ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Monday launched the country’s first locally made ventilator, Pakistani state media reported, describing it as a step toward technological self-reliance.
The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) last month approved the ‘AlnnoVent’ ventilator, which has been developed by the Alsons Group precision manufacturing firm in Karachi. After successfully passing clinical trials, the ventilator has been officially licensed for production.
The AlnnoVent AVB-100 is an electro-mechanical ICU ventilator that meets international standards of quality and reliability. It supports adult patients across five invasive and two non-invasive ventilation modes, making it suitable for a range of critical care scenarios. The ventilator was created in response to the acute shortage of respiratory aid devices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking at the launching ceremony, Iqbal praised the company for its efforts and emphasized that Pakistan needed more such innovators to succeed in a rapidly evolving world, the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) news agency reported.
“We require an army of such individuals – people who combine skill, hard work, ambition and the intelligence that defines our nation,” the minister was quoted as saying.
The development comes as Pakistan’s government attempts to steer the country out of a prolonged macroeconomic crisis that has weakened the South Asian country’s currency and drained its foreign exchange reserves over the past few years.
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has consistently emphasized the need for Islamabad to adopt an export-led economy to achieve sustainable, long-term economic growth.
Iqbal emphasized that Pakistan’s economic success depended on its ability to innovate and produce new products, which would help shift the country to a more export-driven economy.
He urged private sector leaders to leverage Pakistan’s affordable human resource to produce high-quality goods that could compete in global markets.
“You are the drivers of Pakistan’s future and the government will stand behind every private sector initiative that helps bring in exports and dollars,” the minister said.
Pakistan launches first locally made ventilator in bid to achieve technological self-reliance
https://arab.news/9q46k
Pakistan launches first locally made ventilator in bid to achieve technological self-reliance
- The AlnnoVent AVB-100 ventilator supports adult patients across five invasive and two non-invasive ventilation modes
- The ventilator was created in response to the acute shortage of respiratory aid devices during the COVID-19 pandemic
AI chatbot Grok sowed misinformation during India-Pakistan military conflict
- Grok wrongly identified old video footage from Sudan’s Khartoum airport as missile strike on Pakistan’s Nur Khan air base
- Unrelated footage of building on fire in Nepal was misidentified as “likely” showing Pakistan’s response to Indian strikes
WASHINGTON, US: As misinformation exploded during India’s four-day conflict with Pakistan, social media users turned to an AI chatbot for verification — only to encounter more falsehoods, underscoring its unreliability as a fact-checking tool.
With tech platforms reducing human fact-checkers, users are increasingly relying on AI-powered chatbots — including xAI’s Grok, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and Google’s Gemini — in search of reliable information.
“Hey @Grok, is this true?” has become a common query on Elon Musk’s platform X, where the AI assistant is built in, reflecting the growing trend of seeking instant debunks on social media.
But the responses are often themselves riddled with misinformation.
Grok — now under renewed scrutiny for inserting “white genocide,” a far-right conspiracy theory, into unrelated queries — wrongly identified old video footage from Sudan’s Khartoum airport as a missile strike on Pakistan’s Nur Khan air base during the country’s recent conflict with India.
Unrelated footage of a building on fire in Nepal was misidentified as “likely” showing Pakistan’s military response to Indian strikes.
“The growing reliance on Grok as a fact-checker comes as X and other major tech companies have scaled back investments in human fact-checkers,” McKenzie Sadeghi, a researcher with the disinformation watchdog NewsGuard, told AFP.
“Our research has repeatedly found that AI chatbots are not reliable sources for news and information, particularly when it comes to breaking news,” she warned.
NewsGuard’s research found that 10 leading chatbots were prone to repeating falsehoods, including Russian disinformation narratives and false or misleading claims related to the recent Australian election.
In a recent study of eight AI search tools, the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University found that chatbots were “generally bad at declining to answer questions they couldn’t answer accurately, offering incorrect or speculative answers instead.”
When AFP fact-checkers in Uruguay asked Gemini about an AI-generated image of a woman, it not only confirmed its authenticity but fabricated details about her identity and where the image was likely taken.
Grok recently labeled a purported video of a giant anaconda swimming in the Amazon River as “genuine,” even citing credible-sounding scientific expeditions to support its false claim.
In reality, the video was AI-generated, AFP fact-checkers in Latin America reported, noting that many users cited Grok’s assessment as evidence the clip was real.
Such findings have raised concerns as surveys show that online users are increasingly shifting from traditional search engines to AI chatbots for information gathering and verification.
The shift also comes as Meta announced earlier this year it was ending its third-party fact-checking program in the United States, turning over the task of debunking falsehoods to ordinary users under a model known as “Community Notes,” popularized by X.
Researchers have repeatedly questioned the effectiveness of “Community Notes” in combating falsehoods.
Human fact-checking has long been a flashpoint in a hyperpolarized political climate, particularly in the United States, where conservative advocates maintain it suppresses free speech and censors right-wing content — something professional fact-checkers vehemently reject.
AFP currently works in 26 languages with Facebook’s fact-checking program, including in Asia, Latin America, and the European Union.
The quality and accuracy of AI chatbots can vary, depending on how they are trained and programmed, prompting concerns that their output may be subject to political influence or control.
Musk’s xAI recently blamed an “unauthorized modification” for causing Grok to generate unsolicited posts referencing “white genocide” in South Africa.
When AI expert David Caswell asked Grok who might have modified its system prompt, the chatbot named Musk as the “most likely” culprit.
Musk, the South African-born billionaire backer of President Donald Trump, has previously peddled the unfounded claim that South Africa’s leaders were “openly pushing for genocide” of white people.
“We have seen the way AI assistants can either fabricate results or give biased answers after human coders specifically change their instructions,” Angie Holan, director of the International Fact-Checking Network, told AFP.
“I am especially concerned about the way Grok has mishandled requests concerning very sensitive matters after receiving instructions to provide pre-authorized answers.”
Pakistani delegation arrives in New York to meet UN officials, OIC members after India standoff
- Nine-member delegation to meet UN chief, UNGA president and UN Security Council members during visit, says state media
- Development takes place following military standoff between India and Pakistan last month before US-backed ceasefire took hold
ISLAMABAD: A nine-member Pakistani delegation led by former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has arrived in New York to meet top United Nations officials and Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) members, state-run media reported on Monday, as Islamabad prepares to present its perspective on its recent military standoff with arch-rival India.
Constituted by the Pakistani prime minister last month, the delegation received a briefing from the foreign office on Pakistan’s military standoff with India last month. Bhutto Zardari said his team also received a briefing from the foreign office on contentious issues like the Kashmir dispute, “terrorism,” and India’s unilateral move to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty.
Pakistan and India last month engaged in the most serious fighting between them since 1999. Both pounded each other with missiles, drone strikes and artillery fire in four days of conflict before US President Donald Trump brokered a ceasefire on May 10. Tensions had soared after India blamed Pakistan for being involved in an April 22 attack on a tourist resort in the part of Kashmir administered by India. Islamabad denied involvement.
“A nine-member parliamentary delegation led by Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is in New York to hold meetings with the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, President of the UN General Assembly, as well as the Ambassadors of Permanent and non-permanent members of the UN Security-Council,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported.
“During the visit, the delegation will present Pakistan’s perspective on the recent military clash with India and to counter New Delhi’s disinformation campaign.”
It did not specify how long the delegation would stay in New York.
The state broadcaster said that besides these meetings, the delegation will also brief members of the OIC at the UN. Bhutto Zardari, along with other members of the delegation, will also interact with media representatives during his visit to New York.
The development takes place as India presents its point of view to the world on its recent conflict with Pakistan. The Indian government has appointed Congress party lawmaker and author Shashi Tharoor as the head of a delegation in its attempts to convince world capitals that Pakistan supports cross-border “terrorism” and to justify New Delhi’s attacks against its neighboring country last month.
Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan have fought two out of three wars over the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir since 1947. Both govern the territory in parts but claim its ownership in full.
India accuses Pakistan of harboring militants who carry out cross-border attacks targeting citizens and law enforcers in the Kashmir territory that it administers. Pakistan denies the allegations and says it only extends diplomatic and moral support to the people of Kashmir.
While the ceasefire between the two countries has continued to hold since last month, tensions persist as India vows to hold in abeyance the decades-old Indus Waters Treaty. Pakistan has said any attempts to divert or stop its flow of water would be considered an “act of war.”
One killed, four injured in IED blast in southwestern Pakistan
- Unidentified individuals attached magnetic IED to vehicle in Quetta city, says police official
- No group has claimed responsibility but suspicion likely to fall on militant groups in Balochistan
QUETTA: One person was killed while four others were injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province on Sunday night, a police official confirmed.
Police said the blast took place at Brewery Road near the western bypass in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan’s restive Balochistan. The official confirmed that a vehicle with two people in it exploded due to the blast, injuring passersby on the busy road.
“Unidentified individuals attached a magnetic IED to a private vehicle which exploded in Quetta city,” Mehmood Kharoti, the station house officer at Brewery Road, told Arab News.
“One civilian named Hussain Ali, a resident of Kalat city, was killed in the attack and four people including three passersby were injured,” he added.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion is likely to fall on ethnic Baloch separatist groups involved in targeting law enforcers and state-backed tribal leaders in the province.
Kharoti said police were investigating the possible motives behind the attack.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest but most impoverished province, has been the site of a long-running insurgency that has intensified in recent months, with separatist militants attacking security forces, government officials and installations and people from other provinces who they see as “outsiders.”
The Pakistani government says it has launched several development schemes relating to infrastructure, health and education for some 15 million people of Balochistan, which is also home to a deep seaport being built by China, gold, copper and coal mines, and has a long coast on the Arabian Sea.
The most prominent of these separatist militant groups in the province is the Baloch Liberation Army, which has carried out several attacks against law enforcers and political leaders considered close to the military leadership.
Balochistan has seen a spike in militant violence in recent days. An IED blast killed two tribal leaders and injured seven others on Saturday in a remote mountainous town in Quetta district.
In March, BLA fighters stormed a passenger train in Balochistan and held hostage hundreds of passengers before the military launched an operation to rescue them.
Pakistan’s government accuses India of arming and funding separatist militant groups against the state, an allegation that New Delhi has repeatedly denied. The BLA and other similar groups accuse Islamabad of denying the local Baloch population a share in the province’s natural resources. Pakistan’s government and military deny the allegations.
Militants free two customs officials months after abduction in Pakistan’s northwest
- The incident highlights persistent security challenges in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal districts that border Afghanistan
- The development comes amid a thaw in Pakistan-Afghanistan relations which were strained by a surge in militancy in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Taliban militants have freed two customs officials months after they were abducted in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, police and local officials said on Sunday.
Pakistan Customs Superintendent Nisar Abbasi, Inspector Khushal Khan and Saif-ur-Rehman, president of a local chambers of commerce, were abducted in KP’s South Waziristan district in Feb. this year, according to Deputy Commissioner Nasir Khan.
While the kidnappers released Rehman the same day, the two customs officials remained in captivity and it took months of efforts by tribal elders and members of the Lower South Waziristan Chambers of Commerce to negotiate their release.
“The officers have returned safely after their captors let them go,” Habib Islam, a police spokesperson in South Waziristan district that borders Afghanistan, told Arab News.
“Their release was made possible through extensive negotiations involving multiple stakeholders.”
The development highlights persistent security challenges in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal districts where militant groups, particularly the Pakistani Taliban, have mounted their attacks against security forces, besides targeted killings and kidnappings of law enforcers and government officials.
It also comes amid a thaw in Pakistan-Afghanistan relations which were strained by a surge in militancy in Pakistan’s western regions that border Afghanistan. Islamabad frequently blamed Afghanistan for the surge in militant activities, an allegation denied by Kabul.
However, both countries have sought to mend ties in recent months and last week announced to upgrade their diplomatic missions in Islamabad and Kabul to the ambassadorial rank.
Rehman, president of the Lower South Waziristan Chambers of Commerce and Industry who was released shortly after his kidnapping along with the two customs officials, said the kidnappers had initially demanded the government free their detained associates in return for the release of the two customs officials.
“When it became clear that the government would not meet their demands even after several months, the abductors eventually relented to tribal mediation and agreed to release the officials,” he told Arab News, adding that both officials were in good health and no ransom was paid against their release.
On Jan. 9, the Pakistani Taliban kidnapped more than a dozen workers of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), which is responsible for nuclear energy projects, from the volatile Lakki Marwat district, according to Lakki Marwat police.
Eight of the abductees were released shortly after the kidnapping, while the militants released one more and body of another hostage on Jan. 25. The fate of the remaining captives remains unknown.
Last year, the militant group had kidnapped District and Sessions Judge Shakirullah Marwat near KP’s Dera Ismail Khan district who was later recovered in a joint operation by police and security forces, officials said.
Pakistan police say four militants killed in operation in Punjab’s Dera Ghazi Khan
- The operation in DG Khan was launched on intelligence reports about militant movement near the Punjab-Khyber Pakhtunkhwa border
- Pakistan is currently battling twin insurgencies in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, which Punjab’s DG Khan district borders
ISLAMABAD: Police killed four militants in a successful operation in Dera Ghazi Khan district of Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province, Pakistani state media reported on Sunday.
The Dera Ghazi Khan, or DG Khan, district borders the southwestern Balochistan and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) where Pakistan has been battling twin insurgencies.
The operation was conducted in DG Khan’s Kot Mubarak area and the law enforcers recovered a sizeable cache of heavy weapons and ammunition from the site of the encounter.
“The swift and effective action of the police teams thwarted the terrorists’ nefarious plans,” the state-run Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported, citing officials.
“Inspector General of Punjab Police Dr. Usman Anwar commended the efforts of the Dera Ghazi Khan Police and said the Punjab police stand as a strong barrier against anti-state elements.”
Pakistan is currently battling twin insurgencies: one led by religiously motivated groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), mainly in its Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province and the other by ethno-nationalist Baloch separatist groups in Balochistan.
Militants often seek refuge in border areas of neighboring provinces amid intensifying counter-insurgency operations in KP and Balochistan.
The operation in DG Khan was launched on intelligence reports about militant movement near the Punjab-Khyber Pakhtunkhwa border, the APP news agency reported, citing a police spokesman.
“Some suspects fled using cover from bushes and mounds,” it said. “A search-and-sweep operation is ongoing to track them down.”
