2016

How Pakistan should cope with the fallout? The Panama Papers, a global investigation into the sprawling, secretive industry of offshore that the world’s rich and powerful use to hide assets and skirt rules by setting up front companies in far-flung jurisdictions has jolted the whole world. Based on a trove of 11.5 million leaked files, the investigation exposes a cast …

President Barack Obama created a history of sort on March 21-22 by restoring the diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba, frozen for the last 54 years. He has displayed the bold and soft power of American diplomacy which could hardly be possible for any serving President of the sole superpower of the world at least when Castros who had …

How a pink flower defeated the world’s sole superpower After fighting the longest war in its history, the United States stands at the brink of defeat in Afghanistan. How can this be possible? How could the world’s sole superpower have battled continuously for 15 years, deploying 100,000 of its finest troops, spending more than a trillion dollars on its military …

It was with awe, disbelief and shock that the world saw footage of the terrorist attacks in the US on September 11, 2001 when the planes-turned-missiles slammed into the World Trade Center towers and damaged the Pentagon. This ultimately resulted in the US declaring and waging a war on “terror” and the alleged mastermind of the attacks, Osama bin Laden, …

Recently the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned the world that dangers to the world economy had risen and that a collective action is needed to boost the global economy, with volatile financial markets and low commodity prices creating fresh concerns about its health. Given these circumstances, a combination of monetary and fiscal policy and structural reforms was needed to strengthen …

Alas! We are today like motionless wooden marionettes singing opera with flapping mouths which somehow fits with the bizarre dark humour of the medieval ages. Our wooden faces do express the most dramatic of human emotions; lust, jealousy, fear, anger, greed and despair, but with a surrealist, weirdly hilarious quality. We are endlessly lost in what could pass for a …

Pakistan should not become a party to any conflict among the Middle Eastern countries because their alliances are always temporary Dr Hasan Askari Rizvi is widely regarded as an accomplished political scientist and a defence analyst par excellence. With his insightful thoughts on Pakistan’s political structure and a keen eye on country’s foreign and defence policies, Dr Rizvi is among …

The sixth edition of the ICC World T20 2016 could not have had a better ending. West Indies’ Carlos Brathwaite smashed four consecutive sixes in the last over of the final match against England, to give his team their second World T20 title on April 3, 2016. ICC WORLD T20 2020 Australia will host the seventh edition of World T20 …

CONSENSUS ON CENSUS The already-delayed census has been further delayed by the government for some excuses. Perhaps there is a lack of consensus on census. For sure, there is no dearth of manpower in the country but what we actually require is its management. Presently, many of the crises of Pakistan may be attributed to a chronic negligence over the …

In order to ensure a regular supply of fresh blood to the country’s bureaucracy — rightly called the administrative arm of the government — Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) is assigned the task of selecting the best brains from amongst the country’s youth. This is a delicate task and fulfilling it, adequately and effectively, requires high standards of professionalism on …