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Dawn |
KARACHI has been in the throes of brutal street crime including robberies, muggings and killings for several months. The recent killing of Syed...
SEHAT Sahulat is a great programme but universal health coverage has a much larger vision. Sehat Sahulat is a state-financed health insurance...
AFTER several rain-related deaths in KP in recent days, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority has sprung into action to minimise the chances...
WHY is renewable energy in the doldrums in Pakistan despite annual oil import bills of $27 billion? There are many explanations, but most common is...
AS has become its modus operandi, the state is using smoke and mirrors to try to justify its decision to ban X, formerly Twitter. After weeks of...
UNLESS the state is honest about the mistakes its functionaries have made, we will be doomed to repeat our follies. And when these mistakes concern...
IN his memoirs, Foundations and Form, Mukhtar Husain writes about his first school experience: “In 1955, I started attending Mrs Corks’ Private...
THE next few years are likely to see Pakistan trapped in low-growth mode. International lenders maintain that economic growth in the country will...
THE sheer scale of the crisis is staggering. A new WHO report flags Pakistan as the country with the highest number of hepatitis C cases in the...
OVER the weekend, the world witnessed an intense spectacle when Iran launched its drone-and-missile barrage against Israel in response to Tel...
IT takes three to tango in our part of the world. The US-Pakistan duo and the Saudi-Pakistan pair has become a threesome, choreographed by the US....
AFTER many years of extreme uncertainty and political instability, it now seems like things are finally starting to move. Two developments this...
IT was on Ashura, Aug 19, 2021, when nine-year-old Priya Kumari went missing. Just before her disappearance or abduction she had been happily...
THE illicit global drug market, which is valued over $400 billion, is second only to the counterfeit products market in terms of the world’s main...
PRIME MINISTER Shehbaz Sharif’s recent directive to the energy sector to curtail Pakistan’s staggering $27bn oil import bill through robust...
AFTER a two-day stay, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan, accompanied by a delegation including other ministers, wrapped up on Tuesday what...
THE Supreme Court-sanctioned inquiry into the infamous Faizabad dharna of 2017 has turned out to be a damp squib. A three-member commission tasked...
AN eerie calm prevails after Iran’s unprecedented direct attack on Israel. Tehran fired hundreds of drones and missiles at Israeli territory in...
FOR the first two weeks of this month, the Western media’s main focus was on how Iran might react to an egregious Israeli provocation. On the first...
THE last few years have been the warmest ever recorded in the Arctic Circle. This means that a large portion of the ice cap is melting, and with it...
EACH time, Pakistan has to go to the IMF for a new Stand-by Arrangement or even at periodic reviews of perennial ‘stood-us-up’ programmes for...
LIKE many other state-owned enterprises in the country, Pakistan Railways is unable to deliver, while haemorrhaging public funds by the billions....
FINLAND has been ranked as the world’s happiest country for the seventh straight year. It is also the 13th safest in the world. In the Global...
AS the fractious new government fails to get a grip on matters, many already see its early demise, just a month after it was imposed via allegedly...
NO matter how painful, a larger, medium-term IMF bailout, with complementary financial support from ‘friendly’ countries, is imperative for...
THERE is a perceptible voter fatigue against divisive planks. That’s encouraging news coming in for Indian democracy, which braces for a...
PAKISTAN has once again been caught off-guard by the devastating impact of unseasonal and intense rains across its provinces, with dozens of lives...
THE FBR had been publishing its Tax Expenditure Report since 2020. Each report estimates the ‘tax expenditure’, ie, the tax foregone or the...
DURING a spell of what feels like endless school holidays, a working mother’s mind inevitably turns to childcare. When faced with the great...
IT appears that we are bent upon taking the majoritarian path. Thus, the promise of respect and equality for the white in the flag is not being...
AFTER the customary Ramazan interlude, political activity has resumed as usual. A ‘grand’ opposition alliance has emerged, comprising several...
SLOWLY but surely, the signs of a global political and cultural realignment are becoming apparent. Several commentators trace the origins of this...
THERE is a Stephen Spielberg movie called Minority Report, based on a Philip K. Dick science fiction novella set in the year 2054. Tom Cruise plays...
THE Middle East, indeed, the entire international community, was on tenterhooks after Israel struck the consular section of Iran’s embassy in...
THE global debate over governance continues — what constitutes good governance and how it helps to determine the fate and fortunes of nations. It...