PAKISTAN NEWS:
Govt approves a major relief package for private schools:
The federal government has approved a relief package for low fee private educational institutions, offering interest-free loans to schools, extending admissions deadlines and school registrations by one year, and permitting students to attend schools once a week. The decision was taken after a delegation of the Association of Private Educational Institutions headed by the Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (PEIRA) Chairperson, Zia Batool, met the Federal Secretary Education, Farah Hamid.
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Punjab police to buy GSM locators for easily tracking crimes:
The Punjab Police has decided to purchase state-of-the-art GSM locators to curb the recent hikes in criminal activities in the province.IGP Punjab, Inam Ghani, recently submitted a revised summary to the provincial government for a purchase order to obtain real-time tracking devices. According to the summary, the procurement cost for the GSM locators is Rs. 400 million. According to him, modern navigation technology will enable the police to apprehend suspects in lesser time. Recent events have shown how difficult it is for police officials to accurately navigate towards a potential crime scene after a victim or witness reports it. GSM location data can help identify which police vehicle or team is closest to a crime scene and ensure that the police officers stay within their assigned zones. This will potentially help reduce police response time when criminal activity occurs close by and ensure public safety in the region.
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FBR will now directly transfer refunds to exporters’ bank accounts:
In order to end interaction between the exporters and tax officials, the income tax refunds will be directly credited into the exporters’ bank accounts through a Centralized Income Tax Refund Office (CITRO) established at the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Headquarters. The FBR has notified the process for the exporters by issuing SRO.1314(I)/2020, last week. Under the procedure, the centralized payment of refunds through cheques or promissory notes and online transfer to the taxpayers’ bank account.
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Samsung galaxy S21 storage and color options leaked:
The Samsung Galaxy S21 series has leaked extensively over the past few weeks and now newer reports have revealed storage options as well as colors for the upcoming flagship lineup. Stylus support for the top model, the Galaxy S21 Ultra has been confirmed as well.The base Galaxy S21 will feature gray, white, pink, and purple color options and storage variants will be 128GB and 256GB. The Galaxy S21+ will also have the same memory options but will be available in three colors instead including silver, black, and purple.
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OPPO to launch f17 with limited edition box:
Smart device brand Oppo is all set to launch its all-new Oppo F17 with a limited-edition box in collaboration with SaboorAly exclusively on Daraz on 12th December 2020. Maintaining its position as the brand with exciting launches and offers, 100 Oppo F17 with the limited-edition box will be on sale on Daraz only for 3 hours. Coming with a price tag of PKR 45,999, the box comprises a USB, OppoEnco W11 earphones, and the Oppo F17 smartphone. Following the launch, Oppo F17 will be available in Navy Blue and Dynamic Orange on Daraz for sale just for PKR 39,999. To match the aura of autumn, the brand is launching the Oppo F17 in orange colour. Oppo F17 introduces spontaneity and happiness with this edition that adds a perfect combination of style and high-quality features that look delicate and vivid to make this phone an eye-catcher this winter.
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Samsung’s new smartphone app makes games run faster:
The Samsung Galaxy S20 and Note 20 feature some of the most powerful GPUs in smartphones and Samsung wants to make the best of it. Similar to Qualcomm, the Korean company is launching a new app called “Game Driver” that will “enable the best gaming experience”.At first, the app will be limited to Samsung’s latest flagship devices including the Galaxy S20 and Note 20. It will improve performance in titles including Call of Duty Mobile, Fortnite, and several others.
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Car sales record 48pc yoy increase in November 2020:
The Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA) has released car sales figures for November 2020. According to the data shared by Topline Securities, the auto sector continues to show progress, having recorded sales at 14,454 in November, amounting to a 48 percent Year-on-Year (YoY) increase.
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Microsoft releases x64 app support for windows on arm:
After announcing x64 emulation for Windows on ARM in September, Microsoft is finally releasing the feature for insiders. According to the company, this new feature will open a door for many x64-only productivity apps like Autodesk Sketchbook or games like Rocket League on ARM-based machines. Apart from this, other applications like Google Chrome will be able to run their more efficient 64-bit version. All in all, the feature will allow users to run 64-bit apps that haven’t yet been compiled for their ARM-powered devices. Since Windows on ARM’s emulation has been pretty rough in the past, we are not sure if the applications will run well. Users will definitely not get to see the same emulation performance as their ARM Mac brethren have been witnessing. Nevertheless, an app running poorly is better than not being able to run it at all. Hence, the project is still in development and will not be available commercially anytime soon.
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS:
Breaking up facebook – a landmark lawsuit:
In a landmark lawsuit, US regulators have accused Facebook of buying up rivals in order to stifle competition. They have made it clear they will seek a drastic remedy — the sale of Instagram and WhatsApp. On this week’s Tech Tent we ask whether it is really likely that the social media giant’s empire will be dismantled.New York Attorney General Letitia James could hardly have been clearer in her denunciation as she outlined the case she and more than 45 other state and federal regulators are bringing against Facebook. “For nearly a decade, Facebook has used its dominance and monopoly power to crush smaller rivals, and snuff out competition, all at the expense of everyday users,” she said.
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Disney ramps up star wars and marvel franchises:
Disney has unveiled plans for a major expansion of its Star Wars and Marvel franchises on its Disney+ subscription streaming service. The company said that its upcoming films Peter Pan & Wendy and Tom Hanks’ Pinocchio would be launched directly on to Disney+, skipping theatres. But it also announced price increases from February next year. Disney is the latest major studio to divert its focus from cinema to streaming. Last week Warner Brothers said all its 2021 releases would debut on HBO Max. The coronavirus crisis has hit the film and entertainment industry hard, and cinemas are desperate for content to lure viewers back with new entertainment that can initially only be seen on their screens.
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Subway customers receive ‘malware’ emails:
Subway customers in the UK are receiving scam emails as part of a phishing attack.Users took to social media to complain about the emails, which claim to be an order confirmation from the fast-food chain and contain links to malware.The emails also use the victims’ names, and appear to come from the chain’s Subcard loyalty scheme. Subway has not said whether its databases have been compromised or what the source of the scam is.
But the firm has acknowledged that there is a problem.A spokesperson for the company said: “We are aware of some disruption to our email systems and understand some of our guests have received an unauthorised email.”
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Oculus facebook account row prompts German competition probe:
Facebook is under investigation by German officials over its virtual reality headset, the Oculus Quest.The Oculus Quest 2 requires a Facebook account to work, something widely criticised by reviewers and VR fans.Germany’s competition authority now says that requirement could be an abuse of Facebook’s dominant market position.
“We intend to examine whether and to what extent this… arrangement will affect competition in both areas of activity,” the agency said. Facebook acquired VR company Oculus in 2014, and allowed users to log in with their Oculus accounts until the launch of the Quest 2 headset.Now, new users must use a Facebook account, and the company plans to cut support for the older Oculus accounts over time. The Oculus Quest 2 has also been widely praised for its performance and low price compared to rivals — leading to widespread speculation that Facebook may be selling the device at a loss.
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Youtube lets users mute gambling and alcohol ads:
YouTube is rolling out tools that will let users hide gambling and alcohol ads if they do not want to view them. The new settings come in response to “feedback that some people would prefer to limit ads in certain categories,” YouTube said. Online gambling advertising has increased substantially in recent years, leading to concerns about its impact on children and young people. The feature will not guarantee that all ads are filtered out.
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US telcos ordered to ‘rip and replace’ Huawei components:
The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has ordered certain US telecommunications companies to remove Huawei equipment from their network.The FCC has also started the process of revoking China Telecom’s authorisation to operate in the US. The “rip and replace” order is the latest US move against Huawei made on national security grounds. The order includes subsidies for smaller carriers for removing and replacing the equipment. However, the commission can’t actually implement the reimbursements without the approval of funding from congress.
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‘Last of us 2’ wins big at the game awards:
The Last Of Us Part 2 has won game of the year at the 2020 Game Awards.Christopher Nolan presented the big award which capped off a night of domination with a total of seven wins for the action-adventure horror game.The developers of the game, Naughty Dog, tweeted to say it was “an immense honour” to win after “an unprecedented year full of so many brilliant games”. It follows a strong showing at the Golden Joystick Awards where it picked up six wins.The seventh annual awards aired live from studio locations in Los Angeles, London and Tokyo, without an audience because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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Google boss apologises for a row:
Google’s chief executive Sundar Pichai has apologised for the way an AI ethics researcher left the firm – but stopped short of saying she was fired. Timnit Gebru claims she was sacked after sending an internal email that accused Google of “silencing marginalised voices”.
Hundreds of colleagues have signed a letter in support of her. Mr Pichai said the firm needed to “assess the circumstances of her departure”. The firm disputes her version of events.Prior to her departure, Ms Gebru was the co-leader of Google’s ethical AI team and co-authored a research paper which she says she was asked to retract. The paper had pinpointed flaws in AI language technology, including a system built by Google.An open letter demanding to know why the paper was rejected has now been signed by more than 4,500 people including prominent researchers at Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and DeepMind.
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Google fined £91m over ad-tracking cookies:
Google has been fined 100 million euros (£91m) in France for breaking the country’s rules on online advertising trackers known as cookies. It is the largest fine ever issued by the French data privacy watchdog CNIL US retail giant Amazon was also fined 35 million euros for breaking the rules. CNIL said Google and Amazon’s French websites had not sought visitors’ consent before advertising cookies were saved on their computers.Google and Amazon also failed to provide clear information about how the online trackers would be used, and how visitors to the French websites could refuse the cookies, the regulator said. It has given the tech giants three months to change the information banners displayed on their websites. If they do not comply, they will be fined a further 100,000 euros per day until the changes are made.
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Football star Griezmann severs ties with Huawei over Uighurs:
French football star Antoine Griezmann says he is ending his sponsorship deal with Huawei after claims that the Chinese telecoms firm was involved in the surveillance of Muslim Uighurs. A recent report alleged Huawei had tested facial recognition software that could help police detect Uighurs. Huawei has strongly denied the claims and told the BBC it was “saddened” by Griezmann’s decision. China has faced a barrage of criticism over its treatment of the minority.It is believed that the Chinese government has detained up to a million Uighurs in Xinjiang province in what the state defines as “re-education camps”. Beijing has consistently denied mistreatment and says the camps are designed to stamp out terrorism and improve employment opportunities.
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Drone completes first freight flight to Isles of Scilly:
A drone has successfully carried supplies from the mainland to the Isles of Scilly for the first time. It completed the 60-mile (97km) round trip, delivering an NHS supply box to St Mary’s airport. The Isles of Scilly Steamship Group (ISSG) said the flight “paves the way” for a “new lifeline connection” with the remote islands off Cornwall. The unmanned vehicle returned to Land’s End airport with local produce including gin and flowers. Currently most freight is carried to the islands by ship, with some being taken alongside passengers on planes.Drones could carry items including medical supplies and urgent vehicle parts.