Daily Articles

Poverty lies at the household level. This is why we need meticulously designed household-level solutions to address its multifaceted nature. This is, of course, not an easy undertaking, given the nature of the governance structure that is primarily shaped to deliver extension services. Local government departments have neither the mandate nor the functional capacity to engage in providing household-level private …

China’s crucial role Days after North Korea lambasted the US for its “gangster-like behaviour”, US President Donald Trump expressed his confidence that his North Korean counterpart, Kim Jong-un, will honour the contract they both had signed for denuclearising North Korea. “I have confidence that Kim Jong-un will honor the contract we signed and, even more importantly, our handshake. We agreed …

PAKISTAN may already be on the brink of an environmental disaster, but political parties seem to be in no hurry to formulate a cohesive strategy to avert it. Although the environment and climate change are considered national security issues, politicians are simply not ready to understand them, said Dr Muhammad Irfan Khan, an environmental scientist and professor at the International …

With the future of democracy apparently fairly secure in Pakistan, the young electorate is learning to focus on the quality of the exercise. The growing awareness and citizen activism in an age of vibrant social media mean political parties can no more treat the election agenda as a ritual. Despite efforts by all parties to articulate a distinct position, the …

The Indus River Basin is shared by four countries: Pakistan, India, Afghanistan and China. The water sector in this region faces certain challenges including the depletion of natural resources and inefficient use of water. The region’s current population is 237 million and is estimated to increase to 319 million by 2025, and to 383 million by 2050. Kabul River, a …

JUDICIAL activism is a virtue only when it is accompanied by restraint. In India, as in the US, the supreme court has been notable not for restraint, but for excess. The US supreme court is in a pitiable state. There was a time when its rulings were regarded as persuasive authorities of high scholarship, for it was there that the …

NASHVILLE: Jimmy Tosh’s sprawling hog farm in rural Tennessee is an unlikely battleground in the fight for control of the US Senate. Yet, his 15,000 acres, two hours west of Nashville, showcase the practical risks of President Donald Trump’s trade policies and the political threat to red-state Republican Senate candidates such as Tennessee’s Marsha Blackburn. Tosh, a third-generation farmer who …

THE odds are growing that the next American war will be against Iran. Of the three countries designated by the US as the ‘axis of evil’, Iraq was invaded; North Korea has agreed to an uncertain process for ‘denuclearisation’; Iran remains regionally powerful and defiant. Former US President Obama’s strategy was to first neutralise the principal (nuclear) threat from Iran …

BEIJING: The first shots have been fired in a trade war between China and the United States that experts say could be damaging for the world economy. The two superpowers imposed on Friday tit-for-tat tariffs on billions of dollars of cross-border trade. While US President Donald Trump has brushed off warnings that trade frictions with powerful partners like China could …

Social media has been playing an active role in shaping the daily lives of many across the globe. According to the 2018 Global Digital Report, there are 3.2 billion people worldwide using social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp and Twitter. In Pakistan, 35 million people, or around 18 per cent of the country’s population, is active on social …