International Oct 22: Junko Tabei, the first woman to climb Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak, died at age 77. Junko Tabei Junko Tabei was born on 22 September 1939 in Miharu, Fukushima. Tabei formed the Ladies Climbing Club: Japan (LCC) in 1969. The club’s slogan was “Let’s go on an overseas expedition by ourselves”, Tabei successfully summited Annapurna III …

Which part of Pakistan’s population is worth investing the most in? The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has provided a convincing answer: the 10-year-old girl. During the launch of the State of World Population Report 2016 , the UNFPA country representative noted that 35 percent of Pakistan’s population was between zero and 14 years of age. Out of this, two …

By Syed Rashid Husain TORONTO: Ali Al-Naimi has a story to tell. Through the 317-page memoir, `Out of the Desert: My Journey from Nomadic Bedouin to the Heart of Global Oil,` to be published next month by Portfolio Penguin, the old wise man of the energy world is finally opening up his heart to the extent possible. Ali Naimi has …

T is Pakistan`s shameful open secret that despite having passed legislation and set up regulatory authorities, the trafficking of human organs almost always kidneys continues. The incidence of this practice was at its highest around the turn of the millennium, and subsequently an estimated 2,000 vended kidneys were being transplanted per year. The passage of the Transplantation of Human Organs …

LL over the world, a new kind of populism is gaining momentum one that is frightening in the kind of appeal it relies on for support. Its thrust is in two directions: the first against the democratic conventions enshrined in the discourse of rights, citizenry and tolerance; the second in the anger aimed at an amorphously defined other, whether resident …

BY UMAIR JAVED THE government finds itself battling on three fronts. Civil-military relations are said to be at their lowest ebb in years, a main opposition party is gearing itself to lay siege to the capital, and inter-provincial tensions over the distribution of federal resources and CPEC projects are escalating. The first problem is recurring, and regardless of what many …

WHILE the national counterterrorism effort sputters along, it is welcome that initiatives to address extremism militancy`s attendant evil are also being taken. As reported in this paper recently, a national counter-extremism policy is being hammered out by a steering committee and a draft document should be ready by November. Those familiar with the process, being steered by Nacta, say the …

By Farhan Bokhari in Islamabad AS Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif`s increasingly embattled government sharpens its knives to block Imran Khan`s promised storming of Islamabad on Nov 2, Monday`s visit by the IMF`s managing director is set to be celebrated as a grand recognition of Pakistan`s economic success. In reality, however, neither Christine Lagarde, the former French finance minister who currently …

National Oct 21: Pakistan signed an agreement with Nigeria for the sale of 10 Super Mushshak aircraft. About Super Mushshak Aircraft Super Mushshak is an advanced variant of the Mushshak basic trainer, which was also produced by Pakistan Aeronautical Complex. It is based off a Swedish design but built under license in Pakistan. The PAF put up Super Mushshak for …

By Yasir Masood Newton’s third law of motion and gravitational force states, “to every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction”, interestingly, it is also considered a quintessential quote in many aspects of life. In consideration of this law, Pakistan’s responses to Indian distressing tactics whether these are economic, religious, societal and political have never been of equal magnitude. …