Namira Saleem

Dreams come true, only when one is truly willing to make them happen. Need to know how?!! Meet Namira Saleem.

Belonging to a Pakistani family, born in Karachi settled in Southern France Namira Saleem has materialized her dreams when she is hardly 35 years old. She is single and lives with her parents. She always had a strong belief in her dreams, and most of them had come true. She made her mark as a professional astronaut who has been to the South Pole and as well as the North Pole and has breathed there, all happy and proud. She has been able to hoist Pakistan’s flag at the poles.

She had been to the South Pole earlier and now she has become the first Pakistani to reach the top of the world – the Geographic North Pole. She awaits her space flight and is due to become the first Pakistani to travel into space in 2008. She has completed her necessary training in America and now she is ready for her space mission. It is a great Honor as no other Pakistani has ever done this and she surely deserves to be appreciated. Namira said it was her childhood dream to become an astronaut. She will undertake the two-hour long space journey which would take place in this very year of 2008. It will be a sub-orbital flight which will break the boundary between earth and space and she will have the honor and thrill of staying there for 15 minutes. For this, she will receive “Commercial Astronaut Wing” from the US Federal Aviation Authority.

She completed her last term of training in a TS-400 Simulator. During the simulator she experienced weightlessness and other forces which are encountered while being in a space flight and now she is completely ready after enjoying and having learnt from all these experiences.

Her latest experience of being at the North Pole was quite very enriching. She was extremely happy when she conveyed her feelings from a satellite phone. “It is great honor to represent my country as the first Pakistani citizen at the Geographic North Pole during the ‘International Polar Year’ that marks the challenge of climate change our planet faces”, Namira told this from the North Pole through a satellite phone.

“As I hoist the Pakistan flag at the pinnacle of our planet, I convey a universal message of peace and to assert to the global community that Pakistani nation is peace loving and tolerant nation,” she added.

Based in Southern France, Namira has deep affiliation with innovative art and multi-dimensional mixed media, some created around poetry she writes and some are musical she incorporates into songs in her own voice.

Her collectibles and decorative art objects also come along her to support global causes.

Namira created a specialized line of musical art objects with built-in messages in the voices of renowned altruists, first unveiled at the United Nations in May 2002.

“As a humanitarian artist and a truly global citizen I have also come to hoist a flag of universal peace at the Pole,” she said, adding that this peace flag bears the theme of her United Nations exhibition ‘Peace-Making with Nation-Souls.’

She sees the war and conflict with pain and hopes that tolerance can be inspired through the arts and understanding for the peace and progress of the world.

“The North Pole bears an amazing resemblance to Pakistani’s scenic Northern Areas” said Namira, expressing her sentiments of joy and happiness.

“As Pakistan’s Honorary Ambassador of Tourism, I’d like to invite the world to experience Pakistan’s rich culture and to touch the world’s top most mountain peaks, like the K-2,” she stated.

Namira also praised the 2004 Polar expedition of Anouskha Kachelo, a Pakistan born UK citizen who is known to be the youngest woman to have reached the North Pole.

“My Polar mission is that of a peace ambassador, while Anouska’s expedition was that of a true adventurer. It remains a source of inspiration for me to this day,” she said.

Namira Saleem had also made an attempt to hoist Pakistani flag at the North Pole on April 14, but could not succeed due to bad weather.

Now, she is all set to enter into space as a Proud Pakistani. She has indeed come a long way in her professional pursuit. Namira’s artistic soul is all the more peace-loving and tolerant towards the beautiful world out there and feels that we must reflect a positive image of Pakistan as a peace-loving and progressive country.

Pakistan needs more souls like you… WELL DONE LADY!!!

(Profile by: Talha Abbasi-Pakistanileaders.com)

Tauqir Zia

Lt. Gen (R) Tauqir Zia completed his out standing meritorious military service on 14 September 2003. In his brilliant military career, spanning over almost four decades, he has had the honor and privilege to hold the most coveted appointments in command, staff and instruction field, excelling at every level-from a Troop Leader in 19th Lancers to Commander of Army Field Headquarters during the crisis with India in 2001-2002.

As the chairman Pakistan Cricket Board for 4 years, he not only introduced the “Vision 2005”, paragon for the promotion and development of Cricket in Pakistan but also managed to implement almost 75% of that Project in every part of the country particularly in the far flung areas of Balochistan, Sind and Frontier.

Sana Mir

Sana Mir (born 5 January 1986 in Abbottabad, North-West Frontier) is a female Pakistani cricketer and captain of the Pakistan women’s team. She was announced Player of the Tournament at the 2008 Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier, and currently ranks 16th in the Women’s ODI Bowlers in the ICC Player Rankings. She is also the only Pakistani in the top 20.

Alongside her cricketing career, Mir is a full time student. Her favourite cricketers are Waqar Younis, Jonty Rhodes and Imran Khan.

On May 4 2009, Mir was handed the Pakistan captaincy for the Women’s World Twenty20. She had formerly been vice-captain under Urooj Mumtaz, who remained in the squad. Mir’s duties as vice-captain were handed over to Nain Abidi.

Mir retained the captaincy for the forthcoming ICC Women’s Cricket Challenge in South Africa.

At the 2010 Asian Games, Mir led the team to a gold medal

Akram Chowdry

Dr. Chowdry is General Partner of Hi-Tech Venture Capital Fund located in Silicon Valley in California. After getting his doctorate from UC Berkeley he was a professor of business at San Jose State University, California. He started a computer manufacturing company (Prime Circuit Technology in 1985. At that time, he was the first and only Pakistani who was founder, CEO of such an enterprise in Silicon Valley. Later, he acquired Mylex Computer Corporation, a product company. He remained the CEO and Chairman of Mylex for almost 10 years. Mylex was publicly traded company (NASDAQ). In 1998 Mylex was acquired by IBM for over $500 million, with its revenues over $250,000,000. In 1991, US NEWS & World Report conducted a survey of thousands of small public companies in USA. Among 7,430 public companies in USA, Mylex was ranked # 1 in overall performance and stock appreciation. 

He is a charter member of TIE (The Indus Entrepreneurs) http://www.tie.org and of OPEN. In the past, he volunteered to teach entrepreneurship and venture capital at LUMS and at NUST, Pakistan, TISBI in Kazan, Russia, KIMEP in Almaty, Malaysia Telekom and Kuwait Finance house in Bahrain. He made presentations at OIC conferences in Malaysia and Pakistan. Dr. Chowdry has been designated as member of the Advisory Board of University of California Berkeley. He has been recently selected by the Department of Commerce, USA, as lead member for the funding of start-ups and SMEs in Pakistan.

Ahsan M. Saleem

Mr. Ahsan M. Saleem is Group Chief Executive of Crescent Steel and Allied Products Limited, (a public listed company) and has over 30 years of experience in industry. He also serves on several Boards as non executive director. He is a recipient of “Businessman of the Year “award in 1997 from the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Mr. Saleem is a fellow of institute of Directors, U.K, member of CEO’s organization and World Presidents Organization and a member of 1001- a nature trust. Mr. Saleem is one of the founders of The Citizens Foundation and serves on its Board.

He has also served as Chairman of the Board of TCF (TCF is a not for profit organization working across Pakistan to provide formal schooling for the most impoverished segment of the population, TCF has, so far, built 660 school units in 68 cities across Pakistan). He also serves as Managing Trustee of COMMECS Education Trust, a not for profit trust formed by Old Students of Government College of Commerce and Economics providing tertiary level education in Karachi. He is Chairman of Board of Governors of COMMECS Institute of Business and Emerging Sciences (a degree awarding Institution Chartered by Government of Sindh). Mr. Saleem is a founding member and serves on the Board of Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy.

Aamer A. Sarfraz

Aamer A. Sarfraz is founder of Agroventures (Pvt) Ltd which he started in 2009 to identify, finance and build high-growth food and agribusiness projects in Pakistan. In 2010, the company completed construction of its first factory to process cereal grains in Faisalabad. Aamer is also a Managing Director at Tigris Financial Group since 2006. Tigris is one of the most successful private equity investors in natural resources worldwide, particularly in gold and precious metals mining, with over US$2billion of its own capital deployed. He is closely involved with the group’s investments and partnerships across the Middle East and Asia. Previously, Aamer worked in private equity firms Ithmar Capital and 3i venture capital. Aamer holds an MSc (with Distinction) from the London School of Economics and a BSBA from Boston University’s School of Management. As an undergraduate student, he developed the intellectual property for digital receipt technology, which he sold to Microsoft’s Intellectual Ventures. He serves on the Advisory Board of MSSM Department of Medicine, New York.

Shahid H. Kardar

Shahid Hafeez Kardar Governor State Bank of Pakistan and  son of Abdul Hafeez Kardar. He is  former finance minister of Punjab during early years of Gen Musharraf’s rule.An economist by profession who has been associated with a number of non-governmental organisations, Mr Kardar was inducted by Gen Musharraf as Punjab finance minister soon after the Nawaz Sharif government was toppled in a military coup in 1999. But he quit without completing his three-year tenure, citing difficulties in getting along with the dictatorial policies of the general.

Dr Manzoor Ahmed

Dr Manzoor Ahmed (born 22 September 1931) is a Pakistani philosopher and scholar.

Born in Rampur UP, and brought up in Karachi, Manzoor is well versed in many languages including, Arabic, English, Persian and Urdu. He earned his doctoral degree from the University of London and been head of many national and international organizations. He is also member of the Council of Islamic Ideology in Pakistan.

Ahmad held the vice chancellorship of Hamdard University twice and holds the Chairmanship of Usman Institute of Technology (UIT), Hamdard University. He is the Rector of Islamic International University, Islamabad and Chairman of the Board of Governors for the Indus Valley School of Arts & Architecture in Karachi.

Manzoor has written more than 50 research articles for international peer reviewed journals and periodicals. He has written books on philosophy, religion and social sciences.(wikipedia)

Faisal Qureshi Actor

Faisal Qureshi, is a Pakistani film and television actor. He was born on October 26 in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. He was a son of film actor Abid Qureshi and actress Afshaan Qureshi.

Faisal Qureshi is an actor cast in the mould of a true thespian. He belongs to that rare breed of performers who take each role and make it their own. From a song-and-dance role in a tele-film to a nonsensical comedy routine in Mein Aur Tum, he seems firmly entrenched in the character he plays, always looking for newer challenges to evolve into a better artiste.

Faisal started his career as a child artist from PTV’s play Emergency Ward. He was also work in television plays Ab Ghar Jane Do, Hum Tum, and Andhera Ujala as a child actor.

His first big appearance on television and the one that people most identify him with was the character Boota in Toba Tek Singh. From that rustic role, he has played mostly urbane characters in serials such as Ahsaas and Harjaee

Although his foray in films was less than memorable, Faisal work in very limited films, his first film was Saza released in 1992. His other noted film are Nangay Paoon, Tere Ghar Ke Samnay, Nadia, and Bobby.

A couple of years ago, after shuttling between Karachi and Lahore quite frequently, Faisal made Karachi his home.

Sanam Baloch

Sanam Baloch is a Pakistani actress and television host. Sanam was born in Karachi and started her career as a talk show anchor in the Sindhi language television channel KTN. Sanam hosted two shows Sanam Ji Pasand and Diyoo on KTN. Sanam made her debut on Urdu television in Fahad Mustafa’s long play ‘Kalaq’ which turned out to be a hit. She has also performed in music videos of Urdu and Sindhi language songs. She is graduate from the Karachi University. Sanam has two brothers, Farhan Baloch and Abbas Baloch. She is the younger sister of Sabreen Hisbani, who is also a TV actress. She has also hosted the showMorning WIth Hum on Hum TV. Sanam has performed in TV serials Doraha, Band Khirkiyon Kay Peechay, Noor Pur Ki Rani, Mannchalay, Chemistry, and the popular 2010 drama serialsDaam and Dastaan.(wikipedia)