May 2011 Blog Posts (8)

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Hookah Smoking Health Risks Worry Americans

Since the hookah (shisha or water pipe) made its debut in North America a few decades ago among immigrant communities, it has continued to gain in popularity and now found its way to hundreds of college campuses all over the continent.



Most of the hookah tobacco used in the United States is imported from the UAE, Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia; as a way of catering to Western tastes, tobacco manufacturers are introducing flavors like kiwi, watermelon and blackberry. Handcrafted pipes… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on May 31, 2011 at 11:34pm — No Comments

Is There a Culture of Corruption in Pakistan?

Rampant corruption is believed to be a major factor impeding economic development in Pakistan and many other developing nations.



Is this corruption and lawlessness rooted in the absence of adequate law enforcement, or the lack of independent judges? Or is it a national culture of corruption that ranks such nations among the most corrupt in the world on… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on May 30, 2011 at 9:00am — 13 Comments

Pakistan's NADRA Excels in IT Services

All the hype about Indian IT sector makes it hard to believe that it is Pakistan, not India, which has widely deployed biometric identification technology to issue multi-purpose national ID cards and e-passports to its citizens. Is this just another case of the proverbial shoemaker's children going barefoot?







In fact, Pakistan is among the first few countries… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on May 26, 2011 at 4:19pm — 27 Comments

World Bank Finds Indians Poorer Than Pakistanis

A new multi-dimensional measure of poverty confirms that there is grinding poverty in resurgent India. It highlights the fact that just eight Indian states account for more poor people than the 26 poorest African countries combined, according to media reports. The Indian states, including Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh , Orissa, Rajasthan,…

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Added by Riaz Haq on May 20, 2011 at 5:00pm — 2 Comments

Pakistan's Gas Reserves

Reports of new gas reserves of 40 trillion cubic feet (upped to 105 TCF in 2013 by US EIA) are specially welcome at this moment in Pakistan when it is facing a very serious and growing energy crisis. The…

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Added by Riaz Haq on May 15, 2011 at 10:30am — 25 Comments

Youth-Led Social Media Revolution in Pakistan

Live tweets of the Abbottabad raid have brought instant fame to Pakistani blogger Sohaib Athar, and shined new light on the role of Facebook, Twitter and other social media in the country.



Dramatic expansion of the nation's middle class in the last decade has spawned… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on May 9, 2011 at 9:08am — 7 Comments

Origins and History of Pakistani Music

I recently gave a keynote at an event organized by Pakistani-American Cultural Center in Silicon Valley, CA, USA.

The subject was Pakistani culture and music.



Here are some of the salient points of the presentation:



Importance of Music and Culture:



-Music Helps Define Each Nation’s Culture and Identity



-Culture Helps Project Soft Power and Softer Image of a Nation





-Soft Power is Often More Effective Than Hard Power...It's easier… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on May 4, 2011 at 11:00pm — 9 Comments

Pakistan Rolling Out High Speed Broadband Access Service

Pakistan is working on a major roll-out of bonded VDSL2 to deliver 50 Mbps, five times the top speed of the nation's highest level of service today, at a construction cost of just $200-300 per home passed.







Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), the nation’s state-controlled phone company, is deploying VDSL2 Bonding technology to… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on May 1, 2011 at 7:30pm — 13 Comments

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    Blog Posts

    World Bank: Pakistan is 88% Urbanized

    The World Bank researchers have recently concluded that 88 per cent live in urban areas. Their conclusion is based on satellite imagery and the Degree of Urbanization (DoU) methodology. The official Pakistani figures released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) put the current level of urbanization at 39%. The source of this massive discrepancy is the government's reliance on administrative boundaries rather than population density and settlement patterns, according to the World Bank…

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    Posted by Riaz Haq on December 7, 2025 at 5:30pm

    IMF Questions Modi's GDP Data: Is India's Economy Half the Size of the Official Claim?

    The Indian government reported faster-than-expected GDP growth of 8.2% for the September quarter. It came as a surprise to many economists who were expecting a slowdown based on the recent high-frequency indicators such as consumer goods sales and durable goods production, as well as two-wheeler sales. At the same time, The International Monetary Fund expressed doubts about the Indian government's GDP data. …

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    Posted by Riaz Haq on November 30, 2025 at 11:30am — 2 Comments

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