Commissioning of two gas pipelines by SSGC will ease demand-supply gap
SSGC is currently working on completing two gas pipelines that will help to mitigate the current gas demand-supply gap in Sindh and particularly in its largest load center Karachi. The Company is presently working on completing 12″ dia x 46 km line that will bring in additional 40 MMCFD gas to add on to the 35 MMCFD gas already in the system. The second pipeline, the 8″ dia. x 28 kms line will inject 23 MMCFD gas into SSGC’s system.
It must be mentioned here that the 12″ dia. x 48 kms line will be commissioned by the 1st week of January 2020 and the 8″ dia. x 28 kms line will come online by the 3rd week of January 2020.
With the commissioning of these two lines, around 65 MMCFD gas will be made available in SSGC’s system which will substantially help to bridge the demand-supply gap that the customers are confronted with in this winter season. SSGC will thus be in a better position to arrest the inconvenience faced by its customers, during the bitterly cold weather in both Sindh and Balochistan.
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PMEX in deal with hashmove to digitalise trade and logistics
Pakistan Mercantile Exchange (PMEX), country’s first and only multi-commodity futures exchange, signed an agreement with HashMove on December 12, 2019. Under this agreement, HashMove will provide a digital multimodal logistics platform for PMEX, connecting buyers and sellers of commodities virtually anywhere around the globe.
At present, the Exchange is actively working towards developing Pakistan’s first international online trading platform under the name of Global Trading Platform (GTP) that will show case local commodities of the country to the global market by offering an end-to-end one-window solution. The platform will enable the foreign buyers to purchase agricultural as well as non-agricultural commodities from Pakistan with convenience and confidence of quality assurance as per international standards. The GTP will cover: trading, storage, packaging, transport and export of the commodities with accessibility as convenient as a click of a button.
Mr. Ejaz Ali Shah, Managing Director of PMEX, speaking on the occasion said, “We are delighted to collaborate with HashMove for developing the digital logistic platform for PMEX to achieve the ultimate goal of selling of indigenous agricultural commodities to international buyers. We envisage that GTP will transform the local commodity markets by linking farmers directly to the international market, improve price discovery, induce transparency in commodity value chain, reduce transaction costs and increase Pakistan’s agricultural exports.”
Commenting on the occasion, Mr. Sarfaraz Alam, CEO and Co-Founder of HashMove, said, “We are excited to see that our enterprise logistic platform has begun to contribute towards the digital economy in the era of Digital Pakistan. Congratulations to the PMEX leadership on being the pioneer in adopting latest technology innovations and we are looking forward to helping them in moving their commodities worldwide.”
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Metro Pakistan inaugurates its remodeled stargate store
METRO has recently upgraded its existing Stargate Store near Star Gate, Shahra-e-Faisal, Karachi with state-of-art facilities to international standards in order to provide the customer a unique and convenience shopping experience with value for money.
The upgrades include new fixtures, improved METRO Café with a new bar for organic juices, designated areas for huge range of local products from Sindh and special counter for essential commodities as per government prices.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by Top Leadership of METRO Pakistan including Mr. Marek, Minkiewicz (Managing Director METRO Pakistan) along with Ms. Birgit Kuhlmann (Deputy Head of Mission German Consulate) who was invited as chief guest.
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Jazz-Golootlo in accord to offer over 12,500 discounts
In an effort to enrich Jazz World and to provide additional value to its customers, Jazz has entered into a partnership with Golootlo. The partnership will provide Jazz World users with access to over 12,500 discounts at their favorite outlets all over the country.
The alliance will enable users to get discounts on food, apparel, accessories, fitness and a lot more on their smartphones. AamerEjaz, Chief Digital & Strategy Officer at Jazz, said about the union, “Value for our customers is a key consideration in Jazz partnerships. The partnership with Golootlo aims to save Jazz users money by giving them the best deals in town. Whether it’s eating at restaurants, going shopping or maintaining a healthy lifestyle, Jazz World users can now avail the best bargains offered by Golootlo”.
Going beyond the realm of communication, Jazz has played a role in ensuring that individuals have access to a diverse range of services that are available at the push of a button. Jazz commits itself to saving users’ time, effort and money.
After the signing ceremony, Fahad Mahmood, CEO Golootlo said about the partnership, “We are excited to embark on this journey with Jazz. This newfound partnership will indeed be beneficial for both the brands and the consumers. Golootlo has more than 12,500 brands offering upto 50% discounts nationwide ranging from restaurants, salons, travel & tours to health care and more. And starting now, all Jazz customers will be able avail all these offers as well.”
To browse through available discounts, all you have to do is download or update Jazz World, navigate to the “Discounts” section and locate your favorite offer from the list. Then just use the “Scan” button and scan the Golootlo QR code at the outlet to avail a discount.
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IMC wins Toyota commendable Kaizen award
IMC has been awarded the Commendable Kaizen Award in the seventh cycle of Customer Satisfaction Kaizen Evolution (CSKE). The competition is hosted by Toyota Motor Asia Pacific (TMAP) every year and all affiliates from the Asia Pacific region take part in it to strive towards the common objective of providing an incredible customer service experience to customers.
This year, IMC won the Best Kaizen Award in the category of Body & Paint. Commenting on the win, IMC Chief Executive Officer, Ali Asghar Jamali said, “I and all my colleagues here at IMC are delighted that our talent has outshined in an international competition. Through CSKE, we have taken numerous initiatives to create value for our customers. And we will keep on sustaining these standards to achieve the highest level of customer delight”.
Kaizen team leader, Asif Raza, who has made it all possible has been associated with IMC for 2 years and has been looking after the Nationwide Body & Paint Business. CSKE promotes a sense of healthy competition among distributors and is the most celebrated event of the year. The theme for CSKE 2019 was ‘Reduction in Body and Paint Process Lead Time’ at dealerships in Pakistan. The final presentation and award distribution ceremony was held recently in Singapore.
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Book Talk at the IBA Karachi
‘In the wake of disaster: Islamists, the state and a social contract in Pakistan’
The Social Sciences and Liberal Arts Department at the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi hosted a talk by scholar and researcher Dr. Ayesha Siddiqi on her recent book ‘In the Wake of Disaster: Islamists, the State and a Social Contract in Pakistan’.
Dr. Siddiqi who is visiting from Royal Holloway, University of London is trained in the discipline of human geography but described her work as being very inter-disciplinary in nature. Her talk presented key findings from the book.
The book is based on Dr. Siddiqi’s doctoral dissertation research conducted in the aftermath of the massive floods that devastated parts of Pakistan in 2010 and 2011. She spent seven-month in lower Sindh doing ethnographic fieldwork in three districts, Thatta, Badin, and Tharparkar, hoping to understand how natural disasters leave a political impact. Most communities devastated by the flooding continued to have high expectations from the state and expressed their belief that only the state is responsible for helping them, rather than local power-brokers and traditional sources of authority. The speaker argued that the common assumptions about broken state-society relations in Pakistan are unfounded and that her informants’ views show a robust social contract being present.
She also showed how the government’s cash disbursement to flood-affected communities created a sense of entitlement and further strengthened citizens’ claims on the state. The language of citizenship forged by Enlightenment-era European thinkers like Rousseau and Voltaire does not apply to these communities. Instead, they use words like ‘huqooq’ to express their sense of civic belonging.
The talk also touched upon the role of Islamist parties in flood relief activities and challenged the idea that the absence of the state created a vacuum which was filled by Islamist parties that have an alternative development discourse. Her research found Jamat-ud-Dawa to be active in the aftermath of the floods in Badin, where the state infrastructure, including the military, enlisted and enabled their participation rather than being in opposition to each other. In other areas, such as Thatta, there was little presence of the JuD because the local political elites were not in favor of it. The speaker urged a more complicated and nuanced understanding of state-society relations in Pakistan, where people’s everyday encounters with the state are rich and leave open the possibility of many different meanings attached to the state.
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Honda atlas cars Pakistan and CarFirst jointly offer the exchange program to customers
Honda Atlas Cars Pakistan Limited (HACPL), and CarFirst, Pakistan’s most trusted used car trading platform, bring the “Exchange Program powered by CarFirst” to Pakistan. Customers will be able to bring their used cars of any brand and exchange with a brand new Honda at various Honda dealerships across Pakistan. The program initiative commenced from Honda City Sales Center in Lahore and will now be offered at various Honda dealerships nationwide.
The Exchange Program allows customers to get a brand new Honda with three hassle-free steps: Visit a CarFirst Kiosk at a Honda dealership, have your old car inspected and priced, and instantaneously sell your old car to CarFirst and book your brand new Honda with expedited delivery. With this program, as opposed to getting cash for your old car, it allows you to trade up your old car for new Honda, by offsetting the value of your old car against the price of the new Honda. Once the value of the old car has been agreed between the seller and CarFirst, the difference is paid by the seller at the time of booking a new Honda. Customers who sell their car through CarFirst will receive priority facilities including an expedited delivery for their new Honda.
Commenting on this, Amir Nazir, General Manager Sales & Marketing – Honda Atlas Cars (Pakistan) Limited said: “Since its inception, Honda Atlas Cars Pakistan Ltd has become a key player in the domestic auto industry by providing models as per requirements/needs of customers. Honda is facilitating the customer’s best quality cars with innovative features and cutting edge technology. Honda and CarFirst collaboration will further facilitate customers in terms of easy upgradation from their current car to buy a New Honda Car.”
Commenting on this, Raja Murad Khan, CEO, and Co-Founder of CarFirst said: “The Exchange Program is a very quick and seamless solution for Honda and CarFirst customers to trade-in their used car for a new Honda at very competitive prices. We believe that customer facilitation with additional value-added solutions makes all the difference.”
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Bankislami partners with Golootlo to provide discounts directly on BankIslami’s mobile app
BankIslami entered into an agreement with Decagon Pakistan Pvt Ltd. (Golootlo) which shall allow the bank’s customers a hassle-free access to all the Golootlo discounts available nationwide. BankIslami, one of the fastest growing Banks in Pakistan, strives to serve its client’s needs through technological innovations and efficient banking solutions.
Through this agreement, BankIslami will connect Golootlo digitally to their mobile application, providing customers an integrated solution for seamlessly enjoying any of Golootlo’s thousands of deals available at over 12,500+ merchants across Pakistan.
The agreement was signed by BankIslami’s Head of Consumer Banking, Mr. Bilal Fiaz and the CEO of Golootlo, Mr. Fahad Mahmood.
Commenting on the partnership, BankIslami’s President & CEO Syed Amir Ali said: “We are delighted to partner with Golootlo that shall benefit our valued customers through our BankIslami Mobile Application. BankIslami will continue to strengthen its position by introducing new innovative products and fulfilling customer’s needs by providing the right solutions.”
Mr. Fahad Mahmood from Golootlo added: “We are pleased to have signed with BankIslami as this partnership is a game changer for everyone including banks, customers and merchants. Golootlo has more than 12,500 merchants offering discounts nationwide ranging from restaurants, salons, travel & tours to health care and more. BankIslami is an organization that is committed to making a difference in people’s lives and Golootlo will assist BankIslami in doing so.”