Tech and Telecom

National Institute of Health (NIH) has successfully manufactured the second batch of PakVac, Pakistan’s first locally-packaged single-dose COVID-19 vaccine. According to sources, NIH is waiting for a go-ahead from the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) after which the batch of PakVac will be made available for use. ALSO READ Govt to Allocate Rs. 300 Million for Setting Up Border Markets in Balochistan Last month, NIH started indigenous manufacturing of the COVID-19 vaccine originally developed by a Chinese firm, CanSinoBIO, after its raw material reached Pakistan from China. The first batch of the single-dose PakVac vaccine consisting of 124,000 doses…

National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has revised the guidelines regarding the gap between the initial and booster doses of Chinese COVID-19 vaccines of Sinovac and Sinopharm for the second time in less than 24 hours. The guidelines have been revised in order to avoid confusion and chaos at Mass Vaccination Centers (MVCs) across the country. ALSO READ Finland Needs a Large Number of Immigrants to Meet Labor Shortage Yesterday, NCOC announced to increase the gap between the two doses of Chinese vaccines to 6 weeks. Previously, the NCOC had fixed a gap of 3 weeks between both doses of…

The Big Tech (used to refer to multi-billion dollar tech companies in the US) is being targeted with new antitrust bills that put more restrictions on these companies’ monopolistic tactics. Facebook, Apple, Google, and Amazon are being targeted directly by these new bills, and naturally, these companies have started pushing back against them. ALSO READ Google Pixel 6 Case Design Shows Massive Camera Bump According to a report from New York Times:  Executives, lobbyists, and more than a dozen think tanks and advocacy groups paid by tech companies have swarmed Capitol offices, called and emailed lawmakers and their staff members, and…

Now that the Oppo Reno 5 series is getting older, it is time to make way for a successor. The Reno 6 series is expected to become official in the upcoming months and one of the devices in the series has been leaked ahead of launch. ALSO READ OnePlus is Now Officially a Part of Oppo The leak talks in detail about the Reno 6 Z, the direct successor to the Reno 5 Z. The device is expected to come with improved cameras, extra storage, and more. Reno 6 Z will have a 6.43-inch AMOLED screen with FHD+ resolution, but…

Pakistan captain Babar Azam’s unimpressive outing against South Africa in the home series earlier this year, followed by a quiet run against Zimbabwe, has moved him out of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) top 10 rankings for Test batsmen. He is now placed 11th on the list with a rating of 714 and was replaced by South Africa’s Quinton de Kock, who had a brilliant run in the recently-concluded Test series against West Indies. ALSO READ Explained: Why Were Islamabad United and Peshawar Zalmi About to Fight Quinton’s 237 runs during the two-match Test series moved him above Babar Azam…

Octopus Digital Pvt Limited, a 100 percent wholly-owned Subsidiary of Avanceon Limited, has applied for its listing at Pakistan Stock Exchange to raise funds of Rs. 793 million. This is the first technology company that is going public after more than five years on the stock exchange. According to the draft prospectus, the issue comprises 27,350,000 Ordinary Shares of the face value of Rs. 10/- each, which constitutes 20 percent of the total post-IPO paid-up capital of the company. The entire issue will be offered through the 100 percent book building method at a Floor Price of Rs. 29/- per…

Iranian authorities have confiscated over 7,000 cryptocurrency mining computers from a deserted factory in Tehran, according to reports from state-controlled news agency IRNA. This is the second-of-its-kind news coming from Iran, almost a month after the country banned Bitcoin and other crypto mining over concerns about the industry’s energy consumption. To paint a picture, Iran’s blueprint for mining the world’s biggest cryptocurrency uses more energy than Finland, according to the Cambridge University’s Center for Alternative Finance. ALSO READ ICBC Becomes First Chinese Bank to Enable Digital Yuan Cash Conversion Besides Iran, China has also taken big steps to reduce the…

Facebook is adding another exciting feature for buying stuff on its social media platforms, namely Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook. The new updates are essentially targeted at assisting online businesses and related avenues for conducting sales in a risk-free and secure environment. ALSO READ Govt and Facebook Partner to Fight COVID-19 Misinformation in Pakistan On Facebook’s Live Audio Room, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced three e-commerce updates for Facebook products: Shops on WhatsApp and Marketplace, Shop Ads, and Instagram Visual Search. With Shops on WhatsApp and Marketplace, users will be able to chat with a business before buying something. For businesses, owners…

After six months of volunteering for the third phase of CanSino vaccine trial, thousands of Pakistanis are yet to hear anything from CanSino Biologics or the local partner hospitals. The trouble is that half of the participants received the actual vaccine while the remaining half were given the placebo shots, and since the trials were double-blinded — thousands of Pakistanis don’t know if they were given the actual jabs or just saline water. After several months of the vaccine shots, and repeated inquiries with the hospitals where they were inoculated, trial participants can’t even opt for government vaccination since they…

Pakistan’s exports to the EU have increased to make up 33 percent of the total exports of the country after getting of Generalised Scheme of Preferences, (GSP+) status, said European Union’s (EU) Ambassador to Pakistan, Androulla Kaminara. GSP plus status was granted by the EU to ensure duty-free entry of Pakistani products to the EU market. Now it has been extended by European Commission till 2022. These exports mostly comprise of the textile sector, said EU envoy while speaking to the business community during her visit to Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI). ALSO READ Pakistan’s Largest Meat Company…