Blog

  • Google marks Pakistan’s Independence Day with Derawar Fort doodle

    Google marks Pakistan’s Independence Day with Derawar Fort doodle

    Google has released a doodle artwork of medieval Derawar Fort located in the Cholistan Desert of Punjab to mark Pakistan’s 75th Independence Day.

    “Seventy-four years ago today, Pakistan achieved independence. Today’s doodle celebrates Pakistan Independence Day, a public holiday commemorating the day on which the nation became a sovereign republic.

    “Pakistanis across the subcontinent join to celebrate their freedom and honour the centuries of history that comprise its cultural foundation,” read a statement by Google accompanying the doodle.

    The doodle’s reach is limited to Pakistan.

  • IN PICTURES: Maya Ali’s vacation in Hunza

    Maya Ali is currently on vacation in Hunza. The actor is enjoying some family time in the northern areas and she is making sure to keep her fans updated during her getaway.

    Maya took to her Instagram to share some pictures.

    Have a look at some of the pictures from her dreamy vacation:

  • ‘No Pakistani was declared anti-state in the DMW analytical report,’ clarifies Fawad Chaudhry

    Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry has clarified that no Pakistani was declared anti-state in the Digital Media Wing’s (DMW) analytical report.

    Fawad on Friday said that unfortunately, the political parties did not have political research wings, who could help their leadership to understand an issue in depth. Chaudhry advised the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leadership to hire the services of an expert to learn about the contents of the DMW report.

    https://twitter.com/FawadPTIUpdates/status/1426198737152524294

    Fawad maintained the fact that “the analysis of Rana Sanaullah, Khurram Dastagir and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi reflected that they were computer-illiterate individuals who were not well aware of the latest technology and lack of enough knowledge in this regard.”

    The minister further added, “India did use bot technology to promote anti-Pakistan tweets.” Fawad said the report did not comment on the people living in Pakistan, clarifying, “If someone will be taking part in #SanctionPakistan trending right now on social media and opposing it – then it does not mean that they indulged in an anti-state activity.”

    Commenting on the media wing of Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), Fawad said that PTM had participated in spreading and posting anti-state trends on social media. The data on PTM’s role in supporting the anti-state narrative was included in the DMW report, which could be analysed by people themselves.

    https://twitter.com/FawadPTIUpdates/status/1426199486536331270

    Fawad further added that the ones unfamiliar with technology could also contact the ministry’s Digital Media Wing that has been set up to guide individuals.

    Earlier, the PML-N slammed the report saying it had equated Pakistan’s Opposition, politicians, and journalists with India and Israel without any proof.

  • Kabul could be isolated by Taliban within the next 72 hours

    The capital of Afghanistan, Kabul, can be isolated by the Taliban within the next 72 hours, CNN has reported. A diplomatic source told CNN that one intelligence assessment indicated that Kabul could be isolated by the Taliban within the week, possibly within the next 72 hours, but stressed that does not mean the militant group would enter the capital.

    CNN also reports that personnel at the US Embassy in Kabul have been instructed to delete sensitive and materials “which could be misused in propaganda efforts”, as soon as possible. As per details, a notice was sent to the embassy staff with the instructions.

    The act of destroying sensitive material is a standard procedure applied to minimise the US footprint.

    “Drawdowns at our diplomatic posts around the world follow a standard operating procedure designed to minimise our footprint across various categories, including staffing, equipment, and supplies. Kabul Embassy is conducting their drawdown in accordance with this standard operating procedure,” a US State Department spokesperson said.

    United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that Afghanistan is spinning out of control. Every day, the conflict is taking a bigger toll on civilians, especially women and children. He also reminded all the parties of their obligation to protect civilians.

    The Taliban have taken control of 14 of Afghanistan’s 34 provincial capitals since Aug 6, Reuters has reported.

  • VIDEO: Fans gush over Alizeh Shah’s new glam look for ‘Lekin’

    VIDEO: Fans gush over Alizeh Shah’s new glam look for ‘Lekin’

    Alizeh Shah left her fans gushing as she flaunted her ultra-glam look in the recent viral video.

    In the viral clip, the 21-year-old actor enchants her admirers just by her smile while looking super adorable.

    On the work front, Alizeh is all set to share the screen with Ali Rehman Khan in the upcoming drama serial Lekin.

    Helmed by Mohabbat Tujhe Alvida‘s director Barkat Sidiki, the drama is penned by Aliya Bukhari.

    The drama has a star-studded cast including Javed Sheikh, Waseem Abbas, Ismat Zaidi and Farhan Ali Agha.

    It also stars fresh faces like Khushal Khan and Eshal Fayyaz.

    Furthermore, plot details and the release date of the project are yet to be revealed.

  • Pakistan and US believe that there is no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan

    Pakistan and US believe that there is no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan

    Foreign Office Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri, during his weekly press briefing, clarified that Pakistan considers the United States (US) a friend and wants broad-based relations to achieve the shared objective of peace and prosperity in the region and beyond.

    Answering the questions on the surging situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan’s relations with the US, Zahid said, “Pakistan and the US have a history of close cooperative relations. This cooperative relationship has served the interests of both the countries.”

    “We both believe that there’s no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan and we both want to see peace in Afghanistan,” added Zahid.

    He reiterated the fact that both Pakistan and the US support an inclusive, broad-based, and comprehensive political settlement in Afghanistan through a process that is owned and led by the Afghans themselves.

    The statement by the Foreign Office comes a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan issued a hard-hitting statement, saying that Washington sees Pakistan only useful in cleaning up the “mess” in Afghanistan.

    “Pakistan is considered only to be useful in the context of somehow settling this mess which has been left behind after 20 years of trying to find a military solution when there was none,” said PM Khan.

    PM Khan also clarified speculations that he was not “waiting” for a phone call from US President Joe Biden.

    “I keep hearing that President Biden hasn’t called me. Well, it’s his option. If he wants to call or not it’s his business. If he thinks it’s necessary or not. Not that I am waiting for any phone call,” said the premier.

  • England tour of Pakistan 2021 schedule announced, Rawalpindi to host both series

    England tour of Pakistan 2021 schedule announced, Rawalpindi to host both series

    England men’s and women’s teams will travel to Pakistan for a bilateral series. Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium will be hosting both the series.

    Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), on Friday, announced that the England men’s team will take on the home side in two T20Is at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi in October. The England women’s team will also play two T20Is and three ODIs against the Pakistan women’s team during the same month at the same venue.

    The England men and women’s teams will arrive in Islamabad on October 9. Subsequently, the touring sides will play the T20Is on October 13 and 14, with the matches being held as double-headers. After the completion of the T20I series, the England men’s squad will leave for Dubai on October 15.

    However, the England women’s side will stay back and partake in three ODIs on October 17,19 and 21 respectively. This will be England senior team’s (men or women) first tour to Pakistan since 2005-06. Incidentally, the matches were initially scheduled to be played at the National Stadium in Karachi on October 14 and 15, but had to be rescheduled as a result of “operational and logistical reasons”.

    “We are delighted to welcome both the England men’s team for what will be their first tour to Pakistan since 2005, and the England women’s team, who will be touring Pakistan for the first time. Both are additional tours with England men’s side scheduled to return to Pakistan in the last quarter of 2022 for white-ball and ICC World Test Championship fixtures,” PCB Chief Executive Wasim Khan said.

  • ‘I threat her that I will star as a hero opposite her daughter’: Fahad Sheikh on Yashma Gill

    ‘I threat her that I will star as a hero opposite her daughter’: Fahad Sheikh on Yashma Gill

    Actor Fahad Sheikh recently appeared on Ahsan Khan’s show Time out with Ahsan Khan along with his Azmaish co-star Yashma Gill.

    While the host and the guests were discussing Fahad’s diet and fitness routine, the Jalan star said that he often threatens Yashma that he will star as a hero opposite her daughter hence he focuses on his fitness. He said on a lighter note, “Mein Yashma ko dhamki deta hun kay mein ne tumhari beti kay sath hero ana hai, for that I have to be fit.”

    The Udaari star replied to Fahad’s statement by saying, ‘Soch dekh iski’.

    The Pyar Ke Sadqay diva is currently single, she opened up on her idea of companionship, “Companionship is something everyone desires. But I think you should get married to someone you can actually live a happy and satisfying life with, so you should be careful and not rush into it.”

    Kinza Hashmi & Yashma Gill Talk About Their Characters In Azmaish | Reviewit.pk

    The duo can be currently seen in ARY Digital’s drama serial Azmaish also featuring Kinza Hashmi.

  • ‘I hope the Govt will apologise to me tomorrow’, Rehman Malik demands action after The Current’s report

    ‘I hope the Govt will apologise to me tomorrow’, Rehman Malik demands action after The Current’s report

    The government’s Digital Media Wing (DMW) recently released a report titled, ‘Anti-State Trends: Deep Analytics Report’. The Current analysed the report, which was discussed on Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’ on Thursday night. The Current found glaring errors in the report.

    Mentioning The Current’s research, Shahzeb Khanzada stated the facts mentioned in our report. “From The Current’s analysis, the 134-page report has 85 pages that have screenshots of tweets, which means that 63.4 per cent of the report is based on screenshots of people who are using a certain hashtag that the government has identified as being anti-state. The number of tweets that are in these 85 pages amounts to 666 tweets out of which 142 tweets are from three accounts, which means that 21.3 per cent of the tweets used in this study came from three people.”

    “After further analysis of the three accounts, The Current discovered that all three accounts had a combined following of less than 11,000,” mentioned Shahzeb.

    The report was released Wednesday evening around 5:30PM and a few hours later a disclaimer was added to the report. According to journalist Fereeha Idrees, the disclaimer was added after she raised the issue with the DMW for being highlighted in the report as a ‘replies with the most followers’ account.

    Shahzeb Khanzada also mentioned that The Current reached out to TweepsMap, which was the primary analysis app used by the government for this report. The maps and information all have the Tweepsmap link on the maps and all charts in the report. We asked the CEO of TweepsMap Samir Al-Battran if they considered the analysis of the report to be authentic since it used their app service. Samir told us, “The government of Pakistan is not authorised to use our service.  ​We will investigate how they got access to our analysis and get back to you on this.”

    Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry refuted these claims on Shahzeb Khanzada’s programme.

    “Were the Twitter trends data compiled without research? Was the press conference held without reading the final draft? Was the patriotism of our own citizens deliberately questioned? How did you determine which tweet is anti and pro-state?,” asked Shahzeb.

    “The data could have been complied on a single page as well. We analysed the data for the past two years, around 150 trends were made, and we checked how India and Afghanistan glorified those trends. Around 37 lac tweets were done on the very trends. We spent around 1,000 hours going through those tweets,” said Fawad Chaudhry.

    Shahzeb reiterated the fact that the report should have included how India and Afghanistan were involved in generating, promoting, and glorifying the very trends and sentiment analysis of the tweets should have been checked.

    ” I think you did not read the mechanism and neither did you try to understand the work done in the report,” replied the minister.

    “The positive and negative sentiment does not matter, what matters is that people participated in the trend. India did all this because it wanted to portray to the international spheres that there is chaos within Pakistan,” added Fawad.

    Former Interior Minister Rehman Malik also thanked Shahzeb for highlighting how his anti-India tweet was also part of the DMW report. “I hope someone from the Govt will apologise to me tomorrow.”

    https://twitter.com/SenRehmanMalik/status/1425908540024229902
  • Huawei faces lawsuit after allegedly spying on Pakistani citizens through stolen tech

    Huawei faces lawsuit after allegedly spying on Pakistani citizens through stolen tech

    Huawei has been sued in California federal court for creating a “backdoor” that allowed it to collect sensitive data “important to Pakistan’s national security”, reports Reuters.

    Business Efficiency Solutions (BES), a California-based IT consultant company, filed a complaint against the China-based tech giant on Wednesday, August 11.

    According to the complaint, Huawei subcontracted with BES in 2016 for its $150 million bid to develop software for a Pakistani government programme providing new technology for police and law enforcement in Lahore. BES said it created software for the project that collects data from government agencies, controls access to buildings, monitors social media and manages drones, among other things.

    Huawei officials allegedly demanded that BES send this information to the company in China for testing, and BES said it agreed to the demand but terminated its authorisation to use the technology after Huawei revoked its access to the testing laboratory.

    The complaint said Huawei has yet to return any of the confidential software design tools or uninstall the software, as BES said it had agreed to.

    BES said Huawei later demanded it install its data-aggregation software – used by Pakistani law enforcement to collect and analyse “sensitive data from different sources and government agencies” – in its Chinese lab, “this time not merely for testing purposes but with full access to data at the Lahore Safe City project.” BES said it agreed, under threat of termination and withheld payments, after Huawei said it had approval from the Pakistani government.

    Huawei has yet to respond to the lawsuit filed by BES through its legal team. BES also did not share any more information beyond the case that it filed in the federal court.

    The IT consulting firm also accused Huawei of stealing the “trade secrets, and other intellectual properties in its possessions after officials of the China tech company demanded it for testing.”

    Up until now, the lawsuit alleged that Huawei has not returned the software design tools to BES.

    Moreover, BES said that it only allowed Huawei to use the software with full access as the latter threatened that they will not be paid, which the Chinese giant has yet to do for some of the software in the project.

    Huawei is a Chinese firm that has been banned in the United States (US) after it was accused of being a security risk. Thus, Google forcibly removed its services from the devices of the Chinese phone maker.

    However, Huawei recently decided to live without Google by debuting its own operating system across all of its devices.