10/01/2021 - 11/01/2021
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10/31/2021

Alter, a Lahore and London-based startup, is set to auction a non-fungible token (NFT) meme on October 31. The auction date and the theme of the digital artwork both coincide with Halloween.

‘When your Face Analysis Model is too accurate’ would be the second Pakistani meme to be auctioned as NFT.

The meme created by Arsalan Siddiqui, a 28 years old freelancer from Karachi, was first posted on his personal Facebook account.

Published on December 9, 2020, with the caption ‘When your Face Analysis Model is too accurate’ the meme gained widespread popularity and accumulated more than 131,000 shares and 74000 reactions.

Arsalan Siddiqui told SAMAA Digital that he accidentally created the meme. “I was working on a face analysis project which had very narrow deadline. Most of my time was consumed by the part where I had to create face analysis model. So, I made a joke out of it by making it look that a ghost with angry mood was detected by it,” he said.

NFTs are digital codes linked to a blockchain. An NFT is stored on a decentralized public ledger that certifies any digital file to be unique. They are digital identifiers that can’t be copied.

I made … it look that a ghost with angry mood was detected

Arsalan Siddiqui

You can think of an NFT as a set of fingerprints that are unique. They have become an increasingly popular tool because of their use cases. For example, they have created an entirely new digital art industry worth more than $1b by solving the biggest problem artists have faced: copying.

As a freelancer working in the IT industry, Arsalan knew about NFTs. He heard about Pakistan’s first NFT meme auction ‘Friendship Ended with Mudasir’ which took place on July 30 on International Friendship Day. It was auctioned for $51,000.

Arsalan followed the meme and found out that the one he had created had more shares and reach.

He said, “When I saw ‘Friendship ended with Mudassir’ being auctioned as NFT, I researched about it and contacted people who could help me auction my meme. I started adding collectors on Instagram and Facebook so they notice my meme.”

The auction will begin at 4am Pakistan Standard Time (7pm ET on October 30) and is promoted as featured artwork on one of the biggest NFT platform Foundation.app.

The starting bid price is set at 0.555 ETH, which is worth more than PKR 368,000.

 
 
 

According to Arsalan, more artists can get their memes and arts NFT auctioned if they follow certain practices.

“It is important that a meme should have worldwide exposure because the collectors are usually from UK and US,’ he said.



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10/31/2021

When India and New Zealand clash for their T20 World Cup Group 2 fixture in Dubai on Sunday, Afghanistan would already have played against Namibia.

With all due respect to the African side, it is very probable that they will concede to Afghanistan their second win of the tournament and a consolidated second place in the group table with four points.

In this scenario, both Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson will be dreading another defeat as they reel from defeats against Pakistan in their opening games.

Loss for either would make their fixture against Afghanistan a very crucial one to ensure a place in the semi-final, and Mohammad Nabi’s men are dangerous.

Pakistan did overcome them, thanks to Asif Ali’s late heroics, but the Afghan’s lost from a winning position.

India, as Kohli acknowleged, were “outplayed” by Pakistan. However, New Zealand’s loss wasn’t clinical. Therefore, Kohli would expect his top order to deliver this time. Bamboozled by Shaheen Shah Afridi’s pace and swing, Indian openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul failed against Pakistan.

India’s lower order did try to build around Kohli but their total wasn’t enough to beat Pakistan.

Rohit and Rahul will be tested once again as New Zealand pace bowling spearhead Trent Boult will look to emulate Shaheen’s effort against them.
“I thought the way Shaheen bowled the other night from a left-armer, watching on I thought it was amazing,” said Boult.

“Early wickets are definitely the focus for us as a bowling group. Hopefully, from my point of view, it swings around a little bit and I can mirror what Shaheen did the other night.”

If India’s top order clicks anyway, they have got it all that it takes to post a good total or chase a big one. New Zealand, in Martin Guptill and Daryl Mitchell, also have the hard-hitting openers who can give a tough time to any team in the world.

Captain Kane Williamson, Devon Conway and all-rounder Jimmy Neesham also have the ability to build on starts given by Guptill and Mitchell.

With the ball, apart from Boult, New Zealand will rely on the experience of Tim Southee, who took the crucial wicket of Pakistan captain Babar Azam in their first match.

Mitchell Santner’s slow left-armers and Ish Sodhi’s wrist spin will also come in very handy for the Kiwis.

India’s bowler failed miserably against Pakistan, not even creating an outside chance for themselves against Babar and Mohammad Rizwan, eventually losing by ten wickets.

It is high time for the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuwaneshwar Kumar to use their experience to help India make a solid comeback. Kohli might also need to consider making some changes in the playing XI.



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10/31/2021

Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) leader Maryam Nawaz Sharif has deleted a tweet about Balochistan after coming under fire from various quarters especially the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI).

PMLN leader had tweeted an old video showing an aircraft fly over the Headingley cricket ground in Leeds, England, with a banner reading ‘Justice for Balochistan.’ The plane was flown on the behalf of India in 2019, during the 50-over Cricket World Cup tournament. Pakistan had responded by flying banners that read “#Justice for Kashmir” and “India stop genocide & free Kashmir” over Headingley.

Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Saturday tweeted the video with the Indian banner and captioned it “Justice for Balochistan pls.”

PTI leaders were quick to draw attention to the blunder committed by the PMLN leader with Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry calling her out for “lack of knowledge” and “self-centeredness.” He interpreted it as Maryam’s attempt to draw media attention.

Many other PTI leaders, too, criticized Maryam, who also came under fire from several social media users for “advancing the Indian narrative.”

Maryam deleted the tweet and tried to justify her actions.

“I deleted bcoz some known elements were misconstruing it. I stand for the rights of all those marginalized in my beloved Pakistan and will continue to do so. Baluchistan is close to my heart. No amount of propaganda can change that. Justice for Balochistan pls,” she said in another tweet.

Some social media users have blasted her for repeating the Indian statement in the second tweet.



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10/30/2021

Smart Disinfection Robot has been deployed at the Grand Mosque, which works for four hours, with a capacity of more than 68 liters of water, and covers more than 2,000 square meters per working hour.

The President of the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques Sheikh Dr Abdulrahman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Sudais has formally inaugurated the robot.

Dr Al-Sudais praised the tasks of smart robots and modern technological means and their active role in improving the system of services being provided to visitors to the Grand Mosque in accordance with the latest international standards.

Furthermore, at least 500 automatic devices and 20 robots for hand sterilization and 550 manual sterilization stations have been deployed across the mosque.

Saudi Arabia announced the lifting of restrictions in the Two Holy Mosques on October 17. Worshipers and pilgrims who have received both vaccine doses are now able to visit the Holy Mosques in Mecca and Medina while wearing a mask and using the Umrah tracking app.

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10/30/2021

Reporting by: Noor-ul-Arifeen

Chief Minister Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo ordered on Friday to immediately release the salaries of contractual employees of the Balochistan Development Authority.

This was the first order he issued as soon as he was sworn in earlier in the day.

The principal secretary wrote to the secretary treasury and called for a final summary for approval in this regard.

In a related development, a spokesperson for the Balochistan Labour Federation Abid Butt urged the chief minister to ensure the enforcement of labour laws for reducing the incidence of unemployment in the province.

He said that the chief minister should also ensure prompt payment of salaries of project and contract workers employed by the Balochistan Development Authority.

Criticizing the previous chief minister, he pointed out that during his previous tenure, Bizenjo had called for making long-time contractual employees permanent. But the Jam Kamal administration had relegated this to cold storage without assigning any reason.

He said that steps should be taken to materialize the decision taken during his previous term as the chief minister of Balochistan.

Election of new speaker

Balochistan Governor Syed Zahoor Ahmed Agha summoned the Balochistan Assembly session on October 30 to elect the new speaker of the provincial assembly.

According to an official communique, the session will be convened at 3pm in the evening.

Nomination papers, it stated, could be submitted in the assembly secretariat between 8:30am and 12 noon. Secret balloting will be held at 3pm, it added.

Punjab CM applauds Bizenjo

Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar congratulated his counterpart in Balochistan, saying that Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo would usher in a new era of progress and prosperity for the province.

Expressing the hope that Bizenjo would collaborate with pro-democracy forces in Balochistan, Buzdar said that he was confident that the new chief minister would work for greater inter-provincial harmony and strengthen national integrity.

“Progress in Balochistan will propel Pakistan on the path of progress and prosperity,” Buzdar said.



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10/30/2021

The US Senate voted unanimously on Thursday to approve legislation to prevent firms such as Huawei Technologies Company Ltd or ZTE Corporation that are deemed security threats from receiving new equipment licenses from US regulators.

The Secure Equipment Act, the latest effort by the US government to crack down on Chinese telecom and tech companies, was approved last week by the US House on a 420-4 vote, and now goes to President Joe Biden for his signature.

“Chinese state-directed companies like Huawei and ZTE are known national security threats and have no place in our telecommunications network,” Republican Senator Marco Rubio said. The measure would prohibit the Federal Communications Commission or FCC from reviewing or issuing new equipment licenses to companies on the FCC’s ‘Covered Equipment or Services List’.

In March, the FCC designated five Chinese companies as posing a threat to national security under a 2019 law aimed at protecting US communications networks.

The affected companies included the previously designated Huawei and ZTE, as well as Hytera Communications Corp, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co, and Zhejiang Dahua Technology Co. On Tuesday, the FCC voted to revoke the authorization for China Telecom’s US subsidiary to operate in the US, citing national security concerns.



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10/29/2021

Federal Investigation Authority’s or FIA Cyber Crime wing has launched a crackdown against defunct Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan’s or TLP social media accounts.

At least 12 people were arrested during the simultaneous operation in Lahore, Faisalabad, Nankana Sahab, Islamabad and elsewhere in Punjab, said FIA.

The suspects, FIA said, were involved in posting ‘doctored images and fake videos’ on the internet.

On Wednesday, Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry announced initiating an operation against the people spreading fake news and hatred on social media. Later, Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad ordered the authorities concerned to launch a crackdown on the social media accounts of the banned TLP.

The government has announced to treat the banned TLP as a militant organization and “no restraint” policy for inciting violence.

The protesters have, on the other hand, reached Chanda Qila, a few kilometers from Gujranwala. To stop them, a number of trucks and containers were parked on the Sarai Alamgir section of the GT Road. The Chenab Bridge in Gujrat has been completely closed for traffic, while all routes from Gujrat to Lahore have been closed.

However, reacting to government decisions, the banned TLP said that the primary demand has always been the expulsion of the French ambassador. “The government has always used power to snatch our constitutional and legal rights. Protests are the beauty of democracy,” a TLP spokesperson said.

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10/29/2021

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday announced the parent company’s name is being changed to “Meta” to represent a future beyond just its troubled social network.

“We’ve learned a lot from struggling with social issues and living under closed platforms, and now it is time to take everything that we’ve learned and help build the next chapter,” Zuckerberg said during an annual developers conference.

“Our apps and their brands, they are not changing,” he added.

Facebook is planning to rebrand itself as a company that focuses on metaverse. Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg defined metaverse as “a digital world where people can move between different devices and communicate in a virtual environment”.

The move will put Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus, LiveRail, Threadsy and the Facebook app, under a parent company.

In the past, Google adopted a similar structure in 2015 when it put all its products under a parent holding company, Alphabet.

According to reports, the company has heavily invested in Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) since July. The company is developing hardware such as Oculus VR headsets and working on AR glasses and wristband technologies.

Earlier this month, Facebook-owned applications, Instagram and WhatsApp suffered a six-hour-long outage globally. 

Fortune’s billionaire tracking website said Zuckerberg’s personal fortune dropped by nearly $6 billion to just under $117 billion, as soon as the news of outage spread. 

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