Mashable Pakistan Lab

Pakistan has one of the highest malnutrition burdens in the world. The 2011 National Nutrition Survey (NNS) revealed that the country faces a complex triple burden of malnutrition, undernutrition, overnutrition (obesity & overweight) and micronutrient deficiency. While the NNS survey conducted in 2018 showed that the nutritional situation has not improved to a significant scale since 2011.

One of the major causes of malnutrition in the country is food wastage. Around 36 million tonnes of food is wasted every year in Pakistan. As per a research, 8 out of 10 children in the country do not have access to nutritious food.

Given the prevalence of chronic and acute undernourishment combined with rising cases of obesity and non-communicable diseases (NCDs), it is important to recognize that there is an urgent and pressing need to transform the existing food systems to tackle the menace of malnutrition.

To play there part in addressing the said issue in the country, the National Incubation Center (NIC) organized a hackathon called NutriBiz Innovation Challenge 2021. The focus of the hackathon was to improve the capability and productivity of SMEs and startups working on innovative solutions for problems pertaining to Food and Nutrition in Pakistan.

Dozens of startups applied for the competition, and three out of them were crowned winners of the innovation challenge. The winning startups include Farm to Home, Asqurr and Nutribreads.

Mashable Pakistan Lab talks to Nausheen Barket (founder of Asqurr) and Azam Khan (head of operations of Farm to Home), about the causes of malnutrition in Pakistan, and what steps should we as an individual and the government must take to end this crisis from the country. Nausheen and Azam also shared details about their startups, what products they offer, and how they are playing their part in reducing malnutrition from Pakistan.

The future of healthcare lies in working hand-to-hand with latest technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, among many others. Such technologies could help transform the entire healthcare system, in providing cheaper, faster and more effective solutions for diseases.

The world is facing new and deadly diseases like that of coronavirus, and it is high time that technology should be utilized to enhance medicine and healthcare for effective response to these diseases.

While the rest of the world is trying to integrate technology in their healthcare system with the help of latest tech based tools, there are various organizations in Pakistan as well, which are developing gadgets to help enhance the medical services in the country.

One such company, a startup, named Xpertflow is working to revolutionize the healthcare industry in Pakistan through its deep tech products. The startup is trying to address the day to day problems faced in Intensive Care, High Dependency Units and Emergency by improving the operational efficiency and the quality of patient care.

Mashable Pakistan Lab talks to Shan-ul-Haq, the CTO of Xpertflow, who shares the details about how their tech based healthcare products can help medical service providers enhance their operations. He also shared details regarding which technologies the company is working on to develop their products.

In Pakistan unfortunately there is not a balanced distribution of resources when it comes to sports. As a result, except for cricketers, the players suffer as they for the most part have to fend for themselves and look for ways to pursue the career they are passionate about.

Football is one such sport that has suffered in the country, despite have a considerable fan following and an equal amount of talent that has been going to waste. While there is impressive talent, the structure is decades behind where the international game is standing at the moment. A recent hit came in the form of FIFA’s ban on Pakistan Football Federation.

Mashable Pakistan Lab talks to Umaid Wasim, who is a sports journalist about the state of football in Pakistan and what needs to be done.

For the majority of us the mention of graphic content means a story that revolves around super heroes. However, there are few trailblazers in who are telling all kinds of stories using the medium. One such individual is Sabdezar Irfan, a graphic designer with a corporate day job and an all-time storyteller.

What would it take for your world to come apart at the seams? And when it does, what would it take for you to survive it? Grey Matter by Sabdezar Irfan is an intimate story of a young couple narrated as a graphic novel. She takes on mental health, a subject still taboo in our society.

Mashable Pakistan Lab talks to Sabdezar Irfan about her passion for graphic design and storytelling and how the two came together for her.

According to various studies conducted in Pakistan across the decade, it has been estimated that there are around 2 million people in the country who are visually impaired. Still, there are many visually impaired people out there in this country who have aspirations about their academic or professional lives, and want to achieve big even if they can’t see properly.

However, majority of them have to face certain hurdles in their path to grow academically. One of the major barrier is the unviability to study material in Pakistan written in the language they can understand.

That certain language is called ‘braille’. Braille is a system of raised dots that can be read with the fingers by people who are blind or who have low vision. It can be termed as a code which many languages around the world can be written, so that visually impaired people can read. Braille provides a means of literacy for all.

Every country is trying to develop study material in Braille language, turning their native languages into codes, to help visually impaired people receive education. Unfortunately, there is not much study material on braille available in Urdu for people who live in Pakistan.

A startup named Boltay Huroof, discovered this problem in the country and have provided a solution in the form of a software that can turn Urdu alphabets into Braille language codes. These braille codes can be later imposed on a piece of paper to develop reading material for blind people in Pakistan.

Mashable Pakistan Lab talks to Umer Farooq, CEO of Boltay Huroof, who shares the details about how their software works, and their mission to turn all education material present in Urdu and other languages into braille.

In 2017 UNDP Pakistan made a commitment to invest in innovative solutions for development. They accelerated their support in 2019 by launching UNDP Innovation-Accelerator Lab Pakistan. The Lab is funded by the State of Qatar and the Federal Republic of Germany, and is part of a global network of labs serving in 114 countries.

The development work needs a fresh approach as the old system is not able to come up with long term sustainable solutions. Crises today are multidisciplinary in nature as it impacts economy, human health, and social well-being all at once. Development must take a new perspective on the design of programming that achieves systemic transformationthrough diverse partnership from government to private sector, and creative thinkers.

UNDP Innovation-Accelerator Lab is a dedicated learning space to reimagine development solutions. The team works with the country office programmes and partners to explore and experiment new approaches, from ethnography to design, to find inclusive and human centered approaches for meaningful change.

Mashable Pakistan Lab talks to Beenisch Tahir, Head of UNDP Innovation-AccLab Pakistan and Exploration Lead. She provides strategic support to the team and UNDP Country Office (CO), to identify emerging trends and build partnerships to scale solutions developed by the AccLab team and CO units.

Tahir has been working in the humanitarian and development sector for the past 10 years in the fields ofcommunications, ICT4D, innovation and partnerships. Beenisch has an MSc in Social Policy Development from London School of Economics.

Water scarcity (also called water stress or water crisis) is the lack of fresh water recourses to meet the fresh water demand. Millions of people around the world lack access to fresh water, which is an essential element for a healthy human life. Even in Pakistan, there are certain regions where fresh water, or even any water is available for the population. This is a cause for concern, for every country, especially Pakistan.

As per latest IMF’s research, Pakistan stands at number three in the list of countries around the world which are facing water shortage crisis the most. Along with that, majority of research studies have predicted that, by 2040, Pakistan will become the most water stressed country in the world.

All of these facts and research results, are a silent urge to people in Pakistan that we need to take steps and develop such products, so that we conserve as much water as we can, to delay the water crisis we are facing.

Keeping all of facts in mind, Ali Khursheed – the founder of Aabshar – one day decided that there must be a solution to reduce the wastage of water in every household and other places, each day in Pakistan.

The startup company Aabshar, has developed a water optimizer that converts water into tiny droplets that helps to reduce water wastage by 98 per cent (as company claims) and save you 16 per cent of electricity bills.

Mashable Pakistan Lab talks to Ali Khursheed about the journey the journey of his company, how he shifted from tech field to an entirely different domain and what persuaded him to work on water shortage crisis.

Hacktivate is NIC’s flagship hackathon event that came into existence in 2018. Since then, three hackathons have been organized to date, with global reach in terms of participants as well as mentors and judges. These hackathons were based on agriculture, health, and education. The marketing efforts of NIC and the respective partners brought in an influx of applications from around the world, which were then scrutinized by a panel of experts and only a handful could make it to the hackathon.

The latest Hacktivate 4.0 was titled, A Fintech Hackathon.

Fintech is significantly reshaping the banking, insurance and investment landscape. To maximize its potential and nurture fintech startups across Pakistan, the NIC, under the Hacktivate banner, organised a hackathon on this theme.

Mashable Pakistan talked to the two winners of the competition; Nomaan Bin Bashir, Co-Founder and CEO of Ozoned and Zain Gohar, Co-Founder of Ekhata ERP.

Ozoned Digital, is Pakistan’s first true-to-the-core InsurTech startups, aiming to create a technology platform that builds upon a mix of new tech and disruptive business models, in turn creating efficiencies, value additions and customer satisfaction in the insurance industry. Ozoned is led by a team of insurance and technology professionals having several decades of combined industry experience under their belt. The company has a self-ingrained vision that remains deeply committed to the promotion of financial inclusion in developing and under-developed insurance markets.

Ekhata ERP, is an easy to use accounting and inventory solution integrated with a B2B platform, Digits and aims to change the way Pakistan’s traditional businesses are operating from decades.

Tello Talk is Pakistan’s first social media app that not only allows the users to communicate with their friends and family but also gives them a platform to build a localized community. The apps services include; chat rooms, live news, stories, music and entertaining time pass content to name a few.

The app is available for both iOS and Android users.

Mashable Pakistan Lab talks to Tello Talk’s CEO, Shahbaz Jamote about the journey of the company, its challenges in the local budding tech environment, data security and what is in store for its future.

Every now then we all have encountered an unexpected situation(s), when in the middle of nowhere our car breaks down, or malfunction or gets a flat tire, and we are left stranded with no kind of help available. In those situations we always wish that we can call someone, who can come and fix our vehicle instantly, so we can be on our way without any worries.

Well, now you can, with the help of CarHelpline, Pakistan's 1st mobile-based Roadside Assistance (RSA) Platform.

The online startup provides 24/7 roadside assistance services anywhere, anytime across Pakistan through their digital platform. All users have to do is install and register on the application to request car service whenever they are in need of it.

The functionality of the entire setup is just like that of online cab services Uber and Careem. Users have to pinpoint their location, mention the service they want or issue they are facing, and the application will connect them with a nearby service centre or individual.

That individual after accepting the job will reach at your location in less than 30 minutes (as claimed by the company), and fix your program. The charges of every service is mentioned in the application, so that users would know what amount they have to pay, beforehand.

Mashable Pakistan Lab talked with the founder and CEO of Car Helpline, Rehan Mushtaq Ahmed and asked him about the entire process of how their services work, and what makes them a reliable source of help in the time of need.

Bayfikr is a fintech platform for overseas Pakistanis to pay bills to Pakistan bank accounts.

It is currently incubated with the National Incubation Center (NIC), and was founded by two expats out of sheer frustration over the lack of control, inconvenience, unintentional delays, and additional legwork required by Pakistanis abroad in sending money back to the country.

Currently, Bayfikr is in the final stages of launching a unique and user friendly payment app, integrating almost all Pakistani billers and businesses. Through the app, a user can simply select the bill they want to pay using his/her foreign bank account or card, and the payment will be made instantaneously. The company currently has presence in the UK, UAE and Pakistan and has signed strategic tie ups with banks, payment gateways and compliance partners. They also plan to expand to other parts of the globe very soon.

The National Incubation Center is Pakistan’s largest technology incubation center; the first purpose built creative space in Pakistan buzzing with innovators, mentors, change-makers and passionate leaders. It’s a living example of a successful public-private partnership between the Ministry of IT & Telecom, Ignite – National Technology Fund, Jazz and Teamup. The National Incubation Center in Islamabad is led by two unicorn founders with around decades of combined experience in setting up organizations from scratch and bringing digital revolution in Pakistan.

Hacktivate is the NIC’s flagship hackathon event that came into existence in 2018. Since then, three hackathons have been organized to date, with global reach in terms of participants as well as mentors & judges. These hackathons were based on agriculture, health, and education. The marketing efforts of NIC and the respective partners brought in an influx of applications from around the world, which were then scrutinized by a panel of experts and only a handful could make it to the hackathon.

Fintech is significantly reshaping the banking, insurance and investment landscape. To maximize its potential and nurture fintech startups across Pakistan, the NIC, under the Hacktivate banner, is organizing a hackathon on fintech.

https://nicpakistan.pk/hacktivate-4-0-a-hackathon-on-fintech/

Mashable Pakistan Lab talked to the team behind Hacktivate 4.0 to talk about the thought process behind the initiative and what to expect from it.

Usman T. Malik is a Pakistani-American medical doctor and writer.

Most of his writing is focused in the science fiction and fantasy genre. His’s work has been reprinted in several year’s anthologies including; the Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy series and has been nominated for the World Fantasy Award, the Million Writers Award, and twice for the Nebula. He has won the Bram Stoker and the British Fantasy awards.

Malik is also the co-founder of the Salam Award for Imaginative Fiction, which seeks to nurture science fiction writers of Pakistani origin.

His debut collection Midnight Doorways: Fables from Pakistan came out earlier this year.

Mashable Pakistan Lab talked to him about his favourite genre of storytelling, the Salam Award and all things writing and publishing.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a growing system of billions of devices, or things, around the world that connect to the internet and to each other through wireless networks. There are plenty of startups in Pakistan that are working in this field and developing smart solutions and devices for the masses.

One such startup is named Grandeur Technologies, founded in 2018.

Grandeur Technologies is a startup company that helps manufacturers and startups to build smart (IoT) products with its comprehensive cloud computing platform.

The company was initially created for the purpose of home automation, but with the passage of time they expanded their boundaries and now help in developing smart solutions for equipment failure predictability, maintenance and other relevant functionality.

They takes care of the complex parts like networking, storage and scaling, while you just use their SDK and focus on your hardware.

Grandeur Technologies is also part of the startup accelerator, Plan X. The aim of Plan X is to empower commercially viable mid-stage technology startups through a specialized six month equity free acceleration programme.

Mashable Pakistan Lab talks to the team behind Grandeur Technologies about their journey, the services they provide in the field of IoT, and their experience with Plan X.

The Lahore Literary Festival (LLF) is the city’s premier free-to-public cultural event and aims to bring together, discuss, and celebrate the diverse and pluralistic literary traditions of Lahore—a city of the arts, activism, and big ideas.

Founded in 2012, the festival explore the dialogue and interface between literature and the arts that shape our cultural, social, economic, and political frameworks.

Like all the national and international events, this year LLF is also going virtual due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The event dates are 18 to 21 February and you can join via the Lahore Literary Festival’s YouTube and Facebook pages.

Mashable Pakistan Lab talked to the founder and CEO, Razi Ahmed about LLF’s history, contributions and transition to the virtual format.

Graphology is the study of handwriting. Handwriting is seen as a mirror to our mind and personality. 

It projects both our conscious and subconscious mind. It is usually misunderstood as a branch of fortune telling, but a graphologist cannot foretell any future happenings, they just talk about the current state of mind of the writer.

The astonishing fact is that appearances can be deceptive but handwriting never lies. Handwriting reveals how the writer thinks, feels and behaves, and it does so directly and immediately, without them even being present. It shows the motivation that lies behind actions and outlines the writer's propensity to behave in ways that may not be expected. Therefore, graphologists are able to analyze a writer's personality. 

A connected aspect of this field is graphotherapy, which is the science of molding your personality through your handwriting. Like any other form of therapy, it aims to help identify the underlining issues being faced by an individual (be it of any age group) that are reflected in their behavior. 

Mashable Pakistan Lab talks to Saman Aslam, who is the youngest Pakistani graphologist, currently based and practicing from Saudi Arabia.  

Bashir Ahmad is a Pakistani-American Mixed Martial artist who is known as Pakistan’s ‘Godfather’ of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).

Raised in the US in a family of expats, he ended up joining the army after attending a recruitment course in college. Once he left the force he went back to school and completed his bachelor’s degree in political science from George Mason University and then went on to do his Masters in exercise sciences from California University.

His interest in MMA developed during his army tenure, where he developed an interest and started training. He started taking part in competitions to improve his skills and as they say rest is history.

Bashir laid the foundation of MMA in the country in 2007, with the aim to promote all branches of martial arts and combat sports as well. In Pakistan he has two gyms. Synergy is his commercial venture while Shaheen Gym, located in Chararpind serves as an academy for less privileged kids of the area, where they not only train but also get civic education to help mold them as a positive contributors to society.

Currently, he is signed with the ONE Championship.

Mashable Pakistan talks to Bashir Ahmed about his journey and future plans.

Arslan Athar is a Lahore based writer and the founder and editor of The Desi Collective. 

The Desi Collective is a quarterly magazine for young and aspiring writers in South Asia. To date the magazine has already published three issues and is on its way of having a digital version as well.

Athar has also been selected for the South Asia Speaks programme. It is a mentorship programme for early career writers in the region.

Mashable Pakistan talks to Arslan about what writing means to him, his journey that resulted in The Desi Collective and where the magazine is headed. 

Saba Karim Khan is an author, award winning filmmaker and educator, whose writing has appeared in The Guardian, The Independent, Wasafiri, Huff Post, EN Fuego, Verso, DAWN, Express Tribune, Think Progress.

She has read Social Anthropology at the University of Oxford and works at NYU Abu Dhabi. Her doc-film, Concrete Dreams: Some Roads Lead Home is now on Amazon Prime Video. Before joining the Academy, she worked as Country Marketing and Public Affairs Head at Citigroup. Born in Karachi, she now lives in Abu Dhabi with her husband and two daughters.

Skyfall is her debut novel published by Bloomsbury in December 2020. The blurb of the book reads:

Born in Heera Mandi, Lahore's famous red-light district, Rania is a tour guide by day and a classical singer by night. Despite the worst of humanity every day – her madrassa running father selling her mother's body and beating her sister – Rania remains the 'Troublemaker', unable to give up on her dreams.

When an Indian filmmaker encourages her to enroll in a music contest that can take her to New York, her dreams take flight. But even as she wins the hearts of her listeners, a family secret threatens to bring her life in Heera Mandi back in sharp relief, upending the new life she has built for herself.

From the oppressive walls of religious hypocrisy to the orange jumpsuits of American prisons, Skyfall is a tender, piercing debut that teaches us the strength of human endeavour and our desire for love in a time of hate.

Mashable Pakistan Lab talked to Saba about all the various hats she wears and the journey that resulted in Skyfall.

Danish Jabbar Khan is a social entrepreneur who works with women in rural communities in order to build their confidence so they can participate in local decision making and carve connections with relevant urban markets.

He is the CEO of Kaarvan Crafts Foundation, an organization which aims to enable women in low income communities across Pakistan to successfully pursue decent livelihoods.

Khan believes that the representation and participation of women will pave the path for a culture of peace in the country. To date, Kaarvan has touched the lives of more than 25,000 women in over 1,000 villages across Pakistan. Honouring his contribution towards gender equality, The International Alliance for Women recognized him as a Champion of Women Economic Empowerment and bestowed him the World of Difference Award for 2019.

Mashable Pakistan Lab talked to Danish Jabbar Khan about this transition from working for the corporate sector to becoming a social entrepreneur, Kaarvan’s journey and his role with the popular music bands EP and Call.

Sadaf Khan is the co-founder of Media Matters for Democracy (MMfD). She has been working in the field of journalism and media development sector in Pakistan for the past seventeen years. Currently, her work focuses on digital rights, media and internet governance and digital media information literacy in Pakistan.

MMfD is a Pakistani non-profit organization that works on press freedom and digital rights. The organization’s work includes; policy research, advocacy training and legal aid.

Connected to the ongoing global pandemic, MMfD recently, published a study titled, Public Trust in the Media during the Coronavirus Pandemic. This study was done as part of the Civil society for Independent Media and Expression (CIME) initiative jointly undertaken with the Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives and the Pakistan Press Foundation. The CIME initiative will contribute to the enhanced protection and promotion of freedom of expression and right to information in Pakistan by increasing the availability of knowledge about policy trends regarding these rights, raising awareness about potential challenges to the exercise of the rights, and by building the capacity of journalists, lawyers, and human rights defenders to respond to risks and violations.

Mashable Pakistan Lab talks to Khan about the study, the details around the research, its implication and what more needs to be done when it comes to the role of media.

Granaz Baloch dons multiple hats. She is a water researcher who also works on gender equality issues and community development. Baloch is also the Founder and Director of UDaan. The focus of her work revolves around UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which focus on the themes of poverty, education, clean water, and sanitation and gender equality.

Baloch is working as a water researcher and Teaching Fellow at the Department of Natural and Basic Sciences University of Turbat, Balochistan. She has an undergrad degree in Inorganic Chemistry from SBK Women University, Quetta and an M.Phil in Chemistry from University of Turbat. Beside these qualifications she is also an Acumen Fellow 2018, Alumni of YPFP and PUAN Alumni. She is also an alumni of Australia Awards short course for Water Governance in a Federated System Pakistan and short course of Water Law and Gender from Panjwani-Hisaar Water Institute (PHWI). Her personal interests include; travelling, music, books and tea.

Mashable Pakistan Lab talked to Granaz about various aspects of her work and how all of them are connected and aim towards sustainable development of her community and Pakistan.

Cosplaying has taken precedence over the years. The art of dressing up and role playing your favorite character ensues a world of its own. As exciting the whole thing is, being a dedicated cosplayer is equally demanding and requires utmost effort.

From looks to costume design to imitating gestures, it isn’t easy at all!

Mashable Pakistan Lab talked to Pakistan’s two most enthusiastic and popular cosplay artists who shared their exciting stories of their journey, experiences and reasons why they entered the cosplay industry.

Asad Shamshad an interest in the animated arts and novels from his childhood. He is the person behind the first cosplay convention in Pakistan, TwinCon, held in 2014 in collaboration with his friends. Later in the years he has donned many characters from various movies, games to anime series and much more. His cosplay, the black suit version of Superman, was also displayed on the main screen of DC Comics.

Sameen Rahathas a Bachelors in textile designing and is currently working as a career advisor for A-level students at a local school. She started her cosplay journey from 2015 after TwinCon, which cemented her interest in being a cosplay artist and some of her key characters include; Harley Quinn, Chat Noir and Doctor Strange in addition to others from the Marvel Universe. Rahat coined the term, “halal cosplays” that went viral among the community.

The National Incubation Center and Jazz xlr8 organized Hacktivate 3.0, to find solutions in the field of agri-tech.

Hacktivate 3.0 turned out to be the largest agri hackathon, the ecosystem has witnessed to date with more than 30 partners contributing to the event in various capacities.

Mashable Pakistan Lab talked to the two winners of the Innovation Challenge, who shared the challenges faced by the agriculture industry in Pakistan, their ideas and the role their startups can play in improving the agriculture system in the country.

Usman Gondalis the founder of Crop Drop; a startup that is disrupting the supply chain by sourcing quality produce directly from farmers and delivering it to urban retailers, businesses, and service providers at an affordable price.

Anas Shaikhis the founder of Peepu, a startup that aims to empower the whole agricultural supply chain. Given the high number of middlemen and huge loss of harvest produce, Peepu has come up with an app based solution that connects farmers to consumers.

Dr Nosherwan Shoaibis the team lead at Smart Aquaponics.It is a startup that is addressing the problems of food insecurity and water shortage. They have combined the concepts of aquaculture and hydroponics to create a closed loop food production process.

Musharraf Ali Farooqi, is a renowned Pakistani author, translator and storyteller. As he says on his website; “These interests have converged over the years; one kind helping me discover the other, and taking me a little further into the past.”

His latest book, The Merman and the Book of Power, is written as a qissa genre that originated in the oral literatures of Urdu, Persian and Arabic.

Farooq is also known for working for children’s literature and is currently working on establishing a specialized Urdu language publishing programme. There are three different segments to his on this front and includes; an interactive storytelling and activity based learning programme called Storykit, an online Urdu Thesaurus and Kitab, a publishing house.

His honors include; Fellow, Harvard University South Asia Institute (Spring 2017), finalist for the Man Asian Literary Prize 2012 for Between Clay and Dust finalist for DSC Prize for Literature 2011 for The Story of a Widow  and PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grant 2011 for Hoshruba.

In this podcast episode, we talk all things literature and publishing in Pakistan.

The National Incubation Center and Jazz xlr8 organized Hacktivate 3.0, to find solutions in the field of agri-tech.

Hacktivate 3.0 turned out to be the largest agri hackathon, the ecosystem has witnessed to date with more than 30 partners contributing to the event in various capacities.

Mashable Pakistan Lab talked to the two winners of Hacktivate 3.0. They shared their ideas and the role they can respectively play in improving the agriculture system in Pakistan and help the environment as well.

Zulfiqar Ahmed is the CEO of Innovation Lab. The company is developing an IoT-based system to monitor soil moisture and soil temperature for farms. Their aim is to reduce water wastage, reduce human intervention and increase the crop yield.

Dr Anam Munawar is the founder of Nano Enabled Agriculture. The startup is using nanomaterials to detect pesticide residue. Pesticide residue in different kinds of crops can have many side effects. Nanoparticles based pesticides can offer advantages, like reducing toxicity, improving the shelf life, and increasing the solubility of poorly water soluble pesticides. All of these could have positive environmental impacts. Fertilizers and pesticides based on nanomaterials can provide an important solution to the problem.

Dr Amir Khalil is an Egyptian veterinarian and the Director of Project Development at Four Paws. After studying veterinary medicine at Cairo University, Dr Amir received a scholarship to study wild animals in Pretoria, South Africa. 

He is known as the war vet, as he has been involved in saving animals from war zones and disaster areas. While his work gives you the impression that he is some sort of a cowboy, as Dr Amir mentioned in this podcast, the actual work is anything of the sort. His motto is that saving animals reflects saving humanity.

His association with Four Paws started as a volunteer and after a few years he started working as their Director of Project Development.

For Pakistanis he is the man who saved the world’s longest elephant, Kaavan and along with his team relocated him to a sanctuary in Cambodia during the ongoing pandemic. He also serenaded him with a Frank Sumatra song!

In this episode of Mashable Pakistan Lab, Dr Amir joins us from the Islamabad Zoo, and talks about this career in general, caring for our wildlife, Kaavan and the remaining bears that he is here to relocate.

Fatima Bhutto is the author of seven books; a combination of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Her two latest books are The Runaways is a novel that explores radicalization through the lives of three young individuals with very diverse backgrounds and New Kings of the World: Dispatches from Bollywood, Dizi and K-pop is a non-fiction book that explores the new cultural trends that are on the rise.

In this podcast episode of Mashable Pakistan Lab, we talked to Bhutto about all things writing and the South Asia Literary Mentorship programme that she is a part of.

The South Asia Literary Mentorship programme aims to help budding writers learn the ropes of the field and help them navigate their way in the literary world. Joining the team for fictional work, Bhutto will be mentoring a writer over the course of twelve months, starting January 2021. Interested candidates can apply via https://soniafaleiro.wixsite.com/southasiaspeaks

The National Incubation Center  and Jazz xlr8 have launched yet another exciting hackathon – Hacktivate3.0, to find solutions in the field of agri-tech.

Hacktivate 3.0 will be the largest agri hackathon the ecosystem has witnessed to date with more than 30 partners contributing to the event in different ways.

Mashable Pakistan Lab talked to two representatives of Hacktivate 3.0 to introduce the idea of this competition and its importance for Pakistan’s agri based economy.

Numair Shahzada is currently working as the Marketing Manager at the National Incubation Center. Previously, he was a founding member of the app based delivery startup Couch Potato, where he created the visionary design and communications direction for the brand. He has worked in Thailand at the only British Columbian International School in Bangkok, where he taught English as well as integrated digital marketing strategies and tactics to optimize lead generation as their Marketing Manager. As an entrepreneur he has run a digital marketing company, provided group meditation classes, IELTS training and most recently he co-founded Friends of Islamabad Zoo which is a citizen body that provides protection for the animals of the Islamabad Zoo in collaboration with the IWMB.

Nabeel Yusuf- Building; it’s what I do for a living. No, not in the traditional hammer and nail sense, but in the business development sense – whether it’s building a marketplace for a product I’m selling, building a series of original products, or building a business. The same rules apply ... What can I do to make people's lives better? My career spans a couple of decades and is made up of an interesting combination of cross industry work. From programming at a fortune 500 company to running a design studio on an island in Thailand it's been a colorful journey of finding my center. You can call me a spiritual generalist with a passion for everything odd.

The hackathon applications close on 21 November and the virtual event is scheduled to be held on 28 and 29 of November 2020. The top three winners will get cash prizes, and an opportunity to connect with the relevant stakeholders required to practically implement the winning ideas including investors, public sector representatives and mentors/domain experts. For application details visit https://nicpakistan.pk/hacktivate

Saad Idrees, is the Co-founder and CEO of daftarkhawan.

As per their tagline daftarkhwan is more than just an office – it’s a meeting point for entrepreneurs, a resource palette for startups, and an open call for collective action. They aim to deliver an agile workplace that can adapt to the evolving needs of the modern day.

In this episode we talk to Saad about the culture of using co-working spaces in Pakistan, the importance of community building and much more.

Documentary Association of Pakistan (DAP) is an initiative promoting and popularizing the art of documentary films in the country by organizing film screening in public spaces nationwide.

In this podcast session we talk to two co-founders of DAP about documentary making in Pakistan, the power of this medium and their ongoing virtual event, Chalta Phirta Documentary Festival.

Risham Waseem is a digital content creator and documentary film maker based in Lahore, Pakistan. She is the creative director of Maati TV, Pakistan’s first web based interactive video platform aimed at putting forward an alternative narrative of Pakistan in support of human rights, democracy and cultural diversity through various digital story telling techniques.  She is also the festival director of Vasakh Documentary Film Festival, an international documentary film festival aimed at creating awareness on Human rights issues and initiating a critical discourse among Pakistani youth. More recently she has also worked as a digital communication strategist for the office of United National Human Rights Commission, where she designed digital strategies and products for the Special Rapporteur on from of peaceful assembly and association.

She has received her BA honors in Film and Television from National College of Arts and since then has been part of several documentary productions with a particular focus on human rights. She has also been a Hurford Youth Fellow with the World Movement for Democracy where she designed a web series tackling the hurdles young people face towards being more politically engaged. Risham also has an extensive background in Interactive/Forum theatre and has been part of a theatre group that has performed on issues of gender based violence, interfaith harmony and democracy, all over Pakistan.

Haya Fatima Iqbal is an Academy and two-time Emmy winning documentary filmmaker from Pakistan.

Haya has covered a range of subjects through her documentary work ranging from gender, militancy, and conflict to climate change, water scarcity and social justice. Her work has been featured on HBO Documentary, BBC, Al Jazeera, Channel 4 UK, VICE, National Geographic Society, Redfish, CNN and the Thomson Reuters Foundation among other media organizations.

Haya is an Acumen fellow and a Fulbright scholar. She teaches communication, media, and journalism to undergraduate students at Habib University, Karachi. She also trains people in storytelling and filmmaking in Pakistan and abroad. She holds a Masters in News & Documentary from New York University.

Sadaffe Abid is the founder of CIRCLE Women Association, a leading social enterprise that aims to build and develop the entrepreneurial and leadership capacity of women in Pakistan.

She was an integral part of the Kashf Foundation, from when it was a pilot project to the well-established microfinance organization that it has become today. Sadaffe is also known for bringing She Loves Tech to Pakistan.

In this podcast session we talk to her about the state of social enterprise in the country, the need to empower women through tech and the future of the industry.

Journalists, Mehr Fatima Husain and Saad Sarfraz Sheikh have recently published Pakistan: A Fashionable History. The first of its kind coffee table book that documents the country’s fashion.

Fashion is an integral part of any society and its history, however, despite out rich and diverse heritage there has been no formal documentation about the various phases of Pakistan’s fashion and its impact on society and vice versa.

In this podcast episode of Mashable Pakistan Lab, we talk to the authors about how they got the idea of Pakistan: A Fashionable History, how they turned this idea into an actual book and all things Pakistani fashion.

In the first episode of Mashable Pakistan Lab we are in conversation with Arafat Mazhar, an academic, animator, film maker and musician.    

He is the founder and director of  Engage, ShehriPakistan, Hashiya and Puffball Studio.   

Arafat Mazhar is the brains behind the short animation film Shehr-e-Tabasuum and the upcoming film Swipe that is coming out on 31 October.  

We talked about how he got involved in these multiple fields, the importance and role storytelling can play in any society, his passion for music and what keeps him optimistic about the future.

A podcast where we will be discussing all things infotainment.

Taking a deep dive with individuals, teams and organizations about their journey from an idea to its final execution.

You can find the weekly sessions on Mashable Pakistan’s website, Youtube channel or any of your favourite podcast streaming platform.