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  • SBP calls for action against unauthorised mobile apps providing online banking services

    SBP calls for action against unauthorised mobile apps providing online banking services

    The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has raised concerns about commercial banks jeopardising depositors’ funds by allowing unauthorised mobile phone applications to offer online banking services to clients.

    The central bank issued a notification to regulated entities (REs) that provide digital banking services, warning about the use of unlicensed digital lending mobile applications and platforms.

    These applications integrate with customers’ bank accounts for loan disbursement, creditworthiness checks, and collections, posing consumer protection risks and potential harm to banks’ reputation.

    Regulated entities encompass commercial banks, microfinance banks (MFBs), payment system operators, payment service providers, and electronic money institutions (EMIs).

    The central bank explicitly stated that REs should not provide services such as deposits, lending products, mobile application integration with third parties, payment gateway services, credit scoring and creditworthiness checks, wallet services, and/or API integration services to unlicensed digital lending platforms, whether directly or indirectly.

    IT expert Noman Ahmad, speaking to The Express Tribune, emphasised the need for the central bank to disclose the names of financial institutions offering services through unlicensed applications. By doing so, depositors would have the opportunity to withdraw and safeguard their deposits before any unexpected events occur. He expressed surprise that unauthorised mobile platforms were offering banking services despite the SBP’s status as a responsible regulator.

    Banks in Pakistan manage deposits totaling approximately Rs23 trillion and serve 67.52 million depositors in a population of 227 million. The country has 103 million branchless banking accounts, while EMIs oversee 1.60 million accounts (e-wallets).

    The SBP’s notification advises REs to verify the licensing status and authorisation of digital lending platforms and mobile applications from relevant regulatory bodies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan and the central bank itself. This verification should be conducted as part of the know-your-client and customer due diligence processes.

    Furthermore, REs are urged to implement reasonable measures during customer onboarding and transaction monitoring to prevent unauthorised financial service providers from utilising their banking channels and platforms, either directly or indirectly.

  • Zainab Ali and Usman Qamar win gold at Special Olympics World Games

    Zainab Ali and Usman Qamar win gold at Special Olympics World Games

    Usman Qamar and Zainab Ali Raza of Pakistan won gold medals in the Special Olympics World Games 2023 being played in Germany.

    Usman Qamar also won the gold medal in a cycling competition.

    Qamar completed the distance of five km road race in seven minutes and 21.59 seconds. After the triumph, he said, “I had prepared hard for the World Games and I hoped that I would reach the victory stand but winning the gold medal is a dream come true. And I am also grateful to Special Olympic Pakistan who helped me a lot in my training and preparations”.

    Usman Qamar, who belongs to Islamabad, further said that he has been cycling since 2016 and attended two campuses for the World Games.

    Meanwhile, in the javelin men’s event of the 16th Special Olympic World Games of Athletics, Pakistan’s Umair Kayani won the gold medal with a throw of 38.81 meters, while Umaima Iftikhar of Pakistan won the silver medal with a throw of 10.47 meters in the women’s javelin event.

    The 25-year-old national athlete Umair Kayani from Wah Cantt called Commonwealth Games gold medalist Arshad Nadeem his idol.

    Umair’s Head Coach Irfan Anwar says that Umair is skilled in shot-put and javelin throwing since his early days and keeping this in mind for the World Games, his preparation has been going on for the past two years.

    The Head Coach hoped he will continue his streak of good performances in the shot put as well in the future as well and will win more honors and laurels for the country.

    The number of Golds for Pakistan is six now.

    Pakistan’s Saif Ullah won two gold medals, one silver, and one bronze medal in the powerlifting category of the ongoing Special Olympics in Berlin.

  • Lal Masjid’s Maulana Abdul Aziz booked for firing at police

    Lal Masjid’s Maulana Abdul Aziz booked for firing at police

    Lal Masjid’s Maulana Abdul Aziz has been booked on terror charges along with four others, for opening fire on police officials on Wednesday.

    The case was registered at a Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) police station. The first information report (FIR) invokes six sections of the Pakistan Penal Code, including 324 (attempt to commit murder), as well as sections 7 (punishment for acts of terrorism) and 11E (measure to be taken against a proscribed organization) of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

    On Wednesday, a CTD team went to the Lal Masjid area to ask him to present himself for answering queries. However, a “suspicious” vehicle opened fire on the police.

    According to the FIR, Aziz’s name is listed in the ATA’s fourth category, which states that anyone suspected of supporting terrorism must be kept under watch.

    The FIR further said Aziz and other people in the car opened fire on the cops with the intention of killing them.

  • US Navy heard sound of sub imploding shortly after it went missing 

    US Navy heard sound of sub imploding shortly after it went missing 

    In a Wall Street Journal exclusive, it has been revealed that the U.S. Navy heard sounds of the OceanGate Titan implosion hours after it began its voyage on Sunday. 

    A top secret acoustic detection system, used by the American Navy to detect enemy submarines, first registered the sound of an implosion near the recently discovered debris site on Sunday, US defence officials told WSJ.

    “The U.S. Navy conducted an analysis of acoustic data and detected an anomaly consistent with an implosion or explosion in the general vicinity of where the Titan submersible was operating when communications were lost,” a senior U.S. Navy official told the Journal, as reported by The Insider. 

    “While not definitive, this information was immediately shared with the Incident Commander to assist with the ongoing search and rescue mission.”

    On the topic of withholding this information from the public, a senior advisor with the Center for Strategic and International Studies told the Washington Post:

     “What you’re looking at is just lines on a graph [referring to the registered sounds]. And if you try to convince people you weren’t doing a search because the lines on a graph indicated an implosion, that wouldn’t be acceptable to many.”

    In a previous interview with The Insider, professor of marine robotics at the University of Sydney, Stefan Williams, said that in the case of an implosion, the five passengers’ death would have been instantaneous. 

    An anticipated tragedy 

    Turns out the U.S. Navy was not the only one with knowledge of the detected sounds. In an interview with CNN, Hollywood director James Cameron revealed that his contacts in the deep sea exploration community had revealed the Titan had likely imploded. 

    Cameron is a big deep sea enthusiast, having travelled to the wreckage of the Titanic himself in 1995, prior to creating his iconic movie about the vessel’s tragic maiden voyage. 

    When Cameron learned from his colleagues in what he calls the “deep submergence community” that both communications and tracking of the craft had been lost simultaneously, he began to suspect an implosion, “a shockwave of events so powerful that it actually took out” the tracking and comms.

    He went on to say, “I took that as a factor…I couldn’t think of any other scenario in which a sub would be lost where it lost comms and navigation at the same time, and stayed out of touch and did not surface.” 

    History repeating itself?

    In an interview with ABC News, Cameron went on to comment on how ‘struck’ he was by the similarities between the missing Titan submersible and the Titanic shipwreck.

    Namely that both catastrophes took place because of the failure to heed prior warnings. The original Titanic sank when the captain rammed the ocean liner into an iceberg (at full speed), in spite of being warned about the ice.

    Similarly, Cameron criticised OceanGate for failing to heed warnings about the submersible’s experimental approach – the tourism company had been warned in 2018 by a group of industry professionals about its vessel not meeting voluntary industry standards and the possibility of “minor to catastrophic” outcomes.

    In 2018, a whistleblower was fired from the company for raising concerns about the safety of its Titan submersible.

  • Shahnawaz Dahani ne African language kyun seekhi, player reveals details

    Shahnawaz Dahani ne African language kyun seekhi, player reveals details

    Shahnawaz Dahani, Pakistan’s ace fast-medium pacer, has opened up about a viral video featuring the cricketer on the streets of Zimbabwe, singing a famous African traditional song with local children.

    Recently, the Pakistan Shaheens toured Zimbabwe for two Test matches and six One Day Internationals (ODIs), winning both test matches while Zimbabwe emerged victorious in four out of six ODI matches. These were unofficial matches held in Harare.

    The most interesting part of the series was Shahnawaz Dahani’s lively moments on the streets of Zimbabwe with African kids singing their traditional songs in the African Shona language.

    While speaking exclusively to “The Current Life”, Shahnawaz Dahani was asked if he loves spending time with children and the story behind the viral video, as well as how he learned the language.

    “I love spending time with children as they are the future of Pakistan. They watch us and learn from us, and they have dreams just like we did in our childhood. The same goes for the Zimbabwean kids. They enjoy watching us, and we also enjoy their company,” the bowler said.

    “I learned the language in just 30 days. I observed and watched them closely to understand what they were saying, and I quickly picked up the language.

    My teammates were amazed at how I learned the language, and although they tried, they failed. The credit goes to me for learning the African Shona language in just 30 days,” Dhani stated.

    Zimbabwean kids really like cricket and follow Pakistan, the pacer explained, adding that it motivated him to learn their language. “If you have passion, you can easily accomplish difficult and seemingly impossible things,” he remarked.

    When asked how many languages Shahnawaz Dahani can speak, he replied, “I try to learn as many as I can. I love learning languages and new things. I can speak five to six languages.”

  • Modi, Biden demand Pakistan should take the initiative to end ‘cross-border terrorism’

    Modi, Biden demand Pakistan should take the initiative to end ‘cross-border terrorism’

    United States (US) President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi have demanded that Pakistan should ensure that Pakistani land will not be used by terrorists.

    Indian premier is currently visiting the United States.

    The statement has been issued after a meeting between Biden and Modi.

    Both leaders have demanded action against terrorist groups allegedly based in Pakistan, including Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad.

    “They strongly condemned cross-border terrorism, the use of terrorist proxies and called on Pakistan to take immediate action to ensure that no territory under its control is used for launching terrorist attacks,” the 58-point statement issued by the White House read.

    Both the leaders demanded action against perpetrators of attacks, including the Mumbai and Pathankot incidents.

    The leaders have also demanded that the Afghan Taliban should respect human rights, and the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.

  • Suleman Dawood was ‘terrified’ before Titan trip, his aunt says

    Suleman Dawood was ‘terrified’ before Titan trip, his aunt says

    The late 19 year old Suleman Dawood, son of the late Shahzada Dawood, Vice-Chairman of Engro Corporation, was reportedly ‘terrified’ before his trip aboard the OceanGate submersible, according to his aunt Azmeh Dawood.

    In an interview with NBC news, Azmeh – Shahzada’s older sister – shared that the young Suleman had informed a relative prior to his voyage to see the Titanic wreckage that he “wasn’t very up for it” and “felt terrified”. 

    However, the trip tragically fell over Father’s Day weekend and young Suleman, eager to please Shahzada, ended up accompanying him. According to Azmeh, Shahzada was very passionate about the lore of the Titanic.

    She recalls her younger brother was “absolutely obsessed” with the Titanic from a young age, recounting the time when Shahzada met her husband and asked if they could sit down and watch a four-hour documentary about the Titanic. 

    Thus, she was hardly surprised when she learned that her brother had purchased tickets for the OceanGate mission.  

    The Dawood family released a statement on Twitter, announcing the death of their loved ones and extending their condolences to the families of the other departed passengers.

    A catastrophic implosion

    On the fourth day of the frantic search to find the OceanGate submersible before its oxygen supply ran, search parties discovered debris 1600 feet from the bow of the Titanic that were said to be part of the OceanGate craft. 

    The U.S. Coast Guard said the debris found on the seafloor was “consistent with a catastrophic implosion of the vessel.” All aboard have been presumed dead.

    A summary of events 

    The OceanGate submersible disappeared Sunday during a mission to survey the wreckage of the Titanic. 

    The Coast Guard said on Thursday that a “debris field” had been found in the search area. Today, it was confirmed that the debris found was “consistent with a catastrophic implosion of the vessel.”

    A sound consistent with an implosion was heard Sunday, shortly after the submersible lost communications, according to a senior U.S. Navy official, reported by NBC. The sound was not definitive, the official said.

    James Cameron, director of the blockbuster film ‘Titanic’ and a prolific deep sea explorer, in an interview with CNN shared that he knew the vessel had likely imploded by Monday. He learned through his sources of a sound detected in the vicinity of the Titanic on Sunday. 

  • ‘Protection of Muslim minority in Hindu majority India is worth mentioning’: Obama on Modi’s visit to US

    ‘Protection of Muslim minority in Hindu majority India is worth mentioning’: Obama on Modi’s visit to US

    In an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Thursday, Former United States (US) president Barack Obama, spoke about the protection of the rights of ethnic minorities in India.

    “If the President meets with PM Modi, then the protection of Muslim minority in a Hindu majority India is something worth mentioning. By the way, if I were to have a conversation with Prime Minister Modi, who I know well, part of my argument would be that if you do not protect the rights of ethnic minorities in India, then there is a strong possibility that India, at some point, starts pulling apart. And we have seen what happens when you start getting into large internal conflicts… I think it is important to be able to talk about these things honestly.”

    While talking about the president of the United States meeting with leaders such as Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime minister Narendra Modi, Obama said, “It’s complicated. The POTUS has a lot of equities and when I was POTUS I would deal with figures, in some cases who were allies, who, if you would press me in private, run their governments and their political parties in ways that I would say aren’t ideally democratic.”

    “But you would have to do business with them because they are important for national security reasons, because they are a range of economic interests. I dealt with China and Modi to get the Paris Accords done because climate change transcends any momentary issues…it is a problem humanity has to deal with in the next several decades,” he added.

    “I do think it is necessary for the POTUS, where he or she can, to uphold those principles and to challenge, whether behind closed doors or in public, trends that are troubling. I am less concerned about labels than I’m concerned about specific practices,” said Obama.

    Modi is currently on a four day visit to the US.

  • The US population is older than it’s ever been before

    The US population is older than it’s ever been before

    According to data released by the Census Bureau, the United State’s population is older than it’s ever been before, with a median age of 38, New York Times reports.

    This is a steep rise considering the median age of 35 back in 2000 and 30 in 1980. Analysts are concerned that the U.=S ‘greying’, a term used to describe ageing populations, would pose challenges to the workforce, the economy and social programs.

    An earlier study conducted in 2020 revealed that 1 in 6 Americans (so 17% of the entire country) were 65 or older. Much of the greying of the US stems from the post-World War II baby boom – which was the period of 1946 – 1964. 

    Experts point to low birthrates as the main driver of the nation’s rising median age. “It’s simple arithmetic,” said president of demographic data firm Social Explorer, Andrew A. Beveridge, in conversation with the New York Times. “Fewer kids are being born.” 

    Since the beginning of the Great Recession (2007-09), birthrates had never been quite the same as previous generations. Birthrates also saw a steep decline in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

    This trend of ageing populations due to declining birthrates is one observed on an international scale. Countries such as Japan and Germany have been attempting to tackle this issue for years, by introducing policies allowing skilled youth to naturalise more easily. In Japan, nearly 30% of its population is over 65 years old.

    Experts believe that millennial women have been more likely to prioritise education and work in their 20s, leading them to marry far later and have fewer children. That would explain why newer generations in industrialised countries have been witnessing lower birthrates and ageing populations.

  • Pemra to take action against Netflix and other streaming platforms after Eid holidays

    Pemra to take action against Netflix and other streaming platforms after Eid holidays

    Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) is reportedly preparing to take action against over-the-top (OTT) platforms such as Netflix after the conclusion of Eid-ul-Azha, according to Khalid Arain, Chairman of the Cable Operators Association of Pakistan.

    Khalid disclosed that a productive dialogue had taken place between cable operators and senior officials from Pemra, during which the concerns of the cable operators were effectively communicated. He expressed the cable operators’ predicament, stating that they operate under broadcasting restrictions and are limited in the number of channels they can offer. In contrast, OTT platforms enjoy the freedom to stream popular channels.

    Khalid’s reference to OTT platforms pertains to online streaming services that deliver content via the internet. He further stressed the cable operators’ request for regulatory measures concerning operators that offer both internet and cable services.

    He said that the regulatory body has responded positively to the demands of cable operators. Pemra will establish a committee to address the issuance of licenses to cable operators and undertake a crackdown on OTT platforms following the conclusion of Eidul Azha.

    According to ProPakistani, the chairman also advocated for tax exemptions in the cable sector, drawing a parallel to the solar power industry and suggesting that taxes on cable operators should be alleviated. However, he did not provide a specific explanation or justification for this request.

    Additionally, he highlighted an inequity where the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) collects Local Loop license fees from cable operators in US dollars, while subscribers make payments to cable operators in the local currency. Arain deemed this situation unfair, citing the existing rupee-dollar exchange rate as a contributing factor.