PM Imran Khan Inaugrating Pakistan Citizen App

Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan will inaugurate ‘Pakistan Citizen Portal’ today to address complains of the masses and get their feedback.

Download App From Google Play Store.

As per details garnered, the portal will be operated directly from PM’s office.

The portal is a simple tool that allows citizens to register themselves through an app and send their complaints to the concerned government departments. Every citizen whether he or she is in Pakistan or lives abroad can register a complaint online through an APP which would be run through beta android version. However, efforts are being made to include IOS version so that citizens having iphone can also register their complaints. The portal is expected to be launched by the Prime Minister on Sunday and a report regarding the status of complaints would be regularly sent to the premier. Complaints would automatically reach the heads of relevant departments who would take appropriate step to address the matter. The maximum time limit for addressing the complaint would be ten days. The system would be a replication of the portal successfully running in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

3760 federal and provincial departments would be linked with the portal and the letters had been written to all the provincial governments about the new initiative.

Turkish president says murder of Jamal Khashoggi was planned of Saudi suspects

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was a “planned” and “brutal” murder and called on Saudi Arabia to extradite 18 suspects to Turkey to face justice for the crime.
Erdogan’s highly anticipated comments, during a speech to his ruling party in Ankara, the Turkish capital, contradicted Saudi accounts that Khashoggi was killed when an argument inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul escalated into a fistfight.
The Turkish leader did not directly accuse the Saudi leadership of involvement in the killing but strongly indicated that the Saudi investigation, which has resulted in the arrests of 18 people so far, had not reached high enough into the kingdom’s ruling circles.

“It will not satisfy the public by just pinning this kind of matter on a few security and intelligence officers,” 
he said. “Covering up this kind of savagery will hurt the conscience of all humanity.”
“Saudi Arabia took an important step by accepting the murder. After this, we expect them to reveal those responsible for this matter. We have information that the murder is not instant, but planned,” he said.

Erdogan did not address the most explosive allegations that have surfaced during the investigation notably that Khashoggi was dismembered after he was killed. And he did not present any of the evidence Turkey had gathered so far, including audio recordings investigators are said to possess that captured the moments when Khashoggi was killed.

But the president provided the most detailed timeline yet of the days and hours leading up the murder on Oct. 2. He said a team of Saudi agents who were dispatched to Istanbul had carefully prepared for Khashoggi’s death.

The Saudi team that plotted the murder was first alerted, Erdogan said, after Khashoggi visited the consulate on Friday, Sept. 28.
“Planning and the work of a road map starts here,” the president said. Beginning three days later, on Oct. 1, teams of Saudi agents begin arriving in Istanbul, with one team visiting wooded areas in and around Istanbul “for reconnaissance,” Erdogan said, referring to areas that Turkish police later focused on as they searched for Khashoggi’s body.
After another team arrived at the Istanbul consulate, “the hard disk on the consulate camera is removed,” he added. The Saudi team consisted of “intelligence, security and forensic workers,” Erdogan said.

Khashoggi entered the mission at around 1:14 p.m. on Oct. 2. When he had not emerged a few hours later, his fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, who was waiting for him outside, alerted authorities, and an investigation was started, Erdogan said. Camera footage showed that Khashoggi never left, he added.
Erdogan highlighted attempts by the Saudis to obstruct or cover up the killing, including a ruse involving a Saudi agent who was dressed like Khashoggi and captured on camera exiting the consulate.

“Why did 15 people gather in Istanbul the day of the murder? Who did these people receive orders from?” he asked. “Why was the consulate opened not immediately but days later for investigation? When the murder was obvious, why were inconsistent explanations given?”

Why is the body still not found?

Addressing the Saudi monarch, King Salman, Erdogan requested that the 18 Saudi suspects arrested so far be put on trial in Istanbul. But notably, he made no mention of 33-year old Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose possible role in the plot has come under scrutiny because of his almost complete consolidation of power in the kingdom as its de facto leader.
In a possible reference to the crown prince, who was put in charge of restructuring the Saudi intelligence directorate after Khashoggi’s death, Erdogan said it was important that any Saudi investigation be carried out “by an impartial and fair delegation” with no connections to the murder.

Separately on Tuesday, the official Saudi Press Agency published photos of the king and the crown prince meeting two members of Khashoggi’s family, including his son.
One photo showed the son, Salah, looking ashen-faced and shaking hands with the crown prince as a video cameraman stood in the background. Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry wrote on Twitter that the leaders shared “their deepest condolences and sympathy to the family of Jamal Khashoggi, may God rest his soul.”
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said Tuesday that the kingdom was committed to a “comprehensive investigation” into the journalist’s death and has dispatched a team to Turkey.
Speaking in Indonesia on Tuesday, Jubeir said the Saudi investigators had “uncovered evidence of a murder.” He also vowed to put mechanisms in place that would prevent similar incidents in future, without expanding upon what those would be.
In Washington, Vice President Pence said Tuesday that the murder of Khashoggi was a “tragedy for his family, for his loved ones” but also “an assault on a free and independent press.” The Trump administration “is determined to use all means at its disposal to get to the bottom of it,” he added.
“We want to know what happened. We’re going to follow the facts,” Pence said at the outset of an appearance at an event hosted by The Washington Post to discuss a planned space force. “We’ll also make sure the world knows the truth of what happened.”
Pence said Khashoggi’s murder “will not go without an American response,” although he declined to preview what that might be.
Asked about Erdogan’s remarks earlier in the day, Pence said the notion of a premeditated attack “flies in the face of earlier assertions” by the Saudis.

“The world is watching,” Pence said.
“The American people want answers.”

During Erdogan’s address Tuesday, lawmakers from his party sat mostly silent as the president detailed what his government knows about the operation that led to Khashoggi’s death. But when he shifted to his demands of the Saudi royals, the audience cheered enthusiastically at the mentions of Turkey’s sovereignty and authority to prosecute the suspects.

“For the first time, the president gave a clear statement about the details,” said Mehdi Eker, a lawmaker and senior member of Erdogan’s party. “The whole speech was aimed at getting answers.”

Eker said Erdogan articulated the nation’s priorities in the case: that there is a transparent and complete investigation that spares no official, no matter how senior, and that the suspects be extradited and tried in Turkey.
“This assassination happened in our country,” he said. “We will be following up on both the bilateral level and the international level.”
Asked if the president possessed evidence that the crown prince had directly ordered Khashoggi to be forced back to Saudi Arabia or assassinated, Eker responded, “Of course not.”
“We do not have any clue about that,” he said, but added that Turkey is seeking to learn more about the role of the Saudi consul general in Istanbul in Khashoggi’s death. The consul general, Mohammed al-Otaibi, left Turkey last week and has not returned. Eker said the careful planning that began days before Khashoggi’s killing makes Otaibi a central figure to the Turkish investigation.
Khashoggi, a contributor to The Washington Post who wrote columns critical of the Saudi leadership over the last year, went to the consulate on the afternoon of Oct. 2 to obtain documents that would allow him to remarry.
His death has cast a harsh light on the rule of Crown Prince Mohammed, who has eased social restrictions at home while pursuing an unrelenting crackdown on rivals and critics, imprisoning hundreds. Mohammed has also tried to lure exiled dissidents such as Khashoggi, who lived in Virginia, back to Saudi Arabia, Khashoggi’s friends and other exiles have said.
In Riyadh on Tuesday, Saudi authorities opened a landmark investment conference intended to signal afresh that the kingdom is open for business. 
But while the guest list for last year’s conference read like a who’s who of the global business elite, the run-up to Tuesday’s event has been marred by pullouts from a stream of Western investors and politicians, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde. Tuesday’s audience is expected to be dominated instead by representatives Middle Eastern, Asian and Russian companies, suggesting that the Western boycott may have a limited impact on Saudi economic prospects. 
The Khashoggi case has also embarrassed the Trump administration, which regards the crown prince as one of its closest Arab allies and Saudi Arabia as a cornerstone of a U.S. strategy to counter Iran. On Monday, CIA Director Gina Haspel headed to Turkey, where she is expected to assess the strength of the evidence that Turkish officials have been drip-feeding the media for weeks. Read more.

PAK Army Ranked World's 13th Most Powerful Military

A globally renowned United States website called “Global Firepower” has ranked Pakistan as the 13th most powerful military power in the world.

PAKISTAN Army Ranked World's 13th Most Powerful Military

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Global Firepower ranks the world’s major militaries based on certain criteria by calculating statistics and official numbers. The website ranks countries’ military power based on the following factors;

• Diversity of weapons along with the total number of weapons.
• Geographical factors.
• Logistical flexibility.
• Natural resources and local industry influence.
• Nuclear powers receive a slight edge in the rankings.
• Higher population of the country means higher rank.
• Land-locked (having no sea) countries are not ranked for their Navy. Countries having a naval force but no diversity of weapons receive a low score in the rankings.
• Countries having alliances for example NATO receive an edge in the rankings as well due to the sharing of resources.
• Ranking is independent of the country’s political or military leadership.

 Top 15 Most Powerful Militaries in The World

• So, here are how the top 15 militaries in the world rank;
  

   1. United States:

  • United States spends more money on its defense than the rest of the 14 countries combined. US defense budget is $587.8 billion. Here is how the rest of its firepower stands.
  • Power Index rating: 0.0857
  • Total population: 323,995,528
  • Total military personnel: 2,363,675
  • Total aircraft: 13,762
  • Fighter aircraft: 2,296
  • Combat tanks: 5,884
  • Total naval assets: 415 (19 aircraft carriers).

  2. Russia:

  • Russia has a defense budget of $44.6 billion. Here is why it ranks second;
  • Power Index rating: 0.0929
  • Total population: 142,355,415
  • Total military personnel: 3,371,027
  • Total aircraft strength: 3,794
  • Fighter aircraft: 806
  • Combat tanks: 20,216
  • Total naval assets: 352 (one aircraft carrier).

  3. China:

  • China spends significant amount on its military as well. The country’s defense budget is $161.7 billion.
  • Power Index rating: 0.0945
  • Total population: 1,373,541,278
  • Total military personnel: 3,712,500
  • Total aircraft strength: 2,955
  • Fighter aircraft: 1,271
  • Combat tanks: 6,457
  • Total naval assets: 714 (one aircraft carrier).

  4. India:

  • India stands at number 4 with a spending of $51 billion on its military.
  • Power Index rating: 0.1593
  • Total population: 1,266,883,598
  • Total military personnel: 4,207,250
  • Total aircraft strength: 2,102
  • Fighter aircraft: 676
  • Combat tanks: 4,426
  • Total naval assets: 295 (three aircraft carriers).

  5. France:

  • France spends $35 billion on its military, here is how French military ranks;
  • Power Index rating: 0.1914
  • Total population: 66,836,154
  • Total military personnel: 387,635
  • Total aircraft strength: 1,305
  • Fighter aircraft 296
  • Combat tanks: 406
  • Total naval assets: 118 (four aircraft carriers).

  6. United Kingdom:

  • UK has allocated $45.7 billion for its military forces, and the rest of the numbers go like this;
  • Power Index rating: 0.2131
  • Total population: 64,430,428
  • Total military personnel: 232,675
  • Total aircraft strength: 856
  • Fighter aircraft: 88
  • Combat tanks 249
  • Total naval assets: 76 (two aircraft carriers

7. Japan:

• Japan spends $43.8 billion on its defense. Its strength is defined by these numbers.
• Power Index rating: 0.2137
• Total population: 126,702,133
• Total military personnel: 311,875
• Total aircraft strength: 1,594
• Fighter aircraft: 288
• Combat tanks: 700
• Total naval assets: 131 (four aircraft carriers).

8. Turkey:

• Turkey has allotted $8.2 billion for its military. Its firepower stands like this;
• Power Index rating: 0.2491
• Total population: 80,274,604
• Total military personnel: 743,415
• Total aircraft strength: 1,018
• Fighter aircraft: 207
• Combat tanks: 2,445
• Total naval assets: 194.

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9. Germany:

• Germany is 9th on the list with a military spending of $39.2 billion. Its firepower stands as following;
• Power Index rating: 0.2609
• Total population: 80,722,792
• Total military personnel: 210,000
• Total aircraft strength: 698
• Fighter aircraft: 92
• Combat tanks: 543
• Total naval assets: 81.

10. Egypt:

• Egypt has a low military spending of $4.4 billion as compared to the top 9 countries, however, they have a strong military. Its stats are shown below;
• Power Index rating: 0.2676
• Total population: 94,666,993
• Total military personnel: 1,329,250
• Total aircraft strength: 1,132
• Fighter aircraft: 337
• Combat tanks: 4,110
• Total naval assets: 319 (two aircraft carriers).

11. Italy:

• Italy has a defense spending of $34 billion.
• Power Index rating: 0.2694
• Total population: 62,007,540
• Total military personnel: 267,500
• Total aircraft strength: 822
• Fighter aircraft: 79
• Combat tanks: 200
• Total naval assets: 143 (two aircraft carriers).

12. South Korea:

• South Korea spends $43.8 billion on its military. Its firepower ranking goes like this;
• Power Index rating: 0.2741
• Total population: 50,924,172
• Total military personnel: 5,829,750
• Total aircraft strength: 1,477
• Fighter aircraft: 406
• Combat tanks: 2,654
• Total naval assets: 166 (one aircraft carrier).

13. Pakistan:

• Pakistan pours $7 billion into its defense and has the 13th strongest military in the world. The numbers go like this;
• Power Index rating: 0.3287
• Total population: 201,995,540
• Total military personnel: 919,000
• Total aircraft strength: 951
• Fighter aircraft: 301
• Combat tanks: 2,924
• Total naval assets: 197.

14. Indonesia:

• Indonesia spends $6.9 billion on its defense and is ranked on the following numbers;
• Power Index rating: 0.3347
• Total population: 258,316,051
• Total military personnel: 975,750
• Total aircraft strength: 441
• Fighter aircraft: 39
• Combat tanks: 418
• Total naval assets: 221

 15. Israel:

• Israel’s budget for defense is $15.5 billion;
• Power Index rating: 0.3476
• Total population: 8,174,527
• Total military personnel: 718,250
• Total aircraft strength: 652
• Fighter aircraft: 243
• Combat tanks: 2,620
• Total naval assets: 65.
• Source:Global Firepower

Huawei MateBook X Pro hands-on review/specifications

Design:

What's really striking first off weight. Huawei MateBook X Pro weighs is 1.33kg making it lighter than its rivals and thinner too at its skinniest point its just 4.9mm.

The 14in laptop design is stunning combining diamond chiselled edge with a rugged sandblasted outer. Open it up and you are greeted by almost bezel less screen (Huawei calls in FullView and claims it offers 91 percent screen to body ration). The lid is offered in silver or grey with the usual stupid paint colour names.

The backlit keyboard is really comfortable to type on and the trackpad is extremely generous, though we are a bit worried about palm-press - it's something we'll come back to in a full review as this is only based on a basic look. Oh, and Huawei are at great pains for us to tell you it's spillproof, but as this was a hands-on, we're a bit disappointed we didn't get to confirm that with a conveniently placed cup of coffee. We'll trust them on it.

Specifications:

Let's start with that screen. First and foremost, it's a touchscreen, which is instantly an upgrade from its predecessor. Next up, it's a 3k display, with 260ppi and 450nits of brightness - with a 1500:1 contrast. Also, it's Gorilla Glass, thankfully.

Here's where it gets a bit subjective because that makes visibility incredibly easy. You can read the screen from 178 degrees, and that could be a blessing for video conferencing (of which more later) or a curse (writing private emails on a plane or train). We'd like to have seen some sort of solution to this, as it won't be for everyone.

We've already seen a combined power/fingerprint combination recently with the Eve V, but Huawei manages to make it so seamless that it can be done with a single short press. That's slick, and pretty much sums up the mission statement here - slick and secure.

The fingerprinting is handled by an entirely separate chip to the main processor. This means that it can authenticate you and send a token to Windows to let you in without your credentials ever being in contact with the online system. That's a nice touch, plus it gives the Intel i7 8550u processor one less thing to do.

There is an argument that an i7u is a bit overpowered for a business machine, but it's clear why, when you discover that there's also a 2GB of  Nvidia Geforce MX150 DDR5 under the bonnet too. That classifies the MateBook Pro X as bordering on a workstation, certainly at very least a gaming PC.

And if that isn't enough, there's a Thunderbolt 3 port so you can add your own eGPU.

There's up to 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD onboard too. All in all, this eclipses almost everything else in its class on paper.

There's Dolby Atmos sound from four powered speakers - two treble, two bass, and the resulting sound is, whilst perhaps not room-filling, is certainly a cut above.

Performance:

The best example of what a hands on the with MateBook X Pro looks like comes from the experience of video conferencing.

We've already talked about the wide viewing angle, which lends itself very well to "everywhere's a conference space" mentality.

But, the keen-eyed may have spotted something. If you have a 91 per cent real estate for the screen, you get nowhere to put a webcam.

The solution is elegant. Between F6 and F7 lies a dedicated camera button. Press it, and the entire key lifts revealing a hidden HD webcam.

 

It's not perfect - the angle means that one to one video calling might yield a certain amount of double-chin action to the world, and it's not like you can adjust the angle by tilting the screen.  But it does put pay to the constant fears of privacy and keeps electrical tape away from the casing.

There are also four far-field mics which are great for conference calls, Cortana and meets the criteria for Alexa for Desktop when it arrives too, we reckon.

There are a few bonuses for Huawei phone owners, too. Over the air transfer can run at 20MB/s between Mate phones and the MateBook, ideal for photo backups.

Plus the USB-C charger uses the same Fast Charge tech as the phones, giving you 6 hours in 30 minutes and only one charger to lug about.

Battery life is quoted as 57.4Wh but we'll need a bit longer to check what that means in real terms.

First impressions:

Our big concerns about the Huawei MateBook Pro X stem from its biggest strengths, that wide-angle screen and the hideaway camera.

As such, we're expecting it to be ‘a bit Marmite', and some people will hate it. But that also means some people will love it and we're erring towards the latter, though we're going to have a bit longer before we start making decisions like that.

The other thing is that it's a laptop. Call it what you want, essentially its a laptop. The other device that Huawei has announced is a tablet. Both are declining parts of the overall market, and we're a bit confused as to why they haven't eschewed both in favour of a 2-in-1 device.

We're reminded of the Beck line "In the time of chimpanzees, I was a monkey". There's no question there's a market for this, but it feels a bit behind the times. Maybe that's part of why we like it.

Nokia unveils its new slate of Android smartphones

Nokia unveils its new slate of Android smartphones starting at 85$.

Nokia-in its newest iteration as a licensed based of HMD is a long way off its glory days, the years when it not only set the place for innovation in the mobile phone market but also led its as the world biggest handset maker. The company took its latest step in rebuilding itself as it unveiled a slate of android smartphones, The Nokia 1, the Nokia 6, Nokia 7 plus and Nokia 8 Sirocco with the cheaper of these the Nokia 1 coming at 85$ and new feature phone.

The new handsets come as the company said that it sold 70 million devices in 2017 across its 11 models, year one of its comeback strategy. “Being a challenger and smaller player, market share is not the most important thing for us to grasp right now,” said Pekka Rantala, EVP and CMO of HMD Global said in an interview. “But we sold more than 70 million Nokia phones in 2017 – including all models. We have high ambitions but this figure was higher for us than we expected.”

The company currently has over 100 retail partners and the plan is to expand that to more this year.

“This time last year, we started our journey with huge expectations from fans and a massive responsibility to deliver on the legacy of one of the most innovative brands in our space,” Florian Seiche, CEO of HMD Global, said in a statement. “Since then we have reintroduced well-loved icons, forged partnerships with friends old and new and delivered our pure, secure and up-to-date Android experience across our smartphone portfolio. Last year we shipped over 70 million Nokia phones.”

The smartphones getting lauched today are notable for how closely they are tied to Google’s Android, with Nokia joining Google’s Android One partnership program as part of today’s news — and in the case of the pared-down Nokia 1, using Android Go.

Its unique spin, the company says, will be in the craftsmanship of the hardware itself.

In the absence of a distinctively different operating system and any alternative to what is already on the market software-wise, it will be interesting to see whether this is enough to motivate the masses who are new to Nokia phones an brand loyalists from the old days.

The flagship of the range, the Nokia 8 Sirocco, will retail for €749 and will include Dual-Sight, Zeiss optics, Nokia spatial audio, and a curved glass finish around a stainless-steel frame, with a measurement of 2mm at the edge, using edge-to-edge pOLED 2K 5.5-inch display. Nokia claims the stainless steel frame is 2.5 times stronger than 6000 series aluminium. It also features wireless charging and a way to log into the phone using facial recognition.

The Nokia 7 Plus, priced at €399, is being positioned with its camera features in the forefront, with a 12MP Zeiss optics — significantly, marking the return of Zeiss to Nokia devices after having a long-time collaboration with the brand when Nokia was still making its phones itself — for its primary camera and a secondary 13MP camera with 2x optical zoom.

The front camera has adaptive sensor technology for low-light conditions, and a new feature called “pro camera” on all Zeiss optics where you can modify the aperture and other features and see previews before taking the pictures, along with a new imagine suite that lets you include AR-type lenses as well as animated characters.

It is built on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 Mobile Platform with a two-day battery life and comes in Black/Copper and White/Copper.

The Nokia 6, meanwhile, will retail for €279 when it goes on sale in April, and is a new version of the phone it announced previously. The new features include faster processing power (60 percent faster, HMD says) and a more durable body, made from a block of 6000 series aluminum, along with Zeiss optics, USB-C fast-charging and Android Oreo as part of the Android One program. Another two notable features are wireless charging, as well as the ability now to unlock your phone using your face — two details that it seems are now becoming standard in mobile devices.

It’s built on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 Mobile Platform and comes in Black/Copper, White/Iron and Blue/Gold, with two configurations of 3GB RAM/32GB ROM, and later 4GB RAM/64GB ROM.

Finally, the Nokia 1 is the company’s low-end smartphone, with a very reasonable price of $85 at retail when it goes on sale in April. It’s marketed as “smartphone essentials” — which in this case is Android Oreo Go Edition — the version of Android that is optimised for phones with memory of 1GB or less. On the outside, the phone comes with a series of Xpress-on covers to change the color to Azure, Grey, Yellow and Pink (a feature Nokia has been running for years now, starting in the Lumia line).

Specs:

Nokia 1:

• Networks: GSM: 850/900/1800/1900, WCDMA: Band 1, 2, 5, 8, LTE: Band 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20, 28, 38, 40, 41(Full band 41)
• Network speed: LTE Cat 6, 2CA, 300Mbps DL/50Mbps UL
• OS: Android 8.0 Oreo™
• Chipset: Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 660 mobile platform
• RAM: 4 GB LPDDR 4
• Storage: 64 GB internal memory2 with MicroSD card slot3 (up to 256 GB support)
• Form factor: touch monoblock with on-screen keys
• Display: 6” IPS LCD full HD+ (2160 x 1080, 18:9), sculpted Corning® Gorilla® Glass, 403 ppi pixel density, 500 nits, 1:1500 contrast ratio, laminated and polarised
• Camera:
• Primary camera: 12MP, 1.4um f1.75, 2PD, ZEISS with dual-tone flash
• Secondary camera: 13MP, 1.0um, F2.6, ZEISS
• Front facing camera: 16MP FF 1.0um, F2.0, ZEISS
• Connectivity & Sensors: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, BT 5.0, GPS/AGPS+GLONASS+BDS, NFC, USB type-C (USB 2.0), OTG, 3.5mm AV jack, ambient light sensor, proximity sensor, accelerometer, e-compass, gyroscope, hall sensor, fingerprint sensor
• Battery: Integrated 3800 mAh battery4 with USB type-C fast charging and 2-day battery life5
• Audio: Single speaker with smart amplifier, Nokia spatial audio capture with 3 mics

Dimensions: 158.38 x 75.64 x 7.99 mm (9.55 mm with camera bump)

Nokia 6:

• Networks: GSM: 850/900/1800/1900, WCDMA: Band 1, 2, 5, 8, LTE: Band 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20, 28, 38, 40, 41 (Full band 41)
• Network speed: LTE Cat. 4, 150Mbps DL/50Mbps UL
• OS: Android 8.0 Oreo™
• Chipset: Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 630 mobile platform
• RAM/Storage variants: 3 GB LPDDR 4 RAM with 32 GB internal user memory2 or 4 GB LPDDR 4 RAM with 64 GB internal user memory2 both variants available with MicroSD card slot3 (up to 128 GB support)
• Form factor: Touch monoblock with on-screen keys
• Display: 5.5” IPS LCD full HD (1920 x 1080, 16:9), sculpted Corning® Gorilla® Glass, 403 ppi pixel density, 450 nits, laminated, 1500:1 contrast ratio
• Primary camera: 16MP PDAF / 1.0um / F2.0, dual-tone flash, ZEISS optics
• Front facing camera: 8MP FF, 1.12um / F2.0 / FOV 84˚
• Connectivity & sensors: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, BT 5.0, GPS/AGPS+GLONASS+BDS, FM/RDS, USB type-C (USB 2.0), OTG, 3.5mm, ambient light sensor, proximity sensor, accelerometer, e-compass, gyroscope, hall sensor, fingerprint sensor, NFC
• Battery: Integrated 3000mAh battery4
• Audio: Single speaker with smart amplifier, Nokia spatial audio capture with 2 mics
• Dimensions: 148.8×75.8×8.15 mm (8.6 mm with camera bump)
• Nano SIM

Nokia 7 Plus:

• Networks: GSM: 850/900/1800/1900, WCDMA: Band 1, 2, 5, 8, LTE: Band 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20, 28, 38, 40, 41(Full band 41)
• Network speed: LTE Cat 6, 2CA, 300Mbps DL/50Mbps UL
• OS: Android 8.0 Oreo™
• Chipset: Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 660 mobile platform
• RAM: 4 GB LPDDR 4
• Storage: 64 GB internal memory2 with MicroSD card slot3 (up to 256 GB support)
• Form factor: touch monoblock with on-screen keys
• Display: 6” IPS LCD full HD+ (2160 x 1080, 18:9), sculpted Corning® Gorilla® Glass, 403 ppi pixel density, 500 nits, 1:1500 contrast ratio, laminated and polarised
• Primary camera: 12MP, 1.4um f1.75, 2PD, ZEISS with dual-tone flash
• Secondary camera: 13MP, 1.0um, F2.6, ZEISS
• Front facing camera: 16MP FF 1.0um, F2.0, ZEISS
• Connectivity/sensors: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, BT 5.0, GPS/AGPS+GLONASS+BDS, NFC, USB type-C (USB 2.0), OTG, 3.5mm AV jack, ambient light sensor, proximity sensor, accelerometer, e-compass, gyroscope, hall sensor, fingerprint sensor
• Battery: Integrated 3800mAh battery4 with USB type-C fast charging and 2-day battery life5
• Audio: Single speaker with smart amplifier, Nokia spatial audio capture with 3 mics
• Dimensions: 158.38×75.64×7.99 mm (9.55 mm with camera bump)
• Nano SIM

Nokia 8 Sirocco:

• Networks: GSM: 850/900/1800/1900, CDMA One: BC (800), CDMA 2000:  BC0 (800). WCDMA, 1,2,5,8, TDS CDMA 34,39 FDD-LTE: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 20, 28 TDD-LTE: 34, 38, 39, 40, 41
• Network speed: LTE Cat 12 600Mbps DL \ Cat13 150Mbps(64QAM) UL
• OS: Android Oreo™
• CPU: Qualcomm™ Snapdragon® 835 Mobile Platform
• RAM: 6 GB LPPDDR 4X
• Storage: 128G GB USF2.1 internal user memory2
• Form factor: Touch monoblock with capacitive system keys
• Display: 5.5” QHD pOLED, 3D Corning® Gorilla® Glass 5
• Primary camera: 12MP wide, 2L7, 1.4um, 2PD, f/1.75, FOV 78”
• Secondary camera: 13MP tele, 3M3, 1.0um, f/2.6, FOV 47.3”, dual-tone flash
• Front-facing camera: 5MP, 4E8, 1.4um, F/2.0, FF, display flash
• Connectivity/sensors: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (MIMO), BT 5.0, GPS/AGPS+GLONASS+BDS, NFC,ANT+, fingerprint sensor, ALS/PS, g-sensor, e-compass, gyro, hall sensor, barometer
• Battery: integrated 3260mAh battery3
• Audio: 3 AOP mics, smart amp on single speaker
• Charging: QC 4 compatible, Qi wireless charging compliance
• Dimensions: 140.93×72.97×7.5 mm
• Nano SIM

Availability

Nokia 8 Sirocco will be available from early April for a global average retail price of €749.

Nokia 7 Plus will be available from early April for a global average retail price of €399.

New Nokia 6 will be available from May for a global average retail price of €279.

Nokia 1 will be available from early April for a global average retail price of $85. Xpress-on covers, sold separately, are available from $7.99 in Azure, Grey, Yellow and Pink.

Nokia 8110 will be available from May for a global average retail price of €79.

Source:

Shoe thrown at Ahsan Iqbal during speech at Narowal

NAROWAL: Police on Saturday arrested a man, Bilal Haris, for hurling a shoe at Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal during a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) workers convention in Narowal.

The interior minister bearly escaped the shoe while addressing the workers in the Aliabad area of his constituency.

After the incident, the workers grabbed the man and handed him over to the police. Iqbal descended from the stage leaving his speech in between following the incident.

He, however, directed the police not to take legal action against the man, reported a private media outlet. The intruder was later released.

Earlier in the day, Iqbal told journalists that Pakistan was facing conspiracies and the country’s enemies were working overtime to spread anarchy.  The “surgical strikes” are being carried out on the country’s political stability, he added.

Shoe-throwing, or shoeing, showing the sole of one’s shoe or using shoes to insult are forms of protest in many parts of the world. Shoe-throwing as an insult dates back to ancient times, even mentioned in Psalm 108:9 in the Old Testament.

Pakistani have often protested against their political figures by hurling shoes at them, a form of protest in many parts of the world. Earlier, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chief Asif Ali Zardari, PPP leader and former Sindh CM Ghulam Arbab Rahim, and former dictator Pervez Musharraf–who had been thrown shoes at twice– had been shoed.

Tajammul Lodhi threw his shoe at Pervez Musharraf while Musharraf was leaving Sindh High Court after obtaining an extension of his pre-arrest bail in a series of cases. Lodhi later said in an interview that he had thrown the shoe because he hated Musharraf for trying to destroy democracy in Pakistan. Musharraf was hit on the nose, according to Wikipedia, a website developed collaboratively by a community of users.

Punjab National Bank: 1.8$ billion fraud biggest ever bank scam

India's banks rattled by $1.8 billion Punjab National Bank fraud

India's federal police detained two employees of Punjab National Bank, the state run lender that says it has been the victim of $1.77 billion fraud, in the first arrest in a fast widening probe into country's biggest ever bank scam._
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Gokulnath Shetty and Manoj Kharat are suspected of steering fraudulent loans to companies linked to billionaire jeweler Nirav Modi and entities tied to jewelry retailer Gitanjali which is led by Modi's uncle, Mahul Choksi.

India's Income tax department warned in an internal notes seen by Reuter that domestic banks could take a hit of more than $3 billion from loans and corporate guarantees provided to Modi and Choksi.
The arrests, late on Friday, came two days after india's second largest state run lender said it had been hit by massive fraud, seeding its share price tumbling.

The accusations against the two relatively junior PNB officials were detailed in the lender's discloser and also contained in a preliminary police report.

The Central Bureau of Investigation CBI also arrested a third person Hement Bhat, whom a source described as the "authorized signatory" of the companies tied to Nirav Modi.

All three appeared before a hot, packed courtroom in Mumbai, where the were ordered to remain under police custody until March 3 to allow the CBI to continue its investigation. No charges have yet been laid.

CBI must get fair chance to investigate this very serious offence, which has consequences for the country economy said judge S R Tamboli, as PNB employee Shetty shifted nervously and blinked frequently. The other two stood passively.

Family members of the accused present at the court defended them, saying the were innocent. Kharat's uncle told Reuters the PNB employee was"just following orders of superiors" and added "he was not aware of what he is doing."

Probe Widens:

Police source said six more PNB employees were being examined after the CBI conducted additional seraches at the PNB branch in southern Mumbai where the alleged fraud took place.

Police sources say Modi whose high end jewelry has been worn by Hollywood stars including Kate Winslet and Choksi left India last month and their where about are unknown. Neither Modi nor Choksi have so far commented on the allegations.

Gitanjali has previously denied Choksi involvement in the fraud and said he would take necessary legal action to get his name removed from the police case.

 NDTV reported Modi was at a suite in a New york hotel, citing household staff who answered the door a police source said that the CBI had sent a notice through Interpol in a bid to help locate Modi.

Meanwhile the Enforcement Directorate India financial crime agency said, It conducted additional searches at 21 locations of companies tied to Modi seizing 250 million rupees in precious stones, metals and jewelry._
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Both authorities have conducted dozens of raids since PNB disclosed the fraud, targeting PNB, Modi and Choksi with the Enforcement Directorate now having seized diamonds, gold and jewelry worth 56.7 billion rupees.

PNB said it was running an audit of its system to prevent a recurrence of such fraud but did not see a long term hit to its operations. The bank which has $120 billion in total assets has lost more than fifth of its market value since it disclosed the fraud.

A newspaper reported that the Central Vigilance Commission which investigations corruption in the government has summoned senior officials of the Reserve Bank of India and the Finance Ministry to assess how all internal check and balances failed to detect the fraud.

PNB officials were also summoned the report said citing an official aware of the development.

The RBI did not reply to an emailed request for comment. A Finance Ministry spokesman was not immediately reachable.

Scrutiny of banks technical system will intensify even further after India City union Bank Ltd CTBK.NS said it had suffered three " fraudulent remittances" of nearly $2million that had been pushed thrugh the SWIFT financial platform.

The case was reminiscent of the $81 million cyber heist that hit Bangladesh central bank in 2016.

Source: Three held as $1.8 billion fraud ripples through Indian banks

Hajj lucky draw postponed

 

Hours before the government was due to announce the names of selected in the annual Hajj lucky draw, the Ministry of Religious Affairs (MORA) on Friday announced that it has delayed the draw indefinitely in keeping with a stay order issued by the Sindh Hight Court.

A day earlier the Sindh High Court (SHC) Sukkur bench had ordered a stay on the lucky draw while hearing a petition field by Mufti Abdul Majid. The petition had declared that the new Hajj policy, which prevents individuals from performing the pilgrimage more than once within a stipulated period of time, is against the Shariah.

The decision to indefinitely postponed the lucky draw which was due to be held at 04pm today was made during a meeting of officials from the ministry. The officials decided to appeal the SHC's stay order before the Supreme Court before setting another date for the lucky draw.
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While many pilgrims from Pakistan avail the services of private companies to look after their travel and stay in Saudi Arabia, thousands apply for the annual government scheme that entails a lucky draw.

pk Domain Users Recieve Virus in Emails; PKNIC Alerts

The digital World with all its charms and funny cat videos is also filled with people who just want to rip you off by stealing your personal information. PKNIC the .pk domain registry in Pakistan has issued a security warning to all its users to put them on alert about fake email carrying harmful malware virus attachments.

As you can see in the image above PKNIC warns that email account like accounts@pknic.net.pk or staff@pknic.net.pk may try to send attachments to the users which may prove to be a security risk. What is interesting about these fake emails is the fact that their domain is the same as that of the original domain registry organization in Pakistan i.e. @pknic.net.pk. The email scam can be prety convicing because of the email address and thus can trick anyone into downloading or opening any attachment.

The organization has thus made it clear to its users that it never sends any attachments unless they have had prior arrangements.
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In 2003 PKNIC was hacked twice where where a group of hackers defaced several websites carrying .pk domain including those of Pakistan's famous newspapers.

Last year FBR also had to issue a warning when Pakistan taxpayers started receiving emails that ended up infecting their computers

Pakistani soon pay their taxes via ATM and Online Banking

State Bank of Pakistan, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and 1-Link have signed an agreement in Islamabad today to develop a mechanism enabling the public to pay FBR taxes and customs duty using internet banking or ATMs. The facility would be available round the clock /7 days a week. As per the proposed mechanism, the banks will add FBR (Inland Revenue) and FBR (Customs) as Billers in the Billers Module and develop the necessary interface with 1-Link.

After the system is made operational, the taxpayers/importers will fill their tax and customs duty payment details in the FBR (IRS) and Customs (WeBOC) online modules to generate payment slip ID (PSID).

The PSID will then be used to access the tax/duty payment details on banks’ web page or ATM as the case may be. The taxpayer or their agent will then pay the tax by debiting his/her bank account for onward credit to the respective government account in SBP BSC.

The whole process will be online and fully automated. The SBP has also advised banks to add FBR and Customs as Billers in the Bill Payment System offered by 1-link and develop necessary integration with 1-link within 2 months i.e. by 5th December 2017.

The system will be made operational by 31st December 2017 after necessary testing. The banks have been advised to demonstrate full ownership and commitment for successful and timely implementation of this strategically important project, which will bring huge efficiency gains besides facilitating the public in hassle-free payment of government taxes and duties.

Whatsapp update................

WhatsApp is scheduled to bring peer-to-peer mobile payments to its hugely-popular chat app, leaked screenshots have revealed.

WhatsApp looks set to bring peer-to-peer payments to its chat app

WhatsApp plans to introduce peer-to-peer payments to its iOS and Android chat app, screenshots unearthed in the latest beta have revealed.

WhatsApp Payments was first spotted in the 2.17.295 beta version of the Android version of the Facebook-owned chat app.

It appears the upcoming feature will enable WhatsApp users to wirelessly transfer money within the messenger.

That promises to make it much easier to transfer money between friends and family, which could prove to be costly for some.

Facebook, which bought WhatsApp for a record $19 billion back in February 2014, has already added a peer-to-peer payment solution to its Messenger chat app.

Apple is set to introduce the ability to send money via Apple Pay within its iMessage chat service with the launch of iOS 11 this autumn.

The welcome screen for WhatsApp Payments – which has been unearthed from the latest beta build – says the service allows for “bank to bank transfer with UPI” and mentions that users will need to accept WhatsApp Payments’ Privacy Policy and Terms before sending any money.

WhatsApp recently announced that it had passed one billion daily active users.

The hugely-successful chat app was originally launched in 2009 by ex-Yahoo! employees Brian Acton and Jan Koum.

The service has gone from strength to strength, especially since the Facebook acquisition in 2014.

WhatsApp Payment will enable users to transfer money between one another

WhatsApp also confirmed that 55 billion messages and 4.5 billion photos were shared using the service each day.

Publishing its latest statistics, WhatsApp announced in a blog post: "Just last year, we shared that one billion people around the world use WhatsApp every month.

"Today, we are excited and proud to share that one billion people around the world use WhatsApp every day to stay in touch with their family and friends.

WhatsApp now sees one billion people flock to the service every single day

"Whether it’s sharing personalised photos and videos, connecting through video calling, or keeping friends updated throughout the day with Status, communicating on WhatsApp has never been easier or more personal.

“We are humbled that so many people are using these new features to connect with one another in their own special way.

"As we celebrate this milestone, we’re committed more than ever to bringing you more useful features to enjoy, while delivering the reliability, simplicity, and security you expect with WhatsApp. Thank you for your continued support."