Acumen invests Rs 86 million in Chitral micro-hydel

(PakistaniGoodNews.blogspot.com) Acumen, a pioneering non-profit global venture firm addressing poverty across Africa and in South Asia, on Monday announced a loan of Rs 86 million to Aga Khan Rural Support Program AKRSP to support the creation of four community managed micro-hydel units in Chitral district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. These plants will provide 24-hour clean electricity to remote off-grid communities in Chitral district, a region with limited access to electricity. This is Acumen's first investment in the growing rural energy sector of Pakistan. "There is a growing need for reliable power in Pakistan's rural communities right now," said Farrukh H Khan, Pakistan Country Director, Acumen Fund. "AKSRP's community-based model has the potential to provide millions with access to an important basic service and revolutionise the way poor Pakistanis access energy." http://www.brecorder.com/fuel-a-energy/193/1183230/ : agakhan04a

Pak student gets $5000 reward from PayPal

(PakistaniGoodNews.blogspot.com) ISLAMABAD: Rafay Baloch, an independent security researcher from Karachi, has been rewarded $5,000 for reporting a remote command execution bug in PayPal's website. According to details, PayPal had announced this reward initiative for those researchers who would report about the existence of a bug and its subsequent remote command execution, Technology Times Reported. Rafay Baloch explained that the bug he reported was very critical in nature and carried a high amount of risk to PayPal as an attacker could have easily managed to execute any command on the server and manipulate the data at will. According to him, PayPal has recently offered him a job. However, he has not yet taken a decision mainly due to his continued studies. http://www.brecorder.com/pakistan/general-news/97795-pak-student-gets-5000-reward-from-paypal.html : PayPal-006

KVTC holds pioneering “Right to Work” Conference

(PakistaniGoodNews.blogspot.com) For Mumtaz Rafiq, who is one such child, enrolling at the Karachi Vocational Training Centre KVTC 14 years ago was a life-changing decision. After two years of culinary training, he got a job at a fast-food chain and now earns Rs14,000 a month. The centre, located in Phase IV, DHA, focuses on providing vocational training to people with cognitive disabilities. "It started off with a promise – to aim for something greater than the simple rehabilitation of totally neglected members of society. Slowly, people with similar goals started joining the initiative," said Imran Sohail, who is a speech therapy specialist at the centre and develops the curriculum for children with cognitive disabilities. "We shattered the myth that children with cognitive disabilities cannot learn, hold jobs, earn livelihoods and live independently." http://tribune.com.pk/story/512453/training-centre-helps-people-with-cognitive-disabilities-prove-they-can-hold-jobs-too/ : 2013-02-15-371

Pakistan-Egypt ink 5 MoUs for cooperation in different fields

(PakistaniGoodNews.blogspot.com) ISLAMABAD, March 18 APP : Pakistan and Egypt on Monday inked five memorandums of understanding MoUs and an executive programme for cooperation in scientific cooperation, investment and shipping. The signing of agreements was witnessed by Egyptian President Mohammad Morsi and President Asif Ali Zardari here at the Aiwan-e-Sadr.The MoU for Cooperation in the field of Money Orders and International Postal Service was signed by Ambassador of Egypt to Pakistan Saeed Handam and Secretary Ports and Shipping Jawaid Iqbal Awan. http://app.com.pk/en_/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=228917&Itemid=1 : Image

Munir aiming to make his mark in Asian Golf tour

(PakistaniGoodNews.blogspot.com) *KARACHI: Pakistan's golfing ace Mohammad Munir said on Wednesday that he was looking to make his mark on the Asian Tour after qualifying for the continental events.* The 38-year-old Munir of Islamabad Golf Club earned the right to feature on the Asian Golf Tour after a fine performance in the Asian qualifying school. Munir played rounds of 72, 70, 66 and 75 to end with a total of 283 to confirm his place in the Asian Professional Golf Association APGA tour. Munir, rated as Pakistan's number two golfer, is in the metropolis to feature in the Rs1.5 million All Pakistan Open Golf Tournament, starting at Defence Authority Golf Club from Friday. "I paid US$2,000 entry fee for appearing in the Asian qualifying school," he said. "Good showing at the Mena Tour in the UAE and in Saudi Arabia raised my confidence level to join the Asian Tour," he disclosed. Munir won his maiden professional event — the Ras-ul-Khaimeh Classic — and he also performed creditably in other events in the UAE and Saudi Arabia over the past few months. http://dawn.com/2013/02/07/munir-aiming-to-make-his-mark-in-asian-golf-tour/ : Munir won his maiden professional event — the Ras-ul-Khaimeh Classic Munir won his maiden professional event — the Ras-ul-Khaimeh Classic

Munir aiming to make his mark in Asian Golf tour

(PakistaniGoodNews.blogspot.com) *KARACHI: Pakistan's golfing ace Mohammad Munir said on Wednesday that he was looking to make his mark on the Asian Tour after qualifying for the continental events.* The 38-year-old Munir of Islamabad Golf Club earned the right to feature on the Asian Golf Tour after a fine performance in the Asian qualifying school. Munir played rounds of 72, 70, 66 and 75 to end with a total of 283 to confirm his place in the Asian Professional Golf Association APGA tour. Munir, rated as Pakistan's number two golfer, is in the metropolis to feature in the Rs1.5 million All Pakistan Open Golf Tournament, starting at Defence Authority Golf Club from Friday. "I paid US$2,000 entry fee for appearing in the Asian qualifying school," he said. "Good showing at the Mena Tour in the UAE and in Saudi Arabia raised my confidence level to join the Asian Tour," he disclosed. Munir won his maiden professional event — the Ras-ul-Khaimeh Classic — and he also performed creditably in other events in the UAE and Saudi Arabia over the past few months. http://dawn.com/2013/02/07/munir-aiming-to-make-his-mark-in-asian-golf-tour/ : Munir won his maiden professional event — the Ras-ul-Khaimeh Classic Munir won his maiden professional event — the Ras-ul-Khaimeh Classic

TCF wins prestigious international award

(PakistaniGoodNews.blogspot.com) KARACHI: The Citizens Foundation TCF , Pakistan has won the prestigious Skoll Award, according to a statement on Friday. The Skoll Foundation announced the winners of its 2013 Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship SASEs on Thursday, it said. Chosen from hundreds of applicants, the award recognises a highly selective group of the world's most promising social entrepreneurs. While Skoll's new awardees focus on different issues, they share what Skoll believes is key to accelerating large-scale change: an entrepreneurial approach, a proven innovation with demonstrated impact that can be scaled, focus on a pressing issue that is at an inflection point, and an ability to catalyse systems change, according to the statement. Some of the previous international winners of Skoll Award include Pratham, Teach for All, INJAZ Al-Arab, Barefoot College and Kashf Foundation. TCF is an internationally acclaimed, not-for-profit organisation, which was set up in 1995 by a group of Pakistani citizens. It is now one of the country's leading organisations in the field of formal education for less privileged children. http:// s.thenews.com.pk/22-12-2012/ethenews/e-149716.htm : Image Credit: Mustafa Mohsin http://www.flickr.com/ s/8557366@N07/4374928651/in/ stream Image Credit: Mustafa Mohsin http://www.flickr.com/ s/8557366@N07/4374928651/in/ stream