Tech and Telecom

Taking another step towards making the process of monetary policy formulation more predictable and transparent, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has decided to begin announcing a half-yearly schedule of Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meetings on a rolling basis. In this regard, the dates for the next four meetings are envisaged as follows:  May MPC meeting: Friday, 28th May 2021 July MPC meeting: Tuesday, 27th July 2021 September MPC meeting: Monday, 20th September 2021 November MPC meeting: Friday, 26th November 2021 It is pertinent to mention that a minimum of 6 MPC meetings is scheduled every year. In addition, the…

Huawei has updated its MateBook 16 lineup for 2021 with a few upgrades in specifications and the latest AMD Ryzen processors. The MacBook look-alike will launch in the global market soon but there is no precise release date just yet. ALSO READ Huawei’s New Smartwatch Will Have Heart-Rate Monitoring As the name says, the MateBook 16 comes with a 16-inch IPS panel with ultra-thin bezels, giving it an impressive 90% screen to body ratio. This display features 2K resolution, 10-bit colors, a 3:2 aspect ratio, a maximum brightness of 300 nits, and wide viewing angles with a 100% RGB color…

As the coronavirus situation showed the sign of improvement, the government has started easing off restrictions that were placed ahead of the Eid. On Wednesday, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) allowed the reopening of educational institutes from May 24 in areas where the coronavirus positivity ratio is less than five percent. Whereas all other educational institutes will reopen from June 7. “Educational institutes in districts with less than five percent positivity rate will be reopened from May 24. Educational institutes in all districts will be reopened in a staggered manner from June 7,” said a statement issued after…

Yesterday, Google and Samsung announced that they were joining hands to make Wear OS better but neither of the companies shared the nature of their collaboration. However, soon after the announcements, reliable tipsters @IceUniverse and @RQuandt shed some light on Samsung’s upcoming wearable. We already know that the watch will ditch Tizen and run Wear OS instead. Galaxy Active 4：1. TizenWear OS2. New 5nm processor3. 2D glass (not 2.5D)4. Bezel narrowed5. Excellent frame texture, suspected to be titanium alloy — Ice universe (@UniverseIce) May 19, 2021 New rumors by @Iceuniverse suggest that it will be powered by Qualcomm’s 5 nm…

Pakistan Cricket Board has confirmed it has received all outstanding approvals and exemptions from the United Arab Emirates government for the staging of the remaining 20 Pakistan Super League matches in Abu Dhabi. ALSO READ Ramiz Raja Proposes a Unique Solution for Pakistan’s T20I Team The PCB will now hold an online meeting with the six franchise owners later in the day to update them about the progress made as well as to finalize all details, which will be shared in due course. PCB Chief Executive, Wasim Khan, said: We are delighted with this development as the remaining hurdles in…

The Redmi Note 10 series is about to get 5G models soon just like the previous Note 9 lineup. The Chinese brand has officially confirmed the launch date and has teased the design for the Redmi Note 10 5G. ALSO READ Redmi Note 10 Pro to Get a 5G Model With New Chip The 5G version of the Redmi Note 10 is launching on May 26 in China. The poster does not reveal any specifications and only says “flagship chipset” next to the launch date. This means that we can expect to see a high-end Snapdragon SoC, likely an 800…

For the first time ever, the vice-chancellors (VCs) of public universities in Sindh have spoken up about the worst possible financial crisis and budget cuts of billions of rupees. The VCs have jointly issued separate letters highlighting the budget cuts and the rising expenditures over the last two financial years to the Federal Minister for Finance, Shaukat Tareen, and Sindh’s Chief Minister, Murad Ali Shah. They have also demanded an immediate increase of several billion rupees in the budget to maintain and run their universities. The letter also addresses the Federal Minister for Education, Shafqat Mahmood, and copies of it have…

The University of Punjab (PU) announced on Wednesday the schedule of the online classes and semester examinations. A meeting of Deans was conducted chaired by the PU Vice-Chancellor, Professor Niaz Ahmed Akhtar, in which the decision regarding classes and exams was taken. ALSO READ KU Announces Its Final Decision on Classes & Exams Schedule According to a notification issued by the university, classes, and exams of students in semesters 4, 6, 8 will begin from 24 May 2021. The notification further read that second semester of BS (Hons.), M.A/M.Sc, M.Phil, and Ph.D. will resume soon after the completion of the…

Xiaomi, OnePlus, Oppo, Vivo, and a few others have already released handsets powered by the Snapdragon 870 SoC and it seems that Realme is looking to join the fray. A Realme smartphone featuring the flagship-grade SoC is reportedly in the works and could release soon. ALSO READ Realme Narzo 30 Launched with 90Hz Display and Helio G95 Chip The leak comes from notable tipster Ice Universe who has a great track record of leaking accurate information. He has shared a screenshot of an “About Phone” page that mentions the Snapdragon 870 chipset and a few other specs for an unnamed Realme phone.…

Finance Minister, Shaukat Tarin, aims to include tax reforms in the coming budget that are progressive and reduce the need for interaction between the taxpayers and the authorities. The minister informed this to the Federal Cabinet in a meeting held recently, Business Recorder reported. The two aims of tax reforms highlighted by Tarin are not new for the government. In previous budgets, attempts have been made to implement reforms that lead to progressive taxation and curtail interactions between the general public and officials of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), but could not achieve much success. FBR also implemented systems…