South Asia Investor Review

Thousands of protesters and dozens of civil rights lawyers from ACLU and CAIR flocked to San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to free Muslim travelers detained by the US Customs and Immigration Service after President Donald Trump's Muslim Ban  executive order over the weekend. Silicon Valley companies rely on technology talent from many Muslim nations around the world. They also do significant business in the Islamic world. It is in Silicon Valley's best self-interest for the United States to have friendly ties with world's 1.5 billion Muslims. Among the most famous sons of Muslim immigrants was the legendary  Apple founder Steve Jobs . Anti-Ban Protest at San Francisco International Airport  While the scene with anti-ban protesters and civil rights lawyers was repeated at all major international airports across the United States, what was special about San Francisco was the presence of Silicon Valley tech elite,  including Google cofounder Sergey Brin...

What tone did President Donald J. Trump set in his inauguration speech on Jan 20, 2017? Can Trump simultaneously take on the US establishment, friends and foes all at the same time? How will he browbeat US businesses to stop offshoring of manufacturing and jobs? How will he " eradicate radical Islamic terrorism" without the help of allies whose armies he says will not be "subsidized" by the United States? How's Trump's rise seen in Pakistan? Will he start trade wars with China and other countries running trade surpluses with the United States? Will he change Washington or will Washington change him? Why is the World Economic Forum 2017 in Davos so concerned about growing economic inequality? Is globalization alone responsible for it? Why is India so unequal with 58.4% of the wealth owned by the top 1% of Indians? Why have the Brexit vote and Trump victory sent shockwaves through the ranks of the owners/investors of global businesses and industries...

Top 1% of Indians own 58% of wealth in India, according to a recent report by Oxfam as published by  Wall Street Journal .  The report said the global average for wealth ownership of the top 1% is 51%. Source: Oxfam The income and wealth concentration in the hands of the richest top 1% skews the average per capita incomes and makes the material well-being of average citizen look better than it is.  The best way to measure how well or poorly an average citizen is doing is to look at the median income and wealth, not the average or mean. The median income reflects how much the person at the 50th percentile of the income distribution earns, giving us a better picture of the well-being of a “typical” individual in a given country. Similarly, median wealth represents how much wealth a person at the 50th percentile of the wealth distribution has accumulated. Median Incomes in South Asia: Centre for Global Development  has estimated 2014  median incomes ...

Altaba, the new name for Yahoo after its deal with Verizon, is currently the name of a Pakistan-based company spelled as Al-Taba, according to the  New York Times . Is this plagiarism? Not only is the new Altaba a much bigger company than  Al-Taba , the two companies operate in totally different industries: The Pakistani company manufactures surgical and beauty scissors. The new name for what will remain of Yahoo is a combination of words “alternative and Alibaba,” according to a person familiar with the company’s thinking, who spoke on the condition of anonymity  to the  Washington Post .  After the rest of the company is purchased by Verizon for under $5 billion, Altaba's biggest  remaining asset will be its 15% stake worth $35 billion in the Chinese company Alibaba.  In addition, Altaba will also own 35.5% of Yahoo Japan. As to the Pakistani company Al-Taba, its website describes it as "one of the largest private manufacturers and expo...

How was the year 2016 for Pakistan? What can Pakistan expect in 2017? Did Pakistan’s internal security improve in 2016? If do, how? And by how much? How was it done? By Zarb e Azb military operation? Did Pakistan implement the National Action Plan to address extremism and radicalization in society? Source: South Asia Terrorism Portal How did Pakistan’s economy do? And how did the stock market do? Did improved security help? Did China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) investments help boost investor confidence in the country? Source: Bloomberg What caused deterioration in India-Pakistan ties? Was it the murder of Burhan Wani and India’s attempt to blame it on “cross-border terrorism” from Pakistan? Did Indian PM Modi succeed in isolating Pakistan ? How will Obama’s exit and Trump’s presidency affect US-Pakistan relations? Will these be as bad as under Obama ? Or better? Or worse under Trump? How will Pakistan’s close ties with China and warming relations with Ru...