The Global Social Network
Open Forum 2017, the annual conference of Pakistani entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, drew over 1,000 attendees, about half of them women. It featured presentations by successful entrepreneurs including Ahmad Khaishgi of SquareTrade and Mudassir Sheikha of Careem as well as sessions by powerful venture capitalists like Aaref Hilaly of Sequoia Capital. It is organized by the Organization of…
ContinueAdded by Riaz Haq on April 30, 2017 at 9:00pm — No Comments
Pakistani diaspora bucked the 2016 global decline in remittances with a modest 2.8% increase over 2015, according to a recently released World Bank report. An estimated $19.8 billion remitted to Pakistan amounted to 6.9% of the country's GDP. This is a welcome relief coming on the heels of the State Bank of…
ContinueAdded by Riaz Haq on April 24, 2017 at 8:48pm — 6 Comments
Bollywood movie revenue suffered 12% drop in 2016 to $338 million, the sharpest decline ever, according to Reuters news agency. Meanwhile, the global movie revenue rose just 1% to a record $38.6 billion last year, according to a report by Motion Pictures Association of America.…
ContinueAdded by Riaz Haq on April 19, 2017 at 8:43pm — 9 Comments
Why was Mashaal Khan, an Abdul Wali Khan University student, killed by a mob of his fellow students in Mardan? What does this lynching incident say about Pakistani state and society? Is it a failure of the state? Or is it a symptom of a larger societal problem in the country? Do extreme right-wing politicians, media, judges and bureaucrats share responsibility for this ongoing madness of vigilante justice…
ContinueAdded by Riaz Haq on April 16, 2017 at 5:30pm — 2 Comments
Washington D.C. based AI technology firm Afiniti, founded by serial Pakistani-American entrepreneur Zia Chishti, has filed for initial public offering (IPO) at $1.6 billion valuation, according to VentureBeat.
Zia Chishti founded his first company Align Technology in 1997 in …
ContinueAdded by Riaz Haq on April 15, 2017 at 10:01pm — 5 Comments
Malala Yousufzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot by the Taliban in 2012 and survived to tell her story, has become a household name in the West. She and her family have found a new home in Birmingham, England.
She has been honored with some of the highest international awards including the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014. Last week, Malala was named the youngest ever UN Messenger of Peace, with a special focus on girls'…
ContinueAdded by Riaz Haq on April 12, 2017 at 8:21pm — 9 Comments
Pakistan's KSE-100 continues to offer attractive valuations for investors in 2017. Its equities are trading at a forward price-earnings ratio of just 9.1, according to Pakistani brokerage firm Arif Habib Limited.
Pakistani shares are on offer at a deep discount to the Indian shares trading at 17.3 price-earnings multiple. While India's stock market is among the world's most expensive, the Pakistani…
ContinueAdded by Riaz Haq on April 10, 2017 at 6:07pm — 9 Comments
Added by Riaz Haq on April 8, 2017 at 7:02pm — 4 Comments
A 3-person team of Pakistani students, including a female student from Islamabad's National University of Science and Technology (NUST), won first place in a contest organized by Stanford Center of Longevity. The team's entry is a device they designed and prototyped that enables tremor patients to perform daily routine tasks.
The Purpose:
The purpose of the contest is to encourage innovation to help improve the quality of life of aging populations in the…
ContinueAdded by Riaz Haq on April 2, 2017 at 8:53pm — 11 Comments
2026
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
South Asia Investor Review
Investor Information Blog
Haq's Musings
Riaz Haq's Current Affairs Blog
After installing over 50 GW of solar panels as of early 2026, Pakistanis are now adding batteries at a rapid pace. The country has imported nearly 7.6 GWh of batteries, with nearly 60% of that total arriving during 2025 alone. Pakistanis are now installing batteries at a rate exceeding 5 GWh annually, according to a recent report by Renewable First. Batteries enable consumers to store excess solar electricity generated during daylight hours for use at night and to smooth out…
ContinuePosted by Riaz Haq on August 12, 2026 at 5:30pm
Pakistan has historically enjoyed close friendly ties with Saudi Arabia and Turkey. So why did the three nations feel the need to formalize these ties with a mutual defense agreement in Mecca this week? Many answers to this question can all be traced to a fundamental change in the security environment in the Middle East. Foremost among these changes is the extremely reckless behavior of the state of Israel which has had full political, military, economic and diplomatic backing of the…
ContinuePosted by Riaz Haq on August 8, 2026 at 12:00pm — 7 Comments
© 2026 Created by Riaz Haq.
Powered by