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Remaking Pakistan in Uncle Sam's Image

The $663 billion US defense budget for 2010 announced by Defense Secretary Robert Gates emphasizes higher spending on counterinsurgency weapon systems, and cuts back on expensive conventional weapon systems. For example, there is a huge increase in the budget for predator class armed drones, helicopter gunships, surveillance, cyber warfare and special (commando) operations. At the same time, it envisions deep cuts in spending on the expensive F22 Raptor stealth fighter, large navy ships and… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on April 12, 2009 at 8:58am — No Comments

Encouraging Social Entrepreneurship in South Asia

Understanding the need to design for extreme affordability is giving birth to a new generation of entrepreneurs. These are entrepreneurs with a social conscience who are motivated by the desire to do good and do well at the same time. They are finding new ways to empower the poor by satisfying their basic needs for safe water and electricity in emerging markets.



According to Wikipedia definition, a social entrepreneur… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on April 6, 2009 at 7:05pm — 6 Comments

Saving Urdu in India--its Birthplace



Popular Bollywood filmmaker MAHESH BHATT, known for films such as Arth, Saaransh, Janam, Naam, Inteha, Jism, Murder and Woh Lamhe, makes an impassioned appeal to save Urdu from extinction in India, the birthplace of the language, in an article published by the Hindu:



Man is memory, and memory is sound. The… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on April 3, 2009 at 4:30pm — 10 Comments

China Signs Power Generation Deals With Pakistan



China has agreed to build several power plants in Pakistan to help the South Asian nation deal with its worsening electricity crisis. When completed over the next several years, these plants, including Nandipur (425 MW, Thermal), Guddu(800 MW, Thermal) and… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on March 25, 2009 at 11:30am — 17 Comments

Auto Sector in India, Pakistan and China

Tata Motors is set to launch its low-cost Nano minicar Monday, March 23, according to media reports from India. With a starting price of about $1,945, which doesn't include dealer markup and other charges that consumers will pay, the Nano will be one of the world's cheapest cars. This product launch comes at a time when the auto industry is facing a severe downturn, attributed to the worldwide consumer credit crunch amidst a serious global financial crisis.…

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Added by Riaz Haq on March 21, 2009 at 4:00pm — 19 Comments

Overseas Job Opportunities Dry Up For South Asians



As the global economic crisis continues to take its toll in US, Europe, Middle East and East Asia, South Asian workers overseas are being let go in large numbers



Faced with rising unemployment in Malaysia, the Kuala Lumpur government on Tuesday said it will reduce the number of foreign workers in the country to 1.8 million by 2010 from the present over two… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on March 17, 2009 at 7:16pm — No Comments

Vibrant Financial Services Sector in Pakistan



Pakistan has been ranked 34 out of 52 countries in the World Economic Forum's first Financial Development Report, which was released in Pakistan through the Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF) in December, 2008.



The report is a comprehensive analysis of financial systems and capital markets in 52 countries that explores key drivers of financial system… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on March 14, 2009 at 8:58pm — 41 Comments

Math Function Wrecked Economy



Not unlike Albert Einstein whose equation E=MC2 made possible the creation of physical weapons of mass destruction, Chinese mathematician David X. Li could go down in history as the man who enabled the development of financial weapons of mass… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on March 8, 2009 at 10:30am — No Comments

Pakistan Leads Asian SMS Growth



With cellular phone penetration exceeding 50%, the Pakistan mobile market is continuing to experience rapid subscriber growth with thousands of customers signing up every month. The growth in subscriber rate has consequently led way to triple digit growth in messaging traffic over last year,… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on March 4, 2009 at 9:00pm — No Comments

Arms Production Going High Tech in Pakistan

U.S. Army Gen. William Westmoreland is reported to have said: "On the battlefield of the future, enemy forces will be located, tracked and targeted almost instantaneously through the use of data links, computer-assisted intelligence and automated fire control. … I am confident the American people expect this country to take full advantage of its technology–to welcome and applaud the developments that will replace wherever possible the man with the machine." It seems that this vision from the…

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Added by Riaz Haq on March 2, 2009 at 8:30am — 37 Comments

Solar Power For Sunny Pakistan





Sunny California is leading the way to tap solar energy. Can sunny Pakistan follow to deal with its crippling energy crisis?



California based BrightSource Energy, which already has a deal to build a series of huge solar power plants in the Mojave Desert for Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E),… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on February 27, 2009 at 6:00pm — 18 Comments

Foreign Students in Chinese Universities and Colleges

China is a country of 9,600,000 square kilometers in size, with a population of more than 1,200,000,000. Chinese civilization dates back 5000 years ago, and her unique culture and tradition attracts more and more international visitors. The past twenty years have witnessed China as one of the fastest growing countries in the world.





Higher education in China has been well developed. There are over 2000 universities and colleges, with… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on February 24, 2009 at 7:30pm — 1 Comment

Can Slumdog Success Improve Lives of Poor Children?



Not only has the low-budget movie "Slumdog Millionaire" drawn big crowds in the West and taken in more than $ 100m at the box office, the movie has won eight Oscars last night, including the Academy awards for the Best Picture and the Best Director. The Best Music and Best Song awards went to… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on February 23, 2009 at 8:26pm — No Comments

Slumdog: Catalyst For War on Child Poverty?



Decried by many as "racist poverty porn" and condemned by Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachan in his blog for showing India as "a third world dirty under belly developing nation (sic)", the movie… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on February 22, 2009 at 4:30pm — No Comments

China Attracting Foreign Medical Students

If Russia was the destination of choice in the 1980s and 1990s for Indian students who could not make it into medical colleges in India, China has now emerged as the hot favourite. Last year, for instance, nearly 3,000 Indian students took admission in medical colleges in China.





Still in its relatively early years, the trend has already hit a minor roadblock. After complaints from several students who went in the earlier batches about… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on February 21, 2009 at 4:00pm — No Comments

Beheading in Buffalo: Domestic Violence or Honor Killing?



Muzzammil "Mo" Hassan, founder of a Muslim-American TV network, is accused of beheading his wife, Aasiya, last week in Buffalo, New York, days after she filed for divorce, according to media reports.



The incident has shocked the Muslim-American community… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on February 19, 2009 at 12:30pm — No Comments

Pakistani Kid at Cambridge with 22 A's

By Paul Harris and Laura Clark

Last updated at 9:27 AM on 31st January 2009

Daily Mail



One ambition was fixed in Ali Moeen Nawazish's mind as he made his way through school in Pakistan. He wanted to win a place at Cambridge.



Sitting seven A-levels might easily have done the trick, even though he had started to study some of the subjects only three days before the exam.



But he was determined to get some good grades. So he sat another three, and three… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on February 13, 2009 at 9:30pm — No Comments

Renewable Energy Hits Rough Patch



Suzlon, India's wind power giant, has reported a quarterly loss after years of expansion and profit growth. It was hurt mainly by the ongoing global credit crunch, slowing wind turbine sales, and by rising costs and a provision to do repairs stemming from the widely reported quality… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on February 5, 2009 at 6:03pm — 1 Comment

Sustaining America's Competitive Edge Through Education



In spite of America's leadership position in global competitiveness, the new US administration under President Barack Obama is asking the US Congress to more than double the federal education budget this year, as part of its stimulus package. Some of the new spending will… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on February 2, 2009 at 3:37pm — No Comments

Developing Pakistan's Intellectual Capital

In the "New Economy", the most important single asset for any nation is the intellectual capital it develops by educating its people well. Investment in education could not be better described than by the words used by the Chinese genius Kuan Chung centuries ago: "If you plan for a year, plant a seed; if for 10 years, plant a tree; if for a 100 years, teach the people. When you sow a seed once, you reap a single harvest; when you teach the people, you will reap a 100 harvests."



Here… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on February 1, 2009 at 3:00pm — No Comments

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    Blog Posts

    PFX to Advance Pakistan Air Force Modernization

    Pakistan has unveiled its PFX (Pakistan Fighter Experimental) program as a significant upgrade to its JF-17 joint program with China. The new upgrade will have a number of stealth features ranging from the use of radar-absorbing composite materials and diverterless supersonic inlets (DSI) to internal weapons bay (IWB) which will significantly reduce the aircraft's radar signature. It is targeted for completion by the end of this decade. In addition, the PFX's twin-engine design will improve…

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    Posted by Riaz Haq on January 20, 2025 at 1:00pm — 1 Comment

    Pakistan to License Multiple LEO Satellite Internet Service Providers

    The Pakistan government is preparing to license three low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellite operators for space communication services in the country, according to media reports. The companies whose applications are pending include London-based OneWeb, China's Shanghai Spacecom and US headquartered Starlink.  They operate tens of thousands of small mass-produced satellites in low orbits that communicate with designated (mobile and stationary) ground stations.  Each LEO satellite circles the earth…

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    Posted by Riaz Haq on January 15, 2025 at 1:30pm — 2 Comments

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