South Asia Investor Review

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 contractors. The voters in heavily Democratic California state also defeated anti-business Propositions 16 and  21. Prop 16 would have significantly raised commercial property taxes while Prop 21 would have imposed stricter rent controls.  Bob Shrum, a former Democratic strategist and the director of the Dornsife Center for the Political Future at the University of Southern California, told the New York Times that “(T)he results in California show the Democrats that you can go too far. Californi...

Uber, the rapidly growing San Francisco based behemoth known for its taxi app,  appears to be getting ready to launch its service in Lahore, Pakistan, according to media reports. A report in Tech In Asia points to the  career page on Uber  website that shows openings for “general manager”, “operations and logistics manager”, and a “marketing manager,” for Lahore,  Pakistan's second-largest city. In fact, Uber has confirmed its plans to launch in Pakistan soon, according to  TechJuice . “We can confirm we are currently recruiting for a team in Lahore, and are very excited about launching in Pakistan as we see huge potential in the way we can help people move around their city safely and reliably,” Shaden Abdellatif, communications manager for Uber’s Middle East and Africa operations told TechJuice. “We are also excited about the opportunity for economic empowerment we can bring to the drivers we partner with.” It makes sense given the size of the Paki...