Standard Chartered Bank has introduced a convenient instalment-based financing option for Yamaha motorcycle buyers in Pakistan. The offer allows Standard Chartered credit card holders to purchase a Yamaha bike through the bank’s Aasan Instalment Plan with 0% markup for up to 12 months.
Offer Details
Under this limited-time offer, eligible customers can select any Yamaha motorcycle model and divide the total cost into equal monthly instalments over a period of up to one year. The 0% mark-up facility ensures that no additional interest is charged during the tenure of the plan.
This initiative is aimed at facilitating easier access to personal transport, especially for individuals looking for budget-friendly payment options without incurring financing charges.
How to Apply
Customers interested in availing the offer can contact Standard Chartered’s helpline at 021-111-002-002 to place their order. Before applying, customers must:
Hold an active Standard Chartered credit card
Ensure their account is in good standing
Choose their preferred Yamaha model
Once eligibility is confirmed, the instalment plan will be processed and reflected in the customer’s monthly credit card statement.
Additional Information
The plan does not include any processing fee for the 0% markup option. However, standard bank policies apply in the case of early termination, changes to the instalment duration, or delayed payments. Customers are encouraged to review the full terms and conditions on the Standard Chartered website.
While this plan is specific to Standard Chartered credit card holders, Yamaha also offers longer-tenure financing options up to 36 months through other channels, which may include mark-up.
The price of 24 karat gold witnessed an increase of Rs. 1,500 per tola on Friday and was sold at Rs. 355,700 against its sale at Rs. 357,200 on the previous trading day, All Pakistan Sarafa Gems and Jewelers Association reported.
The prices of 10 grams of 24 karat also decreased by Rs. 1,286 to Rs. 304,955 from Rs. 306,241, whereas the price of 10 grams of 22 Karat went down by Rs. 1,179 to Rs. 279,552 from Rs. 280,731.
The rates of per tola and ten-gram silver remained unchanged at Rs. 4,013 and Rs. 3,440, respectively.
The price of gold in the international market decreased by $15 to $3,330 from $3,345, whereas that of silver remained constant at $37.80, the Association reported.
Generations of PhD students have passed through SAP’s HANA Campus, located at company headquarters in Germany. Arne Schwarz, who runs the campus, has been there every step of the way.
Arne Schwarz
For more than 20 years, the HANA Campus has been home to PhD students applying research to SAP HANA and, more recently, other technologies.
As demands on technologies change — the first customers for SAP HANA went live in 2010, seven years after the HANA Campus welcomed its first PhD student — so has its name.
“What name should I give it?” muses Schwarz, explaining how prevailing technologies and circumstances have forced name changes over the years, including “The Campus,” “The Research Campus,” “The HANA Research Campus,” “The Student Campus,” or even “The HANA Database and Analytics Campus.”
But while its name may change, its mission remains the same: to help satisfy the demand for high-tech research, primarily for SAP HANA but also for SAP Analytics Cloud, SAP Business Data Cloud (SAP BDC), Global Cloud Infrastructure Services, and SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP).
What makes the HANA Campus unique?
To date, the HANA Campus has been home to more than 40 PhD students, mostly matriculated at universities in Germany, who have successfully defended their dissertations grounded in research at SAP. Or, to put it another way, PhD students have collectively contributed decades of applied research focused primarily on SAP HANA.
Bringing academic innovation into the product comes in different flavors at SAP. On the one hand, PhD students can be recruited directly to SAP and tasked with researching a predefined topic. On the other, SAP funds university chairs, such as the recent Hasso Plattner Endowed Chair in Artificial Intelligence, and research projects with academia.
PhD students arrive at the HANA Campus via SAP-funded research projects with academia. The campus is unique, according to Schwarz, due to “the sheer mass of research projects executed over the years and the fact that the dedicated space in Walldorf acts as a safe haven for PhD students.”
Students assigned to the HANA Campus work on-site at SAP, get a feel for life at the company, and have direct access to development teams and test environments. The contract for the research projects with academia also frees PhD students from university teaching obligations. It is also important to note that PhD students do not belong to a specific development team, avoiding the risk of their research being deprioritized in the face of operational pressures. At the HANA Campus, PhD students can focus all their efforts on their research and studies.
It all began with a knowledge gap
Bringing academic expertise in-house for HANA started back in 2003, Schwarz explains, in the era of TREX, a search engine in SAP NetWeaver. TREX was the forerunner of SAP Business Warehouse Accelerator, which ultimately led to the SAP HANA database. Engineering teams were under intense pressure to quickly build and deliver the emerging technology of in-memory database.
However, Schwarz explains, a knowledge gap was threatening to slow everything down: there were only two or three engineers who had the knowledge to drive the technology forward, but they didn’t have the bandwidth to do so. With an ever-increasing number of teams requiring specialist knowledge, the threat of a slowdown in development was becoming more real by the day.
As luck would have it, Wolfgang Lehner, professor at the Technical University (TU) Dresden, was also researching the same technology. A mutually beneficial partnership was born: SAP offered a cutting-edge research opportunity for students, and Professor Lehner’s students could bridge the knowledge gap with academic expertise. The potential obstacle was overcome, and research projects with academia and PhD students continue to augment the technological knowledge and expertise that powers SAP HANA and other SAP technologies to this day.
Since that first research project with TU Dresden, the HANA Campus has collaborated with many more universities. “Collaborations with the universities are always limited to the timeframe set out in the original research contract,” Schwarz says, clarifying that the driver for selecting a university is the fit of current research topics to SAP’s technological requirements and not past collaborations.
The HANA Campus is a “win-win” for both SAP’s talent pipeline and PhD students.
Many students choose to stay at SAP once they have defended their thesis and been awarded their PhD. The teams know the value of their PhD research and the PhD graduates know what life is like at SAP.
Even those PhD graduates who do not stay at SAP remain, for the most part, in data management and analytics development; they either join other companies or take a postdoc position. Their ties to the company “give SAP a foothold in academia as well as advocates and a more direct route to research projects,” Schwarz confirms.
Through Schwarz, the HANA Campus also supports SAP’s participation at academic conferences, another tool to strengthen academic connections, PhD student recruiting, and SAP’s technological reputation. In June of this year, HANA Campus provided a venue for a workshop at the SIGMOD/PODS International Conference on Management of Data. Sponsoring and participating in these conferences, Schwarz says, “is pivotal to getting access to the inner circle of academia, strengthens SAP academic connections and reputation, and allows SAP to share and augment research findings with other experts from academia.”
Find out more
Twenty-two years in and 40 dissertations later, SAP’s HANA Campus continues to be home to the next generation, welcoming two more PhD students later this year to deepen research around SAP HANA as well as SAP BTP and SAP BDC.
A vast collection of publicly available scientific publications about SAP HANA Database and Analytics, dating from 2006 to the present day, is available on GitHub here.
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This photograph shows a view of Labubu elves, collectible plush toys designed by Hong Kong illustrator Kasing Lung as part of his series “The Monsters,” displayed at a Pop Mart shop in Paris on August 17, 2025.
Pop Mart International, the maker of the wildly popular Labubu plush dolls, is set to join the main Hong Kong stock market index after a ferocious rally.
Hang Seng Indexes said Pop Mart, as well as China Telecom and JD Logistics, will join the Hang Seng HK:HSI, taking the number of components to 88 from 85. The move will take effect on Sept. 8.
Pop Mart also will join the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index CN:160462.
As much as Lababu has turned into a global craze, its demand has translated into a corporate earnings and stock-market story as well.
This week it reported a quadrupling of first-half profits as revenue tripled.
It’s not often a corporate news release without hyperbole refers to a “global phenomenon,” as Pop Mart did in describing the third generation of its Labubu Vinyl Plush ‘Big into Energy’ series.
The company opened 40 new stores and now operates 571 stores in 18 countries globally.
Pop Mart shares (HK:9992) have surged 257% this year and 571% over the last 52 weeks.
The average analyst target price is HK$372, above its closing price of HK$320.
From the archive: What can the Labubu toy craze tell investors about markets? A lot, actually.
-Steve Goldstein
This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
In a phase 3 trial, toripalimab-based chemotherapy with radiotherapy without concurrent cisplatin achieved noninferior 3-year failure-free survival compared with standard therapy in patients with locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma. The less intense treatment regimen also led to fewer incidences of vomiting, supporting the feasibility of omitting concurrent cisplatin.
METHODOLOGY:
Cisplatin-based chemoradiotherapy is the standard treatment for nasopharyngeal carcinoma, but toxicity is high. The PD-1 blockade toripalimab improves survival but further increases adverse effects. Past studies showed that adding concurrent cisplatin to radiotherapy significantly increases the incidence of severe nausea, vomiting, and anorexia in patients with this kind of cancer.
Researchers conducted an open-label, multicenter, randomized phase 3 trial of 532 patients with newly diagnosed T4N1M0 or T1-4N2-3M0 locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (median age, 47 years; 74.8% men) at 13 hospitals in China from August 2021 to July 2022.
Patients were randomly assigned to receive either standard therapy, toripalimab with gemcitabine-cisplatin induction chemotherapy and radiotherapy with concurrent cisplatin (n = 266), or a cisplatin-sparing regimen (n = 266) in which concurrent cisplatin was omitted. Toripalimab (240 mg triweekly) was administered for 17 cycles across induction, radiotherapy, and adjuvant phases.
Co-primary endpoints were failure-free survival, with a noninferiority margin of 8%, and the incidence of all-grade vomiting. Secondary endpoints included overall survival, locoregional recurrence-free survival, distant metastasis-free survival, safety, quality of life (QOL), and tolerability. The median follow-up duration was 37 months.
TAKEAWAY:
The 3-year failure-free survival was 88.3% in the concurrent cisplatin-sparing group and 87.6% in the standard therapy group (difference, 0.7%; P = .002 for noninferiority). The lower bound of the one-sided 95% CI for the difference was -3.9%, which was above the noninferiority threshold.
The incidence of all-grade vomiting was significantly lower in the concurrent cisplatin-sparing group than in the standard therapy group (26.2% vs 59.8%; relative risk, 0.44; P < .001).
Overall survival, locoregional recurrence-free survival, and distant metastasis-free survival did not differ significantly between the groups. Patient-reported QOL and tolerability were better in the concurrent cisplatin-sparing group, with the greatest gains in gastrointestinal tolerability, physical functioning, and global health status.
Fewer participants in the concurrent cisplatin-sparing group experienced grade 3-4 adverse events than in the standard therapy group (52.3% vs 63.6%), with marked reductions in leukopenia (15.0% vs 30.7%), anemia (3.1% vs 11.5%), fatigue (0.8% vs 8.0%), and vomiting (3.8% vs 10.3%).
IN PRACTICE:
“Toripalimab combination therapy without concurrent cisplatin resulted in noninferior 3-year failure-free survival and improved safety in vomiting, along with a favorable QOL tolerability profile in patients with locoregionally advanced [nasopharyngeal carcinoma],” the authors concluded.
SOURCE:
The study, led by Cheng Xu, MD, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Diagnosis and Therapy, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Guangzhou, China, was published online in JAMA.
LIMITATIONS:
The findings may not be generalizable to nonendemic populations, as only a few participants were from nonendemic provinces. The study lacked objective long-term toxicity assessments, such as hearing tests and neurologic examinations. Additionally, the open-label design could have introduced reporting bias.
DISCLOSURES:
The study received support through grants from multiple organizations, including the Noncommunicable Chronic Diseases-National Science and Technology Major Project, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Overseas Expertise Introduction Project for Discipline Innovation, and others. The authors declared having no conflicts of interest.
This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.
Samsung today awarded certificates to 56 students of the Pulchowk Campus, Tribhuvan University Institute of Engineering, for successfully completing the third batch of its Coding & Programming course under the company’s flagship CSR initiative, Samsung Innovation Campus.
With this milestone, a new batch of students will now begin training in Artificial Intelligence and Big Data, equipping them with in-demand skills for the future.
The certificates were presented at a ceremony attended by Prof. Dr. Deepak Aryal, Vice Chancellor of Tribhuvan University; Dr. Sanjaya Uprety, Campus Chief of Pulchowk Campus; and Dr. Sushil B. Bajracharya, Dean, Institute of Engineering.
“We are delighted to mark the successful completion of the third batch of Coding & Programming. This reflects the impact Samsung Innovation Campus is making by empowering Nepalese youth with future-ready skills. Together with Tribhuvan University, we aim to strengthen training in AI, Big Data, and IoT, and help make students job-ready for tomorrow’s opportunities,” said Jayanta Mani Kayasth, HR manager of Samsung Nepal Office.
Launched at Tribhuvan University in December 2022, Samsung Innovation Campus trains youth in Nepal in AI, IoT, Big Data, and Coding & Programming, contributing to the development of a strong technology and innovation ecosystem. Students are selected based on their knowledge of algorithms, data structures, and programming.
“Tribhuvan University Institute of Engineering is proud to collaborate with Samsung to offer this prestigious programme in Nepal. The Coding & Programming course has been highly appreciated, and we look forward to expanding the scope of future-tech learning for our students,” said Dr. Sushil B. Bajracharya, Professor & Dean, Institute of Engineering, Tribhuvan University.
Along with technical skills, the programme also provides soft skills training to improve employability, problem-solving, and creativity. Students also work on projects of social significance, applying AI, Big Data, Coding & Programming, and IoT to real-world challenges.
Barclays sees a rosy outlook ahead for shares of Ulta Beauty . The bank upgraded the beauty retailer to an overweight weighting from equal weight. Analyst Adrienne Yih accompanied the move by lifting her price target to $589 from $518. Shares of Ulta have surged 20% this year. Yih’s revised forecast calls for additional upside of 13% from the stock’s Thursday close. ULTA YTD mountain ULTA YTD chart “We believe shares can continue to be propelled higher by upwards consensus earnings revisions over the next several quarters,” the analyst wrote. As a catalyst, Yih cited recent business decisions made by Ulta CEO Kecia Steelman, who took over the reins of the company earlier this year. “We are highly encouraged by a series of rapid and decisive changes since CEO Kecia Steelman took the helm in January 2025,” Yih said. Specifically, tailwinds include a return to margin expansion, improvements in promotional activity, the company’s focus on optimizing points of retail distribution and its initially conservative guidance for the fiscal year 2025. Yih also emphasized that as one of only two specialty multi-brand domestic beauty retailers, alongside Sephora, Ulta commands a unique target audience. “Furthermore, we believe that the overall beauty landscape, which has been normalizing since its peak in 2022, is in the process of stabilizing with an annual growth rate in the mid-single-digit range,” Yih added. “While we acknowledge price increases in discretionary goods are on the horizon, and consumer demand in the U.S. market remains an unknown variable, we believe that beauty, and in particular ULTA’s core customer (aka the “beauty enthusiast”), will continue to over-index wallet share toward beauty, health, and wellness categories.” The analyst also pointed to Ulta’s relative resistance to tariffs as another tailwind. Specifically, only around 1% of its merchandise was directly imported in fiscal year 2024, “suggesting minimal direct-cost tariff risk.” “The company has previously disclosed that it relies on China imports only for select hair care tools, store fixtures, and store supplies,” she added. “As such, overall risk remains negligible and well below the rest of our coverage universe as the company’s key categories, such as beauty and personal care products have limited China and Southeast Asia exposure (i.e., K-beauty and J-beauty); we do note that some product is imported from Europe.”
Image used for representation purpose only,.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
The rupee fell 27 paise to close at 87.52 (provisional) against the greenback on Friday (August 22, 2025) as domestic equity markets ended weaker and the U.S. dollar strengthened ahead of the speech of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.
However, inflow of foreign funds and a drop in Brent crude prices supported the domestic unit at lower level.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the local unit opened at 87.37 against the greenback and traded in the range of 87.32-87.55 before settling at 87.52 (provisional), down 27 paise from its previous close.
The rupee pared initial gains on Thursday (August 21, 2025) to settle lower by 18 paise at 87.25 against the greenback.
“The rupee continued to weaken for a second day against the U.S. dollar mainly on account of the strength of the U.S. dollar ahead of the speech of Fed Chairman Powell and renewed concerns over steep US tariffs on Indian exports,” Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, said.
“Oil importers have stepped up their dollar buying, adding to the demand from importers who were hedging for a short term after finding rupee above 87 in the last four days. Foreign banks were sellers but the overall trend has been a modest decline in the rupee’s value,” he said.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, gained 0.11% to 98.72.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.31 per cent down at $67.46 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex tanked 693.86 points to settle at 81,306.85, while Nifty was down 213.65 points to 24,870.10.
Foreign Institutional Investors purchased equities worth ₹1,246.51 crore on Thursday (August 21, 2025), according to exchange data.
