NYT article on speech delays and child development. Getting Taha to Anika Shah a year before he started school has made a world of difference in his life and ours and it made it possible for him to focus on settling down at CAS without worrying about academics. Don’t ignore the signs, don’t be in…
Dubai Tech Nights – 9th February 2010
It ended up being an evening full of surprises. When Adnan first checked with me about my availability on the 9th for Dubai Tech Nights I thought we were talking about a small gathering. So when I walked in at 5:45pm after following some really colorful directions to Room 212 at the RIT campus at…
Working with Promethean boards
So it was an interesting transition to go from a conventional white board to a promethean white board at the training academy the other day. My first reaction was this is to coarse and slow for it to be honored by my presence and my pen, but after twenty minute of usage I was sold….
On the road between Abu Dhabi and Dubai
I spent the last two days on the road between Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Nasr closed a training engagement with a forward looking bank in Abu Dhabi and off we went to teach a treasury team. For an outsider, Abu Dhabi is a lovely city with tremendous potential. During our last two trips we had…
Oil Insights – Oil Prices, Peak Oil debate and drivers for those who have never looked at oil before
I am not a trader, nor an analyst. Technically speaking, I have only worked for an Investment Bank once in my life and that too on the margin trading and risk management desk. I am good with numbers and while I have done well with Excel, Lotus 123 and Symphony, I am not the distinguished…
Crude Oil Update – June 2009
(Analyst Note: Once again a dated note but with very relevant product, consumption and trends data) The spot price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil remained in the neighborhood of $70 / bbl through most of June peaking at $72.69 / bbl. World oil consumption compared with the prior year was down an average…
Karachi city update
Was at work all day and then went from Baloch Colony bridge to Khayaban-e-Bahria to pick up the kids (5pm) and then took Kalapul, Shahrae-Faisal and Karsaz to head home to Gulshan (5:30 pm). Roads are open, traffic is thin, lots of security being deployed and petrol stations are closed. Two blasts in the city….
Memories, Cookaracha Guides or Venture number two…
Much before Reboot and the Blue Screen of Death, before the Alchemy discussion on our family dinner table and the wild dreamy bet that turned out to be Avicena, before blogging and before DesiBackToDesh, in a land far far away (then marked as Geocities in Jedi lore) there was once a venture named Cookaracha Guides….
Pakistan Macro Economic Update – January 2010
The figures for July- December 2009 are guardedly encouraging as there are some signs that the economy is on the road to recovery. Trade deficit has narrowed due to a decline in imports (because of reduced oil and commodity prices in this period as well as the slowdown in economic activity) which have outweighed the…
The Caltex, PSO, Shell Challenge…
Good petrol pumps (gas stations for my friends from an earlier life) are hard to find in Karachi. Good petrol pumps that will give you consistent mileage weeks after weeks are even harder. After painfully experimenting with almost every brand and every locality I have now built my own list of three pumps that I…