Pak Affairs

The tax gap in Pakistan is estimated to be 9.8pc of the GDP as the current tax-GDP ratio is around 12.5pc against a potential of 22.3pc as per a World Bank report. The tax gap is attributed to taxpayers’ non-compliance and limited tax capacity of the federal tax authorities. Withholding taxes to overcome tax evasion The Federal Board of Revenue …

Recently, I heard an argument presented in a TV talk show that the women elected on reserved seats in federal and provincial legislatures are not eligible to contest the election for the top slot of their respective assembly because these women are nominated, and not elected, members of the assembly. Through this article, I would make an effort to elucidate …

The decision by Pakistan’s Supreme Court to remove from office Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who had a comfortable majority in the National Assembly, is viewed by many in the West as an ominous sign of renewed political instability, if not heralding a return to authoritarianism. But, Pakistan’s political history suggests otherwise. By: Shahid Javed Burki Today’s Pakistan emerged not in …

The discipline of international relations treats the application of diplomacy designed to attain core foreign policy objectives as an important source of national power. Since 1947, all the successive governments in Pakistan have adopted different approaches in this realm, with a view to pursue the country’s economic and security objectives. Due to the chronic leadership crisis, most of the political …

Violence by men against women does not occur in isolation; it is strongly linked to that against their fellow men, as well as to the internalization of violence. Male-dominated societies are not only based on ‘superiority’ of men over women but some men are also rendered to the subordinate position. Violence – or threat of violence – in men is …

Born from a brutal Al-Qaeda faction, the IS or Daesh has grown from relative obscurity in recent years to overshadow its extremist patrons. After controlling large swathes of land in the Middle East, due to its transnational nature, the organization is having its spillover effects across the globe, especially in the regions nearer to the Middle East. The lethal outfit …

In October 2016, lawmakers from the Senate of Pakistan – the upper house of the country’s parliament – expressed a growing fear that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) could turn into another East India Company if the country’s interests were not actively protected. East India Company was a British trading mission sent to India which served as the precursor to …

Pakistan saw massive influx of refugees from Afghanistan during the 1980s. They came through the border gateways and informal crossing points on the Durand Line. The registered figure of Afghan refugees in Pakistan at that time was 3.2 million. As time passed by, their population grew to reach the 5 million mark. Currently, there are about 1.5 million registered and …

Very recently, celebrations to mark the completion of twenty-five years of relations between Pakistan and Central Asian Republics (CARs – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan), were underway in Islamabad.  Diplomatic missions held talks, conducted seminars and organized roundtable discussions with an aim to pave the way for friendly economic, social, cultural and political collaborations in the future.  The people …

On 30th May 2017, the Companies Act, 2017 (the Act), which replaces the 33-year-old Companies Ordinance, 1984, was assented to by the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The most significant legal reforms to bring the company law in Pakistan at par with current international standards are set out below: Borrowing Powers: part of memorandum Pursuant to Section 30, …