Imran Anwar

Imran Anwar Urdu:عمران انور
Born 23 May 1962
Montgomery (Sahiwal), Punjab, Pakistan
Residence Heron Pointe, New York; Miami, Florida; Lahore, Pakistan[1]
Nationality American
Education B.Sc Electrical Engineering; MBA Columbia University
Occupation Journalist, Technologist, TV, Cloud computing
Political party
 Independent[2]
Board member of
 Brookhaven Memorial Hospital NY; NARGIS Memorial Pakistan
Religion Islam
Website
http://imran.tv
http://blog.imran.com/

Imran Anwar (born 23 May 1962 in Montgomery (now Sahiwal), Pakistan) is a Pakistani American technologist, electrical engineer, business entrepreneur, journalist, television personality, photographer and speaker.[3]

Imran Anwar founded the .pk internet email domain for Pakistan and introduced branded credit cards to Pakistan.[4]

Early life and education

Imran Anwar was born in Sahiwal, Pakistan and grew up in Karachi. Anwar attended Christ The King School and St Paul's English High School, where he completed Cambridge University School Certificate (O' Levels) studies in 1976.[5] He completed the Cambridge University Higher School Certificate (HSC/"A' Levels") studies in 1978 at Aitchison College, Lahore, where he was a College Prefect and awarded the 'Best Leaving Boy' Cup 1978.

Anwar holds a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan and has an MBA from Columbia University (Columbia Business School[6] and Columbia Journalism School).

Early political career

Imran Anwar became active in student organisations at the University of Engineering and Technology (UET) in Lahore, Pakistan. Anwar served as the Chief Organizer for the Quaid-e-Azam Students Federation (QSF). QSF was the largest independent student organisation at the university. Anwar was among the student leaders who protested and resisted against the military rule of General Zia.

In 1982, during a wave of student protests taking place at UET, Imran Anwar was attacked and arrested by six members of a para-military group of General Zia-ul-Haq's government. Anwar and several other students were severely beaten by the Police, before being taken to a Military Tribunal. Titled 'Summary Military Court 37', and composed of General Zia's military officers with no constitutional judicial standing or background, the group charged the student protesters with the crime of opposing military rule, promoting unrest and protest in the civilian population. Imran, along with other several others, was sentenced and imprisoned in the infamous Kot Lakhpat Prison until their release in the coming days.

Imran Anwar has met with World Leaders such as former Japanese Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu, former German Chancellor Willy Brandt, former Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Libyan Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, late Pakistani General Zia-ul-Haq, late Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Khan Junejo, late Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the former Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf, former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and many others.[7]

Anwar is a vocal critic of military dictatorships and also speaks out against elected heads of state usurping power. Anwar has appeared on radio and television and has been an outspoken critic of Pakistan's former President & Military General Pervez Musharraf. Anwar has also spoken on issues in the United States such as attempts by the President Bush Administration Officials to curtail personal freedoms and civil rights in the United States. In a 1999 profile interview on CNN with Riz Khan,[8] Anwar had questioned General Musharraf's claim that he would hold elections in 90 days, and alluded to his using the same tactics as former Pakistan leader General Zia.

In his various radio interviews on New York's WWRL 1600AM and writings, Anwar urged the Pakistani public to rise against the Emergency Rule and Martial Law in Pakistan and asked the United States government to block financial support of the military dictatorship in Pakistan.[9] Anwar remains an outspoken critic of the corruption-ridden political structure in Pakistan. He has expressed his support of Pakistani Cricket hero Imran Khan's political movement while expressing concerns over its lack of a clear, well-articulated, strategy or detailed plans.[10]

Professional career

Imran Anwar served as the Business Manager of the Jang Group of Newspapers in Karachi and Lahore, Pakistan. The Jang Group is the largest media organisation in Pakistan certified by ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulation). Imran Anwar served as Correspondent and General Manager of MAG Weekly, Pakistan's largest circulation weekly English publication.

Before migrating to the United States in January 1989, Imran Anwar founded a small technology and consulting business in Pakistan under the trademark acronym IMRAN (Information & Media Resources, Affiliations, Networks).

In 1990, Imran Anwar and his colleague Ashar Nisar established Pakistan's .PK Domain (ccTLD or country code top-level domain) Imran Anwar created imran.pk (aka IMRAN-NET) as the first ISP[11] in Pakistan.[12] Anwar has been credited as being the "Father of the Internet Email System" in Pakistan as he is credited with introducing global branded credit cards to Pakistan banks and customers.[13] (In 1996 the government owned telecom monopoly in Pakistan failed to wrest control of the domain from private hands, and in the late 1990s the ccTLD moved to "collective national management" by the many Internet related stakeholders in Pakistan.)[14]

In the United States, Imran Anwar has worked with Viant (formerly Silicon Valley Internet Partners) and with Computer Associates for several years. Later he was appointed CEO of EverTrac[15] helping technology companies to develop GPS, wireless and RFID based solutions[16] used in law enforcement, logistics and government.[17]

Imran Anwar currently serves on Long Island's Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Advisory Board. Anwar previously served on Editorial Advisory Board for VARbusiness Magazine of CMP Media. He also served in the non-profit child welfare industry in Florida as CIO of a well-known organisation, and continues to be a consultant to the industry.[18]

Anwar is the current head of ITC (Incorporated Technologies Corporation) based in Lahore, Pakistan, and New York, USA, which develops Web 2.0 technology-based solutions in Social Networking, online content Monetization, and mobile eBusiness.

Only few people know world's first anti-virus was written and marketed by Imran Anwar and Ashar Nisar.First Pakistani software product sold abroad or mentioned in media including BYTE.[19]

Media life

Imran Anwar has been a contributor on programs on CNN, Fox News Channel, Fox Business Channel, GEO TV, WWOR-TV NY and others. Additionally, he writes a blog on his website which is also syndicated in various newspapers. Anwar's business includes syndication of the world's leading media syndication companies, including United Media, Editors Press Service, and others, in several South and Central Asian countries. He has also hosted talk shows for various TV channels,[20] especially GEO TV, including the US Presidential Elections 2008.[21]

Anwar has appeared on radio in New York, California, and Iowa.[22]

Imran Anwar is also writer whose articles have been syndicated on the Wall Street Journal, the Far Eastern Economic Review, Mag Weekly, News International, The Pakistan Times, The Post and Daily Jang.[23] His work also appears in various technology, business and general interest publications which include The Industry Standard,[24] MAG Weekly,[25] The News International[26] and Pakistani Spectator.[27] Anwar has been interviewed by several publications, such as Newsday,[28] Beijing Review,[29] The Pakistan Times, Dosheeza Digest, Daily Jang,[30] The Post, and The Nation.[31] He is also interviewed by major publications on technology issues, including Newsday.[32] His comments also appear in ComputerWorld,[33] and other technology and business publications. Anwar is also a charter member of the Forbes CEO Network, where his contributions are part of the relaunch of the high powered executive media portal.[34]

Anwar has also worked for the promotion of intellectual property rights and concepts in South Asia since 1989.[35] At that time, working with well-known industry figures like the late Sidney Goldberg and the late John Klem, Sr., he first acquired the rights to exclusively represent the world's leading media syndication companies.[36] Represented under the IMRAN media business, these syndicates include United Media, Scripps Howard Newspapers, Universal Press Syndicate, Tribune Media Services and others through Editors Press Service (now Atlantic Syndication Partners) and represent the rights to world-class properties like Dilbert, Snoopy, Garfield, and their other syndicated features for Pakistan and other countries.[36] The business also served clients in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and now also operates in a several other countries. These countries are Iran, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.[37]

Anwar is the founder and CEO[38] of Neternity,[39] a new insurance service to ensure digital content creators' works remain live online in perpetuity. He is President & CEO of EverTrac, which helps organisations locate and track their mobile assets, as well as Chairman & CEO of EverTrace. He is also President & CEO of IAAI Aerospace & Aviation Technologies, helping make General Aviation companies take advantage of global opportunities.[40] He is the founder of "Ummedia" and Moderate & Modern Muslims Movement, Founder & former Editor of Pakistan News Service, and PakistanNews, the first daily online and emailed newspaper, founded in 1989.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "IMRAN Contacts Info". Retrieved 2007-11-25.
  2. ↑ "Imran Anwar's in my Humble Opinion". Retrieved 2007-11-25.
  3. ↑ "EverTrac CEO Imran Anwar to Keynote at 'The Second Automotive and Consumer Electronics Industries Deal-Making Summit'". Retrieved 2007-10-15.
  4. ↑ "Internet Pioneer to Facilitate Pak Aviation-The Nation". Retrieved 2010-03-09.
  5. ↑ "St. Paul's English High School, Karachi". Retrieved 2007-10-17.
  6. ↑ "Columbia 250: Imran Anwar". Retrieved 2007-10-15.
  7. ↑ "'Benazir Bhutto Befallen By...'". Retrieved 2007-12-31.
  8. ↑ "'Q&A with Riz Khan: Imran Anwar'". Retrieved 2007-11-10.
  9. ↑ "'The Morning Show'". Retrieved 2007-11-10.
  10. ↑ "'Why The Future Of Awakened Pakistan Is Not In One Man's Hands'". Retrieved 2011-11-25.
  11. ↑ "History of Internet in Pakistan". Retrieved 2007-10-24.
  12. ↑ "Bordering on Peace: A Conference On India-Pakistan Relations". Retrieved 2007-10-14.
  13. ↑ "How to Build Bridges and Influence Civilizations: An Interview With World Renowned Pakistani-American Media Personality Imran Anwar". Retrieved 2007-10-24.
  14. ↑ "Re: running a TLD registry". Archived from the original on 23 June 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-24.
  15. ↑ "Space Daily: GPS To Get Internet Boost". Retrieved 2007-10-15.
  16. ↑ "EverTrac, Inc. and RoyalTek Company Limited Partner to Bring World-Class Location-Aware & Telematics Solutions to the Global Marketplace". Retrieved 2007-10-15.
  17. ↑ "EverTrac, Inc. to Sponsor Major U.S. Federal Government Symposium Highlighting Location-Aware eGovernment Solutions". Retrieved 2007-10-15.
  18. ↑ "LinkedIn: Imran Anwar". Retrieved 2007-10-15.
  19. ↑ "Imran Anwar : An Inspiration for Entrepreneurs"
  20. ↑ "Imran Anwar Hosts Election Special 2008". Retrieved 2008-10-31.
  21. ↑ "Imran Anwar Hosts 2008 Election Analysis". Retrieved 2008-10-31.
  22. ↑ "Radio Interviews Imran Anwar". Retrieved 2007-12-08.
  23. ↑ "AllExperts – Getting Published". Retrieved 2008-07-08.
  24. ↑ "Monetizing social networking 'not working' for you?". Retrieved 2009-01-27.
  25. ↑ "Batman, Putin, Palin & The WoManchurian Candidate". Retrieved 2009-01-27.
  26. ↑ "A historic opportunity". Retrieved 2009-01-27.
  27. ↑ "Profit from the meltdown". Retrieved 2008-11-17.
  28. ↑ Sanger, Elizabeth. "Give Him Long Island". Newsday.
  29. ↑ Yanjuan, Wang; Rice, Michael. "A New Dimension of Terror". Beijing Review.
  30. ↑ "Jang Interviews Imran Anwar". Archived from the original on 20 October 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-25.
  31. ↑ "Nation Interviews Internet Pioneer Imran Anwar". Retrieved 2008-09-09.
  32. ↑ "Apple .Mac Service". Retrieved 2008-09-09.
  33. ↑ "Imran Anwar in ComputerWorld". Retrieved 2008-04-05.
  34. ↑ "Forbes CEO Network: Imran Anwar". Retrieved 2008-07-08.
  35. ↑ "Imran Anwar on Promoting Intellectual Property Rights in Asia". Retrieved 2008-09-09.
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 "United Features Syndicate/Newspaper Enterprise Association Agents". Archived from the original on 24 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-08.
  37. ↑ "More Asian Countries Can Buy United Content". Retrieved 2008-06-05.
  38. ↑ "Imran Anwar". Retrieved 2009-01-27.
  39. ↑ "Neternity". Retrieved 2009-01-27.
  40. ↑ "One Nation – Imran Anwar". Retrieved 2008-07-08.

External links