Rising stars: The man behind Q Mobile’s success

Mian Zeeshan Akhtar, CEO, Chairman and mastermind behind the success of Q Mobile, has come to be known as the youngest entrepreneur in Pakistan’s mobile phone industry.

After completing his education in the United States in 2003, Zeeshan Akhtar returned to his roots in Pakistan to make his mark in the professional world. His affiliation with foreign brands like LG and Samsung provided him with opportunities to realise his own understanding of the Pakistani market.

Akhtar had great success with his ventures, resulting in increased market share for whichever brand he was handling.

For him, the sky was the limit and then Q Mobile was born.

At 30 years of age, Akhtar took charge of a company that soon became a corporate giant. Today, Q Mobile is the biggest player in Pakistan’s mobile phone industry.

Company officials claim it was Akhtar’s insistence on quality that led to this success: concentrating on not only providing advanced mobile sets but excellent service, customer care and attractive prices that were comparable to world renowned foreign brands.

With a varied selection of more than 85 different cellphones, Q Mobile positioned itself to meet the demands of the Pakistani market, designing innovative and specific technologies that suited the region on the whole.

Akhtar intends to expand the company into numerous groups, in order to fulfil the demand of consumers from several walks of life. This will be possible through a strategy that will shift the Pakistani masses towards smartphones that are more affordable.

For Akhtar and Q Mobile, it’s all about empowering Pakistan towards better efficiency, and bringing new, innovative directions to the local cellphone industry.

Ref: Tribune

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LoC tensions: Indian shelling in Nakyal leaves children stranded inside school

MUZAFFARABAD: 

The Indian Army has once again carried out unprovoked shelling in the Nakyal Sector area in Kotli leaving numerous children stranded inside a local school, Express News reported on Monday.

The district administration is currently making efforts to take the children back to their parents.

On August 27, at least five people, including two women and a girl, were injured by heavy shelling and unprovoked firing at Nakyal Sector.

The continuous shelling and bombardment across the Line of Control (LoC) had forced the natives to flee. However, a few civilians returned home after having no such incident in the past four days.

After the incident today, the residents have once again started leaving the area.

The continued ceasefire agreement violation on the LoC has created tensions in the region. The two countries agreed to a ceasefire along the LoC in November 2003, but skirmishes have flared across the heavily-militarised Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border in Kashmir, in recent weeks, with both sides blaming each other for having violated the agreement.

However, Pakistan has maintained that it seeks to resolve all disputes with the neighbouring country through peace talks.

Ref: Tribune

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Mahira Khan will now soon be seen with Ranveer Singh in a Bollywood movie!

Pakistani actor and actresses have always looked for an opportunity to enter the glamorous world of Bollywood. Every Pakistani actor or actresses aspires one day to enter the sparkling world of B-town and gain fame worldwide.

The latest Buzz is that the on screen hit couple from Humsafar is now offered roles in Bollywood movies. These two have already gained International success after Humsafar which was not only a blockbuster hit in Pakistan, but also a huge success abroad. It gained immense popularity across the border too and caught the eye of many producers and directors.

It has been rumored that Mahira Khan has been offered a Bollywood Movie opposite Ranveer Singh produced under the ‘Yash Raj Banner’. According to sources, Mahira Khan has not given her nod for the movie yet. She has once stated in an interview that if she ever gets offered a Bollywood movie, then she would consider a lot of things before doing it. She has previously stated that “I don’t want to become a Bollywood star for sure, because the kind of stardom we get from Pakistan, I am very happy with that. Becoming a Bollywood actress is not something I am aspiring to do” The question now is; Will her views remain the same after being offered such a meaty role?

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The next buzz is that the Handsome Hunk of our Industry, Fawad Khan has also been offered a Bollywood movie opposite Aalia Bhatt. The movie is going to be a joint production of UTV Motion Pictures and Boney Kapoor. The rumor making rounds nowadays is that Fawad Khan has already agreed to do this movie and it will be released next summer. Fawad Khan; however, has once stated in an interview, “I do not like to announce anything till there is something concrete. So till I have signed a new movie, I won’t announce it”, If Fawad really has signed a movie then we can expect an official announcement from him soon.

Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan are not the first ones who are given the opportunity to enter Bollywood. Mahesh Bhatt was the first producer who promoted Pakistani stars and opened Bollywood doors to Pakistani talent. The actors who were given a chance in his movies include Meera, Sara Loren and now Imran Abbas too will be launched by the Bhatts. Imran will soon be seen in the movie ‘Creature’ opposite Bipasha Bashu which will be produced by Vikram Bhatt. Another actress who will make her entry in Bollywood soon is Humaima Malik who gained immense popularity through her movie ‘Bol’. She will be seen opposite Emraan Hashmi in Kunal Deshmukh’s film Shaatir. Another recent addition to the B-Town is Meesha Shafi, who was seen in the movie ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’.

Meera and Sara Loren both were declared a huge flop in India and were even criticized in Pakistan for their vulgarity in the movies. Currently, the only successful Pakistani actor in B-Town is Ali Zafar who has featured in films like Tere Bin Laden, Mere Brother Ki Dulhan and London Paris Newyork.

A lot of singers have been able to prove their mettle in India because Mahesh Bhatt promoted them through his movies. One of the bands is Roxen who gave their music in movies like Awarapan and Aashiqui 2. Another very famous singer who was given a break by the Bhatt camp is our very own star; Atif Aslam. He sold the rights of his hit songs, ‘Aadat’ and ‘Lamhe’ to the movie Zeher and Kalyug which became an instant success in India and he gained fame overnight. Other influential artists from Pakistan include names like Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Shafqat Amanat Ali who have become a huge hit in India.

Only time will tell whether Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan will really join the long list of stars who will enter B-Town or if these are only rumors making rounds. We can only wait for an official statement from them to verify this news.

Facebook’s new policy changes allow it to read your face, use it for ads

Facebook’s proposed changes to its Data Use and Privacy policies give the platform more control and knowledge of a user’s image and likeness.

Facebook is making big changes to the language in its Data Use and Privacy Policy that will allow the company to use information already on the platform in new ways that might frustrate some users. While some of the changes may raise some red flags for those concerned about giving up even more private data, at least the company is telling us ahead of time.

The list of proposed changes are available via the Facebook Site Governance page for review, although the exact language is obscured from users. The most important changes have to do with how Facebook can recognize and manage a user’s image to create a better experience on the platform and create Sponsored Stories without legal reproach.

The changes come at the order of a judge, now Facebook has finally ended the class-action lawsuit against its use of user information for ads and sponsored stories with a$20 million settlement. The lawsuit put Facebook in the hot seat for using the images and content of users for ad content without consent or compensation — even, at times, featuring users who were under 18.  The company is trying to ensure that it won’t surprise users again, and is using plenty of plain language to protect itself.

“We rewrote the entire advertising section to better explain what we thought was important for people to know about how we use the information we receive to provide relevant ads to people on and off Facebook,” Chief Privacy Officer Erin Egan wrote to users.

That new advertising section essentially covers the thorny issues in Facebook’s recent lawsuit. When the changes go into effect after a week-long comment period, simply using Facebook will allow the company to use the name, likeness and language of a user for ads or “Sponsored Stories” without any compensation. That issue now extends to minors, which was the biggest sticking point of the class-action law suit, as users under 18 consent to testify that an adult has given permission for this to happen.

The second is a tiny, easily-overlooked change in the way that Facebook manages facial recognition for photo tags. With the new updates, Facebook could match faces in friends’ photos by reading and analyzing features in a user’s profile photo. Egan told All Things that this feature is directed to encourage tagging more photos and prevent “unsavory” photos from reaching the public forum.

However, if the idea that Facebook knows your face is unsettling, the feature can be disabled via the platform’s labyrinthian Privacy Settings dashboard.

News Update: PTA Orders Telcos to Stop All Kind of Voice and SMS Packages

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has directed all telecom operators to dis-continue all kind of voice and SMS bundles that are offered for any time of the day.

Telecom companies are asked to stop all kind of Voice and SMS bundles, that include daily, weekly, fortnightly and monthly packages by September 2nd, 2013 and submit a compliance report to the authority.

The letter from PTA, a copy of which is produced below, has made the social morality as a reason for the stoppage of voice and SMS bundles. The letter that reads “Directive Relating to Packages Offered by CMTOs Contrary to Moral Values of Society” reasons a survey conducted in November 2012 which suggested PTA that voice and SMS bundles were still active.

Taking the timely decision, PTA has now ordered the operators to stop the packages at once.

Omar Manzoor, Director Communications and CSR at Mobilink confirmed ProPakistani that his company received the directive late today. He said that Mobilink is reviewing the directive and will act accordingly.

Telecom operators are still unsure on how to react. Bigger operators are considerably happy about the directive which is a blessing in disguise for them. Smaller operators, such as Zong and Warid are furious for apparent reasons.

Analysts say currently the industry is derived by these voice and SMS bundles. If not reversed, the whole dynamics of telecom industry of Pakistan will change.

Conspiracy theorist say that PTA has made the case of banning the voice and SMS bundles on moral values, which is likely to be influenced by operators. They say that if operators don’t react on the decision then its apparent that this step is endorsed by the operators.

Other experts even question PTA’s ability to decide the pricing structure this way, especially when there’s no chairman or member at PTA’s head office.

Decision is a nightmare for the end users. The good old days are just gone. Now pay for each call and each SMS.

P.S. There’s no mention of Mobile internet bundles in the directive, which are likely to continue.

Brief military action in Syria would limit risks for Obama

A Free Syrian Army is pictured through a hole in the old city of Aleppo August 27, 2013.

Most Americans want no part of a U.S. military intervention in Syria, but there is a growing sense in Washington that President Barack Obamawould face more political risks from a weak response to Syria's use of chemical weapons than from an attack on Bashar al-Assad's government.

As Obama's administration builds a case for a likely military action in Syria, several analysts said such a move probably would not have lingering negative consequences for the president at home - as long as the intervention was short-lived.

By declaring last year that Assad would cross a "red line" that could trigger a U.S. response if he used chemical weapons, Obama ensured that foreign foes and allies - as well as his Republican political rivals - would view any failure to respond as a sign of presidential weakness.

"Obama has to consider the implications for other policy areas if he fails to act," said William Galston, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, who was a domestic policy adviser to President Bill Clinton. "Doing nothing - that is what would be devastating."

After the chemical attack near Damascus last week that killed hundreds of Syrian adults and children and injured many more, Obama "doesn't have that luxury," of inaction, he said.

Obama, who has long been wary of any involvement in Syria's civil war, and U.S. allies appeared on Tuesday to be carefully laying the groundwork for a coordinated military response.

POLLS SHOW SINKING SUPPORT FOR INTERVENTION

Polls show large majorities of Americans, weary of more than a decade of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, strongly oppose a U.S. military mission in Syria. A Reuters-Ipsos poll last week found about 60 percent of Americans are against U.S. intervention in Syria, while just 9 percent support it.

More Americans favor intervention if Syria has used chemical weapons, but even that support has dipped as the situation in Syria has deteriorated, according to the poll.

However, U.S. military action typically sparks a surge of at least short-term support for their president's actions, as Americans rally around the troops.

"My prediction would be that public opinion would swing very quickly to support the military action in Syria," said Ipsos pollster Julia Clark. "The danger for Obama is if it becomes more prolonged."

On Capitol Hill, lawmakers have been sending mixed signals on Syria, arguably giving Obama more room to maneuver.

Republicans, led by Senator John McCain of Arizona, have criticized Obama for moving too slowly and called for a strong military intervention.

McCain suggested on Tuesday that a brief attack by cruise missiles, aimed more at sending a message to Assad than altering the course of Syria's civil war, could make the situation worse by allowing an emboldened Assad to claim that he had withstood an assault by the Americans.

Meanwhile, some liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans - including Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, a potential 2016 presidential candidate - have opposed any U.S. intervention.

NO 'LASTING' POLITICAL IMPACT

Obama faces the decision on Syria just as Congress prepares to return to Washington next week to renew a lingering budget fight over government spending and the federal debt limit.

Some Republicans are threatening another government shutdown if Democrats don't agree to deeper spending cuts, or to delay funding for the president's healthcare overhaul.

The intense focus in Congress on domestic policy issues means the impact of any short-term military action in Syria could be limited.

"It's one of those things that, however tragic, won't have any lasting political impact one way or the other," Republican strategist Rich Galen said of a short-term U.S. intervention in Syria.

"We are locked in a cycle of domestic turmoil, and politically that will overwhelm everything else."

Los Angeles could become the largest U.S. city to offer free Wi-Fi

(Credit: Wikimedia)

Will Los Angeles become the country’s biggest city to boast free, city-wide Wi-Fi? Such a plan may be in the works, based on recent discussions at a city hall meeting last week.

Councilman Bob Blumenfield, who heads up the committee on technology and innovation, has asked the city’s Information Technology Agency to research how to set up a program as a way to help more Angelenos connect with the digital economy.

“We live in a world where success is increasingly tied to the ability to access information,” Southern California Public Radio reported him saying at the end of July. “Providing universal access to the Internet is a natural and necessary extension of these efforts.”

But municipal Wi-Fi programs can be hard for cities to pull off — penetrating so many buildings requires a serious investment in hardware and antennae. Also, free Wi-Fi can be surprisingly controversial, CNET senior editor Dan Ackerman told SCPR, largely because telecommunications companies see it as a threat to their business and have lobbied against it for years.

Facebook will pay $15 per user after judge approves final $20M ad settlement

Did you reply to that class action notice from Facebook? If so, you get $15 as a result of a “sponsored stories” lawsuit that shone light on the way lawyers and activists represent privacy concerns.

Facebook will pay out $9 million to approximately 614,000 users as part of a $20 million legal settlement that is intended to compensate users for the social network’s decision to display their pictures in “sponsored stories” ads without permission.

In an order filed Monday in San Francisco, U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg gave the final thumbs up to a revised deal that will raise individual payouts to $15 each — a total that is higher than the $10 maximum proposed under an earlier version of the settlement. The payouts will only go to those who responded to a notice earlier this year (it’s too late for everyone else).

The payouts increased after fewer people than anticipated responded to the class action notices sent out by Facebook. Under the final deal, the $11 million left over after the $15 subscriber payouts will go to lawyers, fees and a dozen non-profit groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Berkman Center for Internet and Society.

Monday’s decision is the final step in a long-running court case that not only shone light on Facebook’s advertising practices, but also raised a debate over the role of lawyers and activists groups in addressing alleged privacy violations by companies like Google, Apple and Facebook. On previous occasions, courts approved multimillion dollar settlements in which all of the money went to lawyers and consumers groups; this time, Judge Seeborg rejected the first version of the settlement, saying the proposed payments — and the lawyer awards — were “plucked out of thin air.”

Approximately 7,000 Facebook users opted out of the settlement altogether, meaning they are free to bring lawsuits of their own against the social network. Their chance of cashing in would appear low, however, as Judge Seeborg repeatedly questioned whether Facebook users had suffered a real loss, noting it is “far from clear that they could ever have shown they were actually harmed in any meaningful way.”

Here’s today’s order (related court documents describe the lawyers fees and the number of claims) :

Federal Board to announce HSSC-II Result Tomorrow

Islamabad, The Fedral Board of Intermediat and Secondary Education FBISE will declare the HSSC Part2 annual examination result 2013 on August 27, 2013. The result is on final stage and all the arrangements are underway to declare the result. Yet this is not a confirmed date but most probably the result of Inter part 2 of  FBISE will be declared on August 27, 2013. As soon as we will get any update of the result we will update it at this page. The detailed result of HSSC part 2 could be seenat the following link. 

FBISE Results

Youtube Opening In Pakistan !!

This is a big breaking news from Pakistan that largest Video sharing website Youtube is soon going to be reopened in the country. Pakistan’s IT Minister Anusha Rehman has confirmed that Youtube will reopened soon as the filters are set to block specific blasphemous Videos in the country.  She was talking to Kamran Khan on Geo News.

Now  specific Videos will not be accessible while all other Videos on Youtube will be accessible normally. people will be able to use the site at normal speed without any proxies.

Set this setting before going to open YouTube :)
Check on -> use the following DNS server addresses:
Preferred DNS server: 8.8.8.8
Alternate DNS server : 8.8.4.4

World’s largest Video sharing site was blocked in Pakistan by PTA in September 2012 after a Anti Islamic blasphemous Video was uploaded. Now after almost 11 months Pakistanis will be able to access the Youtube.  during these 11 months we heard it again and again that Youtube is opening soon but all these rumors not proved to be true.

During last one year PTA has blocked many Anti Islamic websites. IT Ministry has also formed a cell recently that will deal with blasphemous content on the Web.