Tag: Chinese

  • ‘KU bombing planned by BLF and BLA, neighbouring country had a role’: Sharjeel Memon

    ‘KU bombing planned by BLF and BLA, neighbouring country had a role’: Sharjeel Memon

    Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon on Tuesday (July 5) said that the Karachi University (KU) suicide bombing on April 26 was a joint plan by the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF).

    On Monday, a 13-member Chinese delegation, led by a Chinese counterterrorism official, called on Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Murad Ali Shah and discussed with him security measures for Chinese nationals working in Sindh and the progress of the probe into the KU attack.

    An intelligence team of the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) revealed in the meeting that an “important accused” had been arrested.

    Addressing a press conference today, Memon said that the suspect, a terrorist, had revealed that the KU attack was the joint work of the BLF and the BLA.

    “During the investigation process, the suspect made important revelations. He said that he was the commander of a BLF sleeper cell in Karachi.”

    Memon further said that the suspect met the husband of the female suicide bomber (Shari Baloch), Dr Haibastan Bashir, and another “important terrorist” named “Zeb” in Karachi, and helped to carry out the KU attack.

    The minister further added that the suspect revealed that “Zeb was the KU attack mastermind”, who entered Pakistan from a “neighbouring country” and had been staying in Karachi with Shari Baloch and her husband.

    Shari Baloch, a 30-year-old woman, committed a suicide bombing near the Confucius Institute of Karachi University on April 26. In the suicide attack, she targeted four people, including Chinese nationals and a van driver.

    She was an educated woman who belonged from Kech, Balochistan. She had been with Balochistan Students Organisation-Azad (BSO Azad) since college. She later joined the separatist movement of the Majeed Brigade of the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA). She completed her master’s degree in education from Allama Iqbal Open University in 2014.

  • Foreigners’ security cell to be established in Islamabad

    Foreigners’ security cell to be established in Islamabad

    Islamabad police is establishing a foreigners’ security cell in the Central Police Office (CPO), with the required personnel and logistics.

    Under the supervision of DIG Operations, the District Foreign Security Cell (DFSC) will be led by Additional Superintendent Operations.

    It was decided at a meeting in the Central Police Office presided over by Inspector General of Police Dr Akbar Nasir Khan. Senior police officers from Islamabad were in attendance. On the pattern of CPEC Security, it was decided to apply all standard operating procedures for non-China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) security projects.

    Correspondingly, the Special Branch, Counter-Terrorism Department, and Security Division will conduct regular audits of the security measures. Islamabad police will employ Chinese-speaking early age Pakistani men and women to aid Chinese residents working on non-CPEC projects and for other private companies.

    The session was notified that efforts are being made to protect foreign nationals in compliance with Ministry of Interior directives. The Foreign Office and other law enforcement agencies will be consulted as needed. While the National Database Registration Authority will assist DFSC in data integration.

  • Samsung is getting out of LCD business by the next month

    Samsung is getting out of LCD business by the next month

    Samsung Display has decided to cut its LCD production unexpectedly by July 2022. The stoppage was originally planned for December, but it can now take place as soon as the end of this month.

    According to insiders, Samsung’s competition has been quite harsh, and the company wanted to avoid further losses.

    Keeping in view previous Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC) reports, the price of LCD panels is only 36.6 per cent of what it was in 2014, when production was at its peak. BOE, a Chinese display manufacturer, and AU Optronics, a Taiwanese company, are also offering lower prices to customers.

    Samsung had planned to exit the LCD business in 2020, but lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic increased demand for home entertainment on low-cost devices like affordable TVs and smartphones. As a result, Samsung was forced to postpone this significant step.

    Samsung officials have yet to respond to a request for comment, but we expect to learn more about the shutdown’s financial implications in July when the tech giant releases its Q2 earnings report.

    As per the Korea Times, people’s interest in LCDs has waned, while they are increasingly drawn to display technologies such as Quantum Dot and OLED.

    A US market research firm also revealed the LCD panel price index has fallen dramatically since late 2021 and is now down 60 per cent year on year.

    Moreover, in recent years, smartphones have also shifted from LCD displays to OLED displays.

  • Fact Check: All Confucius Chinese learning centers except NUML are shutting down

    Fact Check: All Confucius Chinese learning centers except NUML are shutting down

    Claim: All Confucius Chinese learning centers have shut down in Pakistan in the wake of the University of Karachi bomb blast in which three Chinese nationals were killed.

    Fact: All Confucius Chinese learning centers except the one in NUML are shutting down as most Chinese educators have gone back to China. Remaining classes for the current session have been shifted online.

    On May 15, right-wing activist and journalist Orya Maqbool Jan with 477.2K followers on Twitter, shared a tweet claiming that all five Confucius centers in Pakistan are being shut down in the aftermath of the University of Karachi bombing by Shari Baloch. The female suicide bomber targeted three Chinese nationals working at the Confucius Institute of the University of Karachi.

    On May 17, The News posted an article quoting Zhang Heqing, the Cultural Counsellor at the Chinese embassy in Islamabad, stating that all centers are operating and that China will continue to increase educational support sent towards Pakistan. After the article in the English daily, social media users started “fact checking” Orya Maqbool Jan, including Naya Daur andUrdu News, using The News’ article to back up their claim that none of the Confucius centers are shutting down.

    Team Current decided to verify this widely spread news and we discovered that except for the Confucius center inside National University of Modern Languages (NUML), Islamabad, all other centers – in Lahore, Faisalabad, Karachi and Bahawalpur, are on their way to shutting down for the foreseeable future.

    We got in touch with Babar Saleem, the accounts officer at the University of Karachi Confucius center, who confirmed on call that outside these five centers the Chinese government had set up a few classes in PItaro as well. But since all Chinese educators have already gone back to China, the current session in these centers have been changed from in person to online and after the current session ends, all activities at the center have been cancelled.

    Verdict: 90% TRUE (since the learning center at NUML will remain open)

  • Redmi unveils new Note 11T models with 144Hz Display, 120W charging

    Redmi unveils new Note 11T models with 144Hz Display, 120W charging

    Redmi’s President and General Manager Lu Weibing recently teased yet another future Redmi Note 11 variant. Presently, the Note 11 series offers a number of variants, still the tech giant is not done with it yet.

    The teaser graphic does not provide any features or design details, although the firm has previously hinted that the 11T phones will have a top-notch, turbo level performance. It is expected to include a number of performance-enhancing features.

    Redmi Note 11T Pro will include a 144Hz refresh rate LCD display, based on previous rumours. In China, it will be powered by MediaTek’s high-end Dimensity 8000 SoC, however, it is unclear what chipset would be used in the international or Pakistani variant. Also, the global variant will most likely have a different name.

    The Note 11T will have a 4,980 mAh battery with 67W fast charging support, while the Note 11 Pro will have a slightly smaller 4,300 mAh battery with 120W super fast charging.

    Read more: Apple may replace iPhone 14 mini with a Max model

    Redmi 11T phones will arrive in China before the worldwide market as the teasers are from China. A few months later, the Pakistani market and other countries will most certainly see an official release from the company.

  • Honda announces third price hike, Honda 125 is now priced at Rs163,500

    Honda announces third price hike, Honda 125 is now priced at Rs163,500

    Pakistan’s top two-wheeler manufacturer, Atlas Honda has announced another significant price hike for its motorcycles which is Honda’s third price increase in less than five months.

    Honda CD70, the country’s most popular two-wheeler, is now priced at Rs102,900, after an increase of Rs3000. The 100cc Honda Pridor following the increase will be sold for 139,000 after an increase of Rs3000 in its old price of Rs136,900, while the iconic Honda 125 is now priced at Rs163,500 after a hike of Rs4000 in its prior cost.

    The price of the Honda CB 150 SE increased by Rs8,000, bringing the total price to Rs303,900, up from Rs295,900 previously.

    Pakistan’s two-wheeler industry has achieved over 90 per cent localization, according to the Ministry of Industries and Production’s (MOIP) latest report. This means that the majority of a motorbike’s structural and mechanical components are manufactured in Pakistan, with only a few foreign parts.

    Read more: Honda Atlas announces price hike instead of fixing delivery issues

    Despite this, all companies continue to raise their bike pricing without introducing or incorporating any advancement, putting them out of reach for the majority of local consumers.

  • Chinese man arrested for nine days for sharing a meme

    Chinese man arrested for nine days for sharing a meme

    A man in China was detained for nine days after sharing a meme to a group chat that local police deemed offensive. His arrest has gone viral on Chinese social media, CNN reported.

    The man, identified only by his surname Li, allegedly shared the meme on the Chinese social media platform WeChat, complaining about local coronavirus prevention and control measures late last month, the report said citing authorities and state media.

    Police in Qingtongxia city in the Ningxia region posted a screenshot of Li’s text exchange on Chinese social media but later removed the post.
    State-run outlet The Paper reported more details of the incident that has shocked people in China, with a related hashtag garnering 170 million views.

    Many protested against Li’s punishment, arguing that a meme hardly justified arrest by the police, a CNN report said.

    According to The Paper, Li sent a meme showing a dog in a police hat, holding a police badge and pointing at the camera. It’s a common image that has been used widely online before, with different variations, sometimes including a cat or cartoon character in police hat.

  • China urges Pak for ‘practical measures’ after suicide attack kills two in Gwadar

    China urges Pak for ‘practical measures’ after suicide attack kills two in Gwadar

    The Chinese Embassy in Pakistan on Saturday strongly condemned a suicide attack targeting a vehicle carrying Chinese nationals in Balochistan’s Gwadar district on Friday, asking Pakistan “to take practical and effective measures” to prevent recurrence of such incidents in the future, reported Dawn.

    At least two children were killed and three people were injured when a suicide bomber blew himself near the vehicle at around 7pm on Friday.

    In its statement, the Chinese Embassy demanded Pakistan to properly treat the wounded and conduct a thorough investigation on the attack, and severely punish the perpetrators.”

    It also extended “its sincere sympathies to the injured of both countries” and expressed its deep condolences to the victims in Pakistan.

    “At the same time, relevant departments at all levels in Pakistan must take practical and effective measures to accelerate, to implement strengthened whole-process security measures and upgrade security cooperation mechanism to ensure that similar incidents will not happen again,” the embassy said.

    Previously, on July 14, nine Chinese nationals and three Pakistanis lost their lives. Chinese workers and accompanying Pakistani staff were proceeding to their workplace for an ongoing project, as per a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA).

    After initially suggesting that the incident was an accident, the government earlier this month said a suicide bomber had attacked the bus which was carrying Chinese workers to the under-construction Dasu dam.

  • 15 Chinese officials to investigate Dasu bus tragedy: Sheikh Rasheed

    15 Chinese officials to investigate Dasu bus tragedy: Sheikh Rasheed

    Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid said that 15 Chinese officials have been included in the ongoing investigation of the Dasu bus tragedy in which 13 people, including nine Chinese nationals, were killed, reports Dawn.

    Addressing a press conference, Rasheed said, “The investigation of the event is at its final stages and the highest institutions of Pakistan are investigating it. Fifteen individuals from China have been included [in the investigation] as well.”

    “We completely reassure the Chinese government that these culprits, hidden hands and enemies of CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) and China-Pakistan friendship will never be forgiven at any cost,” he added.

    Nine Chinese nationals and three Pakistanis lost their lives on Wednesday. Chinese workers and accompanying Pakistani staff were proceeding to their workplace for an ongoing project, as per a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA). 

    China had announced that it was sending a team to Pakistan to deal with the aftermath of the incident. “Today China will send a cross-departmental joint working group to Pakistan to help with relevant work,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian had said at a media briefing in Beijing.

    A team comprising of 15 Chinese officials has reached Pakistan to probe into the Dasu bus tragedy.

    Chinese ambassador to Pakistan has visited the site of the shuttle bus explosion near the Dasu Hydropower plant to investigate the cause, together with the Pakistani military and a Chinese team.

  • FAW to launch affordable high-tech SUV cars for Pakistan

    FAW to launch affordable high-tech SUV cars for Pakistan

    FAW Motors has just announced that they will introduce Bestune cars for the mid-tier socio-economic segment of Pakistan. 

    Bestune, as of right now, has 8 vehicles in its product lineup, 4 of which are sedans, and the remaining 4, are Crossover Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs).

    Various reports suggest that Bestune shall be making an entrance by introducing the T77 Crossover SUV in the Pakistani Market.

    The T77 is a compact crossover SUV that was launched in November of 2018 at the Guangzhou Auto Show. Since its launch, the car has only been sold in the Chinese market.

    In terms of engine, the car is equipped with 1.2 litres turbocharged inline 4-cylinder petrol engine that makes 141 horsepower, 204-newton/meters of torque, with a 6-speed manual or a 7-speed automatic gearbox transmission. 

    In the latest version, the buyers can opt for a 1.5-litre Turbocharged-Gasoline Direct Injection (T-GDI) inline 4-cylinder petrol engine, that makes 166 horsepower and 258-newton meters of torque, with a 6-speed manual or a 7-speed automatic gearbox transmission. 

    On the inside you are greeted with a high-end interior, a modern Mercedes Benz like single-screen infotainment system and instrument cluster, intelligent connectivity technologies such as Bestune radio, AI music, smart entertainment, as well as intelligent control function.

    Other Features

    Among other features, the SUV comes with:

    • Autonomous parking
    • Driver and passenger seat airbags
    • Parking sensors
    • Lane departure warning
    • Lane keep assist
    • Collision warning
    • Blind-spot monitoring
    • Adaptive cruise control
    • Hill-start assist and descent control,
    • Traction control
    • ABS brakes with Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD) and Brake-Assist (BA) Technology

    Reports of a much bigger and better T99 SUV to be launched in Pakistan are also floating but nothing has been confirmed yet.

    The company is making cars that are affordable yet modern, comfortable, and reliable. Since then, the company has mainly been operating in the Chinese and Russian Markets, where they have earned a decent amount of popularity.