PAKISTAN NEWS:
Startup for plastic waste disposal wins Rs0.5m at Dasani Discovery Challenge:
Umer Abid and his team have won a prize of Rs. 0.5 million for proposing an idea using plastic waste as a road-building material in the Dasani Discovery Challenge, organized by Coca Cola.The competition was launched in November last year at the 021DISRUPT event of The Nest I/O. Overall, 73 entries were received, which were evaluated by a panel of 3 eminent judges, who shortlisted 12 entries. These shortlisted participants were then invited to show detailed presentations to the judges, based on which the final 3 winners were selected, all of whom happened to be from Karachi.
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Govt’s Startup Pakistan Programme to Develop Entrepreneurs and Training Institutes:
The Prime Minister Youth Programme is going to launch ‘Startup Pakistan Programme’ in coming months, the state-owned news agency reported on Thursday.Associated Press Pakistan (APP) quoted an official familiar with the development saying that the startup programme will also establish Technical & Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutes in the country to develop innovation-driven entrepreneurs (IDEs).
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Apple under fire for violating its own rules with the News+ App:
Big companies like Google, Apple, and Facebook have been known to adopt anti-competitive practices to maintain their dominance on the market.
A recent case that came forward is Apple violating its own App Store’s rules for its News+ app. This is not the first time Apple was found to be breaking its own rules. It has already done this with Apple Music when it was launched, based on which Spotify filed a complaint, calling out the anti-competitive practices that Apple adopts.
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Draft Cyber Governance Policy aims for proactive security & IT development:
The Cyber Governance Policy has been drafted, which is aimed at realizing the full potential of information and communication technologies for socio-economic development by assuring availability, confidentially and integrity of the critical infrastructure and information system, besides providing reliable secured and resilient cyber-space for all. According to the policy draft, the country’s cyber governance policy is being formulated in consultation with all stakeholders. In this regard, a draft on cybersecurity framework has also been shared by the Law Enforcement Agencies.
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Samsung’s Galaxy Fold’s Hinge will last for years:
Since Samsung Galaxy Fold will be available for pre-booking in a month, there are many concerns about the durability of the phone. Buyers will pay approximately 2 grand for this foldable phone, so they want it to be perfect, especially when it comes to the durability of the hinge. Samsung has put off all concerns by releasing a video of six Galaxy Fold phones being tested with the stringent folding test. The phones are hooked to a machine that constantly folds and unfolds it.
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Zong 4G spends time with senior citizens of Bint e Fatima Old Home:
Leading the change in society, “The New Hope Volunteers” of Zong 4G spent a day with the elderly of Bint e Fatima Old Home in Islamabad. The activity was aimed at spreading joy and jubilation in the lives of the senior citizens at the Bint e Fatima Old Home.Reflecting the passion to serve humanity, Zong 4G’s New Hope Volunteers took time from their usual routines to spend some moments with the elderly of the society.
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Sony Xperia 2 will be a slight downgrade over the Xperia 1:
Sony has taken a new approach to its smartphones this year, with tall 21:9 cinematic displays and videography features.Hot on the tails of the Xperia 1 and 10 announcements at the MWC, rumors have revealed interesting details about the upcoming Xperia 2 smartphone. Sony is showing no signs of slowing down and is working on an Xperia 2 which is a slightly downgraded and economical version of the Xperia 1.
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Xiaomi’s foldable phone shows up in a Teaser Video:
Xiaomi’s foldable phone is next in line after Huawei and Samsung revealed the Mate X and Galaxy Fold respectively at the MWC 2019. We haven’t received an official release date or heard about an announcement, but we do have a new teaser for you. Xiaomi’s foldable phone might just be more popular as the price is going to be half of what Samsung Galaxy Fold goes for.
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Samsung Galaxy Note 10 will have a buttonless design, Quad Cameras:
Now that the S10 has been released and has become old news, rumors about the release and design of Samsung Galaxy Note 10 have started making rounds on the interwebs. A report from ET news, a South Korean Publication, suggests that the phone will feature a buttonless design and will have a huge 6.75-inch screen. Note phones usually have a large display, but this goes above that and is close to the tablet category.
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Telenor sells 38% of its shares in Veon for $213 million:
Telenor Group has sold 100 million of its shares in Veon for $213 million as it continues an exit from the multinational operator after the former lost a battle for control.The Norway-headquartered operator first announced its intentions to cut ownership ties in Veon (formerly VimpelCom) in October 2015, when it held a 33 percent stake. It was well known that Telenor had been in a feud with Veon’s other shareholders about the future ownership of the company, which led to its decision to sell.
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS:
‘Long-term security risks’ from Huawei:
The Chinese company Huawei has been strongly criticised in a report by the body overseeing the security of its products in UK telecoms.The report, issued by the National Cyber Security Centre, which is part of GCHQ, says it can provide “only limited assurance that the long-term security risks can be managed in the Huawei equipment currently deployed in the UK”.The report reflects what are said to be deep frustrations at the failure of the company to address previously identified problems.
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Memes exempt as EU backs controversial copyright law:
Copyright laws which critics say could change the internet have been voted in by the European Parliament. The new rules, including the controversial Article 13, will hold tech firms responsible for material posted without copyright permission. Sharing memes and GIFs will still be allowed under the new laws. Many musicians and creators say the legislation will compensate artists fairly – but others argue that they will destroy user-generated content. Copyright is the legal right that allows an artist to protect how their original work is used.
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Chad — where social media has been cut for a year:
Activists in Chad are demanding that the government restore access to social media after it was cut off a year ago.The restrictions were introduced on 28 March 2018 – shortly after the conclusion of a national conference which recommended changes to the constitution, to allow President Idriss Deby to remain in power until 2033.
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Facebook to ban white nationalism and separatism:
Facebook has said it will block “praise, support and representation of white nationalism and separatism” on Facebook and Instagram from next week.The social media giant also pledged to improve its ability to identify and block material from terrorist groups.Facebook users searching for offending terms will be directed to a charity which combats far-right extremism.
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British-Canadian AI expert Geoffrey Hinton wins Turing Award:
British-born artificial intelligence (AI) expert Geoffrey Hinton has won the Turing Award, sometimes referred to as “the Nobel Prize of computing”. Mr Hinton, who now lives in Canada, shares the award with Yoshua Bengio and YannLeCun — two other proponents of deep learning, a popular form of AI.”The three of us have been the people who most believed in this approach,” he told. “It’s very nice to be recognised now that it is fashionable.”A deep neural network uses many layers of artificial neurons, loosely mimicking the structure of animal brains. Such AI is increasingly used in products that people use every day – from smart speakers to Facebook.
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Salesforce.com sued over links to trafficking site:
Software firm Salesforce.com is being sued by 50 women who allege it aided gangs that trafficked them for sex via the Backpage website. Backpage used the firm’s software to keep its classified ads site running.The site was closed after its founders were arrested and accused of facilitating prostitution and money laundering.Salesforce said it took the allegations “seriously” and was committed to “ethical” use of its products.
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Google is committed to US not the Chinese military:
Google’s is “committed to the US Military, not the Chinese Military” President Trump said after meeting the firm’s chief executive on Wednesday.In a tweet, the President said he and Sundar Pichai also discussed “political fairness and various things that Google can do for our country”.It follows a tweet earlier this year in which Mr Trump accused Google of “helping China.”
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Twitter birth-year hoax locks users out of accounts:
Twitter has warned users to ignore a hoax suggesting an alternative colour scheme will appear in the app if they change their birth year to 2007.Instead, users who fall for the scam will be locked out of their accounts because Twitter prohibits anyone under the age of 13 from using the site.”Please don’t do this,” the company said via a tweet.A spokesman for Twitter declined to confirm to the BBC how many people have succumbed to the hoax so far.
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Britain’s ‘bullied’ chatbots fight back:
UK chatbot companies are programming their creations to deal with messages containing swearing, rudeness and sexism, BBC News has learned. Chatbots have received thousands of antisocial messages over the past year. One financial chatbot has been asked out on a date nearly 2,000 times and to “send nude [picture]s” more than 1,000, according to its makers, Cleo AI. The chatbot now responds to the request by sending an image of a circuit board.
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Aluminium firm cyber-attack cost at least £25.6m:
A cyber-attack on a Norwegian aluminium company has cost it at least 300 million Norwegian kroner (£25.6m).Hydro, which employs 35,000 people in 40 countries, was hit by malware last week.The company said it was slowly bringing affected systems back online but the “preliminary” cost of the incident had been about 300-350 million kroner.Most of those losses had been in its Extruded Solutions division, which makes aluminium facades, Hydro said.