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TEDx Karachi Draws 500 Pakistanis

TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a U.S. based private non-profit foundation that is best known for its conferences, now held in Europe and Asia as well as the U.S., devoted to what it calls "ideas worth spreading." Its lectures, called TED Talks distributed through the Internet, are subject to an eighteen-minute time limit. Speakers are an eclectic mix of people with ideas representing a wide cross section of humanity.



TED is run by Chris Anderson, a Pakistani-born… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on June 22, 2010 at 1:53pm — 3 Comments

OPEN Forum 2010 in Silicon Valley

OPEN Forum 2010 in Silicon Valley, California attracted nearly 600 people, including entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, engineers, lawyers, physicians and others on June 5, 2010. It was an all day conference organized by the Organization of Pakistani Entrepreneurs (OPEN) in Silicon Valley featuring 5 plenary sessions, and over a dozen break-out sessions addressed by 58 speakers and panelists on special topics of interest to various groups of… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on June 9, 2010 at 6:14pm — 1 Comment

Radio Reports From Historic GT Road in India, Pakistan

America's popular public radio network, the National Public Radio or NPR, sent several correspondents last month to India and Pakistan to travel along the Grand Trunk Road and report on the contemporary life along the ancient route in the South Asian subcontinent.



Stretching 2500 kilometers from Kolkata in… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on June 4, 2010 at 7:00pm — No Comments

Strong Growth Forecast For Pakistan's Media and Telecom Sectors

Pakistan's media and telecom revolution that began during the Musharaf years is continuing unabated.



According to Daily Times, Chairman Mushtaq Malik of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has said that the cable television sector “is the fast growing segment among the electronic media ventures”. In the… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on May 28, 2010 at 6:26pm — 37 Comments

Is Television a Powerful Agent for Positive Social Change for South Asian Women?

Freakonomics is a series of books by authors Steven D Levitt and Stephen J Dubner who find data points, patterns, correlations and trends that are often missed by mainstream economists and researchers. For example, the authors see how legalization of abortion may have caused significant crime rates decline in the United States in recent decades. They argue with various statistics to reject other possible explanations like gun control, strong economy, three-strikes laws etc. Authors say that the… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on May 24, 2010 at 5:00pm — 26 Comments

Urban Middle Class Surge in Pakistan

The simplest definition of the middle class is a group of people in a society who are neither rich nor poor. The middle class has always been considered vital to a country's stability and growth. The rich and the poor simply distrust each other too much to let the other govern. Nations with large middle class populations find it easier to sustain good, democratic governance.



Unfortunately for Pakistan, the size of the middle class was very small when it came into existence, and the… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on May 10, 2010 at 5:49pm — 3 Comments

India's "Indigenous" Weapons of Mass Destruction

A Times of India report last year claimed that "Pakistan has surged well ahead of India in the missile arena". It also lamented that "the only nuclear-capable ballistic missile in India's arsenal which can be said to be 100% operational as of now is the short-range Prithvi missile".



Along with raising the alarm, the Indian report offered the usual excuse for the… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on April 27, 2010 at 5:50pm — 1 Comment

Is BRIC All Hype, No Substance?

India's rapid economic growth has brought it enormous positive attention of the world media, billions of dollars in foreign investments, and new-found status on the international diplomatic scene. Goldman Sachs has promoted it by coining the term "BRIC" which groups India with other major emerging markets like Brazil, China and Russia as an investment destination. Inclusion in G20 has put the Indian leaders alongside the world's richest G7 nations. Indian business leaders in partnership with… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on April 25, 2010 at 9:06pm — 4 Comments

Cheap Thar Coal to End Load Shedding in Pakistan

Coal is the cheapest and the most common fuel used directly or indirectly to produce electricity and heat in the world today. Global coal consumption was about 6.7 billion tons in 2006 and is expected to increase 48% to 9.98 billion tons by 2030, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). China produced 2.38 billion tons in 2006. India produced about 447.3 million tons and Pakistan mined only about 8 million tons in 2006.… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on April 20, 2010 at 6:42pm — 44 Comments

Turning Trash Into Electricity Kills Two Birds With One Stone

Among other things during a visit to Pakistan last year, the frequent power outages, commonly called "load shedding", and piles of garbage in the streets made a distinct impression on my family and I. Since our return to the United States, I have been wondering if it is possible to solve both problems at once? Clean up the streets by collecting garbage, and burn the collected trash to generate more electricity? It… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on April 14, 2010 at 11:18am — 2 Comments

India, Pakistan Hackers Waging Cyber Warfare

Last year at the World Economic Forum, U.S.-based security software firm McAfee's CEO Dave Walt reportedly told some attendees that China, the United States, Russia, Israel and France are among 20 countries locked in a cyberspace arms race and gearing up for possible Internet hostilities. He further said that the traditional defensive stance of government computer infrastructures has shifted in recent years to a… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on April 8, 2010 at 5:13pm — 6 Comments

Pakistan's Murree Brewery Shares Join KSE-100 Index

Murree Brewery Company (KAR-MURE), a publicly listed beer maker founded in 1861, has now been added to the Karachi Stock Exchange's KSE-100 index, according to media reports from Pakistan's financial capital Karachi. The Murree Brewery is one of the oldest public companies of the… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on April 4, 2010 at 10:00am — 9 Comments

US Census 2010 and People of Pakistani Origin in America

US Census 2010 is under way! It is an extensive exercise that happens once a decade and it produces data that guides the various branches of US government and its agencies, politicians, marketers, and just about every one else who needs America's demographics data.



The numbers produced by the Census drive the allocation of seats in the US Congress, budget appropriations, government policies, college enrollment, as well as big decisions on products, employment and target markets by… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on April 3, 2010 at 6:35pm — 5 Comments

Alleviating Severe Child Malnutrition in India, Pakistan

Although it's a subject I have often written about, this particular post about fighting child malnutrition is inspired by a recent email from Col. Pavan Nair, an Army officer turned social activist, and a patriotic Indian with a deep sense of service to those in the greatest need in his country and its neighborhood.…



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Added by Riaz Haq on March 15, 2010 at 11:09pm — 4 Comments

Pakistan's Media and Publishing Boom

With the planned September launch of its Pakistan edition, Newsweek magazine is the latest publication to join Pakistan's media revolution, according to MediaBistro.com. Newsweek Pakistan will be the first licensed international news magazine for the country and the eighth local edition under the Washington Post Co.-owned Newsweek brand. Other country editions published by… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on March 13, 2010 at 10:30am — 18 Comments

Pakistani-American Engineer Buys America's NFL Football Team

What is NFL? It is America's National Football League, the biggest sports franchise business in the world. It's much bigger the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket franchise which is much better known to South Asians. The IPL has particularly been in the news lately for its controversial exclusion of Pakistani cricket players. Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan, who criticized Pakistanis' exclusion from IPL, has come under attack by right-wing Hindu extremists who are rampaging through the streets in… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on February 12, 2010 at 10:30pm — 1 Comment

Should Competence Trump Honesty in Pakistan?

"It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues" is a quote often attributed to Abraham Lincoln, also known as Honest Abe.



I do not entirely agree with Honest Abe, but what does it mean in Pakistan's context, given the extraordinary and often hypocritical incessant demands for honesty by the nation's TV talking heads? Is competence not as big or bigger virtue than honesty? Is it not Utopia to expect angels to rise to leadership positions in a nation that… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on February 1, 2010 at 8:47am — No Comments

Carbon Credits Can Fund Clean Energy in Pakistan

Cash poor and energy-starved Pakistan should consider tapping into the London-based global carbon trading market to fund its renewable energy projects. The carbon market is about $6 billion now, and it is projected to exceed 50 billion dollars after the US joins carbon trading. Here is how I understand it:…



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Added by Riaz Haq on January 28, 2010 at 11:00pm — 2 Comments

Empowering Pakistani Women and Poor With Phones, Literacy

A pilot program in Pakistan has demonstrated the effectiveness of pushing mass literacy through the use of cell phone text messaging capability. The five-month experiment, initiated by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), targeted 250 females aged 15 to 24 years old in… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on January 25, 2010 at 10:30am — 3 Comments

Guns Versus Butter Debate in South Asia

I have just published on my blog, Haq's Musings, a guest post by Colonel Pavan Nair, a retired Indian Army officer, a detailed analysis of the Indian defense spending in the context of the nation's growing needs for social spending on food, education and health care. Col Nair prefaces his analysis by lamenting that "defense economics has not been a subject for serious… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on January 23, 2010 at 9:30am — 1 Comment

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    Blog Posts

    Pakistan's Rising Arms Sales to Developing Nations

    Pakistan is emerging as a major arms supplier to developing countries in Asia and Africa. Azerbaijan, Myanmar, Nigeria and Sudan have all made significant arms purchases from Pakistan in recent years.  Azerbaijan expanded its order for JF-17 Thunder Block III multi-role fighter jets from Pakistan from 16 to 40 aircraft. The recent order extends a 2024 contract worth $1.6 billion to modernize Baku’s airborne combat fleet to $4.6 billion. This makes Azerbaijan the largest export customer of…

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    Posted by Riaz Haq on October 29, 2025 at 10:30am

    Improved US-Pakistan Ties: F-1 Visas For Pakistani Students Soaring

    The F-1 visas for Pakistani students are soaring amid a global decline, according to the US government data. The US visas granted to Pakistani students climbed 44.3% in the first half of Fiscal Year 2025 (October 2024 to March 2025) with warming relations between the governments of the two countries. The number of visas granted to Indian students declined 44.5%, compared to  20% fewer US visas given to students globally in this period.  The number of US visas granted to Pakistani…

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    Posted by Riaz Haq on October 19, 2025 at 10:00am — 2 Comments

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