2016

The arrival in Europe of more than 1 million asylum seekers in 2015 rattled the EU like no crisis before it. The EU’s current institutional and legislative arrangements were clearly not up to dealing with the huge influx of migrants, and the crisis laid bare deep divisions among the member states. Depending on the extent to which the EU can …

Remember that delightful period right after the Cold War, when globalization was the buzzword du jour, democracy was spreading like wildfire, and America’s political and economic system seemed like an attractive model? Academics who should have known better believed realism was headed for the dustbin of history, and lots of smart people thought tyrants, dictators, potentates, and other authoritarians were …

“On 23rd March, 1940, a group of valiant and fiercely determined individuals gathered at Manto Park, Lahore, and resolved to give their fellow countrymen a new homeland.” This is the lead line of a soul-jerking ad I happened to go through in a newspaper of a renowned media group inviting ideas from its readers on what in their view our …

1 – Saudi Aramco Headquarters: Dhahran, Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia manages its oil reserves through state-owned Saudi Aramco. In 2014, Saudi Aramco’s average daily oil production was 12 million barrels per day (B/D), making it the world’s largest private oil company by production. Aramco increased oil production amid a global glut that drove benchmark prices down almost 50 percent last …

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 …

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has recently published ranking of Pakistani universities, both general as well as category-wise. The ranking depicts overall position of a particular university vis-à-vis other universities in the country without shedding any light on the academic atmosphere and quality of teaching and learning within the institutions. The question is whether higher education has fulfilled the promises …

Every nation on this planet covets progress and development in every field of life. But, it is also a reality that while some countries are making huge headways in the realm of progress and development, others are still grappling with extreme poverty. Latest data suggest that nearly 1.3 billion people live in extreme poverty — less than $1.25 a day. …

Einstein, once reached by Grenville Clark of Dublin and asked, “Dr Einstein, why is it that when the mind of man has stretched so far as to discover the structure of the atom we have been unable to devise the political means to keep the atom from destroying us?” The sage physicist replied: “That is simple my friend: because politics …

The year 2015 assumed significance from many events; some were positive while some augured ill for the future. But this is far from a simple method to state the condition or group different happenings. When the deal between the P5+1 and Iran was struck, there were jubilations in Iran but Israel and Saudi Arabia could see insidious clouds covering their …