PTA bans dating apps including Tinder

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has recently blocked access to five dating and live streaming applications namely Tinder, Tagged, Skout, Grinder and SayHi, the authority announced on Twitter.

In view of bad effects of immoral and indecent content streaming through above applications, PTA issued notices to the management of above mentioned platforms for the purpose of removing dating services and moderate live streaming content in accordance with local laws of Pakistan, PTA said in a press release.

But the platforms have not yet responded to the notices within the stipulated time therefore the Authority issued orders for blocking of the said applications.

PTA can, however, reconsider blocking of the said applications provided management of the companies assures adherence to the local laws with respect to moderating the indecent/immoral content through meaningful engagement.

Earlier, PTA issued a warning to Chinese-owned social media app TikTok to clamp down on what it called "immoral, obscene and vulgar" content on the video-sharing platform.

However, in September last year the Islamabad High Court (IHC) declared that the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) is not empowered to block any website in violation of the due process and without hearing the viewpoint of the other party.

 

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Fastest Living Human Calculator

Have you ever wondered that one can do mathematical calculations faster than a calculator? Yes, there were people who have done this like Ramanujan, Shakuntala Devi and many others. But recently there is another man, aged 20, Neelakantha Bhanu Prakash who can perform mathematical calculations 10x faster than a normal human being.

What's 869,463,853 times 73? It's 63,470,861,269 and it takes just 26 seconds for Bhanu, known in India as the "world's fastest human calculator," to work it out in his mind. Bhanu says he's able to make such complex calculations at breakneck speed through "structured practice."

"Let's say I am doing a multiplication of 8,763 multiplied by eight," he says. "I'll probably multiply: 8,000 by eight which is 64,000, 700 by eight which is 5,600, 60 by eight which is 480, three by eight is 24. And I add all of these. But this requires the human brain to remember all this.

"The methods which I use are very similar to general methods but certain things, basically it is brain optimization. I optimize my methods and make them better than before.

"At the end of the day whatever I call my methods, sometimes it just happens. There's a certain process, obviously, but since you have trained your brain, it just happens."

He became the first Asian to win gold at the Mental Calculation World Championship at the Mind Sports Olympiad (MSO) in London on August 15.

Bhanu beat 29 opponents from 13 countries to take the gold in the competition and his speed was so extraordinary that judges made him jump through extra hoops and solve more calculations to confirm his accuracy.

At the age of 5, in 2005, Bhanu faced a tragic accident which resulted in head injury with 85 stitches in his skull. He spent a one whole in year on bed and that time he tried to keep his brain busy in solving puzzle and playing chess. Bhanu finished third in the sub-junior category at a state level speed arithmetic competition in Andhra Pradesh state. His performance brought his father to tears, Bhanu says. "It wasn't the medal, it was what led me there that moved my father," he says. Since then Bhanu secured many positions and records even leveling India’s legendary mathematician Shakuntala Devi.

In 2018, Bhanu founded Exploring Infinities, an educational organization that aims to make math cool, challenging, interesting and immersive, by tracking cognitive ability development through arithmetic games.

 

 

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UK Recalls 750,000 Coronavirus Testing Kits

Due to concerns over safety standards and issues up to 750,000 coronavirus unused testing kits have been recalled by UK that were manufactured by Randox.

At the start of the coronavirus crisis, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is understood to have operated a chaotic policy for procurement of  testing kits and it faced criticism for the purchase of millions of kits that turned out to be significantly less effective than originally claimed by pharmaceutical companies.

The recall ordered by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) comes after the UK government instructed care homes and members of the public to immediately stop using Randox testing kits in mid-July following fears over sterility.

DHSC spokesperson said: “We have high safety standards for all coronavirus tests. Following the pausing of Randox kits on 15 July, Randox have now recalled all test kits as a precautionary measure.”

“Our testing support for care homes continues as any resident or member of staff with symptoms can immediately access a free test and we are exploring ways to increase the amount of testing, making full use of available lab capacity.”

The department has commissioned an accredited laboratory to verify the sterility of a specific supplier of Randox swabs according to the formal international standard for sterility testing. The results of the investigation are expected in the coming weeks.

Randox have recalled all test kits as a precaution to ensure paused kits do not continue to be used while the safety checks are ongoing. The tests are not officially CE marked, assessed before being placed on the market in the European Economic Area, and have not received an exemption to be placed on the market during the pandemic.

DHCS is in the process of contacting every setting which has sent test kits for processing to remind them of the instruction to ensure kits are not used, though the regulatory responsibility to issue a recall lies with Randox. DHSC has also instructed Randox to recall all Randox test kits from NHS test and trace testing settings. It said: “The risk to safety is low and test results from Randox kits are not affected.”

A Randox Laboratories spokesperson said it had not been provided with satisfactory evidence to support the CE marking for Covid-19 sample collection kits purchased from an external supplier. “Noting the lack of CE certification by the supplier and that some kits remain in the field at this time, Randox has, as a regulatory measure, initiated the recall of those kits used within the national testing programme,” they said.

“Randox Laboratories will continue to provide high-volume Covid-19 testing to the national testing programme from their laboratories, based on sample collection kits from other providers.”

 

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