Formula Electric Racing NUST (FERN) continues to make waves in the tech and automotive arena by scoring significant milestones consistently. In a recent promising development, this team of undergraduates has brought Tesla on board as their innovative partner. This is one of the biggest achievements in the team’s long list of internationally coveted accolades.
The board of Twitter has agreed to a $44bn (£34.5bn) takeover offer from the billionaire Elon Musk. Mr Musk, who made the shock bid less than two weeks ago, said Twitter had “tremendous potential” that he would unlock. He also called for a series of changes from relaxing its content restrictions to eradicating fake accounts.
YouTube has surrendered to the pressure of Israeli media outlets and taken down the official channel of Dr. Israr Ahmed which was named “Dr. Israr Ahmed’s Official Channel.” The biggest video sharing website, YouTube, has taken down the official web channel of Islamic scholar Dr Israr Ahmed over allegations of carrying anti-Semitic comments.
Meta has launched two new initiatives in Pakistan, focused on womens’ safety online that includes the Online Safety Guide and StopNCII (Non-consensual intimate images) to help users safely navigate cyberspace. The critical safety advisory available in English and Urdu is expected to boost digital literacy and responsible online behaviour among users, thereby creating safer online spaces for women to connect.
NayaPay, a Pakistan-based fintech platform, has raised $13 million in one of the largest seed rounds in South Asia. Bringing together a diverse mix of leading global institutional and angel investors, the round was led by Zayn Capital, global fund manager MSA Novo and early-stage VC Graph Ventures from Silicon Valley.
A team led by Pakistani scientist, Yasir Siddique, has developed a promising solar cell technology that sets two new world records of efficiency in the lab. The approach could help foster clean energy initiatives to combat the global warming issue. Siddique has designed and fabricated solution-processed Copper Indium Sulphu Selenide (CISSe) solar cells. The cell falls in emerging trend of Tandem solar technology and is now most efficient in its category.
Google has launched its first Gaming Growth Lab in Pakistan. The Lab, a five-week virtual programme is designed to help emerging mobile-gaming enterprises expand their offerings and grow their businesses. The launch marks Google’s commitment to helping accelerate the digital gaming industry in Pakistan. The programme will be delivered in both English and Urdu. It will commence on March 1.
One of Pakistan’s leading universities, Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) has introduced for the first time, an academic program on Cryptocurrency. LUMS will use five million STX tokens (currently equivalent to about PKR 670 million or US $4.1 million) granted by Hiro to develop and build educational programmes that will enable faculty and students to research blockchain, cryptocurrencies, distributed-ledger technology and more.
Facebook parent Meta’s quarterly earnings report on Wednesday revealed a startling statistic: For the first time ever, the company’s growth is stagnating around the world. Facebook lost daily users for the first time in its 18-year history — falling by about half a million users in the last three months of 2021, to 1.93 billion logging in each day.
The world is abuzz with news of cryptocurrency, and Pakistanis are still struggling to understand how investing works in the blockchain. Cryptocurrency recently came under the spotlight when crypto-enthusiast Waqar Zaka brought the Bitcoin network to limelight. While many mocked him earlier, it seems like he was right after all, when Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan’s crypto investment made rounds on news.