Facebook users exceed 2 billion in 2017

The total number of Facebook users in the world has exceeded 2 billion (2.119 billion) by Dec-2017 out of total world population of 7.6 billion. The internet users in the world are 4.159 billion by Dec-2017 out of which 2.119 billion are use Facebook. Thus, the Facebook has emerged as the largest social media platform in the world.

Asian countries are dominating the use of internet and social media mainly because of massive population (1.27 billion in China, 1.25 billion in India, 200 million in Pakistan, etc). The Internet World Stats has shared the latest data below with the Corporate Ambassador today.

 

How to make money from YouTube?

To get advertisements on your videos, you will have to sign up for the YouTube Partner Program. To be able to join the YouTube Partner Program, it is compulsory for your channel to have 4,000 watch hours and a minimum of 1000 subscribers.

Corporate Ambassador Monitoring Report/KARACHI: Creating a channel on YouTube is the easiest way to get a secondary source of income and a chance to be-your-boss”. While prominent YouTube content creators have quit their full-time jobs for the success of their respective channels, it is definitively not advisable for someone who is thinking of starting their YouTube channel now. The reality is making money on YouTube requires dedicated long-term effort and of course, a creative mind. You will have to create good videos consistently and just forget about the money.

Before you start…here is a reality check

You are highly mistaken if you consider YouTube to be a quick source of additional income. Also, it is not about creating that one viral video. YouTube is all about uploading videos regularly that are high on quality and content. Now, talking about making money from YouTube: the reality is that majority of mainstream media companies are yet to make any significant amount from their YouTube channels. This is despite having dedicated resources in the form of camera persons, anchors, producers and video editors. On the other hand, there are individuals running successful YouTube channels and are managing to get decent income from YouTube. And then there are the YouTube millionaires.

In all the above scenarios, there are a couple of things that are in common. You will hardly make anything from your YouTube channel for the initial couple of years. To be a YouTube success story, you will have to focus on providing quality content regularly that would interest a large section of global audience, reports TOI.

Attractive Content: There is a general misconception that views translate into YouTube money. It is the advertisements that viewers mostly like to “skip” that get you the money. Having advertisements alone, however, will not help. Viewers will have to interact with those advertisements. To get advertisements on your videos, you will have to sign up for the YouTube Partner Program. To be able to join the YouTube Partner Program, your channel is required to have 4,000 watch hours and a minimum of 1000 subscribers. These metrics can be tracked once you open the YouTube channel and refer to YouTube Analytics. To qualify for this, you will have to create quality content that would interest a large audience. To ultimately make it big on YouTube, it is the content that will take you places.

How to setup your YouTube Channel?

Simply, start with a Google account and sign in to YouTube. Decide on the genre and name beforehand. Also, create unique thumbnail and cover images before you start. To maintain a workflow, it is advisable to create sufficient content from the beginning before you start your channel. As a rule of thumb, it is advisable to have two or three weeks of planned and ready-to-upload videos. This will help you to be regular and consistent. The basics of production suggest that you make videos mute-friendly with proper subtitles and incorporate a good voice-over. While smartphone cameras are good for starters, remember it is always the shots and angle that makes a good video great. You will have to think like a director.

After getting these basics right, you should aim to get enrolled to YouTube Partner Program with 1000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours. Once this is achieved, you will have to connect your YouTube channel to a Google Adsense account to get paid for monetised videos. After this you will have to continue making engaging videos to gain traction. Lastly, you will have to wait and expect your ad-engagement to increase to earn money.

Other sources of earning money from YouTube

If you believe your content is great and you have built up a sufficient subscriber base then you can market your YouTube channel differently to earn money. Remember, it is frustrating to expect decent money from YouTube advertisements despite having great content. Here are three other common ways to earn money from your established YouTube channel.

NBP’s start-up loans scheme is best to launch small business

J. Choudhry, Corporate Ambassador/KARACHI:

Shaukat Mahmood the Executive Vice-President of the National Bank of Pakistan and Group Chief of Services Quality, Media & Brand Management said that the people should take benefit from the ‘start-up loans programme’ of the NBP in which the loans are being offered at the lowest mark-up of just six percent. He said that up to 2 million rupees loan is being offered to each borrower under this loan programme that targets the expansion of the start-up and existing small businesses throughout Pakistan. He said that any person interested in starting a small business or already doing business and wants to expand it with NBP’s lowest mark-up loans scheme, can take benefit from it. He said that this scheme was very important to reduce unemployment, motivate people especially the youngsters to venture into their own business.

Shaukat Mahmood, EVP/Group Chief of NBP was speaking as a Special Guest at the Karachi Editors Club (KEC) on Thursday evening at Beach Luxury Hotel. To a question, he said that the NBP seeks guarantee from the borrower to ensure that the loan will be returned and that it would be utilized effectively for business. President Editors Club Mubasher Mir welcomed him at the meeting. Secretary-General of KEC Manzar Naqvi, senior members Mukhtar Aqil, Mukhtar Ahmed Butt, Javed Mahmood, Agha Masood, Turab Shah and Mr Ibrar of daily Ausaf; Shujaullah Khan, Amin Yousuf, Syed Sajid Husain and some others attended the 18^th meeting of the KEC.

Mr Mahmood is serving in the National Bank of Pakistan for the past 25 years. He has served in important position in Japan for nearly a decade and also remained on key positions in Pakistan.

He urged the media executives to motivate the people to opt for the start-up loans programme of the NBP that was vital to promote business, reduce unemployment and give an opportunity to people to have their own business.

Shaukat Mahmood also pointed out that the President of the National Bank of Pakistan Saeed Ahmad has directed the bank to change the ambiance of the branches of the bank along with the culture of the facilitation of the customers. He said that now one of the key targets of the NBP is to improve the infrastructure, look of the branches, environment, customers facilitation and performance of the employees.

He said that with these efforts the National Bank of Pakistan would be made the number one bank in the country by all means. He said that the President of the NBP was making major changes in the culture and efficiency of the bank that would be seen by everyone soon.

End

 

Russian Beauty Queen faces 200 surgeries after acid attack

Russian famous Beauty Queen Elenora Kondratuk got her beauty back after undergoing 200 surgeries. She suffered serious injuries when one of her admirers threw acid over her face and body, to whom she had rejected as friend.

Eleonora had previously participated in a Sochi Beauty Pageant in 1998, where she was adjudged the runner up. The beauty queen was left severely disfigured after being attacked with sulphuric acid by an admirer. She further had to undergo 200 operations in a bid to regain her real looks, UK’s Daily Mail reported today.

She was just 18-years-old when she was attacked. “As my doctors say, with this concentration that is 92 percent sulphuric-acid, this liquid weapon, even winter clothes would not have been able to save me.” she said. The beauty queen was left nearly blind by the attack. The acid entered her mouth causing further damage to her esophagus, stomach and respiratory tract. Over the years, doctors have helped reconstruct her face through countless operations. (After attack, she is being shifted to hospital).

Eleonora’s story has been shared widely on social media, with many praising her for her bravery. As per reports, Eleonora’s attacker was killed in an unrelated incident.  Eleonora has spent many years out of the public eye since the life-changing attack 19 years ago.

 

State Bank reports $12 billion+ current account deficit in 9 months of FY2018: Reserves with SBP skip below $11.4b

J. Choudhry/KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan today reported $12.4 billion current account deficit of Pakistan in nine months of financial year 2017-18. During the same period in 2016-17, the current account deficit was only $8.35 billion.

The foreign exchange reserves with State Bank have dropped to below $11.4 billion in April 2018 (at 11.37 billion) that is another sign of eroding key economic indicators of Pakistan mainly because of poor economic management and bad governance.

From July 2017 to March 2018 (nine months), the country had suffered more than $29 billion worth trade deficit that had wiped out the entire inflow of remittances, investment and caused an outflow of $12.4 billion to meet the shortfall in the balance of payment position to also caused a blow to the foreign exchange reserves. Below is the data of the State Bank of Pakistan issued today (April 19, 2018).

The foreign exchange reserves with State Bank of Pakistan have already declined to below $12 billion till March 19, 2018, (at $11.37 billion) showing a steep decline of nearly 4 billion dollars mainly because of widening current account deficit. The reserves with the central bank are barely equal to three months imports of Pakistan which are $4.3 billion on an average in a month. The acting finance minister Miftah Ismail has rushed to Washington to hold meeting with IMF and the World Bank officials with the aim to seek fresh borrowings for the upcoming budget being announced in last week of April 2018. Here is new update issued by State Bank of Pakistan on Friday about reserves position.

Instead of recovering looted money from the super corrupt rulers and leaders, once again the government had opted for the soft option of borrowing more from IMF and other institutions that would lead to more difficulties for the people of Pakistan from the start of the next financial year, 2018-19, starting from July 2018.

 

China now proposes India-Nepal-China corridor

Corporate Ambassador Monitoring Report/BEIJING: China on Wednesday proposed construction of India-Nepal-China economic corridor with multi-dimensional connectivity through the Himalayas as it seeks to expand its influence over the new Nepalese government headed by Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, widely regarded as pro-Beijing. China’s proposal came after visiting Nepalese foreign minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali held talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

“Let me say China and Nepal have agreed on long term vision of a multi-dimensional cross Himalaya connectivity network,” Wang told a joint press briefing along with Gyawali after their talks. Gyawali is on his maiden visit to Beijing after the Oli-led government came to power in recent elections.

Wang said China and Nepal have already signed an MoU on the China’s multi-billion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which includes connectivity cooperation. It included a long-term vision such as connectivity network and covering the links between the two countries though ports, railways, highways, aviation, power and communications.

“We believe that such a well-developed connectivity network can also create conditions for an economic corridor connecting China, Nepal and India,” Wang said.

“We hope that such cooperation will contribute development and prosperity for all the three countries,” he said.

Reacting to a question whether Gyawali’s visit to China was aimed at counterbalancing the recent visit by Oli to India, his first visit abroad after taking over as Prime Minister, Wang sought to make out a case for trilateral cooperation between India, China and Nepal.

He said Beijing and New Delhi should facilitate it.

NBP-PMRC sign accord to promote housing sector financing

Karachi: The President & CEO of National Bank of Pakistan, Mr. Saeed Ahmad,
reaffirmed the commitment of NBP to grow and develop Housing Sector Financing in Pakistan. He was speaking at the signing ceremony of the Shareholders’ Agreement of “Pakistan Mortgage Refinance Company” (PMRC), at a local hotel in Karachi, on Saturday, 14th April.

In his speech, Mr. Ahmad said that the lack of proper housing for low income citizens
may lead to serious social, economic and law & order issues. Of a shortage of 10 million housing units in the country, 80-90% is estimated to be for lower income groups, and affordable housing was therefore a critical need.

He recalled an incident when he was on a road journey in the interior of the country, when he stopped by the side of the road and spoke to a family who were living in shanties (“katchi abadi”). In the conversation, the head of the family said that he worked on housing construction sites but could not afford to build a house for his family. The irony of this, Mr. Ahmad stated, had left a deep impression on him and it was his heartfelt desire to see real progress in delivering housing to the poor.

He said that solutions to the housing shortfall require out-of-the-box thinking and the authorities need to give serious thought to creating the kind of institutional infrastructure that would help address the problem. The launch of the PMRC is, he added, a vital step in this direction, but of course further building blocks need to be put in place, including measures to bring the construction industry into the formal sector and to eliminate legal and regulatory obstacles to the provision of low cost housing. This will reduce the need for the Governments (Federal as well as Provincial) to provide subsidies from their limited resources.

He complimented the efforts of the Board of Directors of PMRC under the chairmanship of Mr. Rehmat Hasnie and the Management team, Mr. N. Kokularupen, CEO of PMRC, and Dr. Muhammad Saleem (COO) and Mr. Zulfiqar Alam (CFO and Company Secretary). He said that from inception, his guiding philosophy was to have “the right person for the right job”. This has resulted in the induction of a highly experienced and professional management team and this augurs well for the future success of the company.

The event was presided over by the Chief Guest, Mr. Jameel Ahmed, Deputy Governor, SBP.  Mr. Risha Mohyeddin, Group Chief of NBP, signed the Shareholders Agreement on behalf of NBP. Ms. Naheed Sultana, Group Chief, Commercial & Retail Banking Group, which includes responsibility for housing finance, also attended the event.
NBP is one of the principal shareholders of PMRC, which numbers several other banks as its shareholders and the World Bank has committed facilities of US$140 million for the PMRC.

Mr. Samar Hasnain, Executive Director of the SBP, also spoke at the occasion and recalled that the idea was seeded at the SBP over 10 years ago, and that it was heartening to see this idea converted into reality.

Mr. Jameel Ahmed, Deputy Governor, acknowledged the pivotal role of Mr. Saeed Ahmad while he was Deputy Governor of SBP in developing the concept of PMRC. Mr. Jameel Ahmed also complimented Mr. Samar Hasnain and his team for their hard work and commitment to the housing sector and for the landmark achievement of successful launch of PMRC.

Replying to a query raised by media personnel, Mr. Saeed Ahmad referred to the MoU signed in the last week between NBP and PHA-KPK for financing of 200,000 housing units; he reiterated that NBP is the “Nation’s Bank”, and that the Bank would be very interested in similar projects in Sindh, Punjab and Baluchistan.  He said that PMRC would play a key role in these projects.

During Mr. Ahmad’s tenure as Deputy Governor of SBP, several other initiatives were also successfully implemented such as three Centres of Excellence for Islamic Finance, Warehouse Receipts, Asaan Accounts and Asaan Mobile Accounts among others.

 

Sharmeen Shafiq Khan, new Jury Member of Corporate Ambassador Awards

Ms Sharmeen Shafiq Khan is a senior Information Officer in Sindh Government Department in Karachi. She is also a Social Icon and Member of Rotary Club in Karachi. Corporate Ambassador welcomes her as Senior Jury Member.

Javed Mahmood, Chief Editor Weekly Corporate & Founder/President of Corporate Ambassador Awards; Ms Rozina Jalal, Renowned Astrologist/TV Analyst; Mubasher Mir, President, Karachi Editors Club/TV Analyst and Resident Editor of Daily Pakistan, Karachi; Aamna Rauf Malik, senior educationist/trainer and Founder of Fog-Light engaged in teachers/students development and parental guidance; Alveena Agha, Chief Editor Affairs Pakistan and TV Host of BusinessPlus; Muttahir Ahmed Khan, Assistant Professor, TV Analyst/Author; Dr Shujaat Mubarik, TV Anchorperson/TV Analyst and Dean of MAJU, Karachi and Dr Murtaza Mughal, Chairman of Nazriya-e-Pakistan Trust Center, Islamabad and President, Pakistan Economy Watch.

Brief History of Corporate Ambassador & CA Awards

Corporate Ambassador Awards program was launched in 2012 in Karachi. Senior Journalist, TV Analyst and Chief Editor of weekly Corporate Ambassador Javed Mahmood, who has to his credit more than 28 years’ experience in English Journalism, has started this initiative. Javed Mahmood is the former Resident Editor of daily The Nation, Karachi.

The purpose is to appreciate and acknowledge the achievements of the organizations and individuals in the society doing excellent work and to motivate others to seek excellence in their profession, career and work for well-being of the needy people.

Since 2012, more than 480 organizations and individuals, including students, have received this prestigious award. So far 13 awards programs have been organised_ nine in Karachi and four in Islamabad.

Who can opt for this award?

Corporate Ambassador Awards is a social & corporate awards that are given to the organisations, companies, professionals belonging to any field who have some notable achievement(s) in their life, profession, business, career or social welfare work. Students with certain ambitions and achievements have also been given awards and Hi-Achievers (students) can also apply for this award. Nomination Fee is charged from organization and professionals. Sponsorship are also accepted to provide some free of cost to needy but deserving nominees of awards. For more information, please contact Founder/Chief Editor Mr Javed Mahmood (WhatsApp 0334-3939029/Email: jchoudhry63@gmail.com)

 

TV Host Aftab Iqbal launching his own TV Channel “Aap”

Famous TV Host, Columnist and Media Innovator Aftab Iqbal is finally launching his own TV Channel “Aap” soon. He got fame with the launching of ”Hasb-e-Haal”, then switched to another TV channel Geo ”Khabarnaak” and then launched Khabardaar on Express News. He is the architect who shifted stage comedy to TV channels and presented a mixed shows with different varieties that became very popular. Weekly Corporate Ambassador wishes best of luck to Aftab Iqbal for finally taking the decision of launching his own TV channel.

 

 

8 Million Britishers no longer eating meat

Corporate Ambassador Monitoring Report/LONDON: About eight million Britishers are no longer eating meat, while one in four is planning to reduce meat consumption. Young people are driving the meat-free trend, the research showed, with younger consumers more likely to have concerns about the ethics of meat.

Just under four million people specifically identify as vegetarian, the study suggested, a figure more than three times higher than the Vegetarian Society found in 2012. The survey of more than 2,000 people found that six per cent called themselves vegetarian, four per cent pescetarian and two per cent vegan, Daily Mail of UK reported quoting The Grocer magazine.