Commercial banks around the globe have designed and utilized Islamic financial instruments according to the rules of Shariah. Section 5(b) of Banking Companies Ordinance-1962 defines the business of banking as “banking means the accepting, for the purpose of lending or investment, of deposits of money from the public, repayable on demand or otherwise and withdrawable by cheque, draft, order or otherwise.” By analyzing both sides of the balance sheet of …

The complexity and influx of data in healthcare means that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will increasingly be applied within the health sector. Several types of AI are already being employed by providers of care and life sciences companies. The key categories of applications involve diagnosis and treatment recommendations, patient engagement and adherence, and administrative activities. Although there are many situations during which AI can perform healthcare tasks better than humans, implementation …

Human health has become a major growing concern worldwide due to infectious diseases. Biotechnology has played a dynamic role in improving the challenges regarding human health because it has flexibility to scale back global health differences through provision of promising technologies. Health, life quality and expectancy of life are increased worldwide through the services provided by biotechnology. Malnutrition mainly arises due to the lack of essential nutrients and vitamins in …

State Bank of Pakistan in collaboration with Karandaaz and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, marked the beginning of 2021 with a digital leap forward following the launch of Raast — Pakistan’s first instant payment system that permits end-to-end digital payments among general public, businesses and government entities. The initiative is part of ‘Digital Pakistan Vision’ aimed at financial inclusion of poor segments and women of our society in the formal …

Over time, the real estate sector has marked significant economic importance. As large as the real estate sector is, it is considered equally sophisticated. Despite being one of the latest sectors to adopt innovation, technology has undoubtedly added a new dimension to the industry. The introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology revolutionized the whole industry, bringing real estate properties, innumerable housing societies, diverse housing types, changing market trends, different agents, …

Al-Hajj to launch proton variants Malaysian auto giant Proton, which has collaborated with Al-Haj Automobile, the assembler of FAW automobiles in Pakistan, will be launching its SUV crossover X70 soon along with a sedan named Saga. The company has confirmed that it will initially launch two vehicles and will offer variants in CBU condition. Proton has received a green-field status under the Auto Development Policy 2016-21. Under the status, new …

Looking at global GDP at constant prices of 2017 adjusted for cost of living/purchasing power, China was the biggest economy in the world in 2019 with an adjusted GDP of more than USD 22.5 trillion according to World Bank. While the Chinese economy is projected by IMF to grow by a low of 1.2% in 2020 due to pandemic, the US in second rank is expected to see its USD …

A recent report of World Bank titled Digital Pakistan in Covid-19 Environment advocates for IT and IT enabled services, automation and artificial intelligence, which can play a more prominent role to put the economy of Pakistan back on track. In this regard, Telenor International Research Report emphasizes use of artificial intelligence and digitization for all times to come, in view of the large number of workforce, both in public and …

Digitization has become a part of everyday life with the introduction of smartphones and availability of social media. This has brought the banking industry at the verge of possibly the greatest revolution in history as it is more of a matter of life and death for this industry to get the digital banking right. Banks are already at a crossroad with the adoption of digitalization as can be seen prominently. …

State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) through its recent initiatives and actions has focused its attention on finance-deficient areas such as financial inclusion, low cost housing facility, agricultural credit, SME finance and most importantly, the Green Banking phenomenon. In accordance with its strategic policy, given the importance of SMEs being attached to our economic development, SBP is playing a facilitator’s role, aimed to increase the orderly flow of financing to SMEs. …