TTP attack

MONDAY night’s assault on a police party in Islamabad, which left one cop dead and two injured, marks a significant uptick in the banned...

Emergency rumours

ISLAMABAD is once again in the grip of rumours. The latest issue finding traction revolves around a mysterious campaign that appears to be pushing...

Is education a priority?

THE chairperson of the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Dr Tariq Banuri, was removed through an ordinance in March 2021. He felt wronged and went...

Health and the NSP

On the 14th of January 2022, the prime minister of Pakistan launched the country’s first national security policy. This comprehensive document...

A Fatal Blow to Education (Part II)

The hypocritical antics of the successive PPP provincial administrations to act as champions of the provincial autonomy surpassing the fervour of...

Pakistan’s Dilemma of Forced Conversions and Marriages Put Minority Women at Risk

The year 2021 ended on a sour note for religious minorities of Pakistan as their situation remains unchanged for decades. Minorities’ struggle...

Another civilisation

One thing that I have been telling young people is that the coronavirus has come to stay. So, deal with it. Yes, its intensity will fluctuate, but...

Blast In Lahore

A charade much too mocking

The pit is usually a finite hole, but it can also be infinite both in its depth and the intensity of dark that one would be shrouded in when taking...

Dr Banuri’s Reinstatement

PARTLY FACETIOUS: Uncle ‘Shabby’

“I was watching Maryam Nawaz Sharif and I wondered….” “She seems to have accepted that she is the party’s distant future and that Uncle...

In India’s surveillance hotspot, facial recognition taken to court

It was lockdown in the Indian city of Hyderabad when activist S.Q. Masood was stopped on the street by police who asked him to remove his facial...

Govt revises up FY21 growth rate to 5.4pc, GDP to $347bn

ISLAMABAD: The size and growth rate of Pakistan’s economy increased significantly during 2020-21, making it the second-highest economic growth...

The defiance of Afghan women

WHILE the issue of recognition of the Afghan Taliban remains pending, a humanitarian crisis is looming: the dilemma of the virtually stateless...

Biden’s dilemmas

After a strong start that included rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement and World Health Organization, both of which Trump abandoned, President...

New SME Policy

The concept of human rights in Islam

No more presidents

FOR all that changes in Pakistan’s political life, much continues to conform to a choreographed script. Take, for example, the emergence of...

Conflict resolution

EVERY religion wishes the world to be a place of peace. It wants people to share Allah’s bounties with gratitude and humbleness. However,...

Murree suspensions

ON Wednesday, the Met Office issued a red alert for more heavy snowfall in Murree over the coming weekend, and advised immediate precautionary...

Hazrat Sohaib Rumi: The forerunner of Romans

Hazrat Sohaib Rumi: The forerunner of Romans THE message of Islam was so inviting and persuasive that it did not only appeal to the local Arabs but...

Wall Of Abandoned School In Umerkot District Collapses, Killing Two Children

Two children were crushed to death under rubble when the wall of a derelict primary school collapsed at the village of Chor, in Umerkot district of...

Export-led growth only way to set country on right path: minister

LAHORE: Federal Minister for Planning, Development, Reforms and Special Initiatives Asad Umar has said that sustainable export-led growth was the...

Discos to refund Rs22.5bn to power consumers in three months

ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Thursday notified a 99-paisa per unit cut in electricity rates for consumers...

Refineries warn of shutting operations from next month

ISLAMABAD: The country’s oil refineries have warned the government of a looming shutdown of their operations in a couple of weeks due to high and...

Chinese firm wants tax issue settled

LAHORE: A Chinese company has asked the government to immediately resolve the issue related to adoption of one per cent fixed tax by the Government...

SBP reserves go down by $562m in a week

KARACHI: Foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) declined by more than half a billion dollars within a week mainly on account...

Duffers and losers

It may only cut one way but that’s okay if one’s survival is at stake. What are we than losers in parts of our routine existence? Some things come...

Let State Bank do its job

The belated availability of the text of the amended State Bank bill shows that the noise in the system is more than the substance. The manner in...

Karachi lives to thrive again

The perfect bureaucrat everywhere is the man who manages to make no decisions and escape all responsibility. — Brooks Atkinson I have great...

The Concept of Human Rights in Islam (Part 1)

For us to do justice to the topic of Islamophobia, we must understand what fear implies. Fear is defined as “a distressing emotion aroused by...

National Security Policy: Good start, More needed (Part 1)

In Pakistan, intellectual endeavours – especially those emanating from the government – are few and far between. Therefore, any governmental work...

Direction alignment by National Security Policy

Direction alignment by National Security Policy A country in the world can achieve its goal of national security only if its inhabitants are...

Dissecting public expenditure (Part – II)

The writer is the author of 'Governing the ungovernable'. Debt dynamics requires continued primary budget surpluses to be generated for gradually...

Saving our young

While statistics on mental health are extremely limited – and barely available – in Pakistan, the existing findings show that around 40 percent...

The concept of human rights in Islam

The concept of human rights in Islam IN order for us to do justice to the topic of Islamophobia, it is imperative that we understand what fear...

Humanitarian dimension of Kashmir dispute

Humanitarian dimension of Kashmir dispute THE Jammu and Kashmir dispute is primarily a political dispute, hence calls for a political solution...

Geo-strategic aspects of naval bases in Indian Ocean

Geo-strategic aspects of naval bases in Indian Ocean THE Indian Ocean is the third-largest ocean and most of it is in the Southern Hemisphere. The...

Responses to gender-based violence

Pakistan’s evolving IT industry: A pinnacle of success

Curbing child pornography

A paedophilia scandal rocked the nation in August 2015, in which hundreds of child pornographic videos circulated online from a village in Punjab....

Evolving an SME economy

In an earnest endeavour to expand growth, the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) policy is a step in the right direction. The government by...

Murree tragedy inquiry

The Punjab government has removed 15 officials in relation to the Murree tragedy, where 22 people died after being stranded in their cars during a...

The cooption of gender equality

For decades we have seen a range of politicians, international organisations, and now even large corporations, claim to be championing the rights...

NSP: Content and Challenge

The PTI government claims to have formulated a National Security Policy after consulting key stakeholders, including hundreds of intellectuals,...

Is Russia Going To Invade Ukraine?

The world is on the brink of another war. At the moment there is a fear that Russia will invade Ukraine and this fear affects not only Ukraine but...

Breaking the Impasse Between Russia and the West Over European Security

Thomas Graham Last week’s intense talks between Russia and the West over European security seemed to end in failure. Moscow heard nothing to...

Existing Home Sales Fell in December and Supply Remains Extremely Tight

Robert Hughes Sales of existing homes decreased 6.0 percent in December, to a 6.10 million seasonally adjusted annual rate. Sales are down 8.3...

Liberties Are Only Kept Safe by the Limitation of Government Power

Gary M. Galles Iwas recently struck by the explosion of the federal government’s size and reach, as well as its apparent ambition to super-size...