Covid-19 poses new ethical challenges for professional accountants

 

ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) has launched its white paper ‘Ethics in a Covid-19 world’ exploring the role of ethics against the backdrop of the pandemic. This is part of ACCA’s focus on how we can, globally, rethink business for a sustainable recovery.

 

The Covid-19 pandemic has led to the most challenging environment any of us have experienced in modern times. And while businesses recover, professional accountants are faced with new and intense ethical dilemmas, which require them to exercise all their professional expertise and moral judgement.

 

The paper reveals one in five respondents has directly or indirectly, via a work colleague, encountered a situation where as a result of Covid-19, ethics were at risk of compromise.  Among those who had experienced such compromise, a quarter of issues related to the use of technology.

 

The report author, Narayanan Vaidyanathan, ACCA’s head of business futures says: ‘For accountancy and finance professionals, ethics has always been at the core of the profession but in times of pressure, it is all the more important. Ethics isn’t a new agenda for accountants, but Covid-19 certainly has created new challenges, which can create the risk of compromise to ethical behaviour.

 

‘While everyone is responsible for ethics, leaders have a key role to play because tone from the top really matters. Organisations look to their leaders to demonstrate authentically ethical, values-based leadership and transparency – doing so creates a cascading positive effect through the organisation.’

Huawei Launches Mega 11.11 Sale for its Devices Exclusively on Daraz.pk

You’re just a click away from purchasing some of Huawei’s bestselling devices available at the best discounted prices

 

Huawei Mobile is offering huge discounts on its wide range of innovative smartphones available at Daraz.pk, where the annual 11.11 ‘Super Sale’ is being launched from 11^th November to 17^th November, 2020. During this fascinating extravaganza, a wide range of world renowned Huawei devices can be purchased at unbelievable prices, along with very attractive package deals including a discount of PKR 3000/- on HUAWEI Y9a along with a FREE HUAWEI Band 4 and a fabulous saving of PKR 10,000/- on the HUAWEI Y8p.

The HUAWEI Y9a features many flagship specs like a 40W HUAWEI SuperCharge, 64MP Quad AI Camera, 6.63" HUAWEI Ultra FullView Display, 8GB RAM and 128GB storage - all amid an eye catching design which is an adoption of the Halo Ring design from the flagship HUAWEI Mate 30 Series. HUAWEI Y8p on the other hand brings to the segment a 48MP AI Triple Camera, powerful performance and a stunning display. The setup consists of 48MP main camera, 8MP Ultra-Wide angle camera and a 2MP depth camera for bokeh effects. The Y8p is available in Breathing Crystal and Midnight Black whereas the Y9a comes in three colours of Space Silver, Sakura Pink and Midnight Black for you to choose the best way to express yourself.

Huawei’s many powerful devices are being offered exclusively on Daraz.pk, at the most unbelievable discounts, to commemorate the global event of Black Friday, This exclusive offer also includes the HUAWEI Y7p on which one can save PKR 2,280/- and anyone purchasing a HUAWEI Nova 7i smartphone will get a valuable discount of PKR 1,600/-. During this week-long offer on Daraz.pk, the consumers can also save PKR 800/- on buying the HUAWEI Y6p.

Huawei Mobile – the global leader and innovator in telecommunication technologies, is committed to go beyond the consumers’ expectations, enabling every segment to save more while adopting the most advanced technologies to elevate their digital lifestyle. So, hurry up! Visit daraz.pk and get your favourite Huawei smartphones at the most attractive prices.

Additionally, as one of the top three app marketplace globally, HUAWEI AppGallery continues to bring together popular global and local apps to over 500 million monthly active users. While the Petal Search Widget offers search capabilities across more than 20 categories, including apps, news, videos, images, shopping, flights, and local business. It also develops and integrates various tools, such as weather, calculator, rate exchange and even paper query to help user easily obtain daily-used information.

Bookme launches exciting 11/11 offers!

11/11 - The day of discounted deals everywhere! Bookme.pk, Pakistan’s leading e-ticketing platform is offering FLAT 1000 PKR OFF on all Serene Air tickets! Bookme.pk is known to take care of all your travel needs. If you’re worried about the price hike in airline tickets for domestic travel, this offer is for you! This deal is valid till the end of November.

 

In addition to this, Bookme.pk is also offering FLAT 25% OFF on Hotel Booking, a discount that is actually very beneficial for the domestic tourism industry these days. This offer is valid for the entire month, not just on 11/11!

 

Moreover, the Bookme.pk team has upgraded their application with more games and exclusive discounts. The new update introduces promo credits on the app, to make sure you get discounts on everything you purchase! There are many ways to win these credits:

 

• You can Spin the Wheel and win numerous credits which can be used to make purchases throughout the app!

• They’ve also launched another game on the app - Flip & Win. You can tap on the cards to flip them and win promo credits.
• Shaking your mobile device also gives you promo credits!

 

Bookme.pk also makes sure that frequent users of the app keep winning promo credits and discounted deals. The more you use the app, the more credits you get! Look out for surprise pop ups and keep winning promo credits!

Download the app now: https://bookme.pk/u/rSKbM5

PSDF and Coursera launch free international online learning courses

PSDF, the largest skills development fund in Pakistan (funded by FCDO and the Government of Punjab), has partnered with Coursera, one of the world’s leading online learning platforms, to offer globally recognized courses, free of cost for our youth. The partnership was announced during Coursera CEO’s Global Keynote at the Coursera virtual conference.

While online learning is a relatively new phenomenon in Pakistan, amidst the current COVID-19 pandemic, interest and necessity have jointly dictated the shift to online learning particularly for school, colleges and universities. Internet penetration, growing cellular subscribers have facilitated the uptake of online learning, providing access to the world’s best education, and promoting inclusion in learning.

PSDF’s partnership with Coursera taps into this potential, offering a wide variety of courses in market relevant fields, and are particularly geared towards enhancing career advancement, increasing income avenues, and promoting self-employment.

The courses currently offered through PSDF, are 4-months long, and are in the fields of Digital Marketing (for learning SEO, Social Media Marketing and Marketing Analytics), IT (ranging from APP development to coding languages of JAVA & PYTHON), to Finance (Financial Accounting Fundamentals). Through PSDF, these courses will be offered free of cost to the youth that need them the most, with PSDF further incentivizing upskilling with a stipend of PKR 6,000 to be received upon completion of the course.

Every course on Coursera is taught by top instructors from 190 world-class universities and organizations (University of Virginia, UCDavis, Google, IBM etc.) with over 40+ Million learners till date. Learners can take advantage of learning at their own pace through on-demand video lectures, homework exercises, and community discussion forums. After completion of their respective courses, 85% Coursera learners reported gaining more confidence at work, and 87% reported improved team performance.

Speaking on occasion of the launch of the partnership, CEO PSDF, Mr. Jawad Khan expressed the importance of online learning for youth to gain marketable skills for the 21^st century: “As we navigate our way out of the global Coronavirus pandemic, digital preparedness and online learning have become the need of the hour. PSDF has once again been ahead of the curve, bringing Coursera to Pakistan, on such a large scale, bringing world class learning opportunities to the homes of millions of Pakistani students and workers. We’re looking forward to taking this partnership ahead, to create real and tangible impact for our youth”.

Encouraging youth to take full advantage of the opportunity, Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO at Coursera said: “We’re really excited to be partnering with PSDF, the largest skills development fund in Pakistan, to empower the young men and women in Pakistan to develop their potential with online learning. The COVID-19 pandemic has harmed economies and livelihoods, but even as we work and learn from home, online learning has become more accessible and powerful than ever. Our partnership with PSDF provides the opportunity for everyone to access free training to upskill and give themselves an edge in the local and global labour markets.”

The PSDF and Coursera partnership has thus officially been launched and will be available for free for poor and vulnerable youth in the country. The courses are accessible through learn.psdf.org.pk. Seats are limited, so applicants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible to kickstart their career, upgrade their skills and discover new income avenues.

Up For Grabs - HUAWEI Y7a promises incredible charging speeds, a long lasting battery, a stellar 48MP Quad camera and a massive storage!

 

Huawei Consumer Business Group (CBG) today unveiled its latest addition to the HUAWEI Y Series, the all-new HUAWEI Y7a. Renowned for combining stylish design and essential innovations at great value, the newest addition to the HUAWEI Y Series meets the needs of today’s young consumers. It is packed with a super-fast HUAWEI SuperCharge for quick recharge speeds, an enduring battery life that keeps up with busy lifestyle, a smarter camera that allows users to capture what they see effortlessly and a beautifully big display for immersive viewing making it stand out as the ideal smartphone companion. The HUAWEI Y7a is now available in Pakistan for a price of PKR 35,999/-.

 

With people using smartphones for ever-increasing creative, entertainment and social purposes, the demand for a device that caters to these needs is greater than ever. That is why HUAWEI Y7a features the 22.5W HUAWEI SuperCharge that enables a quick energy regain that lets users to stay connected, productive and entertained with HUAWEI Y7a.

With a large battery of 5000mAh capacity (Typical Value), HUAWEI Y7a offers a long-lasting battery life that supports video playback of around 23 hours. Coupled with Huawei’s AI power saving technology, HUAWEI Y7a allows for an uninterrupted user enjoyment during gameplay, movies and more.

HUAWEI Y7a’s rear camera is capable of producing high-definition images thanks to a 48MP Main Camera, 1/2-inch sensor, all of which enables the main camera to maximise light intake, ideal for users to capture high-definition photos in day time. Even zoomed in, the details are crisp and sharp.

Not only for daytime shooting, HUAWEI Y7a also excels in night photography due to its high sensitivity performance and AI capability. Moreover, Thanks to the device’s 120° 8MP Ultra-Wide Angle Camera and 2MP Macro Camera, users are able to capture from a more creative perspective, from distant landscapes to intricate details just 4cm from the lens. On top of this, a sophisticated 2MP Depth Camera helps subtly accentuate the subject with realistic and immersive bokeh effects.

HUAWEI Y7a doesn’t hold back on the 8MP selfie camera either. Besides for AI beautification, its Circular Flash provides even and soft lighting for selfies when shooting in low-light conditions, letting users capture ready-to-share selfies effortlessly.

With a captivating 6.67-inch Full HD display with a resolution of 2400 x 1080, HUAWEI Y7a offers an incredibly immersive viewing experience for gameplay and video playback.

The side-mounted fingerprint power button lets the user unlock the phone more quickly and securely, meanwhile turning on and waking up the phone more conveniently. Using a 3D Ergonomic Design, HUAWEI Y7a offers a firm and comfortable grip.

With an internal storage at 128GB, HUAWEI Y7a is easily capable of storing all your photos, videos, audio in one place to access whenever you like.

Running on the latest version of EMUI, EMUI 10.1, the HUAWEI Y7a brings easy-to-use features that make life easier. HUAWEI Y7a is pre-installed with AppGallery, which offers a wealth of global and local apps that enrich the Huawei device user experience. Users can also enjoy a rich library of quality entertainment media on HUAWEI Video, HUAWEI Music and HUAWEI Reader, with new content from top providers being added on a continuous basis. Additionally, users can also download and install Petal Search which acts as a gateway to more than a million apps and games that can be easily installed and used.

Pricing and availability

Available in three natural colour variations: Crush Green, Blush Gold and Midnight Black, HUAWEI Y7a is currently available for PKR 35,999/- only. For more information, please visit: https://consumer.huawei.com/pk/phones/y7a/

Global Ethics Day celebrated in Pakistan, ACCA takes the lead

To mark the Global Ethics Day 2020, ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) joined forces with CFA Society Pakistan, HBL, ICMA Pakistan, Pakistan Stock Exchange Limited (PSX), and the Pakistan Business Council's Centre of Excellence in Responsible Business (CERB) for a series of panel discussions engaging country’s top business leaders.

 

The conversation leaders constructively discussed the pressing ethical and environmental challenges of today and exchanged views and solutions on how organisations can blaze the trail of sustainability and cultivate a culture of workplace ethics. 

 

The business leaders stressed that businesses can continue to deliver financial returns while generating positive value for society and being environmentally responsible for the planet. As our world strives to recover from the impact of Covid-19, they feel that there is a growing demand for organisations and nations to become fairer and more sustainable.

 

Global Ethics Day is an annual, international day dedicated to exploring the role of ethics in today’s world. Founded by the Carnegie Council, organisations are encouraged to hold programmes focusing on ethics, such as lectures, film screenings, debates, panel discussions, or activities to protect the environment.

 

In addition to these virtual panel discussions, to celebrate Global Ethics Day 2020, ACCA in Pakistan also conducted several other activities such as a Virtual Film Festival & Teach-in, Ethics Essay Competition in partnership with CFA Society Pakistan, the release of ACCA’s latest research into sustainable public finances, and a global prize themed ‘Ethics and Trust in Finance for a Sustainable Future’.

Huawei Launches Petal Search, Petal Maps, HUAWEI Docs and More

The Petal search tool offers Huawei users an open gateway to over 1.8 million apps – with convenience and ease to download and install them right away

 

Huawei today announced new developments to Huawei Mobile Services ecosystem at the HUAWEI Mate 40 Series launch event, launching Petal Search, Petal Maps, HUAWEI Docs, levelling up global Huawei users' digital experience with other new updates.

Hardware and software integration enhances digital lifestyle experience

Huawei’s official search engine app, Petal Search now is available in over 170 countries and regions and supports over 50 languages, letting users conveniently and instantly find out the information and services they need.

Petal Search offers search capabilities across more than 20 categories, including apps, news, videos, images, shopping, flights, and local business. It also develops and integrates various tools, such as weather, calculator, rate exchange and even paper query to help user easily obtain daily-used information. With the new update, the search experience is now visually richer. Search results are presented in information cards, as opposed to simple weblinks, to help users get this wealth of useful information instantly with just a few clicks.

Leveraging Huawei devices’ AI capabilities, Petal Search allows users to search by taking photos or images through its visual search function. It recognises a wide range of objects such as people, animals, and landmarks, and will introduce new capabilities such as plants identification. For instance, user can simply take a photo of a dish and Petal Search will provide the recipe. A voice search feature is also integrated in the app, supporting English, Spanish, French, Arabic and more. These features help Petal Search meet the needs of users accustomed to an efficient and mobile-centric lifestyle.

In addition, with the cooperation with global and local partners, Petal Search is vigorously developing local life search services, to provide users a rich location-based and scenario-based search experience. When user look up for local life content, Petal Search provides users with high-quality and most popular localized information, such as personalized recommendations or nearby foods, worth visiting local attractions, and shopping discounts.

Petal Maps, meanwhile, is Huawei’s quality and convenient mapping and navigational tool, offering positioning services, immersive map displays, place searches, driving navigation and favorite place lists  to users in over 140 countries and regions. Petal Maps supports map displays in multiple languages, with voice notifications in English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, and Mandarin.

Petal Maps is also equipped with cutting-edge functions to give a real-time publish transit updates in some major cities, helping commuters better plan their routes and take the worry off travelling. Utilizing pioneering technologies such as Super GNSS and image recognition algorithms, Petal Maps further heighten the accuracy and present users the most efficient and least congested routes.

Thanks to HUAWEI Mate 40 Series devices’ Gesture Control, drivers are able to switch between the navigation view and map overview by simply using “air press” towards the screen with their palms. These smart interactions significantly enhance the ease of travel, as well as facilitate a safe driving experience.

HUAWEI Docs, available for HUAWEI Mate 40 Series users in more than 100 countries and regions, supports document viewing and editing across over 50 formats including PDF, PPT, and DOC. With real-time syncing enabled by cloud capabilities, HUAWEI Docs lets users seamlessly work on the same document on different devices logged into the same HUAWEI ID, enhancing the smart office experience.

Full suite of Huawei Mobile Services apps to complement digital living

Upgrade on Find Device enables users to locate their Huawei devices such as smartphones, watches, earphones, and glasses. Users can either play a ringtone remotely to help locate the devices, or choose to lock and wipe devices information, protecting user privacy.

HUAWEI Themes introduced exclusive theme packs to enable deeper device personalisation. The first batch of packs includes themes of famous artists, classic literature, and the Ingenuity series Huawei selected. 

Supported by 2 million global developers, Huawei Mobile Services ecosystem maintains rapid growth. As one of the top 3 app marketplace globally, AppGallery continues to bring together popular global and local apps to over 500 million monthly active users. HUAWEI Quick App also reach a 260% year-on-year increase of monthly active users for its tap-to-use and installation-free experience.