Aug
14
by Imran H. Khan
Water was not what I had in mind this early in my read of Quran, but with so much going on related to it, I decided to discuss it earlier than later. Water as we know it is the source of life. When NASA sends its probes to different heavenly bodies, one of the key pieces of information is the presence of water. Indeed one of the key recent discoveries recently have been the presence of water on the poles of the Moon and the possibility of it on Mars. So it is not surprising to find multiple references to water in different contexts in Quran.
“We have made every living thing out of water.” (Sura 21 The Prophets, ayat 30).
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Aug
13
War or Peace on the Indus
Filed Under India, Pakistan, Peace | 5 Comments
by John Briscoe
Anyone foolish enough to write on war or peace in the Indus needs to first banish a set of immediate suspicions. I am neither Indian nor Pakistani. I am a South African who has worked on water issues in the subcontinent for 35 years and who has lived in Bangladesh (in the 1970s) and Delhi (in the 2000s). In 2006 I published, with fine Indian colleagues, an Oxford University Press book titled India’s Water Economy: Facing a Turbulent Future and, with fine Pakistani colleagues, one titled Pakistan’s Water Economy: Running Dry.
Aug
9
Salman Ahmad’s Jihad
Filed Under education, India, Pakistan, Peace, religion, United States, US Policy, World | 1 Comment
by Imran H. Khan
Salman Ahmed is a well known musician out of Pakistan and South Asia. He is the founder of one of the most famous rock bands out of that region by the name of Junoon. He has recently written a book by the name of “Rock and Roll Jihad“. When I first heard about the book and the title it struck me as something odd. Rock and Roll and Jihad had until now not been said in the same sentence. Jihad in Arabic language means to strive. In the Islamic religious sense it means “striving in the cause of God”. Jihad has been classified either as al-jihād al-akbar (the greater jihad), the struggle against one’s soul (nafs), or al-jihād al-asghar (the lesser jihad), the external, physical effort, often implying fighting. Having had seen Salman grow from a cute little child to what he is now, it does not take much to understand how he has used his musical skills to achieve social activism in fighting injustices, bigotry, national animosities, disease, religious misunderstandings, religious radicalism and the list goes on.
Jul
24
Core Communications and Networks Laboratory @ NUST-SEECS
Filed Under education, Medicine, Pakistan, Software, Technology | Comments Off
by Shahzad Malik and Mehwish Nasim
The Core Communications and Networks Laboratory (CoNNekT Lab) at School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (SEECS), National University of Science and Technology (NUST), is a newly established research lab under the guidance of Dr. Saad Qaisar, a Michigan State University alum. The lab currently focuses on a diverse set of areas ranging from efficient multimedia coding and communication for telecom networks to e-health monitoring solutions and medical devices. The lab’s focus is on both applied and theoretical research. For theoretical research, the emphasis is on multimedia communications over packet networks; compressed sensing; video coding and communications over the Internet and wireless networks; modeling and analysis of the stochastic behavior of communication networks, applied information theory and network optimization. For applied research, lab’s particular focus is to improve the quality of life for low-income households in developing world through the creation and implementation of low cost technologies.
Jul
4
Cost Effective Training System for Laparoscopic and Robotic Surgery
Filed Under Medicine, Pakistan, Technology, United States | 4 Comments
by Shamyl Bin Mansoor, Osman Hasan and Dr Asif Zafar
Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) has revolutionized surgical care and treatment by reducing trauma to the patient, decreasing the need for pain medication, shortening recovery times and hospital stays, and improving cosmetic results. Laparoscopic surgery is accomplished by gaining access to the abdominal cavity, visualizing the cavity using a laparoscope, and performing diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. The term “laparoscopy” comes from the Greek words “laparo” (the flank) and “skopein” (to examine). As surgeons became skilled in laparoscopic cholecystectomy, they began to use laparoscopy to perform other advanced abdominal operations.
Jun
12
Cancer Research at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital and Research Center
Filed Under education, Medicine, Pakistan, Research, Technology | 6 Comments
by Dr. Mariam Hassan
Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital (SKMCH & RC) is a state-of-the-art specialist cancer center dedicated to providing the best possible care to all patients, irrespective of their ability to pay. The hospital was the brain-child of Pakistan’s star cricketer Imran Khan, and was built in the memory of his late mother, Mrs Shaukat Khanum who suffered from cancer in the late 1980’s and eventually passed away. The shocking lack of cancer treatment in a developing country, like Pakistan and the resulting agony of millions became the inspiration for a global fundraising campaign by Imran Khan for a cancer care facility which would eventually become Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital. His shared this dream with millions of people and after a ground breaking ceremony in 1990 and, with an estimated project cost of US $ 24 million , the hospital was completed as promised in a span of four years. Read more
May
31
OPEN@2010
Filed Under Entrepreneurism, Pakistan, United States | 1 Comment
by Contributors from OPEN Chapters
Organization of Pakistani Entrepreneurs of North America “OPEN” is now in its twelfth year of existence. At its core it is a philanthropic organization of like minded innovative and entrepreneurial people who contribute their time and efforts for the greater good of the society that they live in. Its top driven loosely coupled model of chapters has enabled it to grow to all corners of the US, extending its impact even outside these borders. Each chapter has evolved based on the inherent local business strengths as well as the level of support from the community. In celebration of OPEN’s tenth anniversary in 2008 all the chapters got together at the organization’s birthplace in Boston. During this event the leaders from different chapters presented their vision for the future. The purpose of this blog is to capture some of what has transpired since then. Read more
May
6
Responsible Response to the Time Square Bomber
Filed Under Afghanistan, Pakistan, United States, US Policy | 4 Comments
by Imran H. Khan
We in the Pakistani American community have been deeply troubled by the attempt by one of its new member to bomb the Time Square. Pakistani American community is a well to do community; as was this perpetrator. Faisal does not fit the typical profile of these kinds of criminals. Before we start talking about putting out the correct responses within our society to stop this in future; we need to learn more about what made Faisal undertake such a mission. Read more
Apr
17
JadooTV: Connecting Diasporas with Home Lands
Filed Under Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Technology, United States | 29 Comments
by Imran H. Khan
Seldom does something so small make such a major social splash as the JadooTV box. The reason is that the box is just the tip of an ice berg. The multimedia content aggregation, Jadoo Portal, globally distributed media servers and a high bandwidth global infrastructure constitute the whole iceberg. JadooTV is a palm size box that connects the internet to your TV set and allows you to browse and watch audio, video and multi-media content in your living room or wherever your TV is located. It could even be in a car. The concept of connecting TV is not new and there are other companies providing devices that do the same; like VuNow from VerismoNetworks and IPTV2000 from Netgear. Read more
Apr
6
Human Anatomy as Visual Art
Filed Under Art, India, Pakistan, United States | 5 Comments
by Taimur H. Khan
Three years ago from this week, I completed my art thesis at Bates College (Lewiston, ME, USA). I believe I have changed a lot as a person between then and now – with respect to my priorities, what I value in life, and in where my interests lie (medically, artistically,etc.) – but some of my fundamental interests in visual arts remain the same. Read more