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Is Pakistan Ready for High-Tech Warfare?



Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or Drones designed and manufactured in Pakistan have been making news since IDEAS 2008 event in November of last year. Also in the news has been the growing reliance on armed drones (aka predators) by Americans in Afghanistan and Pakistan's FATA region to target militants… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on January 6, 2009 at 11:30am — No Comments

Pictorial Review of Israeli Brutality in Gaza

Death and destruction continued to rain on Gazans as Israel began its ground assault. Here are a few of the horrifying images of the brutality the Jewish state is committing against the innocent Palestinian children:



PNN -Israeli forces killed two girls in an air attack on Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip early Tuesday. Local sources report that a… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on January 4, 2009 at 5:30pm — 6 Comments

Year 2008 in Review--Pakistan



The year 2008 was a year of great turmoil in Pakistan as the prior year ended with the tragic assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on Dec 27, 2007. It began with Bhutto's widower Asif Ali Zardari taking over the reins of Pakistan Peoples Party, Pakistan's largest political… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on December 31, 2008 at 10:00pm — No Comments

First Haji in US Congress



"It was an amazingly transformative experience. I'll never forget it. Three million people, from every inch of the globe, all getting along together in a world where there's a lot of turbulence", said US Congressman Keith Ellison said of his recent experience of pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia.



This year, Rep. Ellison, Democratic Congressman from Minneapolis,… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on December 27, 2008 at 3:46pm — No Comments

Jinnah's Pakistan Booms Amidst Doom and Gloom





Media reports from Pakistan often portray a picture of doom and gloom, with the IMF bailout of the economy, terrorist training camps, Islamic radicals, horrible governance, and corrupt and inept politicians making the headlines around the world. The adjective of "failed state" is often… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on December 25, 2008 at 10:30am — 1 Comment

Pakistan Exporting Drones to America



By Noah Shachtman



America's killer drones are getting all the attention, in the fight against Pakistani militants. But Pakistan's military has plenty of unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, too. And they're being used to… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on December 24, 2008 at 6:00am — No Comments

Pakistan's Internet Outage--Service Disrupted Yet Again



Internet and telephone traffic between Europe and the Middle East and Asia has been seriously disrupted since Friday when three major underwater data lines were cut in the Mediterranean, according to media reports.



The main damage is to the four submarine cables running across the Mediterranean and through the Suez Canal. The damaged cables include Sea… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on December 20, 2008 at 9:00am — No Comments

War on Hunger Takes a Back Seat in South Asia



Calls to "do a Lebanon" to fight terror are being made vociferously by the Indian media as they have focused the national and international attention on Mumbai terrorist attacks that targeted two opulent hotels and a small Jewish center in India's financial capital. The need for war on… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on December 15, 2008 at 9:00am — 4 Comments

Social Networks Bring Blessings, Pose Risks



Of the two recent studies making headlines this week, one brings good news and the other warns of grave risks.



The good news first: New research shows that in a social network, happiness spreads among people up to three degrees removed from one another. That means when you feel happy, a friend of a friend of a friend has a slightly higher… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on December 5, 2008 at 10:30pm — No Comments

Mumbai's Slumdog



Based on Simon Beaufoy's screenplay adapted from a Vikas Swarup's novel, Slumdog Millionaire is a well-made movie by a British director Danny Boyle. The early part of it reminds me of Dickens' Oliver Twist. But that impression quickly changes as the story develops into more than an… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on November 30, 2008 at 8:00am — No Comments

Indian Cricketers Recruited By Major League Baseball



While the Indian Navy is going after the pirates in the Gulf of Aden, two Indian youngsters are joining the Pirates in the United States.



Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel are two 20-year-old pitchers with million dollar arms. Neither had picked up a baseball until earlier this year. Both have now signed free-agent contracts with the Pittsburgh Pirates,… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on November 26, 2008 at 10:30am — 2 Comments

21st Century Challenges of Resurgent India

21st Century Challenges of Resurgent India

By Riaz Haq





The pre-British, early 19th century Moghul India, described as caste-ridden, feudalistic and unmodern, was economically ahead of the rest of the… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on November 22, 2008 at 4:09pm — 10 Comments

Aligarians Celebrate Sir Syed Day in Silicon Valley

ye meraa chaman hai meraa chaman, maiN apne chaman kaa bulbul huuN

sarshaar-e-nigaah-e-nargis huuN, paa-bastaa-e-gesuu-sumbul huuN

ye meraa chaman hai meraa chaman, maiN apne chaman ka bulbul huuN



Prior to the start of the mushaira, the above Aligarh Muslim University Taraana (Anthem) was sung by the Aligarians clad in black sherwanis (long tunics) and white pajamas (trousers) along with a few… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on November 18, 2008 at 4:30pm — No Comments

Obama's Technology Policy



Technology will likely get significant attention by President-elect Barack H. Obama, in spite of the more urgent issues of two wars, a sputtering economy and ballooning US national debt. While there will be the usual rush by various special interest groups in the high tech world to try and influence US technology policy to favor their particular sectors or… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on November 10, 2008 at 10:31pm — No Comments

How is NED Doing in 2008?



Is NED Making Progress?



Is NED University making progress to deal with the challenges of the 21st century? Is it competitive within Pakistan with other institutions of higher learning? How have NED University administration and faculty responded to the institution's low ranking by the HEC? How are the NED alumni… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on November 8, 2008 at 11:30am — 2 Comments

NED Alumni Convention 2008 Draws 400 NEDians



NED Alumni Convention 2008 in Hartford, Connecticut attracted over 400 NEDians and their families and friends this year on Nov 1, 2008. This was the fourth successful North America annual convention of NED University alumni after Houston, New Jersey and Silicon Valley conventions.… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on November 3, 2008 at 6:00am — 1 Comment

Powell: So What If Obama Is Muslim?



Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell, a life-long Republican who served George W. Bush in his first term and argued for Iraq war at the UN, endorsed Senator Barack Obama to be the next president of the United States on NBC's "Meet the Press". While the endorsement was not unexpected, what caught my attention was the statement that Secretary Powell made about… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on October 20, 2008 at 10:48am — 1 Comment

HEC University Rankings Controversy in Pakistan



Summary:

Higher Education Commission in Pakistan released its first and only ranking of universities in Pakistan in October 2006. Prior to this HEC effort, there had been no formal attempts by any public or private group to establish a set of criteria and judge Pakistani institutions of higher… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on October 14, 2008 at 12:30pm — 2 Comments

Can US. NATO Win in Afghanistan?



"We're not going to win this war", Brig Mark Carleton-Smith, the UK's commander in Afghanistan's Helmand province, told London's Sunday Times this week.



"It's about reducing it to a manageable level of insurgency that's not a strategic threat and can be managed by the Afghan army." he added.



"If the Taleban were prepared to sit on the other… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on October 9, 2008 at 8:57pm — No Comments

Pakistani Scientists "Hunting for God Particle"



Humans have been engaged in the perennial effort to crack the code of the physical world; to figure out what the universe is made of; to know the origins of human and other species; in other words, to get to the very bottom of things. These are existential questions that religions and philosophers have offered answers to. But most scientists remain unconvinced with these… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on October 1, 2008 at 11:41am — 1 Comment

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    Blog Posts

    Pakistan Household Survey HIES 2024-25 Raises More Questions Than It Answers

    Recently released HIES 2024-25 household integrated economic survey by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS)  raises more questions than it answers. For example, it shows that Pakistani households are buying lower amounts of basic food ingredients like wheat, meat and eggs in the last four years, implying that people are eating less to cover other expenses, like electricity and gas. But it doesn't explain why the households have reported significantly lower purchases of these items than…

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    Posted by Riaz Haq on January 6, 2026 at 5:00pm

    Happy New Year 2026: Pakistan's Year 2025 in Review

    As we enter the year 2026, it is time to review the year 2025 and wish you all Happy New Year 2026! May it bring peace, prosperity and happiness to all!! 

    The year 2025 saw Pakistan defeat a brazen Indian attack on its soil, while reviving its economy and…

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    Posted by Riaz Haq on December 30, 2025 at 9:30pm — 9 Comments

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