All Blog Posts Tagged 'Pakistan' (281)

General Suharto stepped down 15 years ago tomorrow. Here's an excerpt of today's New York Times story on the Indonesian strongman's legacy:



"Mr. Suharto’s spirit continues to loom over modern-day Indonesia. He brought the country back from the brink of political, social and economic…

In yet another egregious example of  increasing judicial activism, Islamabad High Court's Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, the judge who also ordered Musharraf's arrest, has suspended Pakistan's top tax collector Arshad Hakeem. Hakeem was working on an ambitious technology-based project to go after powerful tax dodgers in the country.…

Fear of violence has reduced the number of traditional mass rallies this year, particularly in  Balochistan, KP and Sindh provinces of Pakistan. Instead, the political parties and candidates are increasingly relying on electronic and social media to reach out to voters in preparation for May 11 general elections in the country.…

The Karakoram is home to the highest concentration of peaks over 8,000 meters high to be found anywhere on earth, including K2, the second highest peak of the world (8,611 m/28,251 ft). K2 is just 237 m (778 ft) lower than the 8,848 m (29,029 ft) tall Mount Everest. The range is about 500 km (311 mi) in length, and is the most heavily glaciated part of the world outside the polar regions.…

It's a story of a sickly little village boy's rise in Pakistan from abject rural poverty to great urban wealth as a young man who falls in love with "the pretty girl", an equally ambitious fellow slum-dweller in the city. …

There are reports of Taliban targeting candidates of ANP, MQM, PPP and other political parties in the country, including in Karachi, the economic hub of the nation. There's also talk of millions of new young men and women voters who may tip the balance in PTI's favor if they do turn out to vote. Who will be the winners and losers in the coming elections? Watch the show to find out!…

Years of life lost due to violence have more than doubled (up 109%) in Pakistan since 1990. Violence now ranks 20 among various causes of premature death, up from 34 in 1990. Other major killer diseases which claimed more lives include lifestyle diseases like heart disease (up 103%), cirrhosis (105% up) and diabetes (up 157%).  Overall, age-adjusted death rate in the country has declined from 1,120 per 100,000 in 1990 to 982 per 100,000 now, according to…

Consumer spending in Pakistan has increased at a 26 percent average pace the past three years, compared with 7.7 percent for Asia, according to data compiled by Euromonitor International, a consumer research firm. Pakistan's rising middle class consumers  in major cities like Karachi,…

As Pakistanis celebrate Pakistan Day today, March 23, 2013,  there are some who are questioning the founder's

wisdom in seeking partition of India to carve out Pakistan as an

independent nation.  They do not recognize today's Pakistan as Jinnah's Pakistan. The doubters justifiably point to the…

Cultural invasion of Pakistan is in full swing with Turkish schools and soap operas finding broad acceptance across the country. Local TV channels are airing soap operas dubbed in Urdu and Gülen movement is operating over a dozen schools in different parts of the country.…

DVDs and YouTube videos are at the heart of Learntive, a Silicon Valley NEDians' initiative to promote better learning among school students in Pakistan.…

Pakistan ranks number 3, after US (#1) and India (#2), in terms of freelancers doing outsourced IT work on contract. Bangladesh ranks fourth, according to data from four biggest online outsourcing sites:  Elance.com, oDesk.com, Freelancer.com, and Guru.com.…

A 12-year-old Pakistani girl is taking advance online classes offered by Stanford University. The youngest Microsoft certified professional is a Pakistani. Young Pakistanis are setting records with straight A's on O level and A…

Unlike most western accounts of Pakistani nuclear program which begin and end with A.Q. Khan's network,  Brig Feroz H. Khan's  scholarly work "Eating Grass" offers a very comprehensive story of the "Making of The Pakistani Bomb". Feroz Khan takes the reader through the interdisciplinary nature and the inherent complexity of what it takes to develop, build and operationalize a nuclear weapons arsenal.…

Domestic cement consumption surged 10.10% in Pakistan in January 2013, according to All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association. On top of 8% increase in Fiscal Year 2011-12, it jumped another 8% for…

Karachi Fashion Week 2013 is yet another illustration of the fact that life goes on in Pakistan in spite of the terror and violence that makes daily headlines. It's a testament to Pakistanis' extraordinary resilience and great capacity to take it all stride. Here are a few pictures of…

In spite of setbacks from the US CIA's fake vaccination scheme in 2011 and the killing of polio workers by the Taliban in 2012, the WHO says Pakistan is on track to be declared polio free in April this year.…