Pakistan PM to take notice of cricket team’s dismal state of affairs— aide 

KARACHI: A venture builder company with its headquarters in the UAE and founded by Pakistani entrepreneurs, Disrupt.com, announced a $100 million commitment to build and back AI-first ventures worldwide on Thursday. 
Founded initially in 2008 as “Gaditek” in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi by three entrepreneurs named Aaqib Gadit, Uzair Gadit, and Umair Gadit, venture builder and investor Disrupt.com says it partners with ambitious entrepreneurs to build, scale and invest in high-potential, globally focused technology startups. 
“Today, Disrupt.com— founded by Aaqib Gadit, Uzair Gadit, and Umair Gadit— has announced a $100 million commitment to build and back AI-first technology ventures worldwide,” the company said in a statement. 
Disrupt.com said that since it began operations, the company has deployed over $40 million into its portfolio, supporting a mix of startups that it “built from scratch, co-built with external founders, and invested in as strategic backers.”
“The $100 million commitment announced by Disrupt.com will focus on five key areas: artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, Web3.0, automotive technology, and retail innovation,” it said.
Web3 is an umbrella term for technologies like blockchain that decentralize data ownership and control on the Internet.
“By targeting pre-seed to Series A stage startups with strong organic growth potential and clear paths to profitability, the venture builder aims to create sustainable businesses that will shape the future of industries worldwide,” it added. 
Aaqib Gadit said now is the time to start “doubling down” on investing in the next wave of startups that will shape the future of the world. 
“With Web 3.0 in its infancy and AI storming into our lives, the opportunity to problem solve and create businesses that will fit the needs of how people live and work is up for the taking,” he said in a statement shared by Disrupt.com.
Uzair Gadit said the big moves in AI and tech always come from either China or the US.
“We believe that MENA and Pakistan have a key role to play in this transformation,” he said. 
Disrupt.com says its portfolio already includes ZigChain, a Web3.0 platform with 500,000+ users and hundreds of millions in managed assets, and PureSquare, a cybersecurity venture. 
The company says it has also made strategic investments in AI-focused startups such as Agentnoon, an organizational transformation platform, and Ahya, a climate action scaling tool.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan: A nearly weeklong closure of a key crossing on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border has disrupted bilateral trade and the movement of people, causing financial losses to traders and leaving people stranded in harsh winter conditions, officials said Thursday.

The Torkham border crossing has remained closed since Feb. 21 after Pakistan shut it down over a dispute concerning Afghanistan’s construction of a border post.

Since then, more than 5,000 trucks and vehicles carrying goods, including fruits and vegetables, have been stranded on both sides, awaiting the reopening of the trade route, according to Ziaul Haq Sarhadi, a director of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Torkham also serves as a vital corridor for transporting goods between Pakistan and Central Asian countries, and Sarhadi urged both countries to resolve their dispute so that bilateral trade and movement of people could resume.

At Torkham, truck driver Najeeb Ullah said that he was forced to sleep in his vehicle because he can’t leave it unguarded on the road.

“We request Pakistan and Afghanistan to have mercy on us, as we are suffering without any reason,” he told reporters.

Another driver, Mustafa Khan, said that he was hoping to return to his northwestern city of Peshawar after delivering a supply of cement in Afghan city Jalalabad, but “I am stuck here since Friday, and I have no idea for how many days we will have to face this trouble.”

Farhad Nusrat, an Afghan citizen, said that he was returning home with his mother and children, and the closure of the border crossing has forced them to spend their days and nights in the open area. He appealed to Pakistani authorities to reopen the border.

Authorities said that hundreds of Pakistanis were also stranded on the other side of the border.

There was no immediate comment from Pakistan. However, Abdul Jabbar Hikmat, the commissioner on the Afghan side of the border, confirmed the closure by Pakistan.

“Whenever Pakistani authorities conduct construction on their side, we say nothing. But whenever we do something, they close the border,” Hikmat said.

Border closures at Torkham are common because of disputes over new posts along the porous Durand Line, which Afghanistan has never officially recognized. Pakistan, meanwhile, has nearly completed a border fence to strengthen control.

The Torkham crossing is located on the edge of Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where Pakistani Taliban militants frequently target security forces.