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Showing posts from January, 2025

Chinese Lab's AI LLM Performance Shocks Silicon Valley

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A Chinese Lab has sparked panic in Silicon Valley with the release of its first AI model that can outperform America's best despite being built more cheaply and with less-powerful chips, according to the US media reports. The lab called  DeepSeek  has recently unveiled a free, open-source large-language model (LLM) that it says took only two months and $5.5 million million to build, using reduced-capability chips from Nvidia called H800s. By comparison, the US-based OpenAI's closed LLM model cost $100 million to develop and train using the most advanced H100 chips from Nvidia. Open-source and free DeepSeek models can significantly help developing nations like Pakistan by providing affordable access to the latest AI technology, allowing them to develop solutions tailored to their specific needs without high costs.  DeepSeek, a small startup lab in China, has accomplished this feat despite the US technology export controls to slow down China's AI efforts. Former Google...

PFX to Advance Pakistan Air Force Modernization

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Pakistan has unveiled its PFX (Pakistan Fighter Experimental) program as a significant upgrade to its JF-17 joint program with China. The new upgrade will have a number of stealth features ranging from the use of radar-absorbing composite materials and diverterless supersonic inlets (DSI) to internal weapons bay (IWB) which will significantly reduce the aircraft's radar signature. It is targeted for completion by the end of this decade. In addition, the PFX's twin-engine design will improve maneuverability and allow greater payload capacity.  Pakistan PFX Concept Fighter. Source: Raksha Anirveda The program is part of Pakistan's broader strategy to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers and strengthen the domestic  defense industry . Currently, 58% of JF-17 components are manufactured locally by PAC, but Pakistan aims to increase this share to achieve full production autonomy for the PFX. It is not just about the PAF modernization but also about positioning Pakistan as an imp...

Pakistan to License Multiple LEO Satellite Internet Service Providers

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The Pakistan government is preparing to license three low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellite operators for space communication services in the country, according to media reports. The companies whose applications are pending include London-based OneWeb, China's Shanghai Spacecom and US headquartered Starlink.  They operate tens of thousands of small mass-produced satellites in low orbits that communicate with designated (mobile and stationary) ground stations.  Each LEO satellite circles the earth in 128 minutes or less. The critical importance of the services they offer has recently become apparent in the Ukraine War being waged in Europe and the ongoing disaster response in the areas devastated by the California wildfires. Such services are essential for any area, remote or otherwise, where the land-based infrastructure either does not exist or it has been destroyed by war or natural disasters. Representation of low, medium and geosynchronous orbits. Source: MIT Pakistan has establ...

British Pakistani Grooming Gangs: Myths and Facts

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American billionaire and President-Elect Donald Trump's confidante Elon Musk's recent tweets have revived the allegations by the far right that the  British Pakistani  gangs are mainly responsible for sex crimes against children in the United Kingdom.  Earlier, these claims were repeated by former British Home Secretary Suella Braverman when she said in a television interview that child grooming gangs in the UK were “almost all British-Pakistani”.  This claim elicited a strong response by British Press regulator   IPSO  which said that Braverman’s decision to link “the identified ethnic group and a particular form of offending was significantly misleading” because the (British) Home Office’s own research had concluded offenders were mainly from white backgrounds. The British Home Office  Report  on Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation (December 2021) said that while some high-profile cases involved men of Pakistani ethnicity (2%), the academ...

Pakistan Stock Market Among World's Best Performers in 2024

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Pakistan's KSE-100 index soared 86% in 2024, making it the second best among major indexes, according to  Bloomberg  News. The 2024 performance of KSE-100 represents its best year since 2002 when it shot up 112% . The top 3 performing stock markets in 2024 were Argentina (114%), Pakistan (88%) and Kenya (79%), according to Topline Securities. The US markets posted double digit gains with the AI-driven tech-heavy NASDAQ-100 up 27.6%. Small and medium US companies performed well with the Russell 2000 Index edging out India's Sensex with an 8.9% return.   Pakistan Among Top Performing Stock Markets in 2024. Source: Bloomberg Clearly, the $7 billion IMF program helped restore some investor confidence in Pakistan's economy in 2024. It was also boosted by remittances from  overseas Pakistanis  in  July-October 2024 which soared nearly 35% YoY to $11.8 billion as compared to $8.8 billion in July-Oct 2023. The fact that the KSE100 shares valuations relative to...