Wateen Handovers its Network to Qubee and PTCL

Wateen Telecom has stopped providing broadband (internet and telephony) services in six cities. Resources in the company confirmed PTE Tech that Wateen is no longer offering internet and telephony services in 6 cities ranging from South, North and Central regions.

List of cities that Wateen handed over to PTCL is as follows: 

South Region: Hyderabad, Sukkur and Quetta 

North Region: Peshawar and Dera Ismail Khan

Central Region: Faisalabad

Letters and emails will be delivered to existing customers of Wateen whereas new customers will be routed to PTCL for internet connections.

It merits mentioning here that in South region Wateen has already decided to hand over its network to Qubee as it is. So that means all the customers of Wateen in that part of region will be shifted to Qubee owned by Augere Group. 

More regarding the topic will be released soon.

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Warid Brings Double Number Offer

Leading the innovation with many firsts in the telecom industry of Pakistan, Warid Telecom brings yet another exciting Double Number Offer which allows Warid users to get two numbers on one SIM without carrying two handsets or dual SIM handsets.  All Warid prepaid customers can avail this exciting offer. 

How to Activate:

To activate your Double Number on your existing SIM, SMS SUB to 3311

Features:

• Blocking by Time of the day
• Subscriber can specify schedule to shutdown their Double Number for a specific time period. For example from 2am to 8am everyday
• Blocking by mobile number – Black Listing
• Specific mobile numbers can be blocked for incoming calls or SMS on to the double number
• Turn Off/On
• Double number can be turned off or on at anytime

You can Manage your Double Number at any time of the day by calling or sending SMS to 3300 

3300 IVR will be charged @ Rs.0.5/min

SMS to 3300 will be charged @ PKR 0.5

Process:

Once subscribed, the system will randomly select a number from Double Number pool and will notify through an SMS on your Primary number

How to make calls and send SMS from your double number?

Dial 33 before the mobile number every time you need to make a phone call or send SMS from your Double Number

Example:

If your assigned Double Number is 03201234567 & you want to make a call or send an SMS to 03217654321 then dial 3303217654321.

Receiving Party CLI will show 03201234567 on its screen 

How to make calls and send SMS from your primary Number?

If you want to make calls or send SMS from your Primary Number, simply follow the normal dialing process

Subscription Charges :

PKR 7 / Week

Call & SMS Charges from Double Number

Call Charges per minute - PKR 1.6
SMS Charges - PKR 0.5 

Primary number Call/SMS charges 

All Calls & SMS will be charged as per package plan 
To de-activate the double number SMS UNSUB to 3300

Terms and conditions apply

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PTCL’s sponsors sports day at Kainat Public School, Islamabad

Students at PTCL sponsored Sports day in Kainat Public School, Islamabad

 

As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, Pakistan Telecommunications Company (PTCL) sponsored the sports day at Kainat Public School, Islamabad.

 

PTCL sponsored the event to spread awareness about importance of extracurricular and sporting activities amongst the youth. The event provided a tremendous opportunity to the youth to showcase their skills and talents through Football and Cricket Matches, Skits, Quiz shows and Art Competitions.

 

“Positive entertainment and sporting activities are imperative for the development of our youth,” said PTCL Executive Vice President (EVP) Business Zone North, Abdul Sattar Naeem. “PTCL is striving to create a better tomorrow for the country’s youth by connecting them with the international information highway.”

 

PTCL sees it as its corporate responsibility to support and participate in such events to harness the creative potential of the youth. Students, teachers and public visited PTCL stall where they experienced the latest offerings of PTCL through live demonstrations by highly trained PTCL staff at the occasion.

 

PTCL latest 3G EVO Wingle and other wireless products remained one of the highlights of the exhibition and generated tremendous interest.

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How Websites and Blogs Steal Your Articles

Let me help you find out what happens when someone copy your article and simply put it in article spinner and then paste it on his website without even bothering to read it.

Regardless of material makes any sense or not some freaks out there are just making a duplication of original content without the permission of its owner and that too without any credits or link backs. Article published on PTETech with the title "Tribune.com.pk Faces Glitches, Working Slow Since Morning" was copied and published on itechminder.com with title "Faces Tribune.com.pk Glitches slow work since morning". Please don't tell me it makes any sense.

Several times you must have already read it openly on ProPakistani that they take a strict action against those who are doing this copy and paste activity. 

I remember this quote from ProPaksitani: 

There are dozens of blogs and newspapers copying ProPakistani’s content. We used to warn them individually, and requesting them nicely for not doing it. However, all our requests were put on deaf ears, and causing damage to us (in terms of Google Ranking and monetarily as well). 

Gentlemen, the content provided to you comes after tons of effort and money that we spend on it. We need some appreciation in return after you use this content, that’s our right, and do preserve it.

But it is awfully strange, how people still keep on doing this, from big websites to small bloggers everyone has got indulged in this.

Take a look at the website itechminder.com who keeps on stealing articles so severely that it feels if this is the other domain handled by ProPakistani, which is actually not. Most of the articles along with images are either taken from ProPakistani or PTETech blog without any credits.

You will be surprised enough to take a look at an Indian blog firstpost.com who seems to believe that there is no rule of finding the original owner of the story and who broke the news and they can just paste the stories from around the web and give credit to the website on which they have seen it first.

I have personally tried to request the admin of firstpost.com to give credit to its original owner, I seem to be failed as they prefer to give credit to their own domain rather than giving it to someone else filtering the original owners.

See the correspondence below that was done on the link www.firstpost.com/tech/googles-pakistan-site-277-others-hacked-by-turkish-hacker-group-eboz-534224.html 

For those of you who keep on stealing content on the internet, I believe there is no use of it. But if you can put some of your efforts, it won’t go fruitless and then you will see the results of your work otherwise it is a waste of time.

Though there are a lot of bloggers/websites around there who do not care to credit you when sharing your stuff, there are nice people also who do care for an example my first achievement was getting my work done on PTETech officially published on ProPakistani and then yesterday on TechCrunch.

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Tribune.com.pk Faces Glitches, Working Slow Since Morning

The Express Tribune Tribune.com.pk is going up and down since early morning today as it is facing glitches and working extremely slow. 

I have been trying to add a comment on the post and it just went non responsive and then got up and went down again.

It merits mentioning here that at the moment there is not any heavy traffic on the site but assuming that there is, it was behaving the same way in early morning assuring there is less traffic on Tribune.

As per statement on Tribune.com.pk, it is the online presence of The Express Tribune. Staffed with a team dedicated to bringing the latest news as events unfold, Tribune.com.pk relies on its distributed team of news professionals who work 24 hours, 7 days a week to bring accurate and up to the minute news to its readers.

We as a user are hoping that Tribune technical team find a solution, fix it anytime soon and bring it back to normal working.

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Cellular Services Restored Across Country

Along with the restoration of . PK Domains that were hacked yesterday morning, mobile phone services have been restored in Pakistan, three hours after the Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik ordered the services restoration.

Mobile phone services would also remain cut from 6 am to 8 pm on 10th of Muharram in 52 cities.

The cellular services were suspended in 48 cities across the country on 9th Muharram from 6 AM in accordance with the schedule citing terror threats.
  
However, Rehman Malik, without giving any timeframe for Karachi, said that mobile services suspension on 10th of Muharram would be restored till end of the main procession.

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Breaking: Pakistan Google, Microsoft and Yahoo Get Released From Hackers After 15 Hours

Google, Microsoft and Yahoo just got their Pakistani domains released by hackers, most of hacked websites are restored and are back to normal working as before, however some of them remain blocked and as it is for example apple.com

Homepages of these big domains that were hacked in the early morning yesterday, have now been restored and traffic is now normal as earlier.

Hackers were just willing to tell the authorities of these .PK domains that they can hack and deface the sites and they have done it well. Following was the sort of their statement while addressing targeted visitors 

Hacking For The Sake Of It: ‘Eboz’ Downed Google, Apple, Yahoo, Cisco, Visa, HSBC, Coca Cola, Blogspot, Sony, HP, eBay, PayPal and 300 Other Pakistani Sites, And Many More Just To Show It Can.

Earlier Google was quite about the issue as why its Pakistan edition was  hacked and it was predicted that restoration of . PK domains is possible on Monday because offices remain closed on weekends, however Google and other major companies like Microsoft, Yahoo and Yahoo administrations stepped forward and got it restored even on weekend.

Find below the updated list of released and hacked . PK domains in Pakistan:

The list of Restored/Released Major .PK Domains in Pakistan

www.google.com.pk
www.microsoft.pk
www.yahoo.pk
www.biofreeze.com.pk
www.cisco.com

The list of Still Hacked Major .PK Domains in Pakistan

www.blogspot.pk
www.itunes.pk
www.ebay.pk
www.paypal.pk

www.visa.com.pk

www.bx.com.pk

www.ciscosystems.pk

www.blogspot.com.pk

www.hp.web.pk
www.blog.microsoft.pk
www.adsense.google.com.pk
www.code.google.pk

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Malik Bans Cellular Services For Personal Business Interests: Taliban

The Pakistani Taliban on Friday mocked the government's move to suspend mobile phone services at select locations to prevent terror attacks, saying it would have no impact on their activities.  

Ihsanullah Ihsan, spokesman of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, said that we do not carry out bombings through mobile phones. The Taliban cannot be stopped by jamming mobile phone services

Malik announced that mobile services would be suspended in dozens of cities from Saturday till Sunday to prevent terror attacks on Shia processions organised to mark the Islamic month of Muharram. Malik claimed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Hakeemullah Mehsud was behind terror attacks.

I challenge Hakeemullah, who says he is a Muslim and wants to bring in Shariah, to tell me where in Islam is it written that you should kill your brothers and sisters with bombs," Malik said. The Taliban spokesman, however, claimed Malik was blocking cellular services for "his own personal business interests"

We would achieve our targets in any case, Ihsan was quoted as saying by the website of the Dawn newspaper. The militant spokesman gave his views hours after Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters in Islamabad that mobile services had been shut down across Karachi and Quetta and in parts of Islamabad as mobile SIMs had been used to trigger explosives in "90 per cent" of bomb attacks.

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Microsoft.pk and 284 Other .PK Domains Get Hacked

Microsoft.pk is also among the defaced websites hacked using the same technique by same Turkish hackers. As reported hacking of Google.com.pk by Turkish hackers. It is surprisingly strange that hackers have targeted more than 200 .PK domains.

As per Irfan Ahmed, who is an Entrepreneur, geek, hacker, coder in Pakistan and reports frequently about Pakistan websites on his blog, this defacement is due to change in DNS entries for 284 .PK domains being managed by MarkMoniter.

The hacked webpages Microsoft.PK, Google.com.pk, paypal.PK, apple.PK, chrome.PK, ebay.PK, blogspot.PK, Cisco.PK and others.

All defaced .PK domains are showing following same message which makes it confirm that it is hacked by Turkish hackers.

It remains unclear and unsure that whether the passwords have been compromised and how hackers managed to get through the user console of PKNIC. In case access to PKNIC is taken away visitors are destined to remain unreachable to these sites as offices are closed on weekends and will open on Monday. 

A message in Turkish on Microsoft.pk has been left as follows: 

“Eboz of a friend always there for me My homies have not shot by me with every breath”

At the bottom of the page, the hackers added a big question mark followed by the tag line that when translated read:

“Hello friends who are still alive, not dead!”

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Google.com.pk Gets Hacked by Turkish Hackers

Google.Com.Pk has been hacked by Turkish hackers in early morning today. Though it was working on some ISP's for example we have checked it Wateen Telecom, however currently it is completely inaccessible from networks.

The hacked webpage www.Google.com.pk is showing following message which makes it confirm that it is hacked by Turkish hackers. For those of you who access Google from within Pakistan are usually redirected to this portal. Couple of hours ago the redirect stopped working and one was taken to the international page Google.com for search queries.

A message in Turkish on Google.com.pk has been left as follows:

“Eboz of a friend always there for me My homies have not shot by me with every breath”
It further added the line “Downed Pakistan” to confirm the webpage had been taken down.
At the bottom of the page, the hackers added a big question mark followed by the tag line that when translated read:
“Hello friends who are still alive, not dead!”

Status Update via ProPakistani

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PTA Bans Indian Website IBN LIVE in Pakistan

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has banned an Indian website http://ibnlive.in.com in Pakistan. Website is related to latest news alerts from India. 

As we already know that PTA has never considered to make the list of blocked websites public and the reasons for their blockade.

As of now we are not sure why exactly IBN-LIVE is blocked, however we have confirmed it on several ISP's and have found this website complete blocked from all routes.

We are aware of PTA's efficiency in this regard, it sometimes orders ISP's to block websites with some automated system and look into the exact reason why some website should get blocked. While searching around I have not found any specific reason why this website is blocked may be after this post it gets revealed.

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Roll Out of Wateen Airport Kiosks

Roll out of Wateen kiosks has started with Karachi airport being completed this week and soon this project shall be completed at all major airports of Pakistan.

A little while ago, Wateen inked an agreement with Civil Aviation Authority of Pakistan whereby Wateen was permitted to create a WiFi mesh at all airports. 

The mesh was completely installed a few months ago and this has enabled travelers to use their mobile devices to browse, email and download using high speed internet provided by Wateen. 

Furthermore, all major airports have also permitted Wateen to place kiosks in their departure and VIP lounges to facilitate those travelers which don't happen to carry internet enabled mobile devices with them at the time but need to have access to the internet.

Wateen has always believed in enabling people to do more on the go and this is just one step towards this belief.

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Telcos Challenge PTA Order of Banning Night Packages in IHC

Aamir Pasha from Ufone said that we received the directive and have challenged it in the Islamabad High Court (IHC). We can’t comment on it because it is a judicial matter, reported The Express Tribune today.

PTA had ordered mobile phone companies to ban cheap, late-night calling rates because they allegedly promote vulgarity among young men and women.

The PTA said it asked companies to suspend attractive night-time rates in keeping with government policy.

Malahat Rab from PTA told AFP that they have issued the directive to all the mobile telephone companies to shelve night call packages. Members of parliament also demanded action. These directives are issued in the light of the government decisions and this decision has also been taken by the government. The step was taken after lengthy discussions.

Kalsoom Perveen from upper house of parliament said that these packages are not right for our youth and they strongly object to the night phone packages and recommended that the PTA either fix a time limit for this facility or ban it.

Shafqat Hayayt Khan who is an opposition lawmaker and sits on the information technology committee in the lower house, also backing the ban said that there is no doubt that these cheap night call rates packages are promoting vulgarity. We will make the PTA implement this decision.

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PTCL Holds Diabetes Prevention and Awareness Seminar

In connection with World Diabetes Day 2012, observed every year on 14 November, Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited (PTCL) held an awareness seminar on ‘Prevention of Diabetes’ at S A Siddiqui auditorium in the PTCL Head Quarters premises.

Dr. Osama Ishtiaq, Consultant Endocrinologist/Dialectologist, Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad, was specially invited by PTCL Medical Services to deliver an interactive lecture to PTCL employees about Diabetes prevention.

“PTCL believes in providing a healthy and safe working environment for its employees”, said Senior Executive Vice President (SEVP) HR, Syed Mazhar Hussain, speaking at the occasion. “The seminar is organized to create awareness regarding Diabetes, especially amongst our youth”, he said.

To commemorate the World Diabetes Day, PTCL Medical Centers also arranged Blood Sugar Tests, Serum Cholesterol and Hepatitis B and C awareness drive at PTCL Head Quarters and Medical Centers.

he major health hazards we face today, which has affected over 346 million people worldwide”,  said PTCL General Manager Medical Services, Dr Muhammad Shafiq Ur Rehman at the occasion. “We can protect ourselves from this disease through simple measures like, daily walk for 30 minutes coupled with 3-5 vegetables and fruit servings”, he added further.

Dr. Osama, while addressing the seminar,said that Diabetes prevention is as basic as eating more healthfully, becoming more physically active and losing a few extra Kilograms and it's never too late to start. He specially appreciated PTCL for providing health care information and awareness about Diabetes and its preventive measures.

PTCL routinely organizes health seminars as part of its CSR initiatives and bring health awareness for its employees.

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PTA Bans All Night Packages

PTA has issued the directive to cellular companies for blocking of night packages.

As we already know that Senate’s Standing Committee on Cabinet Division asked PTA to stop all night packages some days ago, PTA has finally sent directives to ban all night packages starting from 21st of November 2012.

Several times voice against night-packages was raised, including Punjab and KPK Provincial assemblies passed resolution for the ban of night packages.

Its worth mentioning here that almost all the cellular companies in Pakistan Mobilink, Telenor, Warid, Zong are offering quite attractive late night offers that are quite popular amongst the youth and the popularity is growing day by day. While this package are quite helpful for the students who prepare their assignments, presentations and exams late night, these packages were certainly abused by many.

The most noted case of abuse of late night offer is that a bunch of boys add each other in the conference call, and then they dial a random number and tease them late night. There have been several cases of the same sort and apparently this is the good move.

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NADRA Opens 478 Registration Centres in Pakistan

478 NADRA Registration Centres (NRCs) were operational in the country, reported Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Tuesday to the Upper House of Parliament.

In response to a question during Question Hour, he said that 187 such centres were working in Punjab, 117 in Sindh, 94 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 53 in Balochistan, 7 in Capital Territory, 9 in Gilgit Baltistan and 11 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

The minister said that 308 buildings have been hired for NRCs while 170 remaining 170 building were provided by the provincial/local governments.

An amount of Rs. 10,863,330 was being paid on account of rent per month for the hired buildings.

Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2012

Via Business Recorder

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Pakistan is Opening YouTube as Scanning Software Imported: Malik

As reported previously about announcement for removal of YouTube ban by Farooq Awan chairman PTA, Rehman Malik has assured Senate that YouTube would be unblocked once the concerned ministry (Secretary Information Technology) imports the software to scan and block the disrespectful videos on the website. 

Let the software be imported then YouTube will automatically be unblocked. This would be done within two to three weeks, the interior minister said, reported APP today.

Karim Khawaja said the professionals including doctors, engineers and lawyers have been demanding restoration of the video sharing website they benefit from it.

The import of scanning software will help to remove all derogatory material from the website.

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GIKI Holds the 13th All Pakistan Competition Softcom

Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute (GIKI) organized the 13th All Pakistan competition "Softcom", which concluded on Sunday and attracted students from across the country to take part in different modules. 

The event was originated by tech talk in which various specialized gurus shared their ideas and encounters. The tech talk was followed by Pring mobile software release and Pring Raven API guide. At the end the 36 hours PringHackathon was started. 

This time it succeeded in gathering over 250 intelligent and motivated engineering students and giving birth to innovative ideas, immaculate solutions and immense sense of positive competition. The 3 days event was filled with fun, enjoyment, thrill and competition. 

The second day started with Quiz competition in which different computing geeks participated to take the lead.Followed by quiz competition; was the web app development competition which was held in collaboration with Walnut Media in which participants were asked to develop a social media app.In speed programming competition, different coders competed to become one of the fastest coder of the country.The startup competition also started on the same day in which different teams exhibit their visionary and entrepreneur skills. 

On the third day Poster Design competition started in which participants were asked to develop a poster of a hypothetical feature of a gadget. Software and multimedia competition was also conducted which includes the development of websites and graphical animations.The final presentation of social media apps and PringHackathon were also conducted on the same day. The project exhibition was also there in which institutes from all around the countrydisplayed their innovative and exuberant ideas.It all ends with a closing ceremony in which president of ACM-GIKI AmmadIlyas and event coordinator Mr.Zaid-ur-Rehman concluded the ceremony. 

Via Business Recorder

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Nokia's 'Here' Maps App Comes to iOS App Store

Nokia's dedicated 'Here' maps app hits the iOS App Store.

Here is available now for iOS as a free download from the App Store. Today Nokia launched the free app with offline caching and voice-guided walking directions by bringing its new "Here" mapping service to iOS.

Nokia's new "Here" mapping app offers walking and public transit directions. First spotted by The Next Web, "Here" the app available for iPhones, iPads and iPods.

According to Nokia, the HTML5-based maps includes offline capabilities and, unlike Apple's own Maps app, voice-guided walk navigation, and public transportation directions. 

"Maps are hard to get right - but location is revolutionizing how we use technology to engage with the real world," said Nokia's Executive Vice President of Location & Commerce Michael Halbherr, who is responsible for Here. "That's why we have been investing and will continue to invest in building the world's most powerful location offering, one that is unlike anything in the market today."

The Finnish company also noted that future updates will come with 3D capabilities akin to Apple and Google's solutions, which will come from technology acquired by earthmine. Nokia is rolling out the mapping service on its Microsoft Windows Phone handsets as well as versions for Google's Android and Mozilla's Firefox OS.

Here are the full release notes of the app.

Download HERE Maps (iOS, Free)

Features:

• Map views - Pick the map you need from map view, live traffic view, public transport line view or satellite view
• Save map areas & wander without data coverage
• In selected countries, access community maps created and updated by users
• Maps, search and place coverage for nearly 200 countries
• Search with history and suggestions
• Share places with just a tap, including the location and how to get there, over SMS, email, or social networks
• Organize places you love into Collections
• Sign in to HERE Maps with your Nokia Account or Facebook login
• Sync with Here.net - Access your Collections anywhere
• Step-by-Step voice-guided walk navigation
• Walk navigation through pedestrian routes, parks, alleyways, and more
• Public transportation and driving directions

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PTCL Presents EVO Recharge Offer

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) has launched an attractive win-back offer for its EVO customers who can now recharge their EVO account and enjoy a full month’s usage absolutely free.

The exciting win-back offer allows all EVO customers, who have not recharged their pre-paid device or not paid their EVO post-paid bills since August 1, 2012, can now recharge and get 100% free balance for one full subsequent month equivalent to the card loading/bill payment.

This offer is valid for both pre-paid and post-paid consumer packages of EVO 3.1 Mbps. Furthermore, post-paid customers are also exempted from previous outstanding dues by paying current month s bill, in addition to enjoying a second month totally free of charge.

PTCL is committed to offer innovative solutions and affordable packages to its valued customers, said PTCL Senior Executive Vice President Commercial, Naveed Saeed.  Being industry leader, PTCL always keep its consumers at forefront of every decision it makes. Our customized packages and exciting offers always aim to exceed their expectations.

PTCL has taken this initiative to reward its devoted customers, said PTCL Executive Vice President Wireless Business, Omar Khalid.  It will not only consolidate EVO usage among our valued customers but will also strengthen PTCL’s bond with them.

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Sale of SIMs Banned in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

In case you missed the announcement of government about shutting down all the franchises in Pakistan, you will be surprised to know that in the name of counter-terrorism measures they have started the activity already.

Along with mobile number portability (MNP) banned, the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) banned the sale of all private cellphone company’s Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, acting on the directives of the Federal Interior Ministry, Dawn reported today.

The ban involves the selling of cell phone SIMs at all company and franchise outlets.

The decision to enforce the ban in the province was taken in view of the prevalent use of illegal SIMs in most terrorist activities in the province.

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Twitter Updates iPhone and Android Mobile Apps

For those of you twitter users who have access to your accounts through an iPhone or Android handset can now see headlines and photos, find out well-known twitter posts and search for a new viewpoint, declares the micro-blogging site.

This new design for mobile brings the content of each Tweet front and center, enabling twitter users to preview photos and article summaries without a tap in Discover and search results. 

Discover on twitter.com helps find popular and trending topics among friends and family in a simple stream of Tweets. To see a continuous stream of news, photos and other stories shared by the people, you can just tap “View all Tweets”.

In search, photos from relevant results will appear at the top of the stream to see what is happening from multiple perspectives.

Twitter added three new elements in search: view photos and videos first, see headlines and photos, and understand context.

People share stories on Twitter through photos and videos. The updated app now opens a grid of the most relevant media above the stream of Tweets when searching for a person, an event or a hashtag.

Media instantly appearas in search results stream on an iPhone or Android device. Photos and article summaries automatically show previews on what is happening.

Twitter users can now see context like who favorited or retweeted right there in the Tweet.

These search results are now available on twitter.com and Twitter’s updated mobile apps for iPhone and Android.

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The MNP Ban Might Be Reviewed by PTA

As part of counter-terrorism measures, the ban on mobile number portability (MNP) ordered by the ministry of interior has discouraged cellphone users who feel deprived of their right to switch over to a network of their choice while keeping the same number.

Under the MNP policy announced by the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority, cellphone users could switch to different networks while retaining their numbers. Currently 118m people are using the Global System for Mobile communication across the country.

The PTA decided to ban the MNP on Nov 9 at a meeting chaired by the interior minister since the facility was reportedly creating problems to track down anti-state elements.

Some sources said the ban might be reviewed by the PTA after Muharram, reported Dawn today.

MNP for mobile users and their reviews

Mobile phone users are of the view that how can government snatch the right of 118 million customers to have a network of their own choice since they pay for its services.

The telecom operators should take up the issue with the authorities jointly, otherwise they will be the ultimate losers since they will lose business and the telecom industry will suffer because of continuing directives of the ministry.

MNP for operators and their reviews

Some mobile phone operators have raised concerns over the ban on MNP because it will hurt the companies having limited users on their networks
The business head of a mobile phone company claimed that big firms having a major share of customers and revenue were against the MNP.

The new entrants in the telecom market or small companies are always willing to offer good call rates and packages to new customers wishing to benefit from the MNP. Such measures would discourage investment by the telecom operators.

Why MNP is blocked in Pakistan

As per a counter-terrorism official, they keep people under observation and track them down through their cellphones but now terrorists or other people under observation port out their numbers from one network to another.

Once a user switches to a new company because of MNP the new operator does not impose observation, call recording and message tracking on the number until it is approached by the security authorities.

Solution to use MNP and still keep security measures

As per a network engineer of a cellular company said: Once we put a number under observation on the request of ‘sensitive institutions’ we regularly share their data with them. However, once a customer uses MNP, issues often arise. But the agencies are supposed to follow the number not the operator.

I think the security operators, the cellular network companies and the regulator should sit down and resolve the issue as cellphone use is always linked with terrorism and ordinary costumers have to suffer, a telecom analyst, said.

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Anonymous Delete Foreign Ministry Database, Hack Hundreds of Israeli Websites in Support of Gaza

Israeli media confirmed the Hacker group Anonymous’s move that protesting against Operation Pillar of Defense in Gaza, it has launched a huge attack (named #OpIsrael) reportedly taking down almost 700 Israeli websites ranging from high-profile governmental structures such as the Foreign Ministry to local tourism companies’ pages.

Mashav, the biggest attack as of now has been the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s international development program. Anonymous announced on Twitter they’ve hacked into the program’s database, with the website remaining inaccessible at the moment.

“There is [sic] so many defaced Israeli websites right now, that we just made a list of them,” Anonymous tweeted.

The Jerusalem Post has confirmed the group’s assault, including the attack on the Foreign Ministry’s website, as well as those of Kadima party, Bank of Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv Municipality. The latter is online as of now. Among other functions, it provides residents with directions to bomb shelters. Meanwhile, the majority of the web pages that were taken down were blank, but some showed pro-Palestinian images and messages, Jerusalem Post reported.

What was the reason for Anonymous’s assault

Amid the conflict, which has already claimed at least 33 lives, 30 of them Palestinians, Anonymous also pledged to help those who are at the heart of the conflict: many Palestinians were left without electricity, and consequently, without internet access. The hackers gave instructions on their Twitter account for residents to get reconnected: “If you have friends in Gaza who still have phone, but need internet, give them these dial-up numbers and instructions: http://pastebin.com/6dYQruHu.”

Anonymous put together a “Gaza Care Package,” which contains instructions in Arabic and English to assist Palestinians in the event that the Israeli government cuts their internet connection. Plus, the package includes information on evading IDF surveillance, along with first aid information. The collective encouraged Palestinians to download and share the package with others.
Anonymous members also contacted Israeli forces directly. A tweet from an Anonymous account to an IDF spokesperson warned, “It would be wise of you to expect us”, while a statement on their webpage said, “Stop bombing Gaza. Millions of Israelis and Palestinians are lying awake, exposed and terrified.”

Anonymous’s assault Update via RT 

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Warid Brings 'My Status' Service For Its Customers

For the 1st time in Pakistan, Warid allows you to notify callers of your status even before you pick up the call! By following a simple procedure, Warid customers can set a status message which will be displayed on the phone screen of the calling party while the call is connecting.

Now your friends, family and colleagues can know what you are up to even before you attend their call. This innovative service allows Warid subscribers to personalize status messages for individuals, groupsand general callers.

So enjoy another first from Warid’s superior quality network and connect with the world on your own terms!

Mechanics:

In order to use My Status, users must register for the service

• Send “ON” to 6661 to subscribe to this service
• You will receive an SMS verifying your subscription from 6662.
• Reply with ‘Set Gen Your Status’, for example SET GEN I AM PRAYING…PLEASE CALL ME BACK IN 15 MINS and send to 6662 to set your status.
• Once you set up your status(es), your contact(s) will start receiving Flash SMS anytime they call you.

Charges:

• Weekly subscription charges of PKR 1.99+tax with automatic renewal* for prepaid subscribers.
• Monthly subscription of PKR 29.99+tax for postpaid subscribers.
• All SMS sent to 6662 are charged PKR 0.5+tax

In case customer does not have sufficient balance, the system will try for subsequent 90 days to charge him for this service. In case charging is still not successful, the system will delete the subscriber profile and customer shall have to subscribe to the service from start.

With My Status you can:

• Create a general status: A general status is visible to all callers regardless if they are in any group/list.
• Create individual status: You can set status for individual callers.
• Create groups: You can create groups and set status individually for each group.
• There are three types of group available
• Family
• Friends
• Colleagues
• Create Black list:You can create a black list for numbers you don’t want to send any status to.

The following hierarchy is followed when displaying status:

• Black list check
• Caller Status
• Groups Status
• General Status

Example: If a number is in a particular group he/she will not receive a general status, only group status shall be received any time they call you.

Commands:

You can perform certain actions, like setting up a General status for all callers, setting up status for individual caller(s) & groups.

All commands are sent to 6662.

Description	Keywords	Send to	Example
Service Subscription	ON	6661	Send “ON” to 6661
Unsubscribe	OFF	6662	Send “OFF” to 6662
Set new or replace existing General Status	Set Gen	6662	Send “set GEN I am in a meeting" to 6662
View Current General Status	View Gen	6662	Send “view Gen” to 6662
Delete General Status	Del Gen	6662	Send "DEL GEN" to 6662
View General Status	View Caller	6662	Send "view caller 92321xxxxxxx" to 6662
Set new or replace existing Caller Status	Set Caller	6662	Send " set caller 92321xxxxxxx Don’t forget, we've got to go someplace" to 6662
Delete Caller Status	Del Caller	6662	Send "del caller 92321xxxxxxx" to 6662
Add Number to Group	Add [Group_Name] [MSISDN]	6662	Send “Add Friends 92321xxxxxxx” to 6662
Delete Number from Group	Del [Group_Name] [MSISDN]	6662	Send “del Friends 92321xxxxxxx” to 6662
View/List Numbers in Group	list [Group_Name]	6662	Send "list Friends" to 6662
Clear Group Numbers	Clear Numbers [Group_Name]	6662	Send "clear numbers Friends" to 6662
Get Group Status	view [Group_Name]	6662	Send "view Friends" to 6662
Set new or replace existing Group Status	Set [Group_Name] [status]	6662	Send "set Friends I am on vacation" to 6662
Clear Group Status	clear [Group_Name]	6662	Send "clear Friends" to 6662
Put the last caller in black list	Black	6662	Send "Black" to 6662
Help	Help	6662	Send "HELP" to 6662
Add Number to Black List	Add Black [MSISDN]	6662	Send "Add Black 92321xxxxxxx" to 6662
Delete Number from Black List	Del Black [MSISDN]	6662	Send "Del Black 92321xxxxxxx" to 6662
View Black List Numbers	List Black	6662	Send "List Black" to 6662

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