Riaz Haq's Blog (1,532)

Study Says Pakistanis Are Meat Eaters

A recent study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and Nature magazine reports that Pakistanis are among the most carnivorous people in the world.



The scientists conducting the study  used "trophic levels" to place people in the food chain. The trophic system puts…

Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on January 17, 2014 at 8:30am — 3 Comments

Was Musharraf's Rule Legitimate?

F

Former President Musharraf's detractors argue that he lacked legitimacy because he came to power through a coup which removed a duly elected government in 1999.

Implicit in Musharraf's opponents' argument is the assumption that the electoral process is the only source of legitimacy for a ruler. It ignores the possibility that the will of the people can also be expressed in ways other than elections to confer legitimacy on a leader. It rejects the notion that a leader…

Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on January 15, 2014 at 1:30pm — 9 Comments

Pakistan Terrorism Deaths in 2013

Total number of deaths in Pakistan terrorist violence declined from 6,211 in 2012 to 5,279 in 2013, the lowest since 11,704 fatalities suffered in 2009, according to figures compiled by South Asia Terrorism Portal.…



Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on January 7, 2014 at 8:03pm — 1 Comment

Karachi's KSE-100 Shares Index Handily Beats Emerging Market Indices in 2013

Karachi's KSE-100 Stock Market Index was up 49.4% (37% in US$ terms) in 2013, beating all but four stock indices in the world. It handily beat Morgan Stanley's MSCI emerging market index which remained essentially flat. By comparison, India's main stock index rose just 8.89% in the…

Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on January 6, 2014 at 7:00pm — 4 Comments

Pakistani-American's Solution For SME Financing in Developing Countries

Pakistani-American Prof. Asim Khwaja and his doctoral student Bailey Klinger at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government observed that banks have money to lend, but even profitable small businesses in developing nations often cannot access it, choking growth.…

Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on January 1, 2014 at 11:30am — 1 Comment

Quaid-e-Azam M.A. Jinnah's Vision: Islamic or Secular Pakistan?

An ongoing debate about the vision of Pakistan's founder flares up every year around Christmas time which coincides with Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah's birthday. It is centered on one key question: Did the Quaid want an Islamic state or a secular one?



Islamic or Secular Pakistan?…



Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on December 30, 2013 at 3:40pm — 5 Comments

Benazir Bhutto: The Matron of Taliban

Today is the 6th anniversary of the death of Pakistan Peoples Party leader and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. She was assassinated on December 27, 2007 after addressing an election rally at Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi.  It is believed that her assassination was ordered by Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani wing of the Taliban called the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Mehsud was later…

Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on December 28, 2013 at 9:00am — 6 Comments

Imagine Pakistan as an Asian Tiger

Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea  experienced a dramatic rise under authoritarian regimes from 1960s through 1990s. The dictators who led these states also showed the way to…

Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on December 14, 2013 at 10:00pm — 3 Comments

Major IT Projects in Pakistan Public Sector

IT projects ranging from automated meter reading and computerized land records management to online education and mobile banking are now at various stages of implementation across Pakistan.  In a report released today, the World Bank calls these projects "unprecedented in the public sector in developing countries". The objective of these efforts is to…

Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on December 11, 2013 at 11:00pm — 34 Comments

Pakistani Drones

Drone is now a household word in Pakistan. It outrages many Pakistanis when used by Americans to hunt militants and launch missiles in FATA. At the same time, it inspires a young generation of students to study artificial intelligence at 60 engineering colleges and universities in Pakistan. It has given rise to robotics competitions at engineering universities like…

Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on December 3, 2013 at 11:30pm — 7 Comments

Pakistan's Falling Rupee and Foreign Reserves

Pakistani rupee has sharply declined to 109.50 rupees to a US dollar, a loss of nearly 10% of its value in just a few months since Mr. Nawaz Sharif was sworn in as Prime Minister in June, 2013. At the same time, the foreign exchange reserves have plunged to $3.463 billion, a 12-year low since November 2001 when country had foreign reserves of $3.5…

Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on December 2, 2013 at 8:00am — 8 Comments

When Ayub Met JFK in 1961



I was a little child growing up in Karachi when the news of JFK's assassination was received with great shock and extreme sorrow in Pakistan. That was 50 years ago today. Just a couple years earlier in 1961, Pakistan's President Mohammad Ayub Khan had  made a successful state visit to the United States. He was warmly received at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington DC by US President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy. …
Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on November 22, 2013 at 6:49pm — No Comments

India's Tech Exports Figures Over-inflated

A 2005 study by US General Accounting Office (GAO) found that Indian government's figures for software and technology exports to the United States were 20 times higher than the US figures for import of the same from India.



U.S. General Accounting Office looked at the 2003 data showing the United States reported $420 million in unaffiliated imports of BPT (business, professional, and technical) services from India, while India…

Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on November 20, 2013 at 10:55am — 16 Comments

Value Added Agriculture in Pakistan

Livestock revolution enabled Pakistan to significantly raise agriculture productivity and rural incomes in 1980s. Economic activity in dairy, meat and poultry sectors now accounts for just over 50% of the nation's total agricultural output. The result is that per capita value added to agriculture in Pakistan is almost twice as much as that in …

Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on November 14, 2013 at 6:00pm — 16 Comments

Suhail Rizvi Makes $3.8 Billion Gain on Twitter IPO

Suhail Rizvi's 15.6% stake in Twitter was worth $3.8 billion at the end of trading on Thursday when the social media company went public on the New York Stock Exchange.…



Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on November 8, 2013 at 7:36pm — 1 Comment

Ms. Marvel: Pakistani-American Female Superhero to Debut in 2014

The new Ms. Marvel’s real name is Kamala Khan, a 16-year-old Muslim Pakistani-American girl from Jersey City, New Jersey. “Kamala has all of her opportunities in front her and she is loaded with potential, but her parents’ high expectations come with tons of pressure,” says Marvel's press release. “When Kamala suddenly gets…

Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on November 6, 2013 at 9:00pm — 4 Comments

Pakistani-American Education Entrepreneur Osman Rashid

Book rental companies like Silicon Valley based Chegg, founded by Pakistani-American Osman Rashid and Indian-American Aayush Phumbhra, are helping American college students deal with rising textbook costs. Their business is inspired by Netflix movie rental business. Other major contenders in this space are Bookrenter,…

Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on November 4, 2013 at 1:42pm — No Comments

School Enrollment Surge in Pakistan

Malala Yousufzai has inspired about 200,000 children, including 75,000 girls, to enroll in primary schools in Pakistan's Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (KP) province, according to the provincial education minister.



Yousafzai's story "is certainly helping us to promote education in the…

Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on October 22, 2013 at 9:31am — 10 Comments

Pakistani-American Richest Among South Asians in America

With a net worth of $3.8 billion, Shahid Khan tops the Forbes list of the richest Americans of South Asian origin. Overall, Khan ranks 122nd on Forbes 400 list for 2013, up from 179th in 2012.



Born in Pakistani city of Lahore, 63 year old Shahid Khan is a mechanical engineer and a self-made billionaire who built his fortune as a top supplier of bumpers to the auto industry. Khan made history in 2011 by becoming the…

Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on September 25, 2013 at 9:30pm — 4 Comments

Pakistan Quake Sets Off Massive Offshore Gas Deposits

Pakistan is known to have significant natural gas deposits trapped in the form of methane hydrates in sedimentary rocks off the coast of Baluchistan. Tragic as yesterday's earthquake is in terms of loss of human life, it may also have triggered the release of substantial…

Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on September 25, 2013 at 8:30am — 8 Comments

Monthly Archives

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

Pre-Paid Legal


Twitter Feed

    follow me on Twitter

    Sponsored Links

    South Asia Investor Review
    Investor Information Blog

    Haq's Musings
    Riaz Haq's Current Affairs Blog

    Please Bookmark This Page!




    Blog Posts

    Pakistani Student Enrollment in US Universities Hits All Time High

    Pakistani student enrollment in America's institutions of higher learning rose 16% last year, outpacing the record 12% growth in the number of international students hosted by the country. This puts Pakistan among eight sources in the top 20 countries with the largest increases in US enrollment. India saw the biggest increase at 35%, followed by Ghana 32%, Bangladesh and…

    Continue

    Posted by Riaz Haq on April 1, 2024 at 5:00pm

    Agriculture, Caste, Religion and Happiness in South Asia

    Pakistan's agriculture sector GDP grew at a rate of 5.2% in the October-December 2023 quarter, according to the government figures. This is a rare bright spot in the overall national economy that showed just 1% growth during the quarter. Strong performance of the farm sector gives the much needed boost for about …

    Continue

    Posted by Riaz Haq on March 29, 2024 at 8:00pm

    © 2024   Created by Riaz Haq.   Powered by

    Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service