Author: Ali Qasim

Shaheen Shah Afridi becomes pacer with most Test wickets in 2021

Posted on by Ali Qasim

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Star of Pakistani team during West Indies tour, Shaheen Shah Afridi has become the fast bowler with the most wickets in the Test format in 2021 so far — after his 18-wicket haul during the Test series against West Indies in Jamaica.

The fast bowler is followed by Pakistan’s Hasan Ali (32), England’s James Anderson (29), West Indies’ Kemar Roach (27), and South Africa’s Anrich Nortje (25). Shaheen Afridi has also attained a career-best ICC Test ranking after his strong performance in the recently concluded series against West Indies.

Shaheen helped trigger the West Indies’ batting collapse in both innings during the second Test match, grabbing 10 wickets in the process. The left-arm pacer has managed to gain 10 slots to reach no 8 on the MRF ICC Test bowler’s rankings. Before the Test began, Shaheen was on number 18 in the bowler’s rankings.

Moreover, he is the first Pakistani fast bowler since May 2000 to claim a 10-wicket match figure in West Indies. The last Pakistani fast bowler to do so was Wasim Akram when he took 11/110 at St. John’s.

Xiaomi revenue surges record 64% prepared autonomous driving expansion.

Posted on by Ali Qasim

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp’s (1810.HK) second-quarter revenue rose a record 64% from a year earlier, it said on Wednesday, announcing the purchase of an autonomous driving startup as it prepares to expand into the competitive market.

Sales reached 87.8 billion yuan ($13.56 billion), up from 53.54 billion a year earlier and beating analyst expectations of 84.53 billion yuan as the company grew its share of the global smartphone market and expanded its ‘IoT’ product footprint.

Net income reached 6.32 billion yuan, up 87.4% year on year and above analyst expectations.Global smartphone shipments ranking rose to No.2, firmly establishing the Xiaomi brand in the premium smartphone market with its products.

According to the details , Xiaomi saw its second-quarter revenue rise a record 64% from a year earlier, it said on Wednesday, In the second quarter of 2021, Xiaomi’s total revenue amounted to RMB87.8 billion, representing an increase of 64.0% year-over-year; adjusted net profit for the period was RMB6.3 billion, an increase of 87.4% year-over-year. Total revenue and adjusted net profit both reached record highs in the quarter demonstrating the excellence of the business model and the robustness of its operations.

Mi’s smartphone business continued to exhibit significant growth in the second quarter of 2021, highlighted by record-breaking smartphone revenue and shipments. Smartphone revenue amounted to RMB59.1 billion in the reporting period representing an increase of 86.8% year-over-year. The Group’s global smartphone shipments reached 52.9 million units representing an increase of 86.8% year-over-year. According to Canalys, Xiaomi’s global smartphone shipments ranked No. 2 for the first time in the second quarter with a market share of 16.7%.

Meanwhile, the Group’s smartphone shipments in mainland China market also grew rapidly. According to Canalys, in the second quarter of 2021, our smartphone market share in mainland China rose to 16.8% from 10.3% in the second quarter of 2020, ranking third with a 35.1% year-over-year increase in smartphone shipments, the highest growth rate among major players in the market.

According to third party data, in the second quarter of 2021, the market share of Xiaomi’s smartphones in mainland China with prices between RMB3,000 and RMB4,000, RMB4,000 and RMB5,000, and above RMB5,000, witnessed a year-over-year increase. In the first half of 2021, the global shipments of our smartphones with retail prices at or above RMB3,000 in mainland China and EUR300 or equivalent in overseas markets exceeded 12 million units, surpassing the total of around 10 million units shipped in 2020.

Revenue from internet services reached record high, user base in key overseas markets continued to expand. Xiaomi’s internet services segment maintained its growth momentum. In the second quarter of 2021, revenue from internet services amounted to RMB7.0 billion, reaching a record high and representing an increase of 19.1% year-over-year.

The Group also continued to leverage its online channels overseas. In the first half of 2021, it sold more than 10 million smartphones via online channels in overseas markets, excluding India, representing an increase of over 60% year-over-year. Robust growth underpinned by relentless focus on technological innovation and talent development

Xiaomi remain steadfast in its pursuit of technology advancement which strengthens the backbone of its business. In the second quarter of 2021, Xiaomi recorded RMB3.1 billion in research and development expenses representing a year-over-year increase of 56.5%.

Is Feroze Khan pursuing “Boxing” Professionally?

Posted on by Ali Qasim

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

The Khani star Feroze Khan is seriously considering a career shift from acting to professional boxing, revealing that he’s eyeing the World Boxing Championship as his ultimate target. Talking to a leading News Channel during his boxing practice, Feroze opened up about shifting his focus towards boxing for which he’s been training hard with a coach and expects to compete professionally next year.

With a successful TV career, much is at stake for Feroze at a sport like boxing that often leaves players bruised and busted. However, such thoughts are far from the Ishqiya star’s head for now.

“I know everything is at stake, but eyes on the prize. If I think about the consequences then I’m gone. I should just keep my eyes on the prize, at my target… I’m looking at the World Boxing Championship,” he said.

When asked whether he looks up to boxers like Waseem Khan and Amir Khan, Feroze listed down his own inspirations, naming boxing heavyweights like Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Canelo Alvarez, and Floyd Mayweather.

“Their careers, their stories really inspire me. I also like our own Pakistani boxers but if I have to look at someone I’ll look at the top 5 to be in there,” he said. How soon will we see him fighting professionally? According to Feroze, it is just the beginning of his training.

“It takes a lot of time, let’s say, it can take up to one year. We will do a worldwide campaign and have sessions because before stepping inside the ring, I have to make sure I am ready for it. I am still learning but I am sure that I will fight.”

WhatsApp to introduce message reactions feature similar to Instagram, Twitter

Posted on by Ali Qasim

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Facebook-owned messaging giant WhatsApp is reportedly working on a new feature called “message reactions.”

According to WABetainfo, the feature in itself is not new as it’s available on popular messaging apps like Messenger, iMessage, Twitter and Instagram. Message reactions on WhatsApp are expected to work similarly. to other apps like Messenger and Twitter. You can react to a message with emoji and the ones usually available are heart, laugh, angry, smile, like or dislike

“You already know what is a reaction: it’s usually an emoji that you can place on a message to express emotions. Instagram, Twitter, iMessage already support message reactions and today we can start to discover the progress of their development,” read a post on WABetainfo.

A screenshot provided by the blog showed a message that reads, “You received a reaction. Update your version of WhatsApp to see reactions.”

The Facebook-owned messaging app is working on introducing a message to present when the user is using an outdated version of the app that does not support receiving reactions.In this case, the user can not see the reaction but WhatsApp will present a different message, asking to update WhatsApp to see the reaction.

WhatsApp will obviously implement this feature on WhatsApp for iOS and Web/Desktop as the screenshot taken above is from a WhatsApp beta for Android.

Junaid Safder receiving applause for melodious singing at own Nikkah

Posted on by Ali Qasim

Lahore (NUT-DESK)
A video of PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz’s son Junaid Safdar singing the classic tune Kya Hua Tera Wada at his nikkah has left netizens in awe of his melodic voice.

Junaid Safdar tied the knot with Ayesha Saif Khan at The Lanesborough hotel in London over the weekend and the internet has since been buzzing with videos and pictures from the lavish event.

In the latest video to surface from the event, Junaid Safdar is seen crooning the classic R.D Burman and Muhammad Rafi song while sitting next to his wife who can be seen singing along with Safdar.

Much to everyone’s surprise, it seems like Junaid has a secret penchant for singing, with many pointing out his melodic voice. “Wow, what a lovely voice. Totally amazed,” wrote one user on Instagram.

Saboor Aly, Ali Ansari fly off to Northern areas for joint vacation

Posted on by Ali Qasim

Lahore (Nut-DesK)

Saboor Aly has jetted off to the Northern areas of Pakistan with fiance Ali Ansari. The couple, that got engaged earlier this year, was spotted touring the mountainous regions over the weekend.

In photos posted by Saboor on Instagram, the Parizaad star was spotted donning an emerald green sweater paired with denim jeans. Saboor also sported a navy blue cap with her look.

“More sunshine,” she captioned alongside her thread of photos.

Sheheryar Munawar, Ali Rehman Khan join cast of ISPR project ‘Sinf-e-Aahan’

Posted on by Ali Qasim

Lahore (NUT-Desk)

The much-awaited upcoming ISPR project titled Sinf-e-Aahan does not only comprise a star-studded female cast. The show that will narrate the story of five female army cadets- Sajal Aly, Kubra Khan, Syra Yousuf, Yumna Zaidi and Ramsha Khan- also stars some famous male actors.

In a recent social media update given by producer Ammara Hikmat, actors Sheheryar Munawar and Ali Rehman Khan were spotted in a group photo with Syra Yousuf and director Nadeem Baig.

Although nothing has officially been unveiled about any other male actors, fans believe both and Shehryar and Ali are already on board.

Facebook to restore audio, video call option to main app

Posted on by Ali Qasim

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Facebook has decided to bring back the audio and video call option to the main app. According to a report by Bloomberg, the feature will allow users to make video or audio calls to their Facebook friends via the main Facebook app. The feature is expected to be introduced soon. Chats, however, are not being brought back to the main app and users will still have to download Messenger if they wish to chat with Facebook friends.

Earlier versions of Facebook had allowed users to chat with friends while browsing the app. In 2011, Facebook split up the feature and introduced the Messenger app for communications.

Most Facebook users adapted to this change and separately downloaded the Messenger app for communications, however, it seems that Facebook has decided that Messenger wasn’t the best idea after all. Facebook’s Director of Product for Messenger Connor Hayes stated that initially, the changes will be rolled out for a select few users in the US.

It is expected that it will take a while for the feature to make its way to more users around the world.

Mehwish Hayat’s new haircut video goes viral

Posted on by Ali Qasim

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Pakistani superstar Mehwish Hayat has gotten a new haircut for the year 2021 despite most of her of fans suggesting that she should grow her hair longer. Taking to Instagram, the Punjab Nahi Jaungi actor shared a video of her hair transformation and thanked her hairstylist for the new look.

Sharing the video, Mehwish said, “Thank you for such a beautiful haircut @waryam942! I know that most of you suggested I should grow my hair longer but I needed to get rid of dead hair and desperately needed a change of look.”

She also asked her millions of fans to give a feedback to her new change. “What do you think?? Fans and fellow showbiz stars flooded the comment section and praised ‘gorgeous’ Mehwish Hayat for the new look.

The endearing post has won the hearts of the fans on social media.

Pakistan dominate second Test, set West Indies 329-run target

Posted on by Ali Qasim

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Pakistan’s Shaheen Shah Afridi grabbed career best figures as the tourists dominated with bat and ball on the fourth day of the second and final test against West Indies at Sabina Park  to put themselves on course to square the series.

Shaheen took 6-51 as the visitors bowled West Indies out for 150 shortly after lunch to ensure a 152-run first innings lead and then sped to 176-6 before declaring their second innings, to set the home side a target of 329 to win the test.

 

West Indies were 49-1 at the close in a test that has already lost a full day to bad weather yet still looks likely to produce a result. Pakistan still need nine wickets while the home side require 280 runs in what would be a record-breaking run chase at the Jamaican venue.

Pakistan, beaten by one wicket in the first test, applied an aggressive approach throughout the day, as West Indies resumed on their overnight score of 39-3, with Shaheen well supported by Mohammad Abbas, who took 3-44. Nkrumah Bonner, who was 18 not out overnight, top scored for the home team with 37.

Pakistan then wasted no time looking to set their hosts an imposing target, changing their batting order to take on the air of a limited overs lineup. Abid Ali came out swinging and helped the tourists race to 70-1 in the 10th over before he was caught in the gully off Alzarri Joseph for 29.

Fellow opener Imran Butt scored 37 off 44 balls and captain Babar Azam chimed in with a quick 33 runs, declaring when he holed out to long-on. Pakistan’s 176 second innings runs came off only 27.2 overs and with a further 138 overs left in the test, they have given themselves ample time to bowl out West Indies and square the series.

Shaheen continued his heroics near the end of the day’s play with a direct throw that ran out Kieran Powell for 23 as the visitors lost the first wicket of their second innings. Captain Kraigg Brathwaite (17 not out) and nightwatchman Alzarri Joseph, fulfilling the role for a second successive day, will resume on Tuesday.