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  • Owning Bitcoin slightly better than holding cash, says Musk

    Owning Bitcoin slightly better than holding cash, says Musk

    Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Elon Musk on Thursday said that owning bitcoin was only a little better than holding conventional cash, but that slight difference made it a better asset to hold or invest.

    He said, “When state-regulated money has a negative real interest, only a fool wouldn’t look elsewhere. Bitcoin is almost like fiat money. The keyword is ‘almost’.”

    He also defended Tesla’s investment interests in bitcoin, saying that the difference with cash made it “adventurous enough” for the standard & poor (S&P), top 500 United States (US), publicly trading companies to hold the cryptocurrency.

    Tesla bought $1.5 billion worth bitcoin, and set the cryptocurrency soaring toward this week’s record peak above $50,000.

    Musk’s recent promotion of dogecoin on Twitter also lifted the value of that cryptocurrency.

    In the world of financial investments, a new, rather upsetting trend has emerged.

    Whenever Elon Musk prises a company on Twitter, the shares of the company starts sky rocketing in the stock market.

    Canadian e-commerce firm Shopify (SHOP) stocks rose after Musk called it “great” and said SpaceX use it.

    Etsy (ETSY) moved higher after Musk wrote about buying something for his dog on the site.

    Speaking of canines, the price of cryptocurrency dogecoin spiked following positive Musk’s tweets.

  • Javed Afridi responds to ‘MG Motors mega under-invoicing scam’ rumours

    Javed Afridi, who brought Morris Garages (MG) into Pakistani market has hit out at the automobile giants in the country after the federal investigation launched to probe the import pricing of complete built-up (CBU) units of MG. 

    “For decades, Pakistani automobile consumers have been exploited by cartels that cornered them with low quality, boring models at exorbitant prices. Plus, buyers had to pay billions of rupees to get delivery of the very vehicles the price of which they had already paid,” the KP-based businessman said in a post on his social media accounts.

    “As new entrants bring in exciting new models at far lower prices, instead of competition, we expect maligning campaigns and baseless rumours. While we know that competition is an unfamiliar phenomenon in Pakistan’s automobile industry, we invite everyone to join in a fair competition to serve Pakistani consumers with a bigger and better variety of vehicles at lower prices,” he added.

    The statement of Javed Afridi came after a local newspaper claimed that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) was reportedly investigating a mega under-invoicing scam showing the involvement of Afridi company. 

    According to media reports, the company have imported over 500 complete built-up (CBU) units from Shanghai China, predominantly MG GS Model, their highest specification model. 

    The declared customs value of $11,632 which is too low. This same model is being sold at a price above $27,000 in other countries. 

    “The under-invoicing evidence has also been shared with other line Ministries and agencies for a thorough probe as this is inflicting billions of rupees financial loss the national exchequer,” the report said. 

    With over 400 CBU units already imported, the company has allegedly evaded over Rs1 billion in duty and taxes so far. 

    Just last month, MG Pakistan launched two more cars, MG ZS and MG ZS EV following a positive response from the local consumer market.

    Over the weekend, Afridi had teased the fans by standing next to the MG 5 sedan. However, it is yet to be confirmed if the car will be coming to Pakistan’s market any time soon.

  • Ali Sadpara, an unsung hero

    On February 5, Mohammad Ali Sadpara from Pakistan, John Snorri from Iceland and Juan Pablo Mohr from Chile went missing while climbing K2, which is said to be the deadliest mountain. Despite special rescue and search efforts, they have not been found yet and are presumed to be dead. It is a huge loss for Pakistan as we have lost our unsung hero, Ali Sadpara. He was a man who was known to be a versatile climber and mountaineer.

    All national and international media outlets that have profiled him have been nothing but full of praise for Sadpara. Anyone who had ever met him speaks highly of him. A man with not enough resources but with a lot of talent, hard work and an adventurous streak, Sadpara went on to become one of Pakistan’s greatest mountaineers. What others say about Ali Sadpara also shows that the man was genuinely a lovely and humble human being.

    Sadpara hailed from Gilgit-Baltistan. Born to a poor family in 1976, he started climbing in 2003 or 2004. He is the only Pakistani mountaineer to have climbed eight of the 14 highest mountains in the world. Sadpara also successfully made the winter summit of Nanga Parbat, which is known as a killer mountain, back in 2016.

    Sadpara’s son Sajid says his father was like a snow leopard, who moved extremely fast in the mountains. K2 winter summit was his dream, which took his life. Sajid says that he did see the three men climb over the bottleneck at the top, so they probably did make the summit but met an accident during the descent. The entire country was praying for Sadpara’s success when he had started K2 winter summit.

    When the news came that he may have succeeded, everyone was overjoyed. When he went missing, the entire country was shocked but we were all waiting for a miracle. That he has not been found for almost 10 days now means he may not have survived, a heartbreaking truth. Sadpara will be remembered for his songs and dances on the mountains, his willpower, his humbleness and his heroic nature — a man who wanted to do so much for Pakistan even though we did not give him the recognition that he deserved.

  • Five KP policemen suspended for beating up women suspects

    Five KP policemen suspended for beating up women suspects

    Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police chief Sanaullah Abbasi has suspended five police officials after their video beating up three women, accused of robbery, in Swat went viral on Wednesday.

    According to Express Tribune, the women who were detained by the Saidu Sharif police for alleged robbery were slapped and kicked in broad daylight by the police officials, including the SHO, as they were bundled into a police vehicle. An ASHO of the Kokarai Police Station was also among the suspended policemen.

    According to the report, suspended cops are: SHO Police Station Saidu Sharif SI Rafiullah, ASHO Police Station Kokarai SI Ayaz Ahmad and constables Muhammad Alam, Ishaq, and Fazal Khaliq.

    KP Inspector General Dr Sanaullah Abbasi reportedly arrested the three SHOs involved in the incident. “Respecting women is important in Peshawar. The investigation against the women who allegedly stole is underway but no one is allowed to take the law into their own hands,” the KP IG stated.

    KP CM Mahmood Khan also took notice of the violence against the suspects and ordered an inquiry into the incident. “The incident of public violence against women by the police is intolerable,” the chief minister said in a statement.

  • PTI’s likely candidates for Senate elections

    PTI’s likely candidates for Senate elections

    The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) hasn’t announced its nominees for the upcoming Senate elections in March, but many of the party leaders, among them prime minister’s special aides, are vying for the Senate tickets.

    With the elections round the corner, the PTI believes it’s in a comfortable spot to undo the opposition majority in the upper house of parliament, and PM Imran Khan is confident that the post-polls Senate would be dominated by the government and its allied parties.

    Media reports say that PM’s Special Assistant on Accountability Shahzad Akbar, SAPM Zulfi Bukhari, party’s chief organiser Saifullah Niazi, Ejaz Chaudhry, Dr Zarqa Soharwardi and Tanzeela Imran among others are among the aspirants for Senate.

    Sources also claimed that Firdous Ashiq Awan, special assistant to CM Usman Buzdar, will be a nominee for the Senate seat.

    However, these names have yet to be finalised after a committee to choose the Senate nominees is established and the PM Imran Khan finalises the list and makes it public.  

    If Senate elections are to be held in March’s first week, then the party must choose its candidates and finalise the strategy by mid-February, reports quoted the party leaders as saying.

    BRING TAREEN BACK:

    Recently, PTI lawmaker Raja Riaz had asked the prime minister to make estranged PTI leader Jahangir Khan Tareen the chairman of the committee formed to choose the candidates for the Senate elections.

    During a parliamentary party meeting on Wednesday with PM Imran Khan in the chair, the PTI lawmaker, who hails from Faisalabad, had said that Tareen’s services for the PTI cannot be ignored and demanded that the senior leader be made the head of the committee.

    He had also asked the PM to include Punjab Governor Chaudhry Sarwar, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Amir Kiyani, and Ijaz Chaudhry in the body formed to choose Senate candidates.

  • VIDEO: OLMT officials torture labourers for taking shelter in metro station

    VIDEO: OLMT officials torture labourers for taking shelter in metro station

    Police have arrested five alleged employees of the Orange Line Metro Train (OLMT) for torturing labourers who, after taking shelter, were trying to light a fire near the elevators of the Awan Town train station.

    The video of the assault that went viral on social media garnered criticism, as people demanded action against the suspects over violence against the homeless workers.

    The officials– wearing orange jackets, included a woman as well, arrived at the scene after the fire alarms went off. They beat up the labourers with sticks who were forced to remain in a squatting position as punishment, the video showed.

    The staff also abused the workers while beating them continuously despite their apologies. According to police, the labourers were trying to keep them warm by starting a fire in the Awan Town station when they were held by the OLMT security officials.

    https://twitter.com/SardarAbdulRe16/status/1350061815745679360

    After backlash on social media, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar took notice of the incident and sought a report from the Lahore police chief.

  • ‘PM tasked YouTubers to target media, Opp,’ claims journalist

    ‘PM tasked YouTubers to target media, Opp,’ claims journalist

    Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday held a meeting with a delegation of YouTubers to discuss an alleged propaganda campaign against the opposition and journalists critical of the government policies, claimed a journalist in a tweet.

    Adeel Raja, an investigative journalist and producer, says the details of the meeting were not made public fearing criticism in the light of the Hazara protests. Raja said that the YouTubers “were tasked to improve the image of the government and target journalists and opposition”.

    Geo’s Hamid Mir also tweeted responded to this news, saying he was ready to face the YouTubers’ attacks.

    Meanwhile, Punjab CM’s focal person on digital media, Azhar Mashwani, rejected claims made by the journalists. He said it was “not a meeting” but an “interview by digital media publishers and Youtubers”.

    Mashwani’s remarks were also endorsed by PM’s focal person on digital media, Dr Arslan Khalid. Dr Khalid said it was a not meeting, but a question-answer session with the premier. He added that the video of the session will prove the journalist “wrong again”.

    The news of the meeting between the PM and social media influencers prompted a response from the senior journalists, including Hamid Mir, who commented that the PM has time to meet with Youtubers and Turkish artists, but he has no time for grieving Hazara people.

  • Nawaz won’t return, PML-N lawmakers won’t resign: Sheikh Rasheed

    After the Pakistan People’s Party expressed its reluctance to quit the national and provincial assemblies, Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed commented that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) too will follow suit and step back from its decision to quit parliament.

    In a conversation with the media, he talked about the Senate elections and the opposition’s participation in the polls. Rasheed said in spite of the PPP reportedly wanting Nawaz Sharif to come back, the PML-N supreme leader will stay in London.

    The PML-N members will not submit their resignations from the national or provincial assemblies as they have claimed, he claimed, adding that the party will even take part in the by-polls.

    He said the PML-N lawmakers are already agitated after the National Assembly speaker summoned two of them to verify their resignation letters that were allegedly sent to the secretariat on the respective official letterheads. He was referring to controversial resignation letters that the PML-N leaders claimed were submitted to the party, but they found their way to the speaker’s office.

    Rasheed also appreciated PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari’s political acumen, saying the former president was a good politician but PM Imran Khan was doing better than him.

    Zardari had recently suggested that the PDM should focus on its fight against the government instead of dictating each other on how to go about it.

    He had made made these comments in an apparent reference to the calls for resignations supported by the PML-N and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

  • Pakistan’s first-ever digital music festival to take place this weekend

    Pakistan’s first-ever digital music festival to take place this weekend

    Winter season in the country always means lots of food and music festivals. Unfortunately, COVID-19 has dampened all such plans this year, with health experts and the government urging people to avoid large gatherings.

    Coke Fest is one of the biggest food festivals in the country and given that this year that is a distant dream, Coca-Cola has joined hands with Patari and Tapmad to launch Pakistan’s first-ever digital music festival – ‘CokeFest 2020’.

    According to a press release, the three-day event is scheduled to run from November 20-22 and will be free for all to attend.

    Those wishing to be part of it will need to download and register on the Patari mobile app followed by signing-up for the event to receive a unique code that can be used on TapMad’s mobile app or website to enjoy the live performances virtually from any location.

    “Event attendees can expect to be mesmerized by leading names rocking the local music scene including a 9-year-old Pakistani rapper Kaky Thou$and, Natasha Baig, Sirine Jahangir, Shamoon Ismail, SomeWhatSuper, Young Stunners, ESharp, Abdullah Siddiqui, XPolymer Dar and veteran rock star Ali Noor,” stated the press release.

    Speaking about this initiative, GM Pakistan and Afghanistan at The Coca-Cola Export Corporation Fahad Ashraf said: “With CokeFest 2020, we wanted to avoid large gatherings whilst still keeping the spirit of music alive. So we brought some of the best musical talent in Pakistan together with the country’s leading tech companies, to bring you a virtual experience that feels as close as possible to attending an actual musical concert.”

  • VIDEO: Glimpses of upcoming 11th Gen Honda Civic

    VIDEO: Glimpses of upcoming 11th Gen Honda Civic

    Honda has officially released a teaser of its upcoming 11th gen Civic to be launch in the spring of 2021 in international markets.

    As seen in the teaser, the model has a more executive look as compared to the 10th generation Civic.

    The teaser that allows viewers to get a mental image of what the car would look like, suggests a much sharper and more aggressive design.

    Honda will reveal the brand new Civic via a live stream on November 18, 2020 at 7:45 am. Also, it is being reported that Honda will only make the 2022 Civic as a sedan and a hatchback. The two-door coupes versions will no longer be manufactured by the company.

    Details are yet to be revealed about the upcoming 11th Gen Civic, but reports suggest that the a-Si (the compact sports trimmed version of Honda Civic) and Type-R (the high-performing racing) versions will be launched in the international markets.

    All versions will have turbocharged 4-cylinder engines. The sportier versions shall get a manual gearbox option as well.

    There are no reports of the car being introduced in Pakistan anytime soon, but as is custom with Honda Atlas, the Civic is usually introduced here a year or so after it is launched in the international market. Whether or not that will be the case for the 11th gen Civic, is yet to be seen.