Indian drug regulator has approved COVAXIN, a Covid19 vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech.  The approval has been granted without completing large-scale phase 3 trials in India, according to media reports. It is India's first indigenous vaccine co-developed with Pennsylvania-based startup Ocugen. Ocugen, led by Indian-American scientists, does not currently sell any products.  India is the world's second worst-hit country by the global coronavirus pandemic.  Critics say the hasty approval of…

The COVID19 pandemic has been the biggest story in Pakistan and the rest of the world. It has complicated Pakistan's economic recovery as did the ever-present threat of political instability posed by the opposition parties trying to take advantage of the crisis. Gallup Poll data shows that 65% of Pakistanis are happy despite hardships of the coronavirus pandemic. On the external front, Pakistan faced India's massive global disinformation campaign against it. The year 2020 was a tough year…

India with its massive disinformation campaign against Pakistan, as recently revealed by EU Disinfo Lab, appears to be following what a US think tank RAND calls "Firehose of Falsehood" propaganda model. It has over 750 fake media outlets covering 119 countries. There are over 750 domain names, some in the name of dead people and others using stolen identities. Pakistani policymakers charged with countering the Indian propaganda should read the RAND report "Firehose of Falsehoods" for its 5…

The role of money in elections and politics is generally known and understood around the world. Pakistan is no exception. In a recent book entitled "The Bhutto Dynasty" written by veteran British journalist Owen Bennet Jones, the author describes how former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto saw "kickbacks" as an essential part of politics. Jones says that  the "amnesty she (Benazir Bhutto) secured from…

Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, is believed to have started as a small fishing village named Kolachi in 1729.  It attracted the attention of the colonial rulers in 1857 as a suitable site for a major port in British India. Thus began the story of Karachi which has now grown into a megacity of 14,910,352 people, as reported in the most recent 2017 Census of…

Pakistan's technology export growth is continuing to accelerate with a 51% jump in November 2020 over the same month in 2019. The country's tech exports rose 39% in the first 5 months (July-Nov) of fiscal year 2021 over the same period last year. This came on top of a 21% increase in FY 2020 over FY 2019. …

Massive cyberattack that recently targeted US government agencies and private companies, labeled the 'SolarWinds hack', was first discovered by US cybersecurity company FireEye, founded by a well-recognized Pakistani-American cybersecurity expert Ashar Aziz. Karachi-born Ashar served as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Fireeye from 2004 to 2012.  Ashar became the first Pakistani-American tech…

Prominent Pakistani journalist and political analyst Najam Sethi, a strong critic of Prime Minister Imran Khan, sees desperation among the Pakistani Democratic Movement (PDM) leaders. In a recent interview with well-known journalists Raza Rumi and Murtaza Solangi on Naya Daur social media channel, Sethi said the Pakistani opposition, particularly PMLN, believe it is "now or never" for…

Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has launched a Cognitive Electronic Warfare (CEW) program at its Center for Artificial Intelligence and Computing (CENTAIC), according to media reports. Modern connected weapon systems generate vast amounts of data requiring artificial intelligence and machine learning software for speedy analysis and rapid decision-making on the battlefield. …

United States Air Force's legendary pilot Charles Yeager died on December 7, 2020 at the age of 97. He was a highly decorated soldier who was also awarded the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian award. He remained active on twitter until very recently. In a 2017 tweet, Yeager called Pakistan Air Force pilots "the best in the world".  In another tweet in 2015, Yeager said "they (PAF pilots) kicked the Indians butt". …

CRISPR CAS9 is the latest revolutionary gene editing technology to take the world by a storm. Pakistan is among a select group of nations where scientists are publishing their work on CRISPR in international journals. In fact, Brazil, China, India, Iran and Pakistan are the only developing nations listed among the countries where scientists published CRISPR research in 2018. The rest of the list is made up of highly developed countries of North America, Europe and East Asia. A…

Pakistan led South Asia region and ranked 4th in the world in infrastructure investment commitments in the first half of 2020, according to World Bank's "Private Participation in Infrastructure" report for the first half on the year 2020. Mexico led the pack with $4,016 million, followed by Brazil 2nd with $3,543 million, China  3rd with $2,859 million, Pakistan 4th with $1,921 million and India 5th with $1,762 million in private infrastructure investment commitments in the first 6 months of…

Feverish spinning by pro-Opposition media spinmeisters suggests that BBC's Hard Talk host Stephen Sackur has done serious damage to the Pakistani Opposition's narrative about the Army and democracy in the country. By his aggressive questioning of Ishaq Dar, former Finance Minister and  former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's close associate, Sackur has not only dismantled the Opposition parties' narrative but also clearly established that former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is a …

Five Pakistani-American information technologists have quietly been awarded $850,000, the largest ever award by US Congress, to settle discrimination and wrongful termination claims, according to the New York Times. Awan's accusers included President Donald Trump and the right-wing US media.  Recipients…

Stanford University has ranked 243 Pakistani scientists among the world's top 2% scientists for 2019.  Among them are 81 Pakistani professors who are recognized in the lifetime research work list of 160,000 scientists. 

Stanford…

Amir Husain, a Pakistani-American AI expert, has started a defense-focused artificial intelligence company, according to builtinaustin.com.  Amir Husain's AI company SparkCognition has been building artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) software for its various clients since 2013. After closing on a $100 million Series C round last year, the company claims to be “one of…

Defense analysts believe that Turkish and Israeli drones have helped Azerbaijan achieve decisive victory against Armenia. "Azerbaijan’s drones owned the battlefield in Nagorno-Karabakh — and showed future of warfare" says the Washington Post headline as tweeted by drone warfare expert Franz-Stefan Gady.…

Pfizer has announced today that its COVID19 vaccine has been found to be more than 90% effective in its recently concluded large-scale trial. The two key scientists who developed this vaccine are Turkish-born Muslims named Dr. Ugur Sahin and his wife Dr. Ozlem Tureci, according to media reports.  The couple started BioNTech, a technology startup based in Germany, to develop treatments…

While the world is focusing on the US presidential race between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joseph Biden, the app-based service companies have made big news in the Silicon Valley tech world: The gig economy has been saved by California voters who passed Proposition 22 with 60% majority. The entire gig economy was facing the threat of extinction from California Assembly Bill 5 that required all gig workers to be classified as employees with full benefits rather than…

Pakistan’s IT exports increased by 44% during the first quarter (July, August and September) of the fiscal year 2020-21, according to a tweet by Razzak Dawood, Special Assistant to Prime Minister Imran Khan. Pharmaceutical exports saw 22.6% increase in the same period over last year.  Pakistan's information technology and …