July 2019

Indian Election 2019 The Rise of the Rightist Dr Muhammad Kaleem The contemporary is witnessing the meteoric rise of populism, nationalism and religious intolerance. This phenomenon has engulfed the whole world in general, and in the West in particular with the rise of Donald Trump and British exit from the European Union, i.e. Brexit. In India, Modi government, which first …

CONSTITUTIONALITY OF THE POLICE LAWS AND THE SINDH REVIVAL OF POLICE ORDER BILL, 2019 Kamran Adil Constitutionality and Justice Sector The justice system of Pakistan is not showing signs of resuscitation as it is neither providing ‘justice’ nor acting as a ‘system’. Many factors have contributed to this state of affairs. The very orientation of the ‘system’ needs to be …

How compatible are democracy and capitalism? Economic stress and demographic change are weakening a symbiotic relationship Of late, the world’s older democracies have begun to look more vulnerable than venerable. America seems destined for a constitutional showdown between the executive and the legislature. Brexit has mired Britain in a constitutional morass of its own. Such troubles could be mistaken for …

Budget Brief 2019-20 Muhammad Sulaiman Social Indicators Facts about Pakistan Economy 5th most populous country in the world 23rd largest in the world in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP) 40th largest in terms of nominal gross domestic product. Nominal GDP per capita of $1,357 in 2019 (ranks 154th ) PPP GDP per capita of 5,839 in 2019(132th) Undocumented economy …

The Federal Budget 2019-20 Rarely if ever, except perhaps during the initial years after our independence in 1947, has Pakistan faced such dire economic straits as those that confront it today. Consequently, the template of the federal budget was cast by the IMF programme terms that the country recently agreed with the Fund at the staff-level and has duly complied …

   European Elections Young people chose Europe! The European Parliament elections are over, with the liberal wing sighing with relief, while the right wingers can smugly point to the increase to 25% of representation in the world’s second largest democratically-elected parliament. The good news is that the elections gained something of a new momentum. Since its first-ever direct elections in …