News & Updates

“As a result of heightened social media usage and increased access to technology, Pakistanis are more connected to global entrepreneurial and technology trends as well as higher quality learning than before,” says a new report commissioned by the World Bank’s Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP). The report, released today, details Pakistan’s startup ecosystem and the key players to whom entrepreneurs can turn for things like mentorship, workshops, incubation, and funding. “In the past several years, Pakistan’s volatile political and security environment has negatively affected the investor and entrepreneurship climate,” the report notes. However, it ultimately paints a picture of a nation adopting new technology while at the same time “adapting Western-style entrepreneurship and innovation for a Pakistan context.” The paper was released by Invest2Innovate, a local startup accelerator, in partnership with CGAP. Kalsoom Lakhani, the founder and CEO of Invest2Innovate, tells T

Pakistan on Thursday denied any presence of supporters of the Islamic State (IS) Sunni extremist group in the country and reiterated that it is against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. No government source has confirmed presence of the IS supporters in the country, said foreign ministry spokesperson Tasnim Aslam, reported Xinhua. Aslam was responding to questions concerning statements of some Pakistani clerics that alleged that recent attacks in Karachi showed that there have been some IS foot print in Pakistan. The attack on the Karachi Dockyard Sep 6 was the fourth big Taliban attack since the launch of the North Waziristan offensive. The military operation ‘Zarb-i-Azb’ was launched by the Pakistan army June 15 following a brazen militant attack on Karachi’s international airport and failure of peace talks between the government and Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) negotiators. Aslam, however, evaded a direct reply to whether the US has sought Pakista

Saudi Arabia among 10 Arab states which agree to join Barack Obama’s “international coalition” against Isil, after ministers hold talks with John Kerry By Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent, and Peter Foster in Washington A coalition of 10 Arab states threw their support behind Barack Obama’s pledge to destroy the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil) movement in Iraq and Syria on Thursday. In a welcome boost to US plans for defeating the militant Islamist group, regional powers including Saudi Arabia and Jordan pledged to “do their share” in the battle. The announcement in Saudi Arabia was carefully choreographed, coming hours after the president told the American people that he would expand US air strikes against the militants, promising that Isil would ultimately be “vanquished from the Earth”. As Mr Obama marked the anniversary of the September 11 attacks with a moment of silence at the White House, the 10 regional allies — which also

At the beginning of the week, when we scan the news media around the globe to decide what media story to go with, wires started dropping about protesters occupying Pakistan’s state broadcaster PTV. The story is part of a new political power struggle in which the country’s top news channels are fighting a proxy war of their own. For three weeks now, street demonstrators led by cricket-player-turned politician, Imran Khan, have been demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, whose election last year the protestors insist was rigged. Sharif says he is not going anywhere. The way the unrest is being reported in Pakistan’s media lays bare the political divisions in the country and exacerbates them. Backing the government are Geo TV, the most watched network in Pakistan and the state-owned broadcaster, PTV. Both had their offices targeted by protestors, and, in PTV’s case, occupied. ARY, the number two news channel, backs the protest movement, and has been going at i

ISLAMABAD:  China’s foreign ministry on Saturday denied releasing any information regarding President Xi Jingping’s visit to Pakistan. “China and Pakistan have maintained close high-level exchanges… [and] are in close communication regarding the next step of such exchanges,” China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Qin Gang told reporters at a news conference in Beijing. “It is worth pointing out [however] that we never released any information about President Xi’s visit to Pakistan officially,” he said. “So, there is no basis to say we are about to cancel anything.” At the same time, the spokesperson expressed hope that all major political stakeholders in Pakistan would be able to ‘resolve their differences and restore national security’. “As for the current situation in Pakistan, we hope relevant parties in Pakistan can work together while bearing in mind the fundamental interests of the state and the people, and jointly safeguard national security,” he said. The P