ISLAMABAD: Google on Wednesday launched two new programs to support Pakistan’s gaming and app industry by teaching local developers how to create high-quality games, Pakistani state-run media reported.
The two programs include Game Design Masterclass and Google Ads Academy, which have been introduced across major Pakistani cities to train the country’s talented game developers as part of a six-month initiative.
The programs were launched at a Google-hosted tech event, Think Apps 2024, in the eastern city of Lahore that brought together nearly 350 of Pakistan’s top developers alongside global industry leaders and experts.
The event focused on empowering developers to harness artificial intelligence (AI) to drive innovation, growth and sustainability in the expanding app industry in the South Asian country, the state-run APP news agency reported.
“Pakistan’s app and gaming industry has a high potential for long-term future growth,” Google Director for Pakistan Farhan Qureshi was quoted as saying. “Several Pakistani studios are leading the charge in mobile app development, such as Vyro.”
He said AI, Hazel Mobile, Games District, GeniTeam, and Finz Games were consistently generating millions of downloads daily, employing hundreds of Pakistanis, and garnering global attention.
Pakistan could achieve a $6.6 billion annual increase in revenue potential by 2030 by focusing on digital exports, with the gaming and app industry identified as one of the key growth opportunity areas, according to a recent report by Access Partnership, a global technology-focused public policy consultancy firm.
Pakistan’s gaming and app industry has demonstrated impressive growth, including a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 32 percent in global downloads of locally-made apps from 2018 to 2023, in recent years, the APP reported. The industry remained resilient as in-app purchase (IAP) revenue soared by 50 percent when overall app downloads dipped slightly in 2023, placing the country at number 17 globally.
Qureshi said Google aimed to help Pakistani developers create exceptional games and apps, drive profitability and build sustainable businesses by providing access to its AI-powered products and resources.
“This will subsequently unlock the opportunity to improve the country’s economy through digital export proceeds and provide high-value employment,” he said. “Google remains dedicated to investing in Pakistan’s developer ecosystem and supporting its journey to global success.”
Different Google programs like the Google Ads Academy and ‘Google App Academy’ have reached over 800 participants to date, apart from offering in-person offline hackathon workshops in Lahore and Islamabad, according to the APP.
Google is also deepening engagement at key events like the Google Developer Conference (US), CXO meetups in Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (APAC), and APAC’s App Summit, connecting leaders of Pakistan’s top gaming and app studios’ talent with global peers, state media said.
Google launches two new programs to boost Pakistan’s gaming industry
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Google launches two new programs to boost Pakistan’s gaming industry
- ‘Google Design Masterclass’ and ‘Google Ads Academy’ will help train Pakistani game developers as part of a six-month initiative
- The programs were launched at a Google-hosted event, ‘Think Apps 2024,’ bringing together Pakistani developers, global experts
Imran Khan’s party says 90-day ‘do or die’ anti-Pakistan government movement underway
- Khan’s party earlier this month announced its plan to launch nationwide anti-government movement after Muharram
- Ali Amin Gandapur, KP chief minister and a close Imran Khan aide, says movement to “reach its peak” on August 5
ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party announced on Sunday that its 90-day “do or die” protest movement against the government is underway, saying that it would determine the future of the party.
Earlier this month, the PTI announced it would launch a nationwide protest movement after the Islamic month of Muharram, following a ruling by Pakistan’s top court denying the party reserved parliamentary seats for minorities and women.
Tensions further escalated days earlier when 26 PTI provincial lawmakers were suspended by the speaker of the Punjab Assembly for 15 sessions, after they protested during Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif’s speech on June 27.
Gandapur arrived in the eastern city of Lahore from KP on Saturday to discuss the party’s political strategy and finalize its protest movement against the government.
“We have announced a 90-day protest movement, which began yesterday [Saturday] and it will be a do-or-die movement for us, whether we remain there [in KP government] or not, ” Gandapur, flanked by the PTI’s leadership, told reporters at a news conference in Lahore.
The KP chief minister vowed that the party’s anti-government protest movement will “reach its peak” on August 5, marking two years since Khan was arrested after being convicted by a court for illegally selling state gifts.
‘REAL DECISION-MAKERS’
Khan, who has remained in prison since then, says the charges against him are politically motivated and has denied wrongdoing. His party has held various protests demanding his release and an independent investigation into the elections of February 2024. In one of the PTI’s protests in November last year, the government said four troops were killed in clashes with Khan supporters. The PTI rejects this allegation.
Gandapur alleged that the PTI was being denied its right to hold peaceful protests across the country, vowing that it would now mobilize people across the country.
“We will announce a plan accordingly, after taking all our local workers and leaders into confidence on how to proceed with this movement,” the chief minister said.
On holding talks with the government, Gandapur said his government was ready to hold talks but with the “real decision-makers,” indirectly referring to the military.
“They [military establishment] are the real decision-makers, so we will talk to them only as there is no point in talking to those [the government] who have no power to make any decisions,” Gandapur said.
Arab News reached out to federal ministers and senior leaders of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party for a response, but did not receive one till the filing of this report.
Pakistan’s military says it does not interfere in political issues and rejects the PTI’s allegations that it conspired with Khan’s political opponents to oust his government in a parliamentary vote in April 2022.
Pakistan’s government has denied the PTI’s allegations of stifling dissent and says the elections of February 2024 were transparent. It accuses the former prime minister and his party of attempting to disrupt the government’s efforts to achieve sustainable economic growth via violent protests.
Pakistan says atrocities in Palestine, Serbia must not go ‘unnoticed’
- State minister for overseas Pakistanis participates in memorial service for victims of 1995 Srebenica massacre
- Aun Chaudhry expresses solidarity with oppressed communities in Palestine and Kashmir, reports state media
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s State Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Aun Chaudhry reaffirmed Islamabad’s commitment to protecting human rights globally, urging the world not to let atrocities in Palestine, Serbia and Kashmir go “unnoticed,” state-run media reported on Sunday.
Chaudhry was in Potočari, Bosnia, where he took part in a solemn memorial service in remembrance of the 30th anniversary of the 1995 killings in Srebenica. According to the UN, the Bosnian Serb army overran Srebrenica in July 1995, previously declared a safe area under a UN Security Council resolution, and brutally murdered thousands of men and teenagers there.
Chaudhry laid a floral wreath at the memorial site, paying tribute to those who were massacred in the event 30 years ago. He also spoke about the rights of the people of Gaza, where Israel has killed at least 57,882 Palestinians since the start of the war in 2023, according to the health ministry there.
“Aun Chaudhary stressed that atrocities whether in Serbia, Palestine, Kashmir or anywhere else in the world must not go unnoticed,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported.
He reaffirmed Pakistan’s unwavering commitment to the protection of human rights globally, expressing solidarity with oppressed communities in Palestine and Kashmir, the state broadcaster said.
Pakistan, which does not have diplomatic ties with Israel, has consistently criticized Tel Aviv and called on world powers to intervene for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Islamabad has repeatedly demanded an independent Palestinian state, with Al Quds Al Sharif as its capital and as per the pre-June 1967 border.
Pakistan’s Nadeem, India’s Chopra to reignite javelin rivalry in Poland in August
- Arshad Nadeem and Neeraj Chopra to face off in Wanda Diamond League 2025 competition in Silesia in August
- Two last faced each other in August 2024 at Paris Olympics where Nadeem won gold with 92.97-meter throw5
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s javelin star Arshad Nadeem and India’s Neeraj Chopra will reignite their rivalry in August when the two sportsmen compete at the Silesia Wanda Diamond League 2025 competition scheduled to be held in Poland, the official website of the Olympics said this week.
This will be the first time Nadeem and Chopra will face each other since their charged encounter at the Paris 2024 Olympic final, where Nadeem clinched gold ahead of Neeraj with an Olympic record-shattering throw of 92.97 meters.
The Wanda Diamond League is an annual sports competition featuring elite athletes across sprints, jumps, throws and distance events. The competition is set to take place next month in Silesia on August 16.
“Neeraj Chopra will face Arshad Nadeem,” the Olympics website said, quoting the Diamond League organizers.
“The Indian-Pakistani battle awaiting the Polish fans will be the first opportunity for revenge after the Paris Olympics.”
Chopra has had an impressive year so far, kicking off his season with a win at the Potch Invitational in South Africa before finishing second at the Doha Diamond League, where he breached the coveted 90-meter barrier with a massive 90.23m throw — a new national record.
The Indian athlete then had to settle for a second-place finish again at the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial in Poland but returned to winning ways at the Paris Diamond League. Since then, he has logged back-to-back wins at the Ostrova Golden Spike in Czechia and the NC Classic in India.
Nadeem, meanwhile, recently marked a triumphant return to action by winning gold at the Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, Korea. He hadn’t competed since his Paris 2024 exploits.
Rivalries, particularly between athletes or teams from bitter rivals India and Pakistan, have always been one of the most intriguing aspects of sports.
However, next month’s competition will have added flair to it, considering the militaries of the two countries engaged in the worst fighting between them in decades in May.
An attack in Indian-administered Kashmir triggered a conflict between the two states that saw them target each other with missiles, drones, fighter jets and artillery fire before agreeing to a ceasefire on May 10.
Pakistan’s death toll from heavy rains since June 26 surges past 100
- Punjab reports highest number of rain-related deaths, 39, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 31
- Pakistan has warned of flash flood risks in Punjab, KP and Balochistan provinces from July 12-17
ISLAMABAD: The death toll from heavy rains and flash floods in Pakistan since June 26 has climbed to 104, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said in its latest report this week, as the country braces for more monsoon downpours and possible floods.
As per the NDMA’s latest situation report, Punjab has reported the highest number of deaths from rain-related incidents, 39, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) with 31, Sindh with 17, Balochistan with 16, while Azad Kashmir also reported one death since June 26.
“The total number of 104 deceased include 49 children, 37 men and 18 women,” the NDMA report said, adding that 200 people were injured, among them 76 children, 78 men and 46 women.
The report further said 413 houses have been damaged since June 26 due to rain-related incidents across the country, with the most houses damaged in KP, 146, Sindh 86, Punjab 54, Balochistan 52, Azad Kashmir 45 and 30 in Gilgit-Baltistan.
Sindh reported the highest number of livestock that perished due to rains, 58, followed by KP with 43, Punjab with seven and Azad Kashmir with three.
The NDMA, meanwhile, issued a fresh alert for heavy rains on Saturday. It warned of potential flood and flash flood risks in various regions of Punjab, KP and Balochistan provinces from July 12 to July 17 in its latest advisory.
The authority advised administrations to ensure the readiness of emergency teams, the availability of machinery and ensure clearance of drainage systems.
It also called on tourists to avoid high-altitude areas, saying that residents in vulnerable zones must secure valuables, vehicles and livestock, and keep essential supplies.
Pakistan, home to over 240 million people, is consistently ranked among the countries most vulnerable to climate change. In 2022, record-breaking monsoon rains and glacier melt triggered catastrophic floods that affected 33 million people and killed more than 1,700.
Pakistan vows political, diplomatic support for Kashmiris on Kashmir Martyrs’ Day
- Pakistan observes Kashmir Martyrs’ Day on July 13 to honor 22 Kashmiris killed in 1931 by then ruler of disputed territory
- Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan have both fought three wars since 1947, with two of them over disputed Kashmir
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday vowed to extend Pakistan’s diplomatic and political support to the people of Kashmir on Kashmir Martyrs’ Day, calling for the resolution of the dispute as per the United Nations Security Council resolutions, state-run media reported.
Pakistan marks Kashmir Martyrs’ Day on July 13 every year to pay tribute to 22 Kashmiri protesters who were shot dead in Srinagar, the capital of Indian-administered Kashmir, in 1931 by soldiers of Maharaja Hari Singh, the Hindu ruler of the then princely state.
Pakistan sees the day as a symbol of Kashmiris’ struggle against what it says is illegal Indian occupation in the disputed Himalayan valley. Both India and Pakistan have fought three wars since 1947, with two of them over Kashmir. Both claim territory in full but administer only parts of it.
“The Kashmiri people have been and are sacrificing their lives in their legitimate struggle for the right to self-determination,” Sharif was quoted as saying by the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP).
“The government of Pakistan expresses its political, diplomatic and moral support in solidarity with the Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir, which is illegally occupied by India.”
Every year on the occasion, special rallies, seminars, and conferences are held across Pakistan and Azad Kashmir to express solidarity with the people of Kashmir.
India accuses Pakistan of backing separatist militants in the part of Kashmir it administers. Islamabad denies the allegations and says it only extends political and diplomatic support to Kashmiris.
The two countries engaged in the worst fighting between them in decades in May when gunmen shot dead 26 people, mostly tourists, in Indian-administered Kashmir. India blamed Pakistan for supporting the attack, which Pakistan strongly denied and called for an international probe into the incident.
The two countries engaged in a military conflict for four days that killed over 70 people on both sides of the border before US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between Delhi and Islamabad on May 10.
