All Blog Posts (1,988)

French Elections; Militant Hindu Threats Against Pak Children; Panama JIT

What do we know about French presidential run-off election candidates Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen? What is at stake for France in the elections? What if the Islamophobic, anti-Europe, anti-trade, racist candidate Marine Le Pen wins? Will French elections be impacted by Brexit and Trump victories in recent votes?  How would… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on May 6, 2017 at 10:30pm — No Comments

Pakistan Cricket Board's $43 Million Revenue and Budget

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) spends about $43 million on national and international cricket every year, according to media reports. It receives about $16.5 million a year share from the International Cricket Council (ICC) as part of the new revenue sharing model while the rest comes from Pakistan Super…

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Added by Riaz Haq on May 3, 2017 at 11:30pm — 23 Comments

Pakistani-American Co-Founders Sell Tech Startup Viptela to Cisco For $610 million

Cisco is paying $610 million to acquire Viptela, a software-defined-networks (SDN) start-up in Silicon Valley that was co-founded in 2012 by Pakistani-American entrepreneurs Amir Khan, Atif Khan and Khalid Raza.

Software defined network (SDN) technology allows network managers to configure, manage, secure, and optimize network…

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Added by Riaz Haq on May 1, 2017 at 9:30pm — No Comments

OPEN Silicon Valley Forum 2017: Pakistani Entrepreneurs Conference

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…

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Added by Riaz Haq on April 30, 2017 at 9:00pm — No Comments

Pakistani Diaspora Bucks Global Trend With 2.8% Higher Remittances in 2016

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…

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Added by Riaz Haq on April 24, 2017 at 8:48pm — 6 Comments

Panama Verdict; US-India H1B Dispute; Trump NSA in South Asia

What are the implications of the split Pakistan Supreme Court verdict recently announced in Panama Case filed against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif by PTI Chief Imran Khan, JI Chief Siraj ul Haq and AML chief Shaikh Rasheed? Why did 3 out of 5 judges not vote to disqualify Mr. Sharif from holding office under Articles 62 and 63 of the Pakistan constitution? Has the Prime Minister not committed perjury, a felony in… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on April 23, 2017 at 7:04am — 1 Comment

Bollywood Revenue in Sharp Decline: Down 12% in 2016

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.…

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Added by Riaz Haq on April 19, 2017 at 8:43pm — 9 Comments

Mardan Lynching; Jadhav Death Sentence; Trump's Early Crises

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…

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Added by Riaz Haq on April 16, 2017 at 5:30pm — 2 Comments

Pakistani-American's Tech Unicorn Files For IPO at $1.6 Billion Valuation

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 …

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Added by Riaz Haq on April 15, 2017 at 10:01pm — 5 Comments

Yet Another Honor For Malala

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'…

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Added by Riaz Haq on April 12, 2017 at 8:21pm — 9 Comments

Pakistani Stock Market Still Offers Great Value After Stellar Performance in 2016

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…

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Added by Riaz Haq on April 10, 2017 at 6:07pm — 9 Comments

US Missile Strikes in Syria; US Mediation in India-Pakistan Dispute; Bannon’s Future

Did Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad really use chemical weapons against his own people? Are US Missile Strikes on Syrian Shayrat airbase justified? Why did Russian President Vladimir Putin stand by and watch his Syrian ally punished by US missile strikes? What is President Trump’s strategy in Syria beyond these limited strikes? How will the Trump Administration deal with ISIS in Syria? How will Russia and… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on April 8, 2017 at 7:02pm — 4 Comments

Pakistani Students Team Wins First Place in Stanford Design Contest

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…

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Added by Riaz Haq on April 2, 2017 at 8:53pm — 11 Comments

H-1B Visa Abuse; Flynn's Immunity Request; Muslim NATO's Pakistani Commander

Why is H-1B visa abuse in the news? Why are Indian companies under suspicion as the chief abusers? Why does the lion's share of H-1B visas goes to Indians? Are H-1B visa holders replacing higher-paid ($95,000+ per year) American tech workers at significantly lower pay ($60,000 per year)? What proposals are under discussion to control this abuse?…



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Added by Riaz Haq on March 31, 2017 at 10:56pm — 10 Comments

Nielsen: Pakistan Consumer Confidence Highest Since 2008

Consumer confidence index in Pakistan jumped five point from the prior quarter to reach 106 in Q4/2016, according to Nielsen’s global survey of consumer confidence for 63 countries released recently.…

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Added by Riaz Haq on March 28, 2017 at 9:30pm — 2 Comments

Pakistan Day; Adityanath as UP CM; London Terror; FBI Trump Probe

What is the significance of March 23 for Pakistanis? How did Pakistan celebrate its National Day? What does the participation of friendly nations China, Saudi Arabia and Turkey in the parade mean?…



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Added by Riaz Haq on March 24, 2017 at 9:25pm — 17 Comments

H1B Visa Abuse: What Do Software Engineers Earn in India and Pakistan?

A segment of CBS 60 Minutes, top rated American newsmagazine on television, has recently brought sharp focus on H1B visa abuse. It alleges that the H1B visas are being misused by Indian body shops to bring low-cost Indian software engineers to the United States to replace higher-paid American…

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Added by Riaz Haq on March 24, 2017 at 9:30am — 18 Comments

Dutch & Indian Elections; Trump Travel Ban 2; Pakistan Census

What does the Dutch election result say about the right-wing populism wave in Europe? Is it a setback for anti-Muslim Geert Wilders, known as Dutch Trump, after Brexit and Trump wins? How will it impact the upcoming French presidential election? Will it help or hurt Marine Le Penn's chances?



What does the BJP sweep in UP elections mean for India and Indian politics? How did the BJP manage it? Did the… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on March 21, 2017 at 10:29am — 1 Comment

World Happiness Report 2017: Pakistan Tops South Asian Nations

World Happiness Report 2017 ranks Pakistan (score 5.269) at 80, well ahead of the rest of South Asia.

The latest world happiness report released on March 20, 2017 ranks Bhutan (score 5.011) at 97, Nepal (4.962) at 99, Bangladesh (4.608) at 110, Sri Lanka (4.44) at 120, India (4.315) at 122 and Afghanistan (3.794) at 141 among…

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Added by Riaz Haq on March 20, 2017 at 1:00pm — 2 Comments

Is Husain Haqqani a Traitor?

It is well-known that Mr. Husain Haqqani, who served as Pakistan's ambassador to the United States from 2008 to 2011, has a long history of  opportunism.  He has switched loyalties many times since he began his career in Karachi, Pakistan in 1980s.…



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Added by Riaz Haq on March 13, 2017 at 8:30pm — 8 Comments

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    Blog Posts

    Trump's Tariffs on India: Can China or Russia Make Up For Lost Exports to US?

    The United States is the biggest export market for India. Among its top 5 trading partners, the US is also the only country with which India runs a trade surplus. This surplus is now at risk with the 50% tariff recently imposed by President Donald Trump on imports from India. Can Prime Minister Narendra make up for it by cozying up to China and Russia? Recent trade data shows he…

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    Posted by Riaz Haq on September 8, 2025 at 7:00pm

    US-India Ties: Does Trump Have a Grand Strategy?

    Since the dawn of the 21st century, the US strategy has been to woo India and to build it up as a counterweight to rising China in the Indo-Pacific region. Most beltway analysts agree with this policy. However, the current Trump administration has taken significant actions, such as the imposition of 50% tariffs on India's exports to the US, that appear to defy this conventional wisdom widely shared in the West. Does President Trump have a grand strategy guiding these actions?  George…

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    Posted by Riaz Haq on August 31, 2025 at 6:30pm — 11 Comments

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