Pakistan Holds its 2011 ICT Oscars!

pasha_awardsThe 8th P@SHA ICT Awards, the flagship ICT industry event, was held yesterday to recognize the technology talent and toppers of ICT industry here in Karachi.

The star-studded Oscar Night honored the best Software and Service applications in 25 different categories. The winning companies will be representing Pakistani delegation with P@SHA in Asia Pacific ICT Awards (APICTA) scheduled to be held in Thailand from November 8 – 11, 2011.

This year over 100+ entries were received in the 25 categories and judges, who are seasoned professionals from within the IT sector, were totally blown away by some of the nominated software products. There is a lot of creative work being done within the technology industry that goes unrecognized.

Nadeem Elahi, the Chairman of P@SHA said that the industry has faced many challenges in the past few years but it has continued to innovate and progress. It continues to hire and train young people and provide them with opportunities to do interesting and cutting-edge work.

Amongst the winners were those involved in developing Financial, e-Government, Communications, E-Inclusion & E-Community, Tools & Infrastructure, Security, Industrial, Digital Media & Entertainment, Mobile Games and E-Learning Applications as well as intensely heavily researched Research & Development Applications.

Awards were also bestowed on the best Startup Companies and innovative Tertiary Student Projects. The Best CIO in the Private and Public sectors were also recognized.

Each year the entries are exciting, innovative and cutting edge showing the depth of the industry and its capabilities, said Jehan Ara, the President of the Pakistan Software Houses Association for IT & ITES (P@SHA).

The P@SHA ICT Awards, she said, are aimed at discovering and highlighting the brilliant innovation taking place and showcasing it to the world through participation at local and regional events.

List of the Winners & Runners Up in this year’s PASHA ICT Awards 2011

Digital Media & Entertainment Applications

  • Winner: GeniTeam Pvt Limited, Product: Angry Monkey
  • Runner Up: Interactive Group of Companies, Product: Pakistan Body Count

E-Government Applications

  • Winner: Center for Advanced Research in Engineering (CARE), Product: National Air Space Management System (NASMS)
  • Runner Up: HiTech Solutions Pvt Ltd, Product: Information System 1339 for CDGK

Research & Development Applications

  • Winner: TunaCode Pvt Ltd, Product: CUVI Lib gKrypt
  • Runner Up: CloudBPO Pvt Ltd, Product: vSwitch Pro-Carrier – Grade VoIP Switch

Industrial Applications

  • Winner: Evamp & Saanga, Product: 3P Web & Wireless Telecom CMS & Self Care
  • Runner Up: Mantaq Systems, Product: Store Footfall Management

Tools & Infrastructure Applications

  • Winner: Center for Advanced Research in Engineering (CARE), Product: Software Development Framework for SDR
  • Runner Up: Folio 3, Product: Smart NS

E-Logistics & Supply Chain Management Applications

  • Winner: Lumensoft Pvt Ltd, Product: Candela RMS Ultimate Edition

E-Logistics & Supply Chain Management Applications

  • Winner: Lumensoft Pvt Ltd, Product: Candela RMS Ultimate Edition

E-Learning Applications Category

  • Winner: Toffee TV, Product: Toffeetv.com
  • Runner Up: Soft Solutions, Product: ilmkidunya.com

Security Applications Category

  • Winner: Center for Advanced Research in Engineering (CARE), Product: Consolidated Security System
  • Runner Up: Tranchulas Pvt Ltd, Product: Cyber Ranges

Financial Applications Category

  • Winner: Infotech Pvt Limited, Product: Capizar Suite of Applications
  • Runner Up: Avanza Pvt Limited, Product: Wealth Management System

e-Health Applications

  • Winner: CARE (Center for Advanced Research in Engineering), Product: Arrythmia & Sudden Death Syndrome Detection
  • Runner Up: Interactive Group of Companies, Product: HMIS

e-Inclusion & E-Community Applications Category

  • Winner: Engro Foods & Orix Leasing Pakistan, Product: EMAN
  • Runner Up: Farhan Masood, Product: Go-Green Campaign

Best Mobile Application Category

  • Winner: Five Rivers Technologies, Product: The Photo Editor

Best in Start Up Companies Category

  • Winner: ShopHoller, Product: Venture Dive
  • Runner Up: Textualy, Product: Textualy

Best in Tertiary Student Project Category

  • Winner: IST – Syed Akhlaq Hussain Shah, Product: Wearable Gesture Based HCI
  • Second Winner: NED University – Moneeb Ahmed Usmani & team, Product: Intelligent Computing Engine (ICE)
  • Runner Up: NUST School of Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences (SEECS), Product: Smart Card Enabled FPGA based Secure Communication System
  • Second Runner Up: NED University – Mohammad Zohaib Shoaib, Product: Electrical Power Utilization Manager (EPUM)

Best in Managed Services

  • Winner: Access Group, Product: Access Fundamo Mobile Banking via Shared Platform

Best in Innovative HR Practices Product: Genius Hunt

  • TRG Pakistan

Best in Service Innovation

  • Interactive Group of Companies, Product: iForensics

CIO of the year – Public Sector

  • Anwar Amjad, DG-IT, Higher Education Commission

CIO of the year – Private Sector

  • Ayaz Ahmed, CIO, HBL


  • Well I would call it rather NIGAR awards,
    no not awards but rewards for sure, all awards gone to friend circles prior testing the contender’s product. as big sponsor or buddy you are, you get better rewards like medals recently given by gov =)

    circus started delaying 1 hour but pointing out PIA’s late flights for those who dint/couldnt attend the circus.INSANE, don’t blame PIA for that which you have done as well.
    Bottom line, rewards gone to friend circle and it’s clearly shown, no contender’s product was tested at all.

  • I agree with the above comment.

    Using the word OSCAR doesn’t give the neutrality of award. I think you insulted the precious OSCAR awards. This award ceremony was not more than praising friends, sponsors and colleagues. It doesn’t reflect true talent of Pakistan.

    The perception building around about this award is creating doubts about the people and organizer behind. The way they’re honoring friend and colleague really affecting the local small IT industry.

    People here are already working in very tough conditions and nobody trust Pakistan and this all award game was just piece of crap.

    If they really want to honor people and this industry then find the real talent and products which really did something for this industry.

    Thank You

  • Yes Agree 110%, “Give Talent a chance, not the Tycoon”, Encourage them instead of disgracing their unnamed , unknown efforts,
    oh yeah , things about creativity and all stuff. P@SHA’s award form was ditto of “APICTA”‘s Form, every single word.

    just ask and aspect new idea from new comers. and be the fan of steve jobs lmao!! yeah it was a Circus , it made me laugh!
    btw i go for ilmkidunya =p

    and youngsters doesn’t need such old hypocrite!

    we will lead this industry!! and we will, we wont play Steve job’s video to show how big fan we are but we gonna be Steve job of paki industry. because WE EAT APPLE TO BE CREATIVE RATHER USING IT for chat and tweets

  • What gave it away for me ? (that this was a joke/nepotist-tic awards

    CIO of the year – Public Sector
    * Anwar Amjad, DG-IT, Higher Education Commission

    Suck up !

  • I think the previous comments are completely baseless. We don’t know anyone at PASHA, didn’t even attend the event and sent our profile at last minute. Yet we still won an award, got to know the results through news websites.

  • I thought I have this feeling but after reading this blog it seems most of the people think the same way. This award ceremony was really all topi drama.

    I was shocked to see “RAJNI KAANT” the guy with big tummy was shaking and dancing like hell. Ohhh comeon this is ICT show not lahore _____ mandi show where you can do nasty things :)

    One thing I appreciate the ambiance created there was really good but thanks to sponsors for giving Cash and in return they got awards from P@SHA :)

    I’ve one question which I suppose to ask P@SHA member companies, did they hired/nominate Jehan Ara for ever? She did nothing for this industry and if you genuinely compare the progress and measure everything based on facts and figures, you found minus growth for this industry. If there is any progress is made then its due to individual efforts not through P@SHA.

    I checked most of the winner companies and their products and found nothing creative/new/brilliant in it and my advice is to give the correct URL of all the winners product so we people can also see what special in it and for what they got award.

    I’ll try to post comment on PASHA website as well but I’ve doubts they will not approve my comment because I gonna raise so many questions.

    [Comment Edited]

  • USMAN could you please give URL of your product and some information what unique thing your product offers

    No hard feelings but I also have some doubts that award was given to known person/companies. May be I am wrong but the name mention above reflect it.

  • I dont know much about information technology but let me share my thoughts on this.

    i have been visiting ilmkidunya.com for long and it is a very good portal for students of all classes.

    I am unable to understand that why it was given runner up award against tofee tv which is almost a blank website with few comic videos. it has nothing in it that could make it winner.

    can anyone from pasha please explain this?

  • alexa ranking of tofeetv is over 1,000,000 as compared to alexa ranking of just 16,000 for ilmkidunya

    this kind of things confuses me and i am compelled to think that above given comments are valid

  • Salman you made the point and this is what my concern is. As per my knowledge rabia gareeb is behind toffeetv or has some stake and she is also very good friend of Jehan Ara the president of PASHA.

    I can also give more evidence of friends and colleague rewarded in this drama. I think we all should expose Jehan Ara and her team this time coz its not just our politician who are corrupt its all of us and we become corrupt at some extant. This is the reason we left far behind and world call us cheater….coz we’ve double standards in everything.

    Please don’t take my word personal and it doesnt mean to harm/abuse anyone but I belong to this industry and only we can expose this drama.

  • come on guys, you know what industry you belong to. or region i should say…
    and awards are for those who are friends.
    @Usman, you knew you will win that’s why you sent your entry at very last moment, without hesitating and waiting calmly to see your name in list, because you were already informed for sure ( nothing personal ).
    and P@SHA should reconsider it’s policy for this industry seriously.
    Jehan Ara is Ejaz Butt of P@SHA lol so replace it before industry replace P@SHA.

    “shurli says:
    hahaha no wonder tofeetv is run by rabia gharib, a friend of jehan ara ”
    see its just another prove.

    lmao @”Rajni Kaant” he would be definitely nephew etc of aunty p@sha.
    so lets start making friendship with Jehan Ara to win undisputed award next year.

  • hahahaha “RAJNI KAANT” the guy was really like him :) ohh man you r champ you find the right resemblance.

    Jahangir Ijaz butt is retiring but I dont think Jehan Ara will ever retired from this job.

    You guys have raised the right question but you must appreciate the effort of PASHA for arranging this event. I think you have not got your bag pack that is why you have complains :) btw I got one but my bad luck it has broken glass :(

    One of my friend company got award and they have very big team. I have asked him to give me the demo access then I can comment on anything.

  • Chill guys this is Pakistan yaha aisa he hota aaya oor hota rahega. Favoritism har jaga hay yaha par so I am not surprise if people have reservations regarding these awards.

  • I am chill I guess, and yes guess what, this year we dint participated reason is last year we did some product related H* Management and believe me yaar, I don’t wanna share name of guy at P@SHA who was evaluating product for entry, i showed demo by myself and he was like “haan ok ok sahi hai” check tak nhi kia na cross question na ya features…bas meri shakal pasand nahe aye I bet hehe, khair hai nothing unsual ya unhoni nahe hui , ye yahan ka system hai.

  • FIRST late timings, Respectfully saying dear Jehan Ara always heard complaining and lecturing about value of time in what she is really true but in her show/award it was 1 hour late, 1 hour wasted outta 3 hours. Time values of others was (*ponka) but It was overall good show, and we should appreciate this event , yes as always Awards gone to favorite personals but what is new here? why are we shouting about. nothing new at all, all of us forgot Rehman M. bhai and Babar Bhai also awarded…who doesnt know about them and their performance ?? but they were award reason we all know very well, this is same at small scale ,

    If award was given to talent then how this would be arranged? sponsors are businessman they want something in return, Pakistan IT is small industry and they can’t just give away millions like this… recent example witribe, I am user of wiTribe and it’s really worst but that guy was literally selling Manjan as per part of marketing,
    in nutshell , THIS IS BAD START OF NICE THING

    • “Rehman M. bhai and Babar Bhai also awarded”

      You mean the recent award gave by Zardari to Rehman malik and baber awan? wo to bhai pata nahi kia soch k diye hay:)

  • I see lot of people start sharing their experience about PASHA event this is good thing. Yaaroo award na milay to yehi hota :) khair better luck next time ;)

    Can somebody tell me who was ‘RAJNI KAANT’ there :D somebody please give me his facebook address so I can comment on his wall :)

  • One suggestion I think PASHA should post all the feedback of judges and profile of the winner as well as their product details so we people who has observations about this event can see what judges find special in winning products.

    • Yes , P@SHA should post Profile/URL of winner and their products. I am really so anxious now.

  • Salam Well I’ve been reading this post about ICT OSCAR here and on tribune too and Salman showed some shocking thing, thanks to his quick research , Its about e-taleem
    Award was awarded to toffeeTV.com where as ilmkidunya.com has more page rankings globally and even in Pakistani Rank

    Here what i did on Alexa ( I’ve it posted on tribune too ),
    toffeeTV.com
    Global Rank : 1,067,350
    Pk Rank : 26,590
    Site Links : 5

    ilmkidunya.com
    Global Rank : 16,923
    Pk Rank: 125
    Site Links : 328

    ToffeeTV is run by Rabia Ghareeb , she is good friend of Jehan Ara, and was clearing seeing there. but maybe she was co-host ..

    But someone please clear us on which criteria , what are the basic rules or guidelines to get into real competition and what unique or creative poing causes you the medal in neck ?(hope not FAVORITISM )

    If yes then how this lovely tech based industry will grow if Giants are eating new talent before they are into mainstream. And expecting such things from IT related personal is really disappointing! If it was done by our lovely ministers then it could be justify by iteself, but .. .. … Allah sab ko naik hidyat de and apni zaat se agay ka sochnay ki toffeek dai.

  • Mind it You can not give award based on Alexa ranking. I think criteria should be uniqueness and the worth of project/product and where it compete in international market.

    I’ve reservation about award but I am not in favor of giving award based on ALEXA ranking :)

    My real reservation is why they’re honoring big companies and ignoring the real talent of the industry who really made something which worth it.

    Only close group of people got the award and they know each other.

  • asim, i pointed out alexa ranking to highlight the reach of both websites.

    i know alexa cant be a measure for judges but this much difference in alexa ranking is notable enough to confuse a layman like me.

  • Nice to see so many haters on one platform. If you knew how much hard work Jehan Ara puts into her work you wouldn’t be making these comments. She is an honorable and ethical lady. Judging by the comments I read here and on ET is very obvious that this is a smear campaign against her. If there are delays in award shows then you can’t blame someone for that. Producing or curating a show is not a one man job. There are other factors which can cause delays. Stop hating on her and look at yourself to see what you have done. Jehan has done a lot and proved herself. Don’t jealous.

    • good that someone from pasha is here at last. I find my confusion prevailing as i am not responded by anyone.

      Why tofeetv has won won award when it has nothing in it as compared to ilmkidunya?

      thanks in advance for clairfying

        • you are advocating them – thought you could respond to me.

          But as you said, you were not part of judging panel, then how come you are so sure that whatever they decided was right?

  • I read the above comments and I realize why Pakistan can’t get anywhere in the world. Most of us act like crabs pulling each other down.

    Great Job Jehan Ara and P@SHA as always…. Ignore the haters and keep serving the good cause… Pay no attention to what the critics say. A statue has never been erected in honor of a critic….

    • So true…. I was thinking the same thing as why people start ranting when get defeated or fall down in their lives instead of getting back up?
      Yes, there is no statue ever been erected of critic ;)

  • Tremendous work done by P@SHA and the entire team of Jehan Ara. Kudos to you all.
    Keep up the good work and keep inspiring. Those who know what hard working and enthusiasm is, will definitely appreciate and value your dedication. Rest could be those who are called ‘becharas’.

    Congratulations to all the winners and runners up. A round of applause for all those who applied for their nominations for the Awards as their attempts are undoubtedly commendable.

    You people are a ray of hope for the future of our country.

    May God bless you and bestow you more energy and passion to do more for the betterment and development of our motherland, Pakistan.

    Long Live P@SHA, Long Live Pakistan.

    • instead of responding to objections and concerns you are just praising a lady?

      Believe me you look awfull nothing more than “karayee ka naraay baaz”. you must join a political party, you will be paid more there.

      • Dear Brother,

        Correct me if I am wrong please, I am responsible for my own deeds and will be asked by God for what I have done. The above are all my viewpoints and a sincere praise for the one who I have seen personally. It is not my business to defend what others’ objections and concerns are about the lady.

        I say what I say and if you are not in a position to bear with that. Ignore it please… yes ignore it and go on. Life has lot of other positive things to do.

      • jiye salman bhai !! and yes we want to know the criteria of winning and what is bad to share url link or features of winners , bus jo aa raha not taking crit as crit , hate hate stuff, take things to positive way, that is why we are so peechay, just politics.

  • Despite the fact we actually WON THE FIRST PRIZE let me speak neutrally about the awards. It was CRAP…….Toooooo much noise pollution, senseless pictures and clipart we all have seen ages ago…….no lights before the even the start of the show….late show..and mostly everything for the PASHA LIFTING close families and friends…

    HAPPY MODERATING PUBLIC OPINION !!

      • No one is claiming that you didn’t deserve the award. If you are dissing the awards then you don’t shouldn’t respect it.

        • Not disrespecting the award. But let us be fair with our opinions. You liked the NOISE POLLUTION ? you were ok with the event being one hour late ?

          yaar banda sach bol lay …..You were okay with the full andhera before the show ?

  • its all pre-planned, everybody is advocating instead of putting it in the right way.

    each one of them is on twitter and facebook so they shout to get attention and request people to defend them. strange!

    if you are right then u need not ask anyone to raise voice in favour..

    naam tou chek kero oscar—–lmao

  • There can be 100 reasons for a Loss but there is only 1 reason for a WIN! “It’s a WIN”

    & for all the people who are criticizing “P@sha” & “Jehan Ara” for being Biased, I have only 1 thing to say Bachay “Angoor Khatay Hen” :)

    ~PEACE

  • Well … good P@SHA winner/supporters are here, first of all please don’t take it as hate, why we can’t accept CRITS, why we need always body builders? can survive on talent believe me, and I am not even a nominee but related to this beloved tech industry, so indirectly I am connected and DISAPPOINTED.

    2nd, I am not going personal with what Jehan Ara did, but she is representing P@SHA right? about her efforts yes she is doing so hard but question is the about the direction and approach, what P@SHA has done good for new comers in the industry? or what she has done to grow the industry? setting up an award or interviews of friend on her blog..?

    has she ever interviewed or discuss the problem we are facing /new comers facing to get into this market? why most of companies moved to Lahore, i know it’s govt issues but as p@sha IT body or representative any measure taken or concerns shown to govt?

    these thing really matters, its just not about this nigar awards, btw

    Farhaan Masood, same right which Rabia Ghareeb asked some riddles in end. Right?

    Just look at this tiny jolly game here, she supposed to ask riddle from random persons but ….. this was even preset, Rabia was searching you, first she acted like random person gonna be asked but later on jab lost you, .“farhan kahan hai farhan kahan hai? But in middle acccidently some journalist lady ( don’t remember her name) stood up, but has to give benefit to you as well, asked 4 questions from her and remaining form you.

    To itni si cheez me hi favor samnay samnay nazar aa raha tha to…. What else to say yaar

    About Mem Jehan Ara efforts, if anyone ask team of Ejaaz Butt then hardly you will find negative comemnts about him, he will be portraited as a hero of PCB but where is Cricket now , I think don’t need to explain that thing , same thing is going on here in IT industry, same policy

    Award to favorite friends and sponsors. This is my feeling and experince I should say. And don’t take it as hate, try to address such issues and thing where are we wrong. No politics here please, crits suppose to be hates winners should be supports

    Its not about Jehan Ara its about policies of P@SHA

    • its not about the right buddy, it was about the talent and uniqueness which is still hidden, you are showing your “Right” as friend has right to have award :)

  • Seems like everyone is having a go at P@SHA and Jehan Ara.

    But let’s do the numbers.

    The companies that win at P@SHA ICT Awards go on to participate in annual APICTA conference where judges from more than 10+ Asian countries rate companies that participate from APICTA member economies.

    Last year 5 Pakistani companies won 6 Awards at APICTA. All the APICTA winners from Pakistan had won in their category at the annual P@SHA ICT Awards.

    There can’t be a more neutral, independent and competitive benchmark for the quality of P@SHA awards than APICTA. BTW APICTA includes economies like Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand among others.

    Be fair.

    • Thank you Zia Imran

      “Last year 5 Pakistani companies won 6 Awards at APICTA. All the APICTA winners from Pakistan had won in their category at the annual P@SHA ICT Awards.”

      That is enough of an argument to counter any of the whiners above :)

      Without taking sides, each award ceremony has winners and loosers – those with a shallow heart, loosing out, often gripe the hardest

      DO NOTE each of the attacking commentors HAVE NOT disclosed their own affiliations / companies / blogs / or even Facebook ID’s and choose to post most anonymously – that itself is a prime example of being a coward

      enough said… time to move on progress awaits …

      • Dear Awab,

        Saw your recent Videos, and came here to check this whole thread.

        P.A.S.H.A is I.T. Best Bureau in Pakistan! Thou

        You cant let any one do corruption for the gain of Last Years performances. Thou it adds more Criticism and expectation to More Quality.

        & as a Qualified I.T. Professional when I compared the two websites .

        http://www.ilmkidunya.com/
        More information, Any Student can get the Max out of this, plus Google Visibility is good means it working for most of the Locals.

        http://toffeetv.com
        Well, if this was aided with a CBT and you make DVDs it can be a Commercially Hit Product. But a Website with no Marketing :S nor SEO
        Its just 2D Graphics and very sad Graphics done on FLASH :S Plus videos are embedded through YOUTUBE.

        Whats the TV thing in it…?

        If you can get award for these website .. WOAH .. Whats the standards/Criteria!

        Why not re-scrutinizing few categories?

        MUHAMMAD ALI.
        http://www.facebook.com/alig2xx

        • Muhammad Ali

          Look at it this way. Both websites got recognition – so lets assume both are good in their own regards. Who came as the best and second best can be debated.

          IlmKiDunya – is an aggregator of information for the education industry – its a forum, its a portal, doing great work

          Toffee TV – on the other hand is creating new content, albeit in URDU for children. mixing poetry and graphics to entertain them but at the same time educating our children each poem at a time. The future of our country, if the absence of a proper education system, we need to do our best to create interesting content to keep them engaged while at them same time sneak in some key educational elements.

          I have been for many years lobbying for shifting the total focus of our govt to support URDU content. As I feel with an overwhelming lobby of content in English – Urdu stands to be crushed and soon over the years forgotten. The only way to engage our 180 million people is to create new and innovative content in URDU. to an extent going out of our way to support blogs and initiatives as such

          I have gone to the extent of even arguing with a number of bureaucrats to invest in an urdu keyboard [large urdu font & smaller English font], hand them out for free to anyone who wants a keyboard . Just having a keyboard makes a big difference in the typing habits, versus outguessing a virtual phonetic keyboard – this small initiative I guarantee you would take the urdu content generation to a whole new level

          So as I said – if BOTH websites are Award winning in their own respect, had it been my choice, the innovative content developing in URDU would most definitely get my vote.

          • I saw TTF for the first time today,
            Man its a Plagurised Idea of RAJU SHIRIWASTAV from BIG BOSS 3

            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idhIpVlxWPc

            TTF Busted :)

            The idea to translate and make it songs came from RAJU SHIRIWASTAV, and these 2-D Graphics most of are not original.

            I dont know the politics @PASHA.
            As a professional and a Market Veteran i wont choose TTF even for Categories.

            The award had to for 100% MADE-BY-YOU stuff..

            Plus embedded YOUTUBE Players :S

            are you not awarding Engineering of the Product! or you awarding the concept.

            I dont know the Metrics / weightage of the content of this award.

            But Overall i would like other Market player to re scrutinize few categories.

            These guys dont look fool if they are complaining.

            Regards,

            M.A.
            http://www.facebook.com/alig2xx

  • guys, they will not accept criticism..

    you talk about pakistan, you yourself have proved that pakistanis are manipulative..

    Farhan Masood your dialogues are too repetitive, we are fed up of seeing your interviews full of english mistakes, and speak in urdu if u cannot speak good accent of english, lmao

    a relationship mentor mentioned in ur profile..well a divorced himself, lmao

    @shobz u r a buddy of FM who must have requested you to write a comment i am sure :P

    and what is go green? again jehan is member of it, if not a strong supporter..

  • honestly i swear all the team of go-green is publicising it again and again…

    the guy above who is saying this man is having so many followers..this man is just promoting his own company under patriotism.

    i have read his tweets and i was his follower too..this man is such a hypocrite at times when indian people comment against pakistan he simply smiles, please wake up and speak truth instead of getting publicity…

    me and my friends have the same point of view; we have seen all the pages of go green esp of Talal and Farhan..

    Farhan you have again quoted the same phrase one of your friends on your previous interview on go green “I read the above comments and I realize why Pakistan can’t get anywhere in the world. Most of us act like crabs pulling each other down.”

    the friend was-Bee

    this is a clear proof that you guys are all connected..cheating is also an art! hehe

    best of luck for your more dramas and shows!

  • @bilal wo well brother you have no rights to discuss or drag some ones personal life in this discussion thats really rude and incredibly stupid i dont know any thing about pasha but some of the people here making hype about ilmkidunya.com Vs toffe tv well i think there are World of difference between the two sites toffe tv is a very unique and innovative idea and in my view it is the best site for small kids to learn in a very unique way so that award is justified

  • I think this discussion is going in wrong direction and people taking it as Criticism against Jehan Ara. Its not about personality man. Everyone know Jehan ara work hard but the matter is What changes she brings in the industry.

    1- Tell me sincerely are you happy by seeing the winners product?
    2- Do you think this is the best outcome of our industry?

    If your answer is yes then you’ve to realize where we are standing. What role PAHSA has played for betterment/facilitation for this industry. Just check each and every product who won the award and you’ll better understand my reservations.

    Please understand its not about personality and I’ve no personal issue with Jehan Ara. I never post any complain about Jehan Ara nor am doing it now. This award ceremony is to honor and appreciate the best work of this industry but I know it was not the best one. I can give you list of some best products/project done by different people in the industry but I don’t want to do that coz this we call favoritism or biased opinion.

    The last few comments is supporting Jehan Ara and I am not sure what understanding they got from all this discussion. Your comment is like someone criticize ‘Zardari’ then PPP member start shouting like “yeh jhamooriat k khilaf sazish hay”. Ohhhh man come on try to understand the point and respect the point of view of others.

  • @Farhan Masood,

    I would say mate this thing sums up for me :

    Salman says:
    October 8, 2011 at 6:10 pm
    alexa ranking of tofeetv is over 1,000,000 as compared to alexa ranking of just 16,000 for ilmkidunya

    this kind of things confuses me and i am compelled to think that above given comments are valid

    shurli says:
    October 8, 2011 at 6:14 pm
    hahaha no wonder tofeetv is run by rabia gharib, a friend of jehan ara

    http://toffeetv.com/about/

  • Dear Friends

    I think we all are confused here as most of us havent ever participated in any international competition. Let me share you how it works with my winning experience at 3 P@SHA ICT Awards, 2 APICTA Awards and many others won in other countries.

    Presentation Skills of a presenter count a lot in winning a competition. These competitions are the preparation of the IT industry to face a venture capitalist in future, so it is important who presents the product, how easy it was to comprehend, its market size has to have a potential, its uniqueness in terms of had anyone done anything similar before in your area, its financial model and a lot more other factors.

    A product may be good but it may loose due to a weaker presentation. The judges in P@SHA are few of the judges from APICTA, they shouldnt be wrong otherwise Pakistani companies should never win in Asia Pacific ICT Awards.

    Please keep your cool, and I appreciate a lot of love you have spread for me. Me smiling in front of Indians and saying you are funny, when they say any thing against Pakistan is just to save a useless argument. I am a peace lover and here I rest my case.

  • Okay, plenty of bashing above, with pointless discussion.

    Pointless in a way, that no one is talking of solutions, and everyone is telling his/her story.

    Corporate world should admit that they show favoritism, like someone said above, they are businesses and they need to make money. Very fair.

    But not being open, and trying to cover the faces and ill-deeds is not something people will accept in this age of openness.

    Awards in Pakistan are nothing less than BS, i can narrate countless incidents when sponsors get the award, no matter what kind of product/service they bring in.

    Let me mention few of them:

    – PTCL won an award at recently held telecom awards, they had given away 2.5 million rupees

    – Telenor won award of largest investor in Pakistan (which it is not) by LCCI recently, they had given away half million as sponsorship.

    – Blogger awards last year, i am told there were new categories announced on the day of event to entertain certain FnF (i didn’t verify this fact, but i am told by multiple ppl)

    Even i was offered an award, sometime ago, with an opportunity to speak at their event – against Rs. 200,000. Which i denied as instead of paying me for speaking there – they were to charge me.

    I was then amazed to know the speaker list, and sure they had paid something, or bartered with.

    So, there’s nothing new. But the trend of covering every thing should be given up now. We understand and can digest that favoritism happens there, but if someone will deny then there are ppl who can come with facts, which will result into nothing but an unpleasant community.

  • Yes and the simple reason people are just hypo critic to speak the truth is you know keep there businesses straight… and keep there connections going…..

    “Ager SACH nahi bol sektay to JHOOT bhi mat bolo”

    And yes we have won and are going to APICTA…. !!

    See you all LIFTERS there :)

  • I agree with the admin – there is not a single award ceremony in this world npt influenced in aome way ahape amd form by lobbyists of differemt shapes and sizes.

    Having said that i do strongly believe tht jehan is both morally sound and uncorruptable. I think the jury should b held responsible for awards not organizer. First of all please enlighten us all those who are ranting against pasha…does another more abler body of it professionals exist? What is the alternative?

    Secondly no matter what farhan is saying he cannot be a relationship mentor becuz he is ______________________. Fyi the ppl who have been through the negatives of something are usually the ones best equipped to guide others through pitfalls.

    If you didnt like the awards you should have stood up made yself heard and made a point – dont hide behind a computer screen and pass judgements if you hve an alternative to pasha make an organization run it do a better job then crow about it..

    [Comment Edited]

    • some on this forum seem to say that there is not a single bunch of people in Pakistan who can come together and do something that meets the test of appropriateness and rules of the law. If so then my friend, we have a very low opinion of ourselves. Please don’t sweep everyone under the rug. There is plenty of good in this country and plenty of selfless people and as a corollary plenty of selfless organizations.

      Why don’t we wait till the APICTA awards later the in the year before we “judge” if the judges were right and wrong and if they should be skewered on red hot charcol.

  • I recommend the best agreeable solution for such future events could be a simple publicly accessible online portal showcasing the participants, their products, rating level, category, etc. The most important thing to mention should be the base/reasons on which participants get the award. Things always improve with efforts and time!

  • As pointed out in some of other comments too, if P@SHA ICT awards were so biased, Pakistan wouldn’t have bagged 7 Awards in APICTA last year; or you think Jehan Ara has got friends in APICTA Jury too who make sure to award just her bunch of friends without considering what others from the entire Asia Pacific region present?

    For all the cynics out there, this post says it all:
    http://startup.riskreviews.net/2011/10/11/the-psha-ict-awards-debate/

    • mighty jawwad farid had to respond himself to silence us.

      but sir lets go through the judging criteria that you pointed on your blog:

      i am just comparing infamous tofeetv and ilmkidunya

      Technology and Innovation: ok tofeetv wins here
      Trend Setting: tofee wins again
      Market Share &Potential: ilmkidunya is obvious winner here
      Business and Financial Model/Strategy: ilmkidunya is again winner, they are a viable business case
      User Requirement: a lot in case of ilmkidunya
      Compatibility and Interoperability: i am not sure on this though ilmkidunya scores good in this too
      Content & Standards: this can be debated however ilmkidunya has its genuine content and very first of pakistani website which started publishing video reports
      Product Stability & Reliability: this can be debated
      Organization of Presentation: ilmkidunya

      in short, other than innovation, tofee has nothing in it. with less than 100 pages and 50 visitors a day it won the award, compared to hundreds of thousands of students benefiting from ilmkidunya

      i am comparing these two as sample because i know very little about other products.

      i also agree that judge can vote any product according to his opinion. and apparently jawwad sahib favored tofee for his [obvious] reasons.

  • I have summed up everything nicely in my daily Talking Point (http://cinch.fm/talkingpointadnan/talking-points-with-adnan-ali/296041)… but I am going to put to throw in my two cents on the comparison of ToffeeTV (TTV) with IlmKiDunya (IKD):

    1) The category is E-Learning. It is transfer of skills and knowledge enabled with computers and networks.

    2) As such, IKD does not qualify for the category. The judges made a mistake here. IKD is great for what it is designed to do, a collection of resources and news about education but I do not see anywhere on the site where skills and knowledge (not information) are being transferred. As seen in previous years, P@SHA tends to award companies the ‘also-ran’ prize.

    3) Salman has written up a comparison of TTV and IKD based on the P@SHA criteria and it makes me laugh. Based solely on Business Model and Potential, I can say that TTV has a better chance of being bought up or included in a bigger network. It is a focused product with original and unique content. If TTV decides to go independent, I see a lot of sponsors looking to target the ‘mother care’ demographic. Remember the ‘Chulbuli’ campaign? IKD may have a good revenue model but barring consultancy, affiliate revenue and some other channels, I do not see what exit strategy exists for them. Oh, from personal experience, there are millions of families living abroad who want their kids to be familiar with their native language. Mark that up as user requirement win. Earning potential in foreign currency is excellent. TTV can easily start charging membership fee once they have built up their content. Just give them 6-12 months.

    3) Also, we can’t compare rankings and traffic. It is a tiny factor. Comparing websites, one might have more conversions with less traffic or one’s transactions might be of more value than the other.

    4) As far as organization of presentations is concerned, I think the criteria judges the presentations that were given for the judges. Otherwise, if we are talking about presentation of the information on both sites, I personally tend to face analysis paralysis with the plethora of choices and menus on IKD. BTW, I hate the colours on TTV.

    So, doing what I do professionally, I conclude that ToffeeTV was the deserved winner. IKD, good site that does not belong in this category. Poor judging there.

    • Adnan bahi, your Urdu is impressive :-)

      I want to tone down the conversation, in a way that we lead to an productive conclusion. The way i said above, awards are largely manipulated – and it’s not only Pakistan, it’s a world over dilemma – but Zia Imran has rightfully mentioned that this can’t be generalized for each and every individual or award organizer.

      But as i mentioned few examples above, and other award organizers that i interacted with over the years, you need to believe me that awards are considered a FnF distribution service. This is what ppl from industry tell me. So primarily, this is a perception that has prevailed in majority of minds.

      If someone wants to change it – then let’s adopt better ways. Like Jabran suggested above, criteria should be clear – not that after receiving an award we come to know that a product didn’t qualify in the first place, which is fighting for the first slot instead of second that it got. Moreover, grading should be made public – i know it’s possible, so why not we practice it.

      Also let’s not overrule all the criticism and we should adopt those suggestions which make sense.

      And those who mention 6 APICTA Awards last year – i am not judging your abilities, but who knows we could grab 12 awards and got 6 instead?

      As always, evaluating is like a perception, which can differ – so i won’t argue on that. But how if judges panel consists of ppl who are not FnF of contestants? isn’t it possible? or we don’t have good IT professionals other than those from pasha fnf list? Why don’t we ask ppl outside the FnF to come and evaluate products? BTW i don’t even know if it’s already happening or not. But all the defendants, who seem to be judges as well are from pasha FnF list. Let’s try to be more neutral.

      In short, let’s clear the doubts of those who aren’t convinced with your rulings – not by post event arguments and blogs but on the floor and on the day of awards.

      Hope it makes sense.

      • TTV as a website is a TurnOff ..
        The Flash Graphics Sucks and most of the Pictures plagurised.
        But if you include Better Vector Animation and Produce CBTs and market it with DVDS in SCHOOL/ Mother Cares/ Kid Centers.
        There it can be a Commercially viable product.

        Else, as an Ex-Animator or Story boarder, its an idea with no commercial hope..

        Regards,

        MUHAMMAD ALI
        http://www.facebook.com/alig2xx

  • Agreed ‘admin’ and thanks for complementing my Urdu. I can’t complete a sentence just in Urdu lol.

    As I said in my audio, P@SHA needs to ensure transparency. Most have given the same solutions for the future. So it is nice to have consensus on solutions.

    Together, we can do much better in every area.

  • A very hot discussion in process, I am thinking why NetSol is not included in these awards?

    If this is so, can anyone tell why? I am asking the question because NetSol is the largest IT company of the country.

  • CIO of the year – Private Sector
    Ayaz Ahmed, CIO, HBL

    GREAT. A CFO IS CIO now ?? according to hbl website ?


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