Day: October 25, 2021

Posted on

Unique Network Raises $11.3 Million For Next-Generation NFT Infrastructure

The first NFT chain for Polkadot and Kusama offers greater flexibility for anyone who wants to build their own gallery or video game

LONDON, Oct. 25, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Unique Network, a next generation NFT chain for Polkadot and Kusama, announced today that it has raised $11.3 million in the second round of its pre-sale, bringing its total raised to $16M. The investment round was led by Web3 investment pioneers Outlier Ventures, who were joined by some of the most well-known NFT investors, including The LAO, Flamingo, Nalu Capital and over 200 other investors, including a number of follow-on investments from the previous round his funding round, especially with the quality and quantity of investors involved, has positioned Unique Network well for the upcoming launch of Quartz, its NFT chain for Kusama.

“Unique Network are trailblazing a new path for NFTs within Polkadot and Kusama’s ecosystem and we are incredibly excited to back them in their pursuit to increase the design space of NFTs.” – Chris Cable, FlamingoDAO

“Despite all the current buzz around NFTs, there is still a massive barrier to entry,” said Unique Network co-founder and CEO Alexander Mitrovich. “Gas fees, the need to purchase cryptocurrencies, storage, and even the fact that NFTs have limited features for artists to express their vision, all hold the industry back. Unique Network and our Kusama chain, Quartz, are built to solve the economic and storage problems with Ethereum-based NFTs and create new levels of interaction and malleability that will take NFTs to the next level.”

Unique Network will participate in the upcoming parachain auctions for Kusama, during which they aim to secure a parachain slot for Quartz, their new canary network for Kusama. Beginning on Wednesday October 27th, interested parties can participate in the crowdloan to help Quartz win the auction.

Quartz will be the first NFT infrastructure on Kusama, and is designed to enable the most powerful and advanced NFT functionality on the Kusama network. Quartz parachain on Kusama will allow anyone to build NFT marketplaces and experiences with interoperability between different blockchains, like Ethereum and EVM Based Chains and other notable NFT blockchains.

In the five months since its first investment round, Unique Network has announced various partnerships including with the UN-led DigitalArt4Climate Campaign with GloCha, RMRK, Art Curators Grid, Forever Has Fallen, and more. With the impending launch of Quartz, Unique Network will be able to help even more projects and artists develop their NFT marketplaces and experiences.

For more information, please visit Unique Network, and join us on Twitter and Telegram.

About Unique Network

Unique Network is a framework for the next generation of NFTs. The first NFT chain for Kusama and Polkadot, it offers developers independence from network-wide transaction fees and upgrades. The Unique Network team built Substrapunks, the first NFTs on Polkadot, won Hackusama in 2020, and created Substrate’s pallet for NFTs. Unique Network launched in July 2021.

For media inquiry, please contact: jo@serotonin.co

Posted on

Babar Azam Has Never Lost a T20I Match in UAE

Pakistan’s all-format captain, Babar Azam continued his terrific run of form as he led his side to a historic ten-wicket victory over arch-rivals India in their first match of the 2021 T20 World Cup. Babar scored an unbeaten knock of 68 runs off 52 balls as Pakistan defeated India for the first time in a World Cup match.

Babar has been magnificent for Pakistan ever since making his T20I debut in 2016. While Babar has scored important runs for Pakistan in every country he has played, his record in UAE has been outstanding.

The stylish batter has played 12 matches in UAE and has won every match he has played in the country. He has won thrice against West Indies, twice against Sri Lanka, thrice against Australia and New Zealand each, and once against India. He has also scored heavily in the country, scoring five half-centuries in the 12 innings he has played.

The 27-year old has scored 460 runs at an average of 57.50 and a strike rate of 118.55 in 12 T20I innings in UAE. His overall T20 record in UAE is immaculate as well. He has scored 1,747 runs at an average of 39.70 and a strike rate of 116.31 in 53 innings in the country.

Babar will be determined to continue his unbeaten run in the country in Pakistan’s next match in the T20 World Cup. Pakistan will face New Zealand in another high-octane clash on Tuesday at Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

Source: Pro Pakistani

Posted on

PTV and ARY Secure ICC Rights Until 2023 World Cup

Pakistan Television (PTV) and ARY have secured exclusive domestic media rights for International Cricket Council (ICC) events until 2023.

The rights for linear and digital broadcasts also include the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup that began on 17 October in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman.

According to Business Sports, this is a three-way agreement between PTV, ARY, and GroupM, a media investment company owned by global media giant, WPP. GroupM is responsible for managing the flow of advertising revenues to the two broadcasters.

Pakistani broadcasters have entered a sublicensing deal with Star TV Network for showing the ICC events until the 2023 World Cup. The monetary value of the deal wasn’t immediately confirmed.

The new deal is a sublicensing agreement between the Star TV Network and the Pakistani broadcasters. Star holds global ICC media rights in a deal worth $2.1 billion over eight years, from 2015-16 to 2022-23.

While PTV Corporation is broadcasting the ongoing mega event through PTV Sports, ARY has launched a separate sports news channel, ASports, to broadcast the tournament. Meanwhile, Ten Sports is also airing T20 World Cup by carrying ARY feed under a deal.

PTV and ARY have sublicensed the digital rights for the T20 to Alibaba-owned online shopping platform Daraz.

Managing Director PTV, Aamer Manzoor, welcomed the new deal and said he is looking forward to the partnership with GroupM and ARY to help expand the deal.

“We look forward to our partnership with GroupM and ARY to help expand the total outlay and to provide more visibility to the people of Pakistan, a sports-loving country where cricket is followed hysterically and with an unending passion.”

Salman Iqbal, Chief Executive Officer at ARY, said, “As a cricketing nation, the audience will greatly benefit from this collaboration. Our vision to see Pakistan grow stands firm and this is another step in the right direction.”

Previously, PTV and Ten Sports jointly held rights domestic rights for ICC tournaments.

Source: Pro Pakistani

Posted on

Pakistani Lecturers Caught Publishing Substandard Researches in Clone Journals

It has come to light that several Pakistani university lecturers are committing academic fraud by publishing substandard research papers in clone research journals for a few hundred dollars.

The indifference of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan and other educational institutions to such dubious teachers getting awards and promotions on the basis of their substandard ‘research papers’ is a cause for concern.

It is not difficult for concerned authorities to identify and act against these academics as reliable global research watchdogs, including Beall’s List and the Retraction Watch Database, and the indexing agencies Scopus and Web of Science have cut the latter’s work out for them by exposing the journals in which numerous Pakistani researchers have published substandard papers.

HEC’s apathy and detachment are also affecting honest researchers who are unknowingly citing these fake researches in their work and are publishing genuine research papers in the clone journals.

Retraction Watch Database has claimed that more than three dozen faculty members of a number of Pakistani universities are involved in fake reviews, duplications, and other malpractices, as a result of which their papers were retracted from reputed research journals.

Beall’s List has also listed two groups of potential predatory publishers — the websites Pakistan Science Mission and Pak Insight, both of which have published nearly 60 journals, and the HEC Journal Recognition System has not included any of them in any category of recognized journals.

Despite this, no action has been taken against misleading websites publishing questionable journals that are destroying Pakistan’s international academic repute.

Source: Pro Pakistani

Posted on

PM Urges Saudi & Pakistani Private Sectors to Realize Untapped Potential of Trade

Prime Minister Imran Khan has urged the private sectors of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to take full advantage of the close and cordial relations between the two countries by realizing the untapped potential in the spheres of trade, business, and investment.

Addressing the Saudi-Pakistan Investment Forum hosted by Saudi Minister of Investment Engr. Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih on Monday, the Prime Minister stressed the importance of engaging the private sectors to fortify the economic relationship.

The event was attended by a large number of Saudi investors and businessmen, key Pakistani business leaders, investors from the Pakistani diaspora, and stakeholders from Pakistan’s private sector based in the Kingdom.

The leading Saudi firms including SABIC, ACWA Power, Ma’aden, SALIC, Al-Zamil Group, Al-Bawani Group, and Riyad Bank attended the Forum and affirmed their resolve to build deeper business engagement with Pakistan.

The Prime Minister emphasized that Pakistan offered a strong and large consumer market of over 220 million, with an ever-expanding middle class. He highlighted that the Government of Pakistan followed liberal and investor-friendly policies. He underlined that the government was committed to providing an enabling environment to strengthen the investor-friendly dispensation in the country.

Highlighting the significance of Pakistan as a gateway to the Asian markets and beyond, the Prime Minister underlined that the geostrategic position offered Pakistan distinctive opportunities to stimulate intra-region trade by building regional connectivity on modern lines. To realize that potential, the Prime Minister underscored the historic shift in Pakistan’s strategic focus from geo-politics to geo-economics.

He stressed Pakistan’s proximity to the two biggest markets, noting that Pakistan had excellent relations with China and that there could be further economic dividends if the unresolved dispute of Jammu & Kashmir was peacefully resolved with India.

Reaffirming Pakistan’s longstanding, deep fraternal relations with Saudi Arabia, the Prime Minister underscored the reverence Pakistanis had for the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and expressed gratitude for Saudi Arabia’s support to Pakistan at every juncture.

The Prime Minister thanked Engr. Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih for his invaluable role in successfully organizing the Investment Forum. He also warmly welcomed the investors to the Forum and expressed the hope that tangible outcomes would be achieved for the benefit of the two countries.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin, and Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar also spoke at the event. Separate presentations were made on the investment opportunities in Pakistan in the housing and hydropower sectors.

In his keynote address, the Saudi Minister underscored the longstanding relations between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. He reiterated the resolve to further deepen bilateral trade, investment, and business links.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi focused on Pakistan’s shift from geopolitics to geoeconomics.

Adviser on Finance Shaukat Tarin highlighted the economic resurgence of Pakistan, while the Minister for Energy outlined the vast opportunities in the key sectors like energy, agriculture, and livestock.

The participants of the Forum were informed that all sectors of Pakistan’s economy were open for foreign investment without any restrictions on remitting capital, profits, and dividends. Elaborating on the opportunities, the Prime Minister elucidated that the country had tremendous opportunities for foreign investors in particular in renewable energy, food and agriculture, infrastructure development, housing, health, and tourism sectors. The Prime Minister especially highlighted the Ravi City and Central Business District projects.

The participants were assured of the Government of Pakistan’s support for their investment and business endeavors in Pakistan. The Forum was also preceded by the inaugural meeting of the Pakistan-Saudi Business Council.

Source: Pro Pakistani

Proudly powered by WordPress