June 9th, 2005
Market Wire reports Netsol is launching a $6 million IPO (which includes $1.6 million of private placement) with AKD Securities as the lead underwriter and 4 other banks participating. The listing is expected to finalize end of its 2005 fiscal year (when is this?).
NetSol recently launched its IT Village which can accomodate 600 employees, in a 5 story building. More here.
The parent company NetSol Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: NTWK) has a market cap of 25 million. What’s the outlook for this company?
Posted in Business, IT | 2 Comments »
June 9th, 2005
A report published in the The News claims that the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has uncovered a car scam that involves carmakers producing more cars than they actually declare to evade taxes.
… the 2003 computerization of just 1,000 vehicles’ record, registered with the Islamabad excise and taxation department, has unveiled that several cars have the same chassis and engine numbers allotted already to other cars of the same make … It is believed that the automobile industry is apparently producing more cars than what they declare to evade tax. And to show their actual production matching their declared production, it is said, sets of cars with same chassis and engine numbers are rolled out.
NADRA has proposed a hi-tech (smart chips!) computerized system for storing motor vehicle registration data. They claim that the system will help counter thefts, detect frauds and help with collecting taxes/dues. The project was proposed in 2003 but according to the The News, the car mafia has blocked NADRA’s attempts to launch the project nationally.
Posted in Government, Legal | Comments Off
June 7th, 2005
Business Recorder reports that WorldCall is hoping to raise Rs 690 million by holding an IPO end of June. This is a good time for the offering because of the recent launch of it’s Wireless Local Loop service in Lahore (links anyone?). The service features limited mobility (limited to a 6 km zone in urban areas as dictated by PTA), ability to send and receive SMS and internet access at fixed line prices. Worldcall currently has only one competitor in the WLL market, Telecard’s GO CDMA which opened shop in the beginning of this year.
Posted in IT, Telecom | 1 Comment »
June 7th, 2005
PTCL’s row with the government shows no sign of letting up. DAWN reports that the PTCL union workers have given the government 24 hours to announce a package of over 3 billion rupees for employees and have threaten to call a countrywide strike if the demand was not met. That’s not all:
The deadline was given after a meeting between the committee and the management failed to make headway because PTCL President Junaid Khan made the package conditional with privatization. The union leaders wanted the announcement of the package without any compromise on the privatization issue, members of the action committee told Dawn.
The socialist party is covering this from the union’s point of view.
One has to wonder why the government wants to privatize it’s very rare cash cow (profits were Rs21 billion for the first 9 months of this year)? If they want to do something positive wouldn’t it be better to stop offering subsidies to PTCL and deregulate the telecom market?
Posted in Telecom | 1 Comment »
June 5th, 2005
Microsoft Pakistan will host it’s annual Pakistan Developers Conference from June 13th to 15th at the Pearl Continental Hotel in Karachi. This is the third such event for Pakistan (info about previous events here, and an independent summary of the 2003 event here). The agenda for the event includes more than 15 speakers presenting over 50 technical topics over the course of 3 days. Topics include discussions about upcoming Microsoft technologies (Yukon, Longhorn, Indigo etc) as well as general topics with titles such as ‘The Bio Informatics Revolution’ and ‘A holistic View of Enterprise Security’. Check out the agenda for more information about the topics being covered.
Registration ends June 7th.
Also, this month’s issue of Spider has an interview with one of the speakers gathering at the PDC.
Posted in IT | Comments Off
June 2nd, 2005
PakTribune reports that MS Group (can’t find their website) has successfully created Pakistan’s first, indigenous electronic motorbike. The Federal Minister of Science and Technology, Nouraiz Shakoor Khan, who incidentally also happens to be the president of the Cycling Federation of Pakistan, described the bike as a revolution for the region and a sign of Pakistan’s growing industrial stature.
Details are scarce from the article: The bike does not consume petrol, instead uses a rechargeable battery which gives it a range of upto 50kms per charge. Using electricity as a source of power lowers the bike’s running costs, which might give it an edge in the local market. Perhaps the MS Group should look into PINSTECH’s fuel cell research to increase the bike’s per-charge range.
Posted in Energy, Transportation | 1 Comment »
June 2nd, 2005
Dawn reports:
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has found “unsatisfactory†the reply submitted by Mobilink in response to the PTA show-cause notice issued in April.
The show-cause notice said: “The non-serious and non-cooperative attitude of the Mobilink towards the determination and directions issued by the Authority from time to time tantamount to severe violations by the Mobilink of the existing regulatory framework and is therefore not acceptable to the Authority.â€
Mobilink will now be attending a hearing on June 9 at the PTA headquarters in Islamabad. If Mobilink’s argument does not hold up, they could face a levy of Rs350 million or termination of their license (highly doubt that).
This is not the first time and the last time in 2003 resulted in a fine of Rs60 million which obviously didn’t yield up any improvements. If the cost of customer support (and addressing those concerns) for 2 years is greater than Rs60 million, then they could simply write it off as an operating expense. It should be urged that they are fined the full amount this time around to have a significant impact and set a precedent.
How do they still manage to have the largest subscriber base? Why haven’t any class action lawsuits been filed?
Posted in Legal, Telecom | 5 Comments »
June 2nd, 2005
Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology lays claim to the ability to develop fuel cells indigenously. If this kind of R&D gets more funding from coprorations and industries, it could fuel (pun intended) significant growth in a nation ridden with energy problems. Fuel Cells (wikipedia) can provide an environmentally friendly, continuous source of power, fueled usually by Hydrogen with water vapor being the only by-product.
This is a commendable accomplishment. Are any other interesting R&D efforts taking place elsewhere in the country?
Posted in Energy | Comments Off
May 31st, 2005
Provincial Minister of IT for Sindh, Mustafa Kamal announced 800 IT awareness centers.
This is not an official press release. It came during his speech at the golden jubilee commemorations of the chemistry department of Karachi University. He offered his profound inisght by adding that IT had significant role to play in the fields of science, especially chemistry and Karachi University’s IT department would play a significant role in the scientific development of the country.
Further, the Chairman of Higher Education Commission (HEC) Dr. Attaur Rehman was honoured with the “Best Student Award”. I think this is a misprint as he is nowhere close to being an academic student.
Anyone have details on these IT centres? What do they have? Who was contracted with building, deploying and managing the existing 35 IT centres?
Posted in Academia, Government, IT | 4 Comments »
May 29th, 2005
Pakistan Software Houses Association (PASHA) is holding their first job fair on June 2nd 2005 at the Marriot hotel in Karachi. The fair’s objectives are are:
- To create a link between the IT and ITeS industry and the academic sector
- To correct the perception that there are no jobs available in the IT sector. It is imperative that we convince young people that our sector is alive and well and growing at a rate of over 50% a year.
- Providing companies a platform for recruitment
- To provide an opportunity for companies to market themselves
The job fair also features several workshops designed to coach new job seekers on topics such as resume writing, interviewing tips and enhancing communication skills. PASHA was started in 1992 by 9 software development houses and since then has grown to have over 200 member companies. This looks like an excellent opportunity for job seekers and employers in the IT industry. Their website says that the last day to register was May 15, though their registration link still seems to work.
Posted in Business, IT | 2 Comments »