August 2019

Ehsas Programme A step towards a welfare state Magazine Desk In March, Prime Minister Imran Khan launched his administration’s poverty alleviation programme giving it the title of Ehsas, an extensive program that is meant to be implemented through 20 federal ministries/divisions, 6 federal agencies involved in poverty alleviation and social protection, four provincial governments, AJK and GB. The newly created …

Education in Pakistan Analysing the Public-Private Dichotomy Qurat ul Ain Aman The education system in Pakistan has been reduced to a shambles because of neglect by the successive government. Running private schools has, nowadays, become a lucrative venture as government’s failures have resulted in commercialization of education. It seems that the goal of educating the masses and aiming for a …

Attributes of  A Good Tax System Bilal Hassan Fundamentally, every government plans its monetary and fiscal policies to achieve higher economic growth, i.e. GDP, to keep inflation in check and to curtail unemployment rates. On the fiscal front, governments make efforts to maximize their revenues so as to avoid fiscal deficit which is considered harmful to the society due to …

Anti-Americanism in Pakistan The Post-9/11 Scenario Mehtab Ali Bhatti The notion and concept of anti-Americanism – a pervasive feeling of anger, hostility and condemnation towards the United States of America – has been implanted in the minds of Pakistanis since many decades; owing, on the one hand, to the mistakes committed by the American government and its prejudiced policies towards …

World War III WHO, WHERE & WHY “I don’t know with what weapons world war III will be fought, but world war IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” — Albert Einstein Abdul Rasool syed Polemics concerning the probable occurrence of third world war, nowadays, form the major part of many a political and academic discourse. According to strategic …

US-China-Russia Strategic Triangle A deep dive for new great power competition Magazine Desk “Oceania was at war with Eastasia: Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia.” — George Orwell (1984) Now, even bleaker than the original 1984 novel, Oceania now has hostilities simultaneously with both Eurasia and Eastasia. Simply put, the US is still the dominant power in a …

Power Play in the Indian Ocean The Great Game Moves to Sea Magazine Desk India, China and the United States, the three major powers, which together account for nearly half of the global economy, are vying for influence in the Indian Ocean arena. All three of them view the region through their own geostrategic frameworks, ensuring intense jostling at best …

Global Peace and Security World Leaders Betray the Canons of Truth, Wisdom and Humanity Dr Mahboob A. Khawaja Today’s Political World at a Glance Global politics is overwhelmingly becoming robotic when question of safeguard of the mankind comes up. Global political leaders are fast becoming actors on stage – issuing abstract statements of outrage and expressing phony sense of grief …

China’s Belt and Road of Science BRI is also about building knowledge, not just things Aftab Abbasi The ancient silk routes were not for trade only, they boosted flow of knowledge as well … Through these routes, Buddhism, Islam and Arab astronomy, calendar and medicine found their way to China, while China’s four great inventions and silkworm breeding spread to …