TORONTO: A new line of personal computers (PCs) specially made to run artificial intelligence (AI) programmes hit stores on Tuesday, as tech companies push toward wider adoption of ChatGPT-style AI. Microsoft unveiled last month the new AI-powered personal computers, or “AI PCs”, which will use the company’s software under the Copilot Plus brand. The idea is to allow users to access AI capabilities on their devices without relying on the cloud, which requires more energy, takes more time, and makes the AI experience clunkier. The PCs feature a neural processing unit (NPU) chip that helps deliver crisper photo editing, live…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has imposed a fine of $2.25 million on the world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance, for operating in the country in violation of local anti-money laundering regulations. India requires virtual digital asset service providers like crypto exchanges to be registered with the FIU as a reporting entity and comply with its anti-money laundering rules. Binance did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. In May, Binance had registered with the FIU as the exchange sought to resume operations in the country after the watchdog issued show-cause notices to nine offshore exchanges operating in violation of…
Bulls continued their stampede post-Eid as shares at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) climbed more than 1,700 points in intraday trade to reach an all-time high, which analysts attributed to the “dovish outlook” of rating agencies for the country. The benchmark KSE-100 index gained 1738.81, or 2.27 per cent to stand at 78,445.58 — an all-time high — from the previous close of 76,706.77 points at 1:30pm. Mohammed Sohail, chief executive of Topline Securities, attributed the bullish momentum to “positive sentiments continue amid hope that new budget will help [in] securing [a] long-term IMF deal”. Raza Jafri, chief executive of…
LAHORE: As if unfavourable weather, low crop yield and poor than expected produce rates were not enough, further hammering of cotton growers is in store as ginners are likely to go on strike pending a final decision on Sunday. An urgent meeting of the general body of the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) has been convened at Sukkur on June 23 to discuss the situation arising out of new taxation measures on the textile sector in the federal budget 2024-25, it is learnt. Sources say that both PCGA and All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) are perturbed by their pleas regarding new…
KARACHI: Not only Pakistanis but millionaires from the entire world are heading towards Dubai, making the United Arab Emirates the biggest wealth magnet, reported CNBC on Tuesday. The UAE is set to lead for the third year in a row as the world’s top destination for the wealthy, expecting to see a record-breaking inflow of 6,700 millionaires by year’s end, according to The Henley Private Wealth Migration Report 2024 cited by CNBC. Pakistani media reported last month that data prepared by the US-based non-profit Centre for Advanced Defence Studies has listed over 23,000 properties belonging to Pakistani nationals up to 2022. These were…
ISLAMABAD: For the first time since nuclear tests by arch-rivals India and Pakistan in 1998, India has been reported by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) to possess more nuclear warheads than Pakistan, albeit by a slim margin of two warheads. The report’s findings, released during the Eid holidays, come at a time of heightened concern over the escalating global reliance on nuclear weapons, fuelled by intensifying geopolitical tensions. Historically, Western assessments, including those from SIPRI and the International Panel on Fissile Materials (IPFM), have shown Pakistan maintaining a slight lead over India in terms of nuclear arsenal size, generally…
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s bid to join the BRICS economic bloc marks the country’s significant strategic intent to position itself alongside the world’s burgeoning and influential economies, besides underscoring its aspiration to be an integral player in the ascendant collective of the Global South. This was stated by Mr Mushahid Hussain Sayed, a former senator and head of Pakistan-China Institute and Pakistan-Africa Institute for Development & Research, at the International BRICS Forum held in Russian far eastern port city of Vladivostok. The two-day forum was organised by Russia’s ruling ‘United Russia’ Party. In November of last year, Pakistan officially applied for membership…
ISLAMABAD: Minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (IDCPC) and member of the Communist Party’s Central Committee Liu Jianchao will arrive on Thursday, for a three-day visit (June 20-22) at the invitation of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar. During the visit, Mr Liu will co-chair with Mr Dar the third meeting of the Pakistan-China Joint Consultative Mechanism (JCM) of the Political Parties on the CPEC. He will also meet Pakistan’s senior civil and military leadership, according to a Foreign Office press release. Established in 2019, the JCM of Political Parties on CPEC is…
PARIS: Nearly 2,000 children die every day from health problems linked to air pollution, which is now the second biggest risk factor for early death worldwide, a report said on Wednesday. Exposure to air pollution contributed to the deaths of 8.1 million people — around 12 per cent of all fatalities — in 2021, according to the report from the US-based Health Effects Institute. This means air pollution has overtaken tobacco use and poor diet to become the second leading risk factor for early death, behind only high blood pressure, it said. Little kids are particularly vulnerable to air pollution, and the…
London: In an opinion piece published by The Guardian, Scotland’s former First Minister Humza Yousaf said anti-Muslim sentiment in the United Kingdom and Europe is so mainstream now that “politicians barely bother disguising it”. “I was the first Muslim leader of a Western democracy. And I say Islamophobia has poisoned our politics,” wrote Mr Yousaf, urging leaders to “confront, not appease the far-right”. Mr Yousaf, who became the youngest person and first Muslim to hold the office of Scotland’s First Minister stepped down in April after his party’s deal with the Green Party collapsed. His Pakistani father moved to Scotland with his family…
