May 2018 Blog Posts (15)

Pakistan Elections 2018: Significance of Social Media, Minorities

Pakistan's 46 million young voters of ages 18-36 years, up from 41 million in 2013, will likely have the biggest impact on the outcome of the elections this year.  Among other notable changes in the electorate is the number of non-Muslim voters that has jumped 30%, significantly faster than the 23% growth in overall voter registration in Pakistan since the last elections in 2013, according to data from the Election Commission of Pakistan.

Pakistan's young demographics and…

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Added by Riaz Haq on May 31, 2018 at 10:00am — 10 Comments

India-Pakistan Spy Chronicles; Trump-Sharif Troubles

What are Asad Durrani and AS Dulat, ex spooks of India and Pakistan, trying to accomplish with their joint appearances and book collaboration? What is “Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace" all about? What have the two revealed about the work of ISI and RAW spy…

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Added by Riaz Haq on May 26, 2018 at 6:31pm — 2 Comments

Proliferation of Cyber Hacking Tools in Pakistan

Many intelligence agencies are turning to the use of smartphone malware and spyware for the purpose of hacking and surveillance. The list of such agencies includes but not limited to US CIA, NSA, Mossad, RAW, MI6, ISI and others. Global proliferation of cyber hacking tools appears to have been accelerated with the US CIA's loss of control of its hacking tools including spyware, malware, viruses and trojans.

Stealth Mango and Tangelo:

Lookout, an American…

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Added by Riaz Haq on May 23, 2018 at 11:06am — 21 Comments

History of Pakistan's Business and Industry

Pakistan's $1.1 trillion GDP ranks the country as the world's 24th largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP).  Pakistan has come a long way since independence in 1947 when it was a poor agrarian country struggling to survive. Business and industry sectors now account for more than half of Pakistan's economy while agriculture's contribution is down to 20% of GDP.

The story…

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Added by Riaz Haq on May 21, 2018 at 7:00am — 25 Comments

British Government Lists Pakistan Among Top 3 Money Laundering Sources

British National Crime Agency (NCA) has identified Pakistan, Nigeria and Russia as the top source countries for money laundering in the United Kingdom, according to British media reports. The NCA report says the UK is a prime destination for…

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Added by Riaz Haq on May 19, 2018 at 9:21pm — 37 Comments

Free Speech: Myth vs Reality

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) recently acknowledged the practice of hiring journalists vetted by MI5, the UK intelligence agency, to keep out the "subversives".

The CIA is believed to have driven American investigative reporter Gary Webb to suicide after he exposed the…

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Added by Riaz Haq on May 16, 2018 at 7:36am — 19 Comments

PTM: The Lowdown on Manzur Pashteen

Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) has held rallies across Pakistan in support of Pashtun rights. The movement was born in response to the murder of Naqeebullah Mehsud, a young Pashtun falsely accused of being a terrorist by a rogue senior police officer in Karachi.  PTM has received very little coverage in Pakistan's mainstream media but the extensive foreign media reporting on its leader Manzoor Pashteen has been effusive.  Inside Pakistan, the PTM movement has been mainly a social media…

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Added by Riaz Haq on May 15, 2018 at 8:03am — 5 Comments

Impact of Trump's Iran Nuke Deal Pull-Out on Afghanistan, Pakistan and Mid-East

What motivated President Donald Trump's unilateral decision to withdraw the United States from JCPoA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) on Iran nuclear weapons program? Why did the European signatories to the deal fail to persuade Trump to abide by the deal? What role did Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman and the Bush era neocons play…

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Added by Riaz Haq on May 14, 2018 at 10:51pm — 2 Comments

Open Forum 2018: Pakistani-American Entrepreneurs Summit in Silicon Valley

Hundreds of Pakistanis and Pakistani-Americans converged on Santa Clara Convention Center in Silicon Valley on Saturday May 12, 2018 for Open Forum 2018.  The attendees included entrepreneurs, technologists, business executives, investors, lawyers, accountants and others.What was different this year was the presence of an unusually large number of attendees from Pakistan, including dozens of Fulbright…

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Added by Riaz Haq on May 13, 2018 at 10:00am — 2 Comments

Nawaz Sharif's Report Card 2013-18

The last five years of Pakistan's outgoing government of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) have seen the revival of Pakistan's economy and completion of many long delayed infrastructure and energy projects. Mr. Nawaz Sharif deserves full credit for it.  At the same time, the PML government is responsible for slow progress on human development indicators, major decline in exports, growing twin deficits of budget and external accounts, mounting public debt and lack of transparency in…

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Added by Riaz Haq on May 11, 2018 at 9:30am — 8 Comments

Pakistani-American NED Alum Raises $50 Million For Silicon Valley Startup SiFive

SiFive,  a Silicon Valley intellectual property tech startup, has raised $50.6 million in series C funding. The company is headed by Pakistani-American CEO and fellow NED University alumnus Dr. Naveed Sherwani.  SiFive investors include Intel Capital, Western Digital, Sutter Hill Ventures and Spark Capital.…

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Added by Riaz Haq on May 10, 2018 at 8:49am — No Comments

Chinese ECommerce Giant Alibaba Enters Pakistan Market

Alibaba Group (BABA.N) has bought the entire share capital of ecommerce platform Daraz, Rocket Internet said, according to Reuters. American ecommerce giant Amazon is already in Pakistan via its investment in another ecommerce platform Clicky.pk.

Daraz, founded in Pakistan in 2012, operates online…

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Added by Riaz Haq on May 8, 2018 at 8:34am — 10 Comments

Rising Afghan Violence; Hazara Killings; Safdar's Anti-Ahmedi Move

Why is the violence in Afghanistan intensifying? Why has US-NATO coalition dropped more bombs in Afghanistan in Jan-March 2018 quarter than in any other 3 month period in the last 15 years? Is it in response to the Taliban annual spring offensive? Or the Daish (ISIS) contributing to more killings? Is the Trump administration too busy with the military option and paying too little…

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Added by Riaz Haq on May 6, 2018 at 6:30pm — 2 Comments

12 Words and Phrases Never to Use in the Workplace

Excluding the minorities, every person wants to own his/her own empire. A home or a business, everyone likes the people to follow his mind and help them fulfill their goals to achieve a life he or she had ever dreamt of.

If you are one such person with dreams like this, you are the one willing to be a leader. Leading a team of professionals is far more different than leading a family. And if you wish to be perceived as a leader, specifically at your work place, you need to change…

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Added by careerz 360 on May 1, 2018 at 11:30pm — No Comments

How Pakistan's Corrupt Elite Use Trade Misinvoicing to Launder Money

Pakistan's exports have declined significantly since former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's PMLN party assumed power in 2013. They are down from about $25 billion in 2013-14 to about $20 billion in 2016-17.  At the same time, the nation's imports have jumped to $47 billion during this period, widening the trade deficit to a record $27 billion. Overvaluation of the Pakistani currency and CPEC related imports are often cited as a reason for it. The other, probably more important reason, may be…

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Added by Riaz Haq on May 1, 2018 at 5:30pm — 9 Comments

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    Blog Posts

    Biden's Gaza Ceasefire Veto Defies American Public Opinion

    Aaron Bushnell, an active serviceman in the United States Air Force, burned himself to death in front of the Israeli Embassy in protest against the US policy in Gaza. Before setting himself on fire in what he called an "extreme act of protest", he said he would "no longer be complicit in genocide". Polls show that the vast majority (63%) of Americans want an immediate end to the carnage being perpetrated by Israel in Gaza.  …

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    Posted by Riaz Haq on February 27, 2024 at 5:30pm

    Pakistan Elections: Imran Khan's Supporters Skillfully Used Tech to Defy Powerful Military

    Independent candidates backed by the Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) party emerged as the largest single block with 93 seats in the nation's parliament in the general elections held on February 8, 2024.  This feat was accomplished in spite of huge obstacles thrown in front of the PTI's top leader Imran Khan and his party leaders and supporters by Pakistan's powerful military…

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    Posted by Riaz Haq on February 16, 2024 at 9:22pm — 1 Comment

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