
that there are alternate options for the
users.
No doubt the Muslim community as
a whole and especially Pakistanis have
the potential but due to lack of policies
and government's will, things don't move
forward. In Pakistan, people have tried to
develop local social networking websites
but the projects were not successful due
to lack of proper ground work and more
importantly the government's support.
Soon after the facebook controversy and
court's decision, a local website
"www.apnaface.pk" has been launched
which has successfully attracted a large
number of people who signed up on this
website in just a few hours. Likewise an-
other website "www.merawatan.pk" is
also serving the same purpose. The ex-
amples have been quoted here to show
that potential is there, initiatives are
being taken and it can go a long way if
legal and technical issues are addressed
properly and the government takes up
the issue seriously otherwise we shall
continue to depend on others.
It is happy to note that over the last
few years, research culture has flourished
in Pakistan and our universities/R&D or-
ganizations have started moving in that
direction. After visiting universities' IT de-
partments and Engineering campuses, it
www.apnatime.com
 {cover sTory}

There is a dire need to develop a con-

sensus among the Muslim nations and
utilize our resources for technological
revolution because cyber war can
never be fought in the streets. Do we
even remember as to what was the
purpose of establishing the organiza-
tions like OIC and COMSTECH? Had
these bodies achieved their objectives,
the standing of Muslims at global level
would be very different today.

becomes evident that Pakistan's young professionals have

enough potential to compete in the world of science and technol-
ogy (S&T), what they need is encouragement and facilitation. If
we take the example of google, the project was initiated by uni-
versity students, which has now developed to become a necessity
for citizens of almost every country on the globe. So if serious ef-
forts are made, there is every possibility that we strengthen our
own technological infrastructure and operate independently.
Whatever the case may be, there is no doubt that invitation of
a facebook member to draw blasphemous sketches deserves the
highest level of condemnation. It must be understood interna-
tionally that freedom of expression does not mean that anybody
anywhere gets up and produces material which is highly offensive
to any belief, religion or region etc. Secondly, we as an Ummah
and as a nation must learn that violent protests give harm only to
our own countrymen, and moves like blocking the whole websites
will not help us achieve our cause. It is reiterated that the need is
to develop a consensus among the Muslim nations and utilize our
resources for technological revolution because cyber war can not
be fought in the streets. Do we even remember as to what was
the purpose of establishing the organizations like OIC and COM-
STECH? Had these bodies achieved their objectives, the standing
of Muslims at global level would be very different today.
In this technology-driven world, the cyber experts in the Mus-
lim world must launch conscious efforts to combat the cyber pred-
ators and this is not possible until the Muslim leaders, legislators,
technocrats, academia, intelligentsia, and media in particular feel
their responsibility and act to their fullest. n

www.apnatime.com June 2010 | more | 9

{Telecom | More Report
}

Since taking over paktel, china Mobile has not only increased
investment in local telecommunications infrastructure, it has
also promoted local telecommunication and improved em-
ployment levels. This has been a win-win situation for the two
countries, and contributed to enhancing the pakistani-chi-
nese friendship. It may be mentioned here that china Mobile
is the leading mobile telecom operator in china and is listed
on the hong kong and new york stock markets and has the
highest market value of all telecom operators.

n China Mobile is planning to invest
another US $ 300 million in Pakistan’s
telecommunication sector. It may be re-
called that the company has already in-
vested over $721 million in FDI during the
current financial year. At a time, when the
overall investment scenario is very bleak in
Pakistan, the announcement made by
China Mobile is a welcoming one. Due to
different reasons, many foreign investors
may be reluctant to come to Pakistan but
China, like its strategic investments in differ-
ent other countries, has continued its proj-
ects in Pakistan and the Chinese companies
have not stopped their operations in the
country rather they are expanding it.
ZONG has set up over 5000 cell sites
across the country and the brand is ranked
third as far as number of base stations is
concerned, which is very optimistic both
for the company and Pakistan’s telecom
sector. We may also be proud of the fact
that this is the first-ever venture of China
Mobile outside their homeland. The com-
pany is determined to invest for the devel-
opment of transmission facilities, GSM
networks, support systems and for growth
of new businesses and technologies. The
previous record of the company shows
that it has followed the policy of providing

10 | more | June 2010 www.apnatime.com

 {Telecom}
innovative services and has all the poten- in cellular and fixed-line phone network There was a perception that granting
tial of sustaining a leadership position in over the last seven to eight years. This ex- maximum licenses to fixed-line operators
the telecom industry. pansion has created jobs for hundreds of was enough as the market forces would
Since taking over Paktel, China Mobile thousands of people and this is not lim- themselves play a role for expansion but
has not only increased investment in local ited to one region or province rather it the result was the opposite. It was also an-
telecommunications infrastructure, it has has impacted each and every aspect of ticipated that a fast roll out of wireless
also promoted local telecommunication the socio-economic growth of Pakistan. technology might balance the decreasing
and improved employment levels. This has As per statistics of Pakistan Telecom- fixed-line penetration, in this case also the
been a win-win situation for the two coun- munication Authority, our cellular market consequence was not optimistic as there
tries, and contributed to enhancing the ended 2009 with 97,579,940 subscribers. was a lack of investment by wireless oper-
Pakistani-Chinese friendship. It may be Though the figure of active users may be ators, including Wateen and Wi-tribe who
mentioned here that China Mobile is the less than that but even then it shows the have skillfully redirected their resources for
leading mobile telecom operator in China potential in the Pakistani telecom market. the development of broadband and have
and is listed on the Hong Kong and New As far as mobile users in Asia are con- focused on new technologies like WiMax.
York stock markets and has the highest cerned, the country stands at fifth posi- Then the issues like right of way and lack
market value of all telecom operators. tion, following markets like China, India of unbundling were among major imped-
During the last about six years, the and Indonesia and Japan. iments for the development of fixed line.
It must be realized that a major chunk of
investment will be needed to roll out new
Despite such a big market potential, the country is somehow
generation of fibre networks, which pro-
lacking somewhere, to attract hefty investments. During the vides a wonderful chance to the bigger
last year, the sector’s financial health could not improve as was players of investment.
expected, factors including taxes and falling exchange rates, If we like to see the telecom sector
which placed unprecedented burden on the operators import flourishing and bigger investments coming

bills. Though the operators have swiftly expanded their infra- into the market, the Government will have
to focus on introducing a few radical re-
structure, providing access to majority of the populace but still
forms and a new tax structure as to facilitate
spheres including broadband, wireless, fixed-line and manu- investors from the difficulty of the tax struc-
facturing have huge investment opportunities. ture. It must be realized that tax reforms are
indispensable for attracting and then re-
nations that have invested over 70 per But despite such a big market poten- taining the investors. If our government has
cent in our telecommunication sector in- tial, the country is somehow lacking long-term policies, it will ensure the launch
clude UAE, USA, China and Norway. somewhere, to attract further invest- and implementation of the long-term
Among these, the United Arab Emirates ments. During the last year, the sector’s fi- plans. It is an established fact the world over
has been the foremost investor having al- nancial health could not improve as was that consistent policies increase investors’
most 36 per cent of the whole foreign di- expected, factors including taxes and confidence. The point is not just to criticize
rect investment in Pakistan. falling exchange rates, which placed un- the government, which has otherwise
No doubt Pakistan is an ideal country precedented burden on the operators some very good things to its credit but
for investment, which has in abundance import bills. Though the operators have some fundamental changes need to be in
the English speaking human resource swiftly expanded the infrastructure, pro- place. We need to have simplified, updated
with cost-effective managers and techni- viding access to majority of the populace and transparent laws and regulations sys-
cal workers, an ever-increasing domestic but still spheres including Broadband, tem, and their discretionary application
market having over 160 million con- WLL and manufacturing have huge in- must be discouraged. The availability of
sumers, and an improving physical and vestment opportunities. Similarly, the sit- better quality and more reliable services in
technological infrastructure. That’s the uation in fixed-line penetration should be all areas of infrastructure are key ingredi-
reason that country’s telecom sector has one of the top most priorities for our ents of a business environment conducive
received investment of billions of dollars planners and regulators. to foreign investment. n

www.apnatime.com June 2010 | more | 11

{Telecom | Alina Qureshi
}
n If we thoroughly analyze the face-
book dispute that is a source of anger and
disturbance for the whole Muslim world, ra-
tionally speaking the onus lies on ourselves
because history proves that we always
show knee-jerk reactions to such unfortu-
nate incidents in an emotional manner and
afterwards it becomes a matter of the past.
Let us compare our situation with a recent
dispute between China and Google,
wherein the Chinese government took a
firm stand against the latter for violating the
laws and disseminating content, which was
against the country’s interest.
After a tough round of discussions with
the Chinese government, the Google closed
its search engine based in China (Google.cn)
and redirected them to Hong Kong based
site (Google.com.hk) with the hope that the
Chinese government will relax its censor-
ship of the search engine. But a few hours
after the Google took this step, China was
already censoring those searches from
Google.com.hk which were politically sen-
sitive, but did not block the entire site.
Google may be an influential and dom-
inant setup in the world, but Chinese
sticked to their stance and have been very
12 | more | June 2010
clear as how to control the flow of informa-
tion to its publics, terming the actions of
Google as totally wrong. A representative
of the Chinese government as quoted by
Xinhua news agency said, "Google has vio-
lated its written promise it made when en-
tering the Chinese market by stopping
filtering its searching service and blaming
China in insinuation for alleged hacker at-
tacks. This is totally wrong. We are uncom-
promisingly opposed to the politicisation
of commercial issues, and express our dis-
content and indignation to Google for its
unreasonable accusations and conducts."
Another Chinese IT specialist Chen Yafei
said that Google should have accepted Chi-
nese regulation if it wanted to operate in
the country. “Any company entering China
should abide by Chinese laws. Our internet
users will have no regrets if Google with-
draws," he stressed.
Even the US government showed its dis-
appointment over China’s decision but noth-
ing stopped them from implementing what
they thought is in their national interest.
They did not care that one of the world's fa-
mous corporations is no longer willing to op-
erate in China because of its censorship over
the internet. Rather the situation has created
problems for the Google as the Chinese in-
ternet search market can’t just be ignored,
which is growing by 40 percent a year.
On the other hand, the Chinese search
engine Baidu saw a huge increase in its
search market share due to government’s
disagreement with Google. Baidu's profit
reached $US 70 million in the first quarter.
The profit was helped by online marketing
customers increasing spending by 34 per-
cent. As a result, the market share of Google
was reduced by 4.7 percent in the first quar-
ter, while Baidu's share increased 5.6 percent
in the same period. So much so that Baidu is
looking forward to an increase of $US 268mil-
lion to $US 274 million in the second quarter.
The point to be noted here is that the
way the Chinese government dealt with
Google to implement its own policy for en-
suring security and stability of the country
is an excellent example for the Muslim world
as a whole and also for every individual
country that if we are united and deter-
mined, and are strengthening our own sys-
tems, no external player could dare cross its
limits and implement its own agenda with-
out taking into account our concerns. n
www.apnatime.com
 { saddads | cover sTory}

www.apnatime.com June 2010 | more | 13

{inTerview | More Team
}

Some roles suit certain people more than others. But seldom do you get
the opportunity to watch a role become a person where you, the casual ob-
server, think of a specific designation, that professional comes to mind. Any
company would be fortunate to have a CEO fit that kind of a profile. And
that’s precisely the reason why Naseer Akhtar, President and CEO of InfoTech
Group, is the man with the vision.

when was infoTech established and what are the key

functions of the organization?
Established in 1995. InfoTech, is a recognized market leader in Business &
Information Management Consulting, Technology Solutions Provisioning, Sys-
tems Integration and Outsourcing Services.

what has been the biggest achievement

for infoTech since it was established?
InfoTech was in the running with the likes of Tata Con-
sulting and MIT from Sri Lanka when we were pitching for
the automation of Ghana Stock Exchange and won. That
was the first step in altering the perception the global en-
terprise space had for a Pakistani Systems Integrator.

most men end up following their

father’s steps when it comes to career
decisions. what made you divert to
another field?
I wanted to make something for myself, challenge
naseer akhtar, myself and choose the road less explored. I wanted to
President & CEO, InfoTech discover the world for myself. I have a lot of faith in the
Pakistani brand. There is a ready market of 170 million
people waiting to be served and talent that can be
generated right from it. It’s all here.

14 | more | June 2010


initially when you started,
was your main focus only on
infoTech? when did you realize
that it was time to have more
focused, niche operations?
When we started out, we were doing
everything. And while that works when you
are trying to find your ground, you need to pull
in and start investing into focused areas. Doing
a little bit of everything and little bit of every-
where simply doesn’t work in the long run. We
needed clear focus into identifying our indus-
try, along with figuring out our target market
segments to get a better understand of the
size, nature and type of our customers.
how do you become an
industry leader? what makes
a company stand out?
Like many companies, we were just
spread out too thin. We did everything we
could find in the first 10 years of business.
Later on I spent two years conducting a critical
self-assessment. I envisioned us to be a true
system integrator. Not just a software devel-
opment house, hardware retail shop or a net-
work vendor but a System Integrator who
could handle enterprise-level customers.
many companies say there are
too many challenges when
trying to operate in Pakistan.
Do you agree?
Of course there have been road blocks
that we’ve had to overcome like any other busi-
ness. I think our decision to get into the Enter-
prise segment very early on helped steer our
course. Generally I agree there are more chal-
lenges than many other developing countries.
how do you define good work
ethic and value in the local
industry?
My basic aim is to do to do valuable work;
the kind of work that global enterprise-level
companies roll out and do that for organiza-
tions in Pakistan. Unfortunately local projects
have a problem of size. There isn’t enough of
a sizeable value either being generated or
consumed. But given what exists, I think we
have executed some of the largest projects
available in Pakistan in terms of value, chal-
lenge and complexity. And servicing the local
market becomes a confidence booster for any
company. If you have a strong domestic track
record, only then will that impact and influ-
ence the kind of international work you do.
sustainability has always been
an issue for iT organizations.
what has been previously
done wrong?
I have seen some great companies come
up and then fail because they tried to grow
too quickly and on their own. Take an earlier
System Integrator organization that failed. I
thought the idea was brilliant, though if you
take a closer look at one of their failings, it
was that they didn’t collaborate. ‘Big’ doesn’t
refer to only the size of your company - that’s
where collaborative forces come into the
picture. Being inclusive and willing to collab-
oratively reap the benefits of the effort. That’s
a big ingredient that is missing.
why do you feel companies
need to merge resources in
order to increase services, in
order to generate revenue?
We’ve got too many small companies
and there is great possibility and potential
for sharing resources to increase opera-
tional capacity and outreach. Companies
need collabrations that enable clients to be
serviced in depth and breadth.
Do you feel there is a problem
in the iT sector and is our
government giving enough
revenue to enhance the iT
sector?
That is a big problem and I don’t think
it’s being addressed by enough people.
There is an inherent gap between IT Budget
{inTerview}
versus IT Spend. Take a look at the Govern-
ment sector as an example. Government is
a major spender whether it is technology or
other development expenditure. There is al-
ways such discrepancy between reported
figures and what is really being invested.
The Ministry of IT, for example, had a budget
of Rs.700 million for e-Government. That’s a
little less than $10million. Three months
later, the budget was revised to half where
the figure stood at Rs.340 million, but actu-
ally only spent Rs.60million. That’s less than
$1million in a year! Does a million dollars jus-
tify commitment of any organization to a
long-term cause like e-Government?
how important is the part of a
company in grooming students
who are just stepping into the
professional lives?
I feel companies need to play a more
proactive role in the lives of students. More
than finances, students need support. Men-
toring; the ability to confidently communi-
cate an idea and resolve a difference. These
real life skills are what CEOs need to help
with. The students need to be nurtured and
challenged. More than anything, there is a
large population of young talent that just
needs to be polished. If we don’t invest in
polishing them, we shouldn’t complain that
they aren’t well groomed. This ignorance is
what is going to continue to increase the
gap between the industry and academia.
Students should be required to spend at
least one year at a company as part of their
graduation requirement. And there are a lot
of creative ways to approach this problem.
how would you evaluate
success and do you see
growth for your business?
I am constantly evaluating, I calculate
everything and the combined impact it has
on every single person. I see a lot more
growth provided we continue to focus on
the fundamentals of business.
June 2010 | more | 15
{Banking | Syed Kamran Abbas
n Islamic Banking is a budding sector
in the global financial market with a mar-
velous potential, and a competitive and re-
liable alternate for the traditional banking.
The Islamic financial institutions are oper-
ating throughout the world. Only one Is-
lamic bank existed in 1975 while today
there are hundreds in more than 75 coun-
tries, prominent among them are Pakistan,
Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Egypt, Turkey, Uzbek-
istan, Sudan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Alge-
ria, Morocco, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan,
Malaysia, Yemen, Syria and Kazakhstan.
As per current practice in the Muslim
world, having an overall population of
around 1.7 billion, Islamic banking has two
strides. Some countries have attempted to
change the whole fiscal system according
to Shariah while others have adopted it as
a system parallel to the traditional interest-
based banking. In conventional banking, an
asset is defined as an item with future eco-
nomic benefit attached to it regardless
whether there is legal control by the report-
ing bank. While in the Islamic banking, an
item may be taken as an asset only when
the bank has legal right to hold, use or dis-
pose of the item.
Though the concept of Islamic Banking
16 | more | June 2010
}
Islamic banks should not only target
their marketing towards those con-
sumers who have a religious tilt,
there has to be a competitive system
whereby specialized products and
services are offered, and proper pro-
grams are in place to train relevant
personnel to support these products
and services.
is not new to the banking customers in Pak-
istan but still many of them have doubts
whether the system is really Islamic or not.
Being a Muslim country, majority of cus-
tomers may think of adopting products and
services of Islamic banking, provided they are
truly Islamic and offer all the necessary serv-
ices in an efficient manner. While some of
them do not go for halal banking products
feeling insecure as what will happen if credit
facilities are withdrawn. However, if Islamic
banking is a success in non-Islamic countries
like Singapore, UK, Australia etc, there is no
reason that it does not do well in Pakistan,
where a large number of consumers are al-
ready inclined towards interest-free banking.
On the other hand, looking at the past
attitude of consumer satisfaction, it has
been observed that the quality of services
plays a significant role in attracting the cus-
tomers, which include paying proper atten-
tion with politeness, capacity of human
resource to properly manage different
tasks, and accuracy of information while re-
sponding to queries. So it is not only that Is-
lamic banks target their marketing towards
those consumers who have a religious tilt,
there has to be a competitive system
whereby specialized products and services
are offered and proper programs are in
place to train relevant personnel to support
these products and services.
Meezan Bank Limited received the first
Islamic commercial banking license from
SBP in January 2002 while the State Bank of
Pakistan established its Islamic Banking De-
partment in 2003 with an aim to develop
the Shariah compliant banking as an alter-
nate and reliable banking system, which
goes well with the international financial
sector and assures an equitable economic
growth. And over the years, the progress of
Islamic Banking in Pakistan has been com-
mendable. Currently there are a number of
licensed Islamic Banks and many conven-
tional banks are managing their Islamic
Banking Branches in more than 50 cities
across the country
In a nutshell, Islamic banking is big busi-
ness and is growing everyday. However, in
order for Islamic banks to be competitive
with conventional products and attractive
to customers, Islamic financial products
must meet the risk/reward profiles of in-
vestors and issuers while fulfilling the tenets
of Shariah and remaining sufficiently cost-
effective. Moreover, Islamic banks must ed-
ucate their personnel to understand the
tenets of Islamic law that pertain to bank-
ing, and to train them to comply with
Shariah as they serve their Islamic customer
population. n
www.apnatime.com
 { saddads | cover sTory}

www.apnatime.com June 2010 | more | 17

{Technology | Sumaira Mudassar
}
n In this age of online revolution, majority of people do
not even remember the time when the transmissions of Pak-
istan Television ended daily with Farman-e-Elahi, and thus the
viewers had no other choice but go to sleep. During a span of
about two decades, technology has developed so rapidly that
18 | more | June 2010
our lifestyles have dramatically changed. Now one can watch
television from any location in the world, at any time and almost
free of cost. After dish antenna and cable television, the next
upcoming development is the online television. It may be from
your desktop, laptop and even through the mobile phone.
www.apnatime.com

Internet television is basically the dissemination of television
content through Internet. Television, as we know it, was a cen-
tralized and controlled medium with networks choosing the
type and scheduling of content. Even some people would not
feel good when they could not watch their favourite show at
their preferred time. With the passage of time, different record-
ing technologies developed that gave users the freedom to
view that content as per their convenience. And a time has
In Pakistan, Internet television is still an advent and going
through the evolutionary period. The online TV service
providers are still experimenting with a variety of access and
distribution programs so as to balance the ease of use and
market appeal with licensing and other considerations.
Looking at its scope, it may be assumed that Internet TV will
become a big part of the media revolution, as the already
existing types of media struggle to acclimatize to the en-
veloping influence of the new media.
come when the content distribution has become so quick and
easily accessible that the audiences now anticipate much easier
access to the desired stuff.
A very recent example has been to watch live cricket online
through PCs. With the advances in internet connections and
broadband capabilities, many of the Pakistani spectators
watched live streaming cricket online. Just imagine that a cricket
fan may follow his team online through a high-quality service
without interruption. He may be at work, abroad but he can just
login and watch live cricket.
The speedy broadband has made the experience much more
appealing. The television networks have realized that they will
have to provide online access to their news and programs. There
is an increasing desire among the viewers to watch the content
on their PCs and mobiles. Though attempts to display media on
computers date back to the earliest days of computing, however,
little progress was made for several decades, primarily due to
high cost and limited capabilities of computer hardware. Since
the technology is advancing with every passing day, same is the
progress of the internet media. It should not come as a surprise
to those interested to watch television on computers as there
are millions already doing so. Billions of video streams are
watched every single day and people are getting used to watch-
ing entertainment media using their PCs online.
www.apnatime.com
{Technology}
Though Internet television is like receiving signals via an an-
tenna or a chain of cable wires, the distinction is that informa-
tion is shared as data over the Internet. Similarly, a viewer may
discover more diversity on Internet than the other forms of mass
media. Moreover, in addition to many of your favorite programs,
different websites present independently produced programs
for specific people. If you want to watch a show on cooking, for
example, you could probably find it more easily over the Inter-
net than on regular TV.
Pakistan has seen a tremen-
dous growth in the electronic
media in the last seven to eight
years, for which the previous
regime must be given the credit.
The open media policy has re-
sulted in every big group opening
up its television channel. One can
easily judge the level of competi-
tion among different news and
entertainment channels in Pak-
istan. To survive in the market and
retain their viewers is not an easy
task and the new dimension of In-
ternet television has made things more challenging for them.
The technicality of accessing the content through Internet
is another big question. During the primitive years of internet
TV, peer-to-peer (P2P) networks were the best choice available
for the users. It is easier for such networks to share heavy video
files. Through this system, users had to download files entirely
before viewing but the cost of continuing with P2P servers and
network that could endure the ever-increasing demand proved
to be very complex. Therefore, most providers converted to
streaming, which delivers the content as it is viewed.
In Pakistan, Internet television is still an advent and going
through the evolutionary period. The online TV service
providers are still experimenting with a variety of access and
distribution programs so as to balance the ease of use and mar-
ket appeal with licensing and other considerations. Looking at
its scope, it may be assumed that Internet TV will become a big
part of the media revolution, as the already existing types of
media struggle to acclimatize to the enveloping influence of the
new media.
It is hoped that the Government would apprehend the chal-
lenges for the proper regulation of Internet television and unlike
PEMRA’s attitude towards the private television channels, either
too relaxed or too stringent, would take concrete steps to legal-
ize the emerging dimension of new media. n
June 2010 | more | 19
{Technology | More Report
}

An important task being carried out by the

n The Technology Incubation Centre (TIC) of the Centre is to maintain constant liaison with
National University of Sciences and Technology
(NUST) was established in 2004 to replicate the con-
public and private sector enterprises and
cept of incubators in the country. The Centre is one of funding sources, government agencies, in-
those glaring projects of the University, which have dustrial associations, chambers and the Fed-
helped the institution to become a world renowned
University.
eration of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce
The mission of TIC, a unique centre of its kind, is and Industry so as to provide facilitation and
to provide an environment that attracts and nurtures networking for incubatee companies.
technology based start-up companies transforming
them into commercially viable enterprises. It helps
potential entrepreneurs including students, University’s faculty through their deas, prototype development etc, NUST has es-
members as well as general public to incubate their technology tablished a dedicated cell to assist the aspiring individuals to
based companies. It also provides support to different con- guard their intellectual marvel from theft. TIC also offers a spa-
stituent colleges, institutes and centers of NUST to patent their cious office with latest infrastructure providing a congenial en-
research and development work. vironment to the individuals. Moreover, it provides training and
Set up in a rented accommodation at the time of its incep- guidance to the individuals to set up their businesses and pro-
tion, TIC Tower is being built in the new campus of University in mote their technological breakthroughs.
Islamabad, which can accommodate more than 15 hi-tech start- Shoaib Alam, a young entrepreneur, who has graduated
up companies. A number of these companies are expected to from TIC, has successfully launched his own business venture
graduate from the Technology Incubator into the country’s first “Turnotech” that provides Infrastructure Solutions, Network
Technology Park creating hundreds of new job opportunities Planning and Optimization Charging and Payment Solutions,
thus stimulating technology based economic growth. Enterprise 2.0 – Collaboration and Dash Boards.
An important task being carried out by the Centre is to “TIC is playing a pivotal role in developing physical infra-
maintain constant liaison with public and private sector enter- structure extending its operational help, legal expertise, identi-
prises and funding sources, government agencies, industrial as- fication of funding options and training for the aspiring
sociations, chambers and the Federation of Pakistan Chambers entrepreneurs which is contributing to our economic growth
of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) so as to provide facilitation and TIC is providing a platform to the young entrepreneurs to
and networking for incubatee companies. materialize their innovative ideas”, says Mr. Shoaib.
In order to protect the intellectual property rights such as The activities of the Centre show that it will serve as an im-
copyrights, patent and trademarks of the individuals who suc- petus for others to initiate similar ventures and it will definitely
cessfully accomplish the technological developments whether be a significant contribution to the country’s economy. n

20 | more | June 2010 www.apnatime.com


n Forget about robots taking over the
world, as we now have something else to
worry about, Synthetic life forms. Re-
searchers in the US have developed the first
synthetic living cell.
Dr. Craig J. Venter has created a syn-
thetic life cell by inserting DNA-like code
into a group of cells; he generated a digital
code using a computer, and now it is some-
how self replicating as the genome in a
group of living cells.
The scientists hope to use this technol-
ogy to design a new bacteria, which could
be programmed to perform specific func-
tions, and they have even said that they
could eventually develop a bacteria that
could absorb carbon dioxide which could
help repair damage to the environment.
Dr Craig Venter, a multi-millionaire pio-
neer in genetics, and his team have man-
aged to make a completely new "synthetic"
life form from a mix of chemicals.
They manufactured a new chromo-
some from artificial DNA in a test tube, then
transferred it into an empty cell and
watched it multiply – the very definition of
being alive.
The man-made single cell "creature",
which is a modified version of one of the
simplest bacteria on earth, proves that the
www.apnatime.com
technology works.
Now Dr Venter believes organism, nick-
named Synthia, will pave the way for more
complex creatures that can transform envi-
ronmental waste into clean fuel, vaccinate
against disease and soak up pollution.
But his development has also triggered
debate over the ethics of "playing god" and
the dangers of the new technology could
pose in terms of biological hazards and
warfare.
"We are entering an era limited only by
our imagination," he said announcing the
research published in the journal Science.
Dr Venter, a pioneer of genetic code se-
quencing and his team at the J Craig Venter
Institute in Rockville, Maryland, have been
chasing the goal for more than 15 years at
a cost of £30m.
First they sequenced the genetic code
of Mycoplasma genitalium, the world's
smallest bacteria that lives in cattle and
goats, and stored the information on a
computer.
Then they used the computer code to
artificially reproduce the DNA in the lab-
oratory, slightly modifying it with a "wa-
termark" so it was distinguishable from
the original natural one.
Finally they developed a technique of
{Technology}
stripping bacteria cells of all original DNA
and substituting it with the new artificial
code.
The resulting "synthetic cell" was then
"rebooted" and it started to replicate. The
ability to reproduce or replicate is consid-
ered the basic definition of life.
Dr Venter compared his work with the
building of a computer. Making the artificial
DNA was the equivalent of creating the
software for the operating system. Transfer-
ring it to a cell was like loading it into the
hardware and running the programme.
"This is the first synthetic cell that's been
made, and we call it synthetic because the
cell is totally derived from a synthetic chro-
mosome, made with four bottles of chemi-
cals on a chemical synthesizer, starting with
information in a computer," said Dr Venter.
June 2010 | more | 21
{Technology}
"This becomes a very powerful tool for
trying to design what we want biology to
do. We have a wide range of applications [in
mind]," he said.
The researchers are planning to design
algae that can capture carbon dioxide and
make new hydrocarbons that could go into
refineries.
They are also working on ways to speed
up vaccine production, making new chem-
icals or food ingredients and cleaning up
water, said Dr Venter.
While a major technological leap for-
ward the life form is still incredibly simple in
natural terms. Its DNA is made up of 485
genes, each strand of which is made up of
one million base pairs, the equivalent of
rungs on a ladder.
A human genome has 20,000 genes
and three billion base pairs.
Nevertheless it is the beginning of the
process that could lead to creation of much
more complicated species, and into a world
of artificial animals and people only envis-
aged in films such as Ridley Scott's
Bladerunner and Steven Spielberg's Artifi-
cial Intelligence.
Professor Julian Savulescu, an expert in
Practical Ethics at the University of Oxford,
said: “Venter is creaking open the most pro-
found door in humanity’s history, poten-
tially peeking into its destiny.
"He is going toward the role of a god:
creating artificial life that could never have
existed naturally.
"The potential is in the far future, but
real and significant: dealing with pollution,
new energy sources, new forms of commu-
nication. But the risks are also unparalleled.
"We need new standards of safety eval-
uation for this kind of radical research and
protections from military or terrorist misuse
and abuse.
"These could be used in the future to
make the most powerful bioweapons
imaginable."
Dr David King, director of the watchdog
Human Genetics Alert, said: “What is really
dangerous is these scientists’ ambitions for
total and unrestrained control over nature,
which many people describe as ‘playing
God’.
“Scientists’ understanding of biology
falls far short of their technical capabilities.
We have already learnt to our cost the risks
that gap brings, for the environment, ani-
mal welfare and human health.”
Dr Venter has called for reviews so that
debate keeps up with the science.
He said: "It's part of an ongoing process
that we've been driving, trying to make
sure that the science proceeds in an ethical
fashion, that we're being thoughtful about
what we do and looking forward to the im-
plications to the future."
Courtesy: telegraph.co.uk

can they make living beings?
GreekReporter.com talked to Aristides Patrinos, Greek
scientist behind the creation of the first synthetic bacterial
cell by J. Craig Venter Institute. Dr. Patrinos is currently the
President of Synthetic Genomics Inc, the company that
funds most of J. Craig Venter Institute’s research. Before
he was the director of the Office of Biological and Environ-
mental Research overseeing human and microbial
genome research, structural biology, nuclear medicine
and health effects and global climate change. Being one
of the most respected scientists in his field he has received
numerous awards and honorary degrees, including three
Presidential Rank Awards and two Secretary of Energy
Gold Medals. Dr. Patrinos talked to GreekReporter about
the benefits of his recent discovery.
what does your new achievement (activat-
ing a cell with a lab made chromosome)
means for us (people who are not scientists)?
It means a new era for biotechnology because it gives
us a much more powerful tool to apply for solutions to the
major challenges we face in medicine, energy, and the en-
vironment. They include far more effective vaccines, bet-
ter and cheaper biofuels and biochemicals, and new ways
to clean up the environment such as the current spill in
the Gulf of Mexico.
Does this mean we can create artificial life
and in what form? how close are we?
The scientific accomplishment we reported last week
was a proof-of-principle that DNA is the software of a cell.
The DNA was synthesized chemically to match the DNA
of an existing organism (call that A) and was then placed
into the cell of a related organism (call that B) inactivating
the host genome. The invading genome booted up the
cell which eventually assumed all the characteristics of A.
Keep in mind that these are single cell organisms. Very
small but very much alive.
what can be the benefits and applications
of artificial life?
I gave some examples above. Especially designed mi-
crobes can also be used for targeted therapies such as de-
livering specific chemicals to internal organs and changing
metabolic rates. Keep in mind that our body is composed
of 100 trillion cells but we also have at least that many mi-
crobial cells on us and within us. Influencing them in spe-
cific ways can lead to new ways to cure diseases.
will we ever be able to create a human
being? is that the scientists goal?
I hope not, and it is certainly not our goal. Such things
are just in the science fantasy realm.

22 | more | June 2010 www.apnatime.com

 {leaTesT in Tech}

www.apnatime.com June 2010 | more | 23

{laTesT in Tech}

Chairman Microsoft India Ravi Venkatesan (L) and Director Microsoft Business
Solutions Microsoft India Sanjay Manchanda (R) pose for a picture during the
launch of The Microsoft Office 2010 system in New Delhi on May 13, 2010.
Microsoft India announced the availability of Office 2010, SharePoint 2010,
Visio 2010 and Project 2010 for business customers in India and across the
world.

A natural foot replica in form

of a prosthesis is displayed at
the booth of German Otto
Bock HealthCare GmbH at
the international trade show
for orthopedics and rehabil- A worker of Polish Bank BPS (Bank Polskiej
itation technology in Leipzig, Spoldzielczosci) shows how to withdraw money
eastern Germany from a cash machine in Warsaw on May 11,
2010 using finger vein biometric technology.

A model stands next to

the Toyota Plug-in Hybrid acer aspire Timeline 1825pT notebook
Prius concept car at the Acer has added
Beijing Auto China 2010 another convert-
show held in Beijing. The ible notebook to
first Chinese-made car to its range with
hit the U.S. market might the launch of the
be an all-electric minivan Acer Aspire
that skips over gasoline Timeline 1825PT.
technology and gets a The Acer Aspire
head start on the auto in- Timeline 1825PT
dustry's next era features an 11.6
inch multitouch,
swivel LCD dis-
play with a reso-
lution of 1,366 x
A model wears 3d glasses displays a 768 pixels. Pro-
note book computer able to display 3D cessing comes in the form of an Intel Core 2 Duo processor and graphics is
images, by Asus, at a press conference in provided by integrated Intel 3500MHD graphics, memory is in the form of
Tokyo on April 14, 2010. The new 3D up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM.
note book computer is equipped with The Acer Aspire Timeline 1825PT also features integrated 802.11 a/b/g/n
Intel's Core i&-720QM processor on its WiFi, a web camera, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and the choice of either a 250GB
CPU and a 15.6-inch LCD display. or 320GB hard drive.
The Acer Aspire Timeline 1825PT will come with Windows 7 home Premium
and prices start at £599, about $886.

24 | more | June 2010 www.apnatime.com

 {laTesT in Tech}

nvIdIa’s Tegra 2 android Tablet

NVIDIA has shown off a prototype tablet which runs Google’s Android OS at this
years Google I/O conference. The NVIDIA Android tablet features their 1GHz
Tegra 2 processor and a 9.7 inch wide screen display. Other specifications include
1GB of RAM, two USB ports and a front facing camera, as you will see in the
video below, the tablet is still in the prototype stage and we can see it running
a game, it certainly does look very polished.

nike plus heart rate Monitor for iphone and ipod

launching June 1st
It looks like Nike’s heart rate monitor for the iPod and iPhone is scheduled to launch soon in
the US and the heart rate monitor will be an add on to the existing Nike+ devices. As well as
being able to track your distance and various other statistics with the Nike+ devices, users will
also be able to monitor their heart rate with this new add on. There are no details as yet on
how much the Nike+ Heart Rate monitor will retail for, it is also expected to launch in Europe
and other countries later this summer.

German Bertolt Meyer shows the handling of his finger prosthesis made by
Scottish company Touch Bionics at the international trade show for orthope-
dics and rehabilitation technology in Leipzig, eastern Germany

A woman plays with an electricity display near the Chevrolet Volt MPV5 con-
cept electric car at the Beijing Auto China 2010 show held in Beijing. The
first Chinese-made car to hit the U.S. market might be an all-electric minivan
that skips over gasoline technology and gets a head start on the auto indus-
try's next era.

Sony CEO Howard Stringer, left, and Intel CEO Paul Otellini smiles during a
Google TV announcement at the Google conference in San Francisco

www.apnatime.com June 2010 | more | 25

{review | More in house
}

26 | more | June 2010 www.apnatime.com


n The HTC Tattoo is a very distinctive
phone for users who wish to express
themselves. The unique features make
this smart phone conspicuous, which has
inspired users worldwide. In addition to
the superior connectivity, the HTC Tattoo
is a standard smart phone package, the
first-generation Android having typically
crowded navigation deck – including
hardware call buttons. The HTC Tattoo is
compact and the rounded edges make
HTC Tattoo offers for a pleasant look. It’s definitely a phone
for the young and also gives it a mature
outstanding con- businesslike frontage.
Though it runs on Android OS’s ver-
nectivity options. sion 1.6 but its preinstalled Sense UI
7.2Mbps HSDPA, makes a vivid difference. It is the same
thing that users get with the high-flying
Wi-Fi and Blue- HTC Hero but with a major difference. The
QVGA resolution does not do the Tattoo
tooth 2.0 are the user interface justice. The contact details
highlights, be- gives basic information for the contact, in-
cluding name, snap, numbers, emails etc.
sides features like Voice quality of the HTC Tattoo is good
while the call volume is demure. The dialer
quad-band GSM features a keypad and a list of contacts be-
and USB 2.0. neath and also has smart dialing.
It can handle every form of messages
like SMS, MMS and email very easily.
Email support is perfect and the social
media buffs will be pleased with the level
of integration of that content as well. Like
on other Androids, if you have only one
SMS message, a line in the notification
area displays the sender and part of the
message itself. The SMS and MMS border
is fairly simple there are no folders, just a
new message button. The gallery has a
novel menu list-with-thumbnail structure
to replace the previous view. The Albums
app automatically searches images and
videos, no matter where they are stored.
Images and videos stored in different
folders appear in different sub-galleries
that get the name of the folder - quite ef-
fective file management. The users can
access the video files from the subfolder
www.apnatime.com
{review}
easily, with no separate icon for video
player in the main menu. The video files
can also be shared on Gmail, HTC mail,
Messages or YouTube.
The view of the music library is the
Artists section, but you can easily switch to
one of the other six tabs beneath, which
are for Albums, All Songs, Playlists, Genres,
Composers and Purchased.
HTC Tattoo has a 3-megapixel camera
having no flash. That keeps users’ expecta-
tions low. The camera interface is pretty sim-
ple with little controls and few customization
options. There is a camera/camcorder switch
and a gallery button. The confirm button
serves as a shutter key. The video is not much
better either. The phone captures CIF video
at 15 fps. Bringing the resolution down to
QVGA increases the framerate and fixes
things up a bit but videos still do not get as
smooth as we would have liked. The cam-
corder interface sports a setting for picking
between MP4 and 3GP encoding, which give
a choice between smaller file and a higher-
quality video.
HTC Tattoo offers outstanding con-
nectivity options. 7.2Mbps HSDPA, Wi-Fi
and Bluetooth 2.0 are the highlights, be-
sides features like quad-band GSM and
USB 2.0. Accessing the connectivity op-
tions can be done via the Main Menu by
looking up Wireless controls under Set-
tings. On the Android market, the QVGA
screen is limiting the HTC Tattoo in terms
of compatible content. The market ap-
plies automatic filtering, listing only ap-
plications compatible with the QVGA
resolution. Anyway, the number of com-
patible applications must have increased
since the launch of the Tattoo. And it's
only likely to keep going up now that
more QVGA droids are emerging.
Having critically analyzed all that, it
becomes obvious that HTC Tattoo has no
stable competitor in the market. You can
not find handset with the same price and
similar characteristics. n
June 2010 | more | 27
{review}
n Dell is a global technology leader in
computers, offering the latest range of
high-performance Notebook computers,
including the Dell-“Studio” and Dell-“Insp-
iron” series. These futuristic and stylish ma-
chines are powered by the latest Intel “Core
i-Processors” delivering unprecedented in-
telligence, speed and storage capacity. Core
i-processors are the latest technological
tools for enhancing computer performance
to the Next-Level.
As a result, the Dell-Inspiron-Mini offers
revolutionary capabilities and unmatched
speed contained inside a compact shell. The
Stylish Inspiron-Mini comes in a wide array
of colors like Pretty-Pink, Obsidian-Black,
Cherry-Red, Passion-Purple and many more.
The communication and social net-
working enthusiasts can find diverse
modes of self-expression through these
products. Users with a heavy appetite for In-
ternet access anywhere, anytime, can now
fulfill their passion for performance, design
and style with these latest Dell Notebooks.
The salient features of Dell’s new range of
Notebooks are stated as under:
Dell studio 1557 (i7-720 core)
Studio 1557 is the most advanced, Top-
of-the-Line Notebook from Dell, powered by
the Intel Core: i7-720QM processor, which is
globally acknowledged as the ultimate pro-
cessing tool for computers today. The fantas-
tic performance of Dell Studio 1557 is
28 | more | June 2010
reflected by its 1.6GHz processing speed, en-
hanced by Turbo up to 2.8GHz, along with 4
Threads and a 6MB Cache memory.
The Dell Studio 1557 boasts a 4GB DDR-
3 Random Access Memory (RAM), along
with a 320 GB Hard Drive. The other desir-
able capabilities of Studio 1557 include
WiFi, Bluetooth, LAN, Web camera, and a
Card Reader.
The most advanced Operating system
branded as the “Windows-7 Home Basic”
makes this machine a dream computer for
every user who seeks the Lasting Top qual-
ity of Dell, and wants to achieve total free-
dom in communication, processing and
entertainment. Dell Studio offers the most
impressive value-for-money. Available at a
very reasonable price of Rs. 89,900/-
inspiron 1464/1564 (i-5/520 core)
The premium model of Dell Inspiron
1464/1564 series comes with a speedy
Intel i5/520M Core processor, presenting
a speed of 2.4GHz, which goes upto
2.93GHz through a Turbo option. Addi-
tionally, a 3MB Cache Memory and 4
Threads are also included. This Notebook
also comprises a 4GB DDR-3 RAM and
powerful Hard-Drive options of 320GB
and 500GB. Other worthy features in-
clude WiFi, Bluetooth, LAN, Web-camera,
Card Reader and a Disk Operating System
(DOS). This highly capable machine is at-
tractively priced at Rs. 79,900/-.
inspiron 1464/1564 (i-5/430 core)
Another Inspirational Notebook model
from Dell is the Inspiron 1464/1564 with an
Intel Core i-5/430M processor that offers an
amazing speed of 2.26GHz, that reaches upto
2.53GHz using Turbo. Other features include
4 Threads and a 3MB Cache. It has a 3GB DDR-
3 RAM and a 320GB Hard Drive. At an eco-
nomical price of Rs. 68,900/-, this amazing
Notebook offers great communicative and
interactive capabilities like; WiFi, Bluetooth,
LAN, Webcam, Card Reader and DOS.
inspiron 1464/1564 (i3/330 core)
Extending truly unmatched features at
a truly unmatched price of Rs. 59,900/-, the
Dell Inspiron comes with a capable, eco-
nomical, and agile i3/330M Core processor,
offering an amazing speed of 2.13GHz
along with 4 Threads and a Cache memory
of 3MB. This impressive computing device
is complete with a 2GB DDR-3 RAM, a
250GB Hard Drive, WiFi, Blue Tooth, LAN,
Webcam, Card Reader and DOS. This ma-
chine is the best buy in its category, offering
great value-for-money to the consumers.
Another remarkable highlight of all Dell
Notebooks is the exceptionally long battery-
life for extended and continuous usage.
Therefore, it is concluded that Dell has cre-
ated truly exclusive digital experiences with
powerful Multi-core technology, providing
all the bandwidth needed for next-genera-
tion, highly-threaded applications. n
www.apnatime.com
 { saddads | cover sTory}

www.apnatime.com June 2010 | more | 29

{review}

30 | more | June 2010 www.apnatime.com


n Navibot is the first robot vacuum cleaner we have seen from
a major manufacturer since the short-lived Electrolux Trilobite back
in 2001. Samsung claims that its new Navibot uses market-leading
technology and innovation to deliver faster, more intelligent clean-
ing than rival robot vacuum cleaners.
smarter cleaning
Rather than bouncing around the room erratically like other
robot vacuum cleaners we’ve seen, the Samsung Navibot comes
with a visionary mapping system.
The NaviBot has 38 sensors to ensure more reliable cleaning
and to avoid problems such as falling down the stairs, severe colli-
sion and getting entangled in cables. The NaviBot easily accesses
difficult areas to reach in a home, such as under the coffee table,
and is perfectly suited for everyday cleaning.
Featuring a Visionary MappingTM System, NaviBot is driven by
a level of intelligence never seen before. Two CPU control chips run
the “brain” behind an innovative intelligent navigation program, al-
lowing the NaviBot to see your home and remember where it is at
all times in relation to objects and the charging base. A small inte-
grated camera provides a Visionary MappingTM System, taking 30
photos per second of the room.
Using these images, NaviBot creates a virtual map of the home, iden-
tifying the exact location of obstacles such as furniture and interior dec-
orations. Calculating the quickest and safest route to take, the NaviBot is
Samsung & “orbit” announce hd-Tv partnership
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a global leader in digital
media and digital convergence technologies, has signed a
sponsorship agreement with Orbit Showtime Network (OSN)
to support the launch of Orbit’s High-Definition (HD) decoders
and channel line-up. OSN is the first and only broadcaster, in
the Middle-East region, offering an exclusive bouquet of high-
definition channels
The agreement will span all of OSN’s offerings in the Mid-
dle-East, from 1st May, 2010 to 30th September 2011, and
highlight the enhanced experience of OSN HD viewing, en-
abled by Samsung’s HD-TVs. The Samsung-OSN HD partner-
ship will offer unparalleled entertainment experience with 75
premium channels including eight HD channels – such as OSN
Movies, Show Sports 1 HD, Nat Geo Wild HD, and Food Net-
work HD among others.
The General Manager Samsung Pakistan, Mr. Steve Han
said: “Our partnership with OSN marks the collaboration of two
leaders in home entertainment. As OSN’s new HD decoder roll-
www.apnatime.com
{review}
able to clean the house using the smartest amount of time and effort.
If one charge is not enough to finish cleaning a particular zone,
NaviBot automatically returns to its docking station without losing
its way and fully recharges within 2 hours. The NaviBot is then able
to restart to clean from the exact location where it left off. Two
rooms or 10 rooms, NaviBot can do the job.
robot vacuum settings
When set to ‘auto’ the Navibot will clean a whole house without
stairs by moving to a new room each time it finishes one - without
you needing to pick it up or move it around. The base unit needs
to be placed somewhere the Navibot can access easily - so not
tucked away in an awkward corner.
The ‘max’ setting instructs the robot vacuum cleaner to clean
until its battery runs out and then return to its docking station. A
‘spot’ mode concentrates the Navibot on any particularly dirty
patches for it to thoroughly clean. There’s a remote control and a
manual setting so you can direct the Navibot yourself if you fancy
it. You can also delay the start of cleaning for up to 23 hours on the
basic model.
If you go for the more expensive version of the Navibot you can
use the weekly scheduler to program it to clean at a set time each day.
It’s also got two anti-tangle sensors which automatically un-
wind any cords or tassles that it gets tangled in. Plus it has a HEPA
filter to trap dust and allergens. n
out offers unprecedented content quality and choice, Sam-
sung has become the recommended brand for HD-TV prod-
ucts. We will be deploying our leading technologies and
distinctive marketing platforms to create a long-term associa-
tion with OSN. This will further enhance our market share in
the Middle-East region”.
Marc-Antoine d’Halluin President and CEO of OSN said:
Watching HD content on an HD ready TV will offer the ultimate
TV experience. We are proud to partner with Samsung. It really
highlights us as front-runners in the industry”.
With cutting-edge television technology, Samsung will be
bolstering its full line up of HD flat panel televisions for a com-
prehensive 3D TV solution. The HD 1080i delivers an excep-
tional audio-visual quality, offered by the OSN along with
“Dolby Digital plus”. Samsung’s latest 3D LED Televisions can
also convert 2D signals into genuine 3D content. Several value-
added offerings will be realized through this partnership to
create the best home entertainment solution.
June 2010 | more | 31
{review | Meraj Alam
}
n Air pollution in our environment has
increased multi-folds and is causing a num-
ber of health-related problems for us. What
most of us are oblivious of is that indoor
pollution is more harmful that outdoor pol-
lution as stated by WHO (World Health Or-
ganization).
Home environments today contain air-
borne allergens, infections, irritants and tox-
ins that can reduce the quality of life and
cause disease. Indoor work and living envi-
ronments concentrate air contaminants
and create "sick buildings."
A decrease in indoor air quality is the re-
sult of reduced ventilation and inefficient
construction practices, sealing homes and
office buildings from the outdoor environ-
ment. Reduced ventilation contributes to
the "Sick Building Syndrome" (SBS) with
symptoms such as headache, fatigue,
malaise, mental confusion, eye and throat
irritation, coughing and wheezing.
Air inside buildings contains local
aerosols that are more concentrated than
outdoor air. A smoker in the living room of
a house produces a toxic aerosol that per-
meates the rest of the house. Smoke parti-
cles settle on walls and every object in a
room so that a smoker leaves a trail of con-
tamination that non-smokers smell as soon
as they enter the room.
It is a well-known fact that we all love
rain in our part of the world. It al-
most always leaves us with a sense
of revitalization that is not experi-
enced on hot and sunny days. The
rain makes us feel more vibrant
and active because the negative
ions discharged by lightening ac-
32 | more | June 2010
tually work against polluted air which
makes the environment pleasant.
Unfortunately, the days without rains in
Pakistan are much higher than the rainy
days. These days mostly make us feel
drowsy and dull due to which we can’t give
our best to the work we do. Particularly, the
fast-paced lifestyle that majority of urban
Pakistanis are leading today results in high
stress levels and very little time to pay at-
tention to a healthy lifestyle. High levels of
indoor and outdoor pollution in Pakistan’s
urban areas further reduces our chances of
enjoying natural fresh air that makes us feel
so good. Our most common shield from
summer heat is air conditioner. While air
conditioners are known to provide tempo-
rary relief from the cruel heat of summer,
they are not a good defence against indoor
pollution. With the increasing pollution in
the environment and the fact that Split AC
only re-circulates the air in the room with-
out any fresh air exchange, the air in the
room gets heavily polluted after some time
and lacks oxygen. Until now, the air condi-
tioning solutions available in the Pakistani
market only provided cooling without any
other feature.
Dawlance is the leading household
name in Pakistan as a reliable consumer
electronics maker. Dawlance has always
aimed to develop products that compli-
ment the consumers’ lifestyle. For this rea-
son, Dawlance pay much attention to what
its consumers need. With the goal to pro-
vide better products to consumers in mind,
Dawlance Research Team decided to con-
duct a study around air conditioner usage
and what consumers really expect from the
product. The study revealed that con-
sumers are looking for more value-added
features in air conditioner particularly those
who are health conscious. Consumers be-
lieve that air conditioner is not just sup-
posed to cool the air but also clean, refresh
and purify the atmosphere of the room.
With this need identified, taking a step
ahead from the healthy lifestyle perspec-
tive, Dawlance is introducing a new air con-
ditioner with a combination of
health-related features to cater to the con-
sumer’s latent need of breathing clean and
fresh air in an air conditioned environment.
The new H-Zone air conditioner can
offer the kind of healthy indoor environ-
ment that regular air conditioners have not
been able to offer so far. It is a complete air
conditioning machine that improves the
indoor environment while
taking care of all our health
needs. H-Zone air conditioner
has a special Built-in Health
Sensor that detects the quality
of air in the room and in case
www.apnatime.com

of air getting polluted (with reference to
the quality of air at the time of starting the
AC); it indicates the user to open up the
window to refresh the air. This Health Sen-
sor is particularly efficient in detecting to-
bacco smoke and alcohol/spirit. H-Zone air
conditioner is also equipped with an Ion-
izer that becomes active at the time of air
quality warning to clean and refresh the air.
An environment where positive ions are
high, lower energy level and drowsiness is
experienced. Contrary to this, when nega-
tive ions are released in air they create a re-
vitalising effect in the environment and
help a person feel more active and ener-
getic. . H-Zone air conditioner is also
equipped with Filter Cleaning Detector
Kinnaird College Students captur-
ing photos of their favorite Singer
Ali Zafar at the memorable musical
night organized by Mobilink Jazz
www.apnatime.com
which alerts the user when it is time for the
filter to be cleaned.
Supplementing the Filter Clean De-
tector, H-Zone air conditioner also con-
tains Evaporator Self-Cleaning function.
This feature also automatically cleans the
dust that settles on the evaporator. One
of the main causes of odour emitting
from an air conditioner is the mould and
bacteria growth on the evaporator due to
excess accumulation of dust and water.
This function can clean the evaporator
automatically and reduce the possibility
of mould and bacteria breeding inside
the air conditioner. This means that the
evaporator also act as a deodorizer and
protects the room environment from any
Versatile Singer & Mobilink
Jazz Brand Ambassador Ali
Zafar entertaining the Kinnaird
College Students at the musi-
cal concert night
{monTh in Focus}
kind of unpleasant or repulsive smell.
Evaporator Self-Cleaning feature im-
proves air conditioner’s performance, in-
crease its service period and life and even
save energy consumption.
H-Zone air conditioner is available in
an elegant design and a highly competi-
tive price. Thanks to advancements in air
conditioning technology now being in-
troduced by Dawlance, we can enjoy the
pleasant sense of fresh air whenever we
want with the convenience of staying in-
doors. It’s time to say goodbye to that dull
feeling caused by indoor pollution and
welcome the new healthy indoor envi-
ronment with Dawlance H-Zone air con-
ditioner. n
Picture shows students com-
pletely engrossed, dancing &
singing on the melodious voice
at musical concert organized
by Mobilink Jazz
June 2010 | more | 33
{monTh in Focus}
Chief Minister Punjab, Mian Shahbaz Sharif
receiving souvenir from Country Head Mi-
crosoft Pakistan, Kamal Ahmed
n Microsoft Pakistan recently an-
nounced the next generation of productiv-
ity applications, making Pakistani users a
part of the 90 million existing business cus-
tomers from all over the world. The an-
nouncement was made at a launch
ceremony held in Lahore.
The new applications include Microsoft
Office 2010, Microsoft SharePoint 2010, Mi-
crosoft Visio 2010 and Microsoft Project 2010.
Professionals from all over Pakistan
were present to see Microsoft unveil its
most widely used software under the Wave
14 platform; that have allowed users to be-
come more productive and efficient.
34 | more | June 2010
Before unveiling Wave 14, Kamal Ahmed,
Country Manager Microsoft Pakistan said,
“Office 2010 and SharePoint 2010 define the
future of productivity. With the 2010 set of
products, organizations will save, innovate
and grow as their people benefit from work-
ing across the PC, phone and browser.”
Wave 14 launch products are being her-
alded as Productivity Solutions across the
PC, Phone and Browser. The new range is
providing users with a better user-friendly
interface for their computers, mobile
phones and browsers, making it even easier
for them to create, communicate and col-
laborate from any location.
Present at the event, Azhar Jafri, Director
IT and Back Office, Wi-Tribe, Pakistan said,
“Wi-tribe is focused; delivering the best in-
ternet service across its network of opera-
tions. To support our goal, Wi-tribe chose
Microsoft Information Worker applications
globally for internal use. We found that both
Microsoft Office 2010 and SharePoint enable
our employees to innovate in a productive
environment, providing enterprise capabili-
ties within our organization and significantly
improving output and collaboration.”
Wave 14 focuses on three key user ex-
periences. Organization can now get the
flexibility, choice, and value they need to
solve problems. With an integrated infra-
structure, businesses can deploy, manage
and help secure corporate assets and com-
ply with government regulations more eas-
ily. This may be one of the winning
strategies that form the legacy of Mi-
crosoft’s products. The launch of this new
range of software was sponsored by the
main stream IT firms like Mantaq Systems,
Maison Consulting, Advanced Business Sys-
tems, P@SHA, Pakistan Software Export
Board and Government of Punjab. Talking
about the usability of the Wave 14 Launch
products, Sultan Hamdani, CEO, Maison
Consulting and Launch Partner said, “Wave
14 offers users the best productivity expe-
rience across the PC, phone and browser
and with our business intelligence solu-
tions; we seek to help people in every part
of the organization turn data into informa-
tion so that they make competitive deci-
sions for the business fast.” n
www.apnatime.com
 { Gul Andaam Orakzaiv | monTh in Focus}

www.apnatime.com June 2010 | more | 35

{monTh in Focus}
Director Marketing ofs HP, IPG Division, Shahid Khan briefing the audience about the benefits of newly launched printers
n HP today bolstered the HP LaserJet Pro printer line with a
new ”plug and print” technology that allows customers to begin
printing in as little as two minutes by simply connecting a netbook,
notebook or desktop PC to the printer with a USB cable – no CD
required.
New monochrome printers featuring HP Smart Install include
the HP LaserJet Pro P1102/w Printer series – the most energy-effi-
cient laser printer on the planet(1) – the HP LaserJet Pro
M1130/M1210 Multifunction Printer (MFP) series and the HP Laser-
Jet Pro P1566/P1606dn Printer series.
36 | more | June 2010
“Our customers demand easy printing and we’re giving it to
them – no awkward CD-ROMs to install, no drivers to download,”
narrated Shahid Khan, Director Marketing, Imaging and Printing
Group, HP. “HP Smart Install offers the future of printing, today.”
Shahid further added, “The printers feature new HP Auto-On Tech-
nology, which intelligently senses activity – such as when a print
job is sent to the printer – and awakens the device automatically
from “off” mode.(2) It complements HP Auto-Off Technology, which
automatically adjusts the power settings and turns the printer off
when there is no print activity.”
The new HP LaserJet Pro lineup features a sleek, black finish
and delivers professional, cost-effective results while enabling
small and midsize businesses (SMBs) to reduce their environ-
mental impact.
With HP Auto-On/Auto-Off Technology, the new HP LaserJet
P1100 Printer series can save up to 72 percent on energy costs ver-
sus its predecessor.(3) The printers also use Original HP LaserJet
print cartridges with energy-efficient toner for energy savings of
up to 35 percent on every page versus earlier products.(4)
In addition, the company is unveiling HP LaserJet Black Print
Cartridge Dual Packs to help SMBs reduce the cost of high-volume
printing. Beginning next month, dual packs for the HP LaserJet
P2055 Printer series, HP LaserJet P1505 Printer series and HP Laser-
Jet P1005/P1006 Printers will be available worldwide except in
China and India, where dual packs for the HP LaserJet P1007/P1008
Printer will be available. n
www.apnatime.com
 {monTh in Focus}
Mobilink sends lucky Winners to South africa
n Mobilink announced the three grand prize winners of its
Mobilink indigo World Cup 2010 promotion.
Mobilink indigo users Shahid Iqbal, from Lahore, Khawaja
Yousuf Raza from Karachi and Tahir Shahbaz Khan Tareen from
Sialkot are the recipient of the all inclusive trip to watch the excit-
ing World Cup match including match tickets, 5-night hotel stay
as well as return tickets to South Africa.
Presenting the grand prize to one of the winners, Irfan Akram,
Vice President Customer Care at Mobilink, said, “During recent
years, football has gained massive popularity in Pakistan. Keeping
in mind the needs and interests of the consumer; we offered this
exciting opportunity and the response was overwhelming. We
wish the winners a fantastic World Cup experience and congratu-
late winners of other valuable prizes as well.”
Commenting on receiving the prize, one of the winners said,
“When I heard I had been selected as one of the winners heading
to South Africa to watch the World Cup, I could not believe it. I am
very thrilled to go and watch my favorite sport and I am extremely
thankful to Mobilink indigo for providing this once in a lifetime Irfan Akram, Vice President Customer Care, Mobilink presenting
opportunity to its privileged customers. “ grand prize to Shahid Iqbal, one of 3 lucky Mobilink indigo users
All Mobilink indigo customers who signed up for Talk Fiesta to win an all inclusive trip to the World Cup 2010 in South Africa.
were given double free minutes in addition to thousands of
other prizes including BlackBerry® handsets, unlimited SMS Pakistan’s leading post-paid brand that strives to provide cus-
bundles, and indigo world cup gift hampers. Mobilink indigo is tomers top-of-the-line services and quality care.

government assures full support to chairman Telenor group

n Mr. Saleem H. Mandviwalla, Minister
of State / Chairman, Board of Investment
(BOI) held a detailed and interactive session
with a 5 member delegation of Telenor
Group which was headed by Mr. Harald
Norvik, Chairman Telenor Group. Senior
management of Telenor including Mr. Sigve
Brekke, Head of Asia, Telenor Group, Mr. Jon
Eddy Abdullah, CEO Telenor Pakistan and Mr.
Aamir Ibrahim, Vice President, Strategy and
Corporate Affairs Division, Telenor Pakistan.
Mr. Mandviwalla noted that Telenor is
now a flagship company of Pakistan which
has captured a sizable market share within
a very short period of time through their
operations in the country, and lauded Te-
lenor Group for recognizing the potential in
the cellular market of Pakistan and invest-
ing a significant amount of US$ 2 billion in
this sector. The delegation called on Chair-
man BOI to discuss various issues regarding
the current tax rate situation in Pakistan.
Telenor Group argued that the current
GST for telecom companies is higher than
any other sector amounting to 19.5% and an
introduction of value added tax (VAT) in this
sector would reduce this rate and help tele-
com companies in the country to focus in
other areas of investment. Mr. Ibrahim men-
tioned that currently telecom sectors con-
tribute approximately Rs. 120 billion in
advance tax and GST to the Government of
Pakistan. He also stated that just recently the
Cabinet resolved the Access Promotion Con-
tribution (APC) issue and have allowed a 2-
2.5 cent APC which is still less than 5 cents
which is provided to PTCL even though most
access has been given by cellular companies
in the country. Most people do not even
have a landline to their name and are solely
dependent on their cellular phones.
Mr. Abdullah noted that the decision on
APC will allow Telenor to reinvest and help
them to focus on expansion in untapped
areas and municipalities in Pakistan. He fur-
ther mentioned that currently only 30-40%
of areas are covered in Pakistan and cur-
rently 60-70% population is a subscribed
with a cellular network. Therefore there is a
tremendous opportunity to introduce cel-
lular services in remote areas of Pakistan.
The noted that Balochistan proposes a
tremendous opportunity, if the Govern-
ment can provide adequate facilities and
security to telecom companies in the
province. Mr. Bekke noted that the only way
the telecom industry will achieve further
growth is if telecom companies and the
Government work in tandem.
The notion that the telecom sector is
stagnant was negated by CEO Pakistan, and

www.apnatime.com June 2010 | more | 37

{monTh in Focus}
he stated that there is still room for expansion
in Pakistan and Telenor sees a growth poten-
tial of 15-20 million customers to its existing
customer base of 95 million. Mr. Abdullah
also noted that since their establishment in
Pakistan, Telenor has not repatriated a single
dollar as they believe in a long term invest-
ment perspective and have reinvested all
their earnings back in to Telenor Pakistan. He
praised the working of the Universal Service
Fund (USF) and how it has helped to stream-
line bidding processes for broadband, fiber
and GSM contracts for under served and un-
served areas of Pakistan.
Mr. Saleem H. Mandviwalla assured the
Telenor Group that they will voice their con-
cerns of taxation with the concerned au-
thorities and facilitate and assist them in
every possible way. He praised Telenor’s
commitment in Pakistan and appreciated
their expansion plans in the country.

netsol awarded chairman PTa

made the PTA as a model or-
ganization with his untiring ef-
forts within Asia Pacific Region.
He has made collaboration
with his counterpart in the Asia
Pacific Region as well as around
the world in the telecom regu-
latory body, specially his efforts
for sharing views on new
emerging technologies as an
important and significant
achievement, he added.
Salim further said Dr Yaseen
has also participated in the bi-
lateral and mutual interest at
the international forums, as en-
couraged and supported the
cooperation on a variety of
areas, such as regulation of
Chairman & CEO NetSol Technologies Ltd Salim Ghauri awarding the shield to telecom and electronic tele-
Chairman PTA, Dr. Mohammed Yaseen com market, telecom market
liberalization, legal and regula-
n NetSol Technologies Ltd has awarded Chairman Pakistan tory framework for the telecom sector and tariff issues.
Telecommunication Authority Dr Mohammed Yaseen with Award Speaking on the occasion, He said Total PTA deposits from
of Excellence in recognition of his services to the development of July ’08 to March ’09 (9 months) were approximately Rs4.92 bil-
Information & Communication Technologies (ICT) in Pakistan. lion, and accordingly the contribution per quarter was approx-
Chairman & CEO NetSol Technologies Ltd Salim Ghauri con- imately Rs1.6 billion including Jan-March 09.
ferred the Award of Excellence to Chairman PTA on his visit to According to him, the telecom sector has deposited Rs.12.2
NetSol Technologies Ltd Monday. billion and Rs.3.4 billion to National Exchequer in the form of
Salim Ghauri said Dr. Mohammed Yaseen Chairman PTA has GST and Activation Tax respectively during Jan- March 2009.

ufone shakes the telecom market

n Ufone has once again shaken the
telecom market by introducing 'Uth Pack-
age' which is exactly crafted in accordance
to requirements of the Pakistani Youth.
The highly competitive telecom mar-
ket in Pakistan has ensured that the cus-
tomer is the biggest winner. Time after
time Ufone has led the way in terms of
presenting best value packages & offers
to its customers. The launch of ‘Uth pack-
age’ is yet another initiative that is sure to
delight the Pakistani youth.
Youth has been at the center of many
products and services being introduced
today and all cellular companies have cre-
ated offers to cater to this huge segment
in this country.
This new package from Ufone has
everything the youth could ask for - the
lowest SMS package rates of 300 SMS/day
in just Rs 1.99, the most valuable FnF rate
of Rs 2.99/hour from 12am till 5pm and
free call after 2 minutes from 12am till
9am to all Ufone numbers! That’s not all,
Uth package offers free first month sub-
scription to its early adopters for exciting
youthful services like Background Music,
Love and Humor service and Music Sta-
tion. The attractive long calling rates are
sure to benefit the working class as well
who are working far away from home by
giving them the opportunity to talk to
their hearts content with their families at
very low rates.
Mr. Akbar Khan Chief Marketing Offi-
cer Ufone said that this is a no brain
choice for Pakistani youth with all that our
youth wants. Ufone’s launch of its Uth
package is going to bring the Pakistani
youth an amazing & unmatchable bou-
quet of offers and surprises which will de-
light our youth and offer them a cost
effective package with excitement jo soch
hai aap kee. The early birds will get to win
ipads, handsets etc.

38 | more | June 2010 www.apnatime.com

 {monTh in Focus}

www.apnatime.com June 2010 | more | 39

{monTh in Focus}

Over the years many students have traveled a very long-

distance from Pakistan to compete at the Intel Interna-
tional Science & Engineering Fair. Seen in the photo is Zain
Shami, 17, with his project titled "'Preparation of Black Ink
Roy Chang, Manager Samsung Electronic presenting memento to from Fruit Arils of Pomegranate (Punica Granatum)' who
Shabbir Machyara, Owner Star City Mall at the inauguration of Sam- participated in the world's largest pre-college science
sung Customer Service & Display Centre competition, Intel ISEF 2010, in San Jose, California.

Pakistan Blog awards

n Nokia presented Pakistan’s first Blog Awards on the 28th of May
in Karachi. The 1st Annual Blog Awards and UnConference were organ-
ized by CIO Pakistan and Google Pakistan. Driven by a passion to show-
case the bright minds who endorse the brand ‘Pakistan’ in today’s
tech-savvy and integrated world, the Pakistan Blog Awards showcased
more than 200 blogs across 33 categories and had more than 10,000
unique votes cast in support of the showcase. The Awards and UnCon-
ference were co-sponsored by DELL, Canon, Supernet and CommTel
Soft, and supported by Dawn News, City FM89, Digispace, Demotix.com,
RadioOne FM91, and OPEN Silicon Valley.

Pia to surpass rs. 100 Bn revenue target

n Managing Director PIA, Captain Muhammad Aijaz Haroon
said that PIA Revenue income would surpass Rs. 100 billion this
year. PIA has achieved Operating Profit in the year 2009 whereas
during the preceding years, the airline had operating losses. This
remarkable achievement would not have been possible without
the cooperation of our business partners, MD PIA acknowledged.
He was addressing a ceremony to award PIA’s Top performing
Travel Agents of Karachi region. With the entire PIA Marketing and
Sales Team and Support functions coupled with the combined
efforts of PIA Travel Agents, there is no doubt that PIA will once
again be a profitable entity; We have to continue making our joint Managing Director PIA, Captain Muhammad Aijaz Haroon addressing at the ceremony
efforts to take the airline to greater heights said Managing Direc-
tor PIA. MD PIA commended the performance of PIA Travel PIA Sales Agent (PSAs) for the award.
Agents and the Marketing and Sales Team of Karachi region as He further said that PIA was pleased to announce the com-
Karachi is the biggest sales contributing station for domestic mencement of its flights from Pakistan to Chicago via Barcelona
sales; more needs to be done in improving the international sales from June 2, 2010. Besides this PIA will be the only airline operat-
as well, he added and assured the PIA Travel agents of the airline’s ing Non stop to USA from Barcelona. He said that the airline was
full support and cooperation. He said that PIA will award its busi- in the process of reviewing its bilateral agreements due to be held
ness partners and from next year onwards separate evaluation with Saudi Government and if successful, will be offering addi-
would be made for the performance of IATA Travel Agents and tional flights to Saudi Arabia.

40 | more | June 2010 www.apnatime.com

 {monTh in Focus}

Senior Vice President Qatar & Indian

Subcontinent Qatar Airways Fathi Al
Shehab, Regional Manager Qatar Air-
ways Abdul Rashid Mordiffi, Regional
Vice Chairman TAAP Yahya Polani, Vice
Consul General Germany Martin
Lotzer, Ajmal Zahidi, Rafiq Khan,
Rizwan Marchant, Fazal Mahmood,
Shazia Zaheer and others pho-
tographed at a reception hosted by
Qatar Airways.

Zrg offers flexible crM Solutions at MefTec, bahrain

n Middle East Financial Technology Conference; also known as
MEFTEC, Bahrain is a premier technology event that brings together
financial industry’s leading professionals and latest technology solu-
tions all under one roof. In this prestigious and exclusive event, ZRG
International demonstrated flexible and cost effective business solu-
tions. ZRG solutions such as CTI, eForms, IP Soft Phone, multi-media
ACD received excellent response due to the open standards ap-
proach and the level of customization capabilities available. ZRG so-
lution experts were available to share key information on how
businesses can use intelligent customer interaction and relationship
solutions to improve their customer service, accessibility, increase
productivity to achieve cost reduction objectives.

MARKET SURVEY ON BUSINESS HOURS

Javed Ijaz of al-hafeez photo center calls
it the industry killer policy. He says, it has af-
fected our business because of the fact that
most of our customers visit us or other shops
after their daily office and working hours. Those
who do not work at offices do not visit us either
because of scorching temperature during the
day hours. We used to work late at night be-
cause of workload but now things have gone
worst and we are having very few customers
and that is destroying our business.
asif Shahzad, ceo, decent computers at
Hafeez Center says, we are happy to end our
daily businesses practice at 8 PM. It is helping
us giving adequate time to our families. Cus-
tomers are also getting used to this routine. On
the whole, it will benefit the society in the long
run. By not using electricity at business points
after the evenings is helping us save energy and
we have experienced a reduction load shedding
after this action.

arshad Mehmood, ceo, united Mobile
franchisee says, it is beneficial for us to close
the market at 8. It affected our sales in the start
but now people have are getting used to it and
now they are visiting the market within al-
lowed timings and sales graphs are coming
back to normal. It happens in other countries
where businesses are closed in the evening, so
it is quite normal practice. Now we give more
time to our families which will help us socially.
Jaffer kazmi, ceo, M. a2 expresses his views
as “ it is really destructive for us to close down
our shops at 8 o clock, the working hours should
be extended till 10 o clock. Government should
review its decision. We are not able to pay our
monthly shop rent and utility bills. People like
us are ending their businesses because of declin-
ing income with each passing day. Shopkeepers
with their own shops are not facing much diffi-
culty but rest of us are forced to take loans.
Things should be balanced for everyone.

www.apnatime.com June 2010 | more | 41

{energy | Halima Qureshi
}

Looming Energy Crisis

only long-term measures
will ensure sustainability
n During the last few years the elec- conference held in April this year, the fed- the short-term energy saving measures.
tricity crisis has worsened in the country to eral and the provincial governments suc- This included closure of businesses at 8 pm
an alarming extent. As soon as the summer cessfully reached an agreement on some of and marriage halls an hour later, two holi-
season comes, it seems as everything has
come to a standstill. The situation has hit
the country’s economy very hard, especially For long-term viability of the energy sector, it is better if
the industrial sector. This year the outages
the government converts the largely state-controlled in-
problem was so severe throughout the
country, e.g. in case of rural areas it went up
dustry to a system whereby the government holds a
to 16-18 hours a day. strategic presence while the private sector takes the lead
In response to the rising protests in role in the development process. The policies for supple-
every nook and corner of the country, the menting this system should incorporate appropriate divi-
government was forced to convene a Na- sion of responsibilities for policy formulation, regulation,
tional Energy Conference to bring some im-
administration so as to avoid overlaps and conflicts.
mediate relief. At the end of the two-day

42 | more | June 2010 www.apnatime.com

 {energy}
days a week, cutting down electricity to bill- with an enormous investment will have to The energy requirements of the coun-
boards and diversion of gas from transport be carried out. The mistakes, rather blun- try are expected to grow immensely in the
and fertilizer sectors to the power genera- ders, committed by all the previous govern- coming years. By 2030, the nation’s energy
tion, etc. It was estimated that these steps ments regarding mega energy projects can needs will be seven times as compared to
will help in reducing the electricity demand only be rectified if the same unity and vigor the current utility. So without any delay, the
by 2100 megawatts. is shown by the federal and provincial gov- government must progress to ensure a
However, the initiatives brought a ernments. continuous availability of energy resources.
mixed response, with a large section of the What is remorseful is that a country rich The hurdles being faced by the private sec-
business community opposing the new de- in energy resources is passing through such tor should be addressed on an urgent basis
cisions. The Federation of Pakistan Cham- a critical stage of energy crisis. Pakistan has and a comprehensive mechanism be devel-
oped for attracting further investment in
the energy sector. Special incentives may
Critics argue that the short-term measures may have brought be given to the foreign investors, especially
some immediate relief but will not help in overcoming the ever- those working in the exploration sector.
Then the role of gas distribution companies
increasing energy crisis, which is engulfing each and every sec-
needs to be streamlined. The price regula-
tor of the economy. They emphasize on the most urgent need tion of electricity and oil (petroleum,
of developing a national consensus on mega energy projects kerosene and other oil products) will have
and implement the same on the priority basis. No doubt, en- to be standardized. The relief provided to
ergy conservation or efficient use of electricity is very important the business/industrial sectors and the
but this is not the real solution to the looming crisis. common man will definitely be short-lived
if long-term and concrete measures are not
developed and timely implemented.
bers of Commerce and Industry maintained abundant resources of hydro power. An es- For long-term viability of the energy
that the two weekly holidays will badly timate shows if planned and implemented sector, it is better if the government con-
harm the country’s economy, arguing that properly, we may generate over 40000 verts the largely state-controlled industry
it will further increase unemployment in megawatt of hydro-power, as compared to to a system whereby the government holds
the country. Critics argue that the short- our current generation of 8000 megawatt. a strategic presence while the private sector
term measures may have brought some Our policy makers have miserably failed to takes the lead role in the development
immediate relief but will not help in over- comprehend the importance and benefits process. The policies for supplementing this
coming the ever-increasing energy crisis, of alternate energy sources such as solar, system should incorporate appropriate di-
which is engulfing each and every sector of windmill energy etc. They are cheap and vision of responsibilities for policy formula-
the economy. They emphasize on the most quick methods for producing electricity. tion, regulation, administration so as to
urgent need of developing a national con- Pakistan is a very blessed country because avoid overlaps and conflicts.
sensus on mega energy projects and imple- solar energy is available in most cities all There should be a proper procedure
ment the same on the priority basis. No year round. The wind energy is also readily that provides suitable incentives and en-
doubt, energy conservation or efficient use available in the coastal areas. These energy hance competition in the private sector, in
of electricity is very important but this is not sources if tapped can be of great help in re- addition to viable pricing mechanism to ac-
the real solution to the looming crisis. ducing the current demand supply gap. count for cost-of-service and subsidies that
Though rulers must be appreciated for Nuclear energy is another key source, which are transparent and address social and en-
developing a consensus on short-term may also be effectively exploited. Then we vironmental concerns. Realizing the im-
measures in the best interest of the country have got the world’s largest coal reserves in probability in the international energy
and its hapless people, but they must real- Thar and by putting only two percent of it markets and increasing requirements of
ize that same unity will be needed if the into use we can produce 20000 megawatts other developing economies, the energy
county has to be taken out of this quagmire of electricity for the next 40 years. So it is plans should focus on maximum utilization
and that the time is running out at a fast very easy to assume that where does the of indigenous energy resources to lower
pace. Immediate planning and execution fault lie. the dependence on imported energy. n

www.apnatime.com June 2010 | more | 43

{agri-Tech | Agha Nadeem
n The issue of wheat procurement is
in the limelight for the last few months, as
is the case every year during the harvesting
season. The farmers’ representatives have
rebuffed the wheat procurement policy of
the Government, claiming it is not
favourable for the growers. They take
strong exception to the Punjab govern-
ment’s delaying tactics for procurement
and the decision to authorize the issuance
of Bardana to the Revenue department,
which has been termed terrible due to the
arrogant attitude of its staff. Furthermore,
the restriction to give only eight bags per
acre with a maximum limit of 200 bags,
with an additional constraint of coded bags
means stopping the inter-provincial and
inter-district movement of wheat.
Critics describe it as an ill-planned pro-
curement process as it confines the pro-
curement period to 6-8 weeks and after
which the farmer are not able to sell their
wheat. v
Though Mian Shahbaz Sharif has re-
peatedly claimed that rights of farmers
would be secured at any cost. He even di-
rected the provincial ministers to go to var-
ious districts and make sure that each and
every grower, especially those working at
small scale, receive due payment for their
harvest. The Chief Minister has also been
very vocal for not tolerating the corruption
during procurement, stressing that anyone
44 | more | June 2010
}
found guilty will not be forgiven. But re-
ports suggest that despite these claims the
small scale growers badly suffered through-
out the province.
It was very rightly suggested during a
conference held in April this year that the
government should pinpoint real faults in
the system rather than implementing
counterproductive policies as the whole
rural economy has been disturbed by the
bardana, emphasizing that it must be elim-
inated. The lack of coordination among dif-
ferent departments involved in the
procurement process was also strongly crit-
icized.
There was an opinion that as a political
move, the government spent huge money
on schemes like Sasti Roti and Food Stamp
because of which it ran short of resources
at the time of procurement. Though
provinces and Pakistan Agriculture Services
and Storage Corporation (PASSCO) were al-
ready aware of the looming credit crunch
for wheat procurement and the State Bank
of Pakistan had also shown its inability to
put money into wheat procurement, yet no
tangible steps were taken by the federal as
well as provincial governments to cope
with the situation.
By mid May, PASSCO procured 948000
metric tons of wheat as compared to the
goal of 1.6 million metric tons during the
year. It had to be like that because speed
with which the gunny bags were distrib-
uted was sluggish and it was done inten-
tionally since the Corporation had limited
funds and for reaching the abovemen-
tioned target of purchasing wheat, the Cor-
poration needed at least Rs. 13 billion.
Amid all of these problems, the ulti-
mate victim is the farmer who is forced to
accept the price prevailing in the open mar-
ket. It is well known by the government that
farmers prefer to sell their product in the
open market because of complicated pro-
cedure and the price issue. The previous
year, the Punjab Government had done
away with the requirement of gunny bags
for procurement and growers could bring
the harvest in any bag and the government
paid the price. It was very first time when
the farmers remained safe from the ex-
ploitation of food inspectors, as availability
of gunny bags is a big instrument for them
to exploit the farmers.
This is very miserable situation that we
boast of being an agricultural country, yet
we could not develop the very basic sys-
tems in this sector which is the back bone
of our economy. It must be clear that until
and unless small farmers, comprising 67
percent of the whole farming community,
are not facilitated and their problems are
not addressed, our governments should
stop making claims of a revolution through
agriculture. n
www.apnatime.com

n Dr. Muddassar Farooq, Director of
Next Generation Intelligent Networks Re-
search Centre at FAST National University,
Islamabad is one of those rare scholars of
our country who have done wonders in a
young age and whose research has been
acknowledged at global level. Very recently,
his peer-reviewed research book entitled
"Bee-inspired Protocol Engineering: from
Nature to Networks" has been published by
Springer-Verlag in Natural Computing se-
ries, which is a big honour not only for him-
self but for the whole nation as there are
very few researchers in Pakistan whose re-
search book is published by an internation-
ally renowned publisher.
Dr. Farooq has successfully conducted
a unique research for telecommunication
networks, based on techniques observed in
the honey bee colonies. The book intro-
duces a multipath routing algorithm for
packet-switched telecommunication net-
works. Dr. Farooq’s research observes that
the honey bee networks demonstrate ro-
bust adaptive efficient agent-based com-
munications and task allocations without
centralized controls, which are desirable
features in the network design. BeeHive al-
gorithm, developed by Dr. Farooq, is dy-
namic, simple, efficient, flexible and
represents an important step towards intel-
ligent networks that optimally manage re-
sources. The balanced exposition of the
book makes it equally suitable for telecom-
munication network designers and theo-
rists, and computer science researchers
engaged with artificial intelligence, agents,
and nature-inspired techniques.
Dr. Farooq, a graduate of the National
University of Sciences and Technology in
Avionics, did his PhD in Informatics from Uni-
versity of Dortmund, Germany and Masters
in Computer Science and Engineering from
the University of New South Wales, Australia.
He is also a member of IEEE, the world's
www.apnatime.com
{PakisTani ProFessionals }
largest professional association for the ad-
vancement of technology, one of the few
senior member of the ACM (Association for
Computing Machinery) from Pakistan, and a
member of Pakistan Engineering Council.
In his book, he has guided the readers
in a survey of nature-inspired routing
protocols and communication tech-
niques observed in insect colonies. He of-
fers the design of a scalable framework
for nature-inspired routing algorithms
and examines a practical application
using real networks of Linux routers. He
also utilizes formal techniques to analyti-
cally model the performance of nature-
inspired routing algorithms.
In the last chapters of the book, the
writer introduces an immune-inspired se-
curity framework for nature-inspired algo-
rithms, and uses the wisdom of the hive for
routing in ad hoc and sensor networks. He
has also provided a comprehensive bibliog-
raphy to serve as a reference for nature-in-
spired solutions to networking problems.
The book has bridged the gap between
natural computing and computer network-
ing. What sets this book apart from other
texts on this subject is its natural engineer-
ing approach in which the challenges and
objectives of a real-world system are iden-
tified before its solution, nature-inspired or
otherwise, is discussed.
The competence of Dr. Farooq has been
acknowledged at home and abroad. He is
the winner of Silver Medal of the Hummies
Competition at GECCO 2009, Montreal,
Canada; winner of both Gold and Silver
Medals for R&D at PASHA Awards, 2009 Pak-
istan and a number of other awards.
In addition to a large number of re-
search papers and conference presenta-
tions, Dr. Farooq has been involved as
Project Director of Remote Patient Moni-
toring Project aimed to design a generic
remote health care system with a focus
Dr. muddassar Farooq
on antenatal care, Next Generation Enter-
prise Security Project for developing a
general-purpose AIS based, open-source,
windows based Intrusion Detection Sys-
tem, IMS Security Project for developing
an intelligent Bio-inspired self-defending
security framework for IMS and Next Gen-
eration All-IP Networks, and Smart Phone
Security Project, which looks into conven-
tional techniques of computational intel-
ligence, Artificial Intelligence and
Artificial Immune System to build an op-
timized and light weight security system
that can be deployed in Linux Kernel. The
proposed secure kernel will provide ade-
quate security against Malware threats
and denial of Service attacks on network
interfaces (GSM/GPRS and WLAN) of mo-
bile devices.
People like Dr. Farooq are definitely an
inspiration for researchers, especially
younger generation. His work shows that
our nation is full of talent, which is not re-
stricted to any field or region of the country.
These scholars, who are the real asset of this
country, must be encouraged and pro-
moted and that is the only way through
which we can progress and compete in the
comity of nations. n
June 2010 | more | 45
{moBile Phone}

46 | more | June 2010 www.apnatime.com

 {moBile Phone}

www.apnatime.com June 2010 | more | 47

{camera}

48 | more | June 2010 www.apnatime.com

 {home aPPliances}

www.apnatime.com June 2010 | more | 49

{gaDgeTs}

50 | more | June 2010 www.apnatime.com

 { saddads | cover sTory}

www.apnatime.com June 2010 | more | 51

{cover sTory | saddads
}

52 | more | June 2010 www.apnatime.com