Mashable Pakistan Lab

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.

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