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The world is transfixed by the literally unthinkable events surrounding the apparent hijacking and disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight 370. The unfolding story is a concatenation of improbabilities. After the plane went missing ‘with 239 people on board’ a multitude of theories about the plane’s fate were in the air. Malaysia’s Department of Civil Aviation stated that’pings’ were picked up …

An epitome of ineptness, apathy and soullessness. ‘The Thar TragedyIn a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of.’ This is ineptness and apathy at its height. It is necessary to understand that the children who died in Thar did not perish just because of the …

Civil Service is primarily a body of professional administrators as opposed to politicians. They are permanent and skilled, and are paid for their services. The term does not include defence personnel, politicians, judiciary or those who work in an honorary capacity. The history of civil service can be traced back to ancient China, Egypt and, in our context, the British …

Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Finance, Ishaq Dar, at a news conference, proudly announced that the ‘difficult period’ for the economy was over and that the prices of all items ‘from onions to the dollar’ has declined which would have a major positive impact on the domestic rate of inflation. The indicator used to express his optimism was the declining greenback. …

Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali while presenting ‘though half-baked’ Pakistan’s first-ever ‘National Security Policy’ (NSP) in National Assembly on February 26, vowed to inanimate the National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta) and to establish a National Intelligence Directorate (NID) under its umbrella to counter the menace of terrorism and militancy. The PM approved the establishment of NID ‘having the coordination …

At present, there are 156 universities and DAIs in the country which have been recognized by the Higher Education Commission. According to the data available at HEC’s online ‘PhD Country Directory’ and another relevant document ‘PhD output report’, it comes to the fore that 62 universities and DAIs have produced 8,822 PhD scholars from 1930 to December, 2013 For the …

The joy of a celebration depends on its reasonableness; for emotional people, there is little room for reason. The news of grant of GSP Plus status to Pakistan by the EU in December 2013 overwhelmed the Pakistani media who, for many weeks, defined and dissected its tone. But, the outcome opinion wasn’t unanimous rather it was divided as some celebrated …

Will henceforth mob decide who is to rule the country, not the ballot box? Is mobocracy now going to be the order of the day, and not democracy? Perhaps yes, if some current events are any guide. In Ukraine, an elected president has been driven out by protestors holding the capital city of Kiev hostage to their months-long street protest. …

A friend who has followed the Bric story noted sardonically that they are probably “fresher” than the Brics. What they really share beyond having a lot of people, is that at least for the next 20 years, they have really good “inner” demographics’ they are all going to see a rise in the number of people eligible to work relative …

There is a notable difference between the intensity of support for Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi. Seven-in-ten Indians are dissatisfied with the way things are going in India today. The Indian public, by a margin of more than three-to-one, would prefer the Hindu-nationalist opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to lead the next Indian government rather than the Indian National Congress …