Daily Current Affairs

From time to time, Dawn will invite a key stakeholder in business and economic matters to share his or her views about a large issue facing Pakistan’s economy. This week we invite Ehsan Malik, CEO of the Pakistan Business Council, a think tank and business advocacy body composed of the largest private sector businesses in Pakistan, including multinationals, to share …

As theories of literary criticism in Urdu are being maligned and violently discarded, here’s an attempt to unravel the reasons Literary criticism in general and contemporary Urdu criticism in particular has been under fire in the last few years. Instead of instituting a serious debate on the theories in vogue, their epistemological roots, and efficacy in interpreting literary texts, their …

The intensified Pak-US relationship of the past is now in a new downward spiral. Is the current round of restrictions on diplomats on both sides discriminatory or reciprocal? Historically, the United States has imposed travel restrictions against foreign diplomats that were from states it considered as hostile. Usually, it did that to reciprocate. For the State Department, imposition of restrictions …

Pakistan would come under renewed pressure from the Saudis not to offer any help to Tehran while Iran would expect Pakistan to at least remain neutral Pakistan has managed a delicate balancing act in its relations with its neighbour Iran and old friend Saudi Arabia, but this difficult task would become even more challenging in the wake of the recent …

LAHORE: Pakistan’s economic policies frequently fail because stakeholders mostly tend to live with compromised decision instead of hashing out the issues to the bare bones and arriving at sustainable long-term solutions that are broad in their spectrum of benefits. Globally the economic issues particularly relating to businesses are given high importance. The different economic ministries work in cohesion and complement …

ISLAMABAD: The trade gap and debt trap are being forecast as two major risks to Pakistan’s economy. An interim fall in oil prices over the past two years led to a decrease in energy imports from $15 billion in 2013 to $12 billion last year, but they are poised to increase due to the rising trend in oil market. Power …

If the purpose of development is to improve the wellbeing of people, then it seems logical to think of it as a measure of the response to the question, “How are you?” Yet, it is unlikely that citizens anywhere will respond to that question by telling you the prevailing rate of inflation, the Gini coefficient, or even their national Gross …

Despite dismal initial economic conditions, Bangladesh has unfolded a new and remarkable Cinderella story as its economy has staged a turn-around, leapfrogging over its much more affluent peers Bangladesh is reportedly on the verge of becoming the next Asian tiger, while Pakistan — arguably its political nemesis — has been chasing that mirage almost ever since the former’s birth. After …

Reflection on our own strategies, unpacking our class prejudices and a candid drafting of a sexual code of conduct are imperatives for success of gender-based activism The social and political recognition of sexual harassment and its translation into a legal offense is a significant achievement. While the discriminatory Zina law was the main driver for women’s rights activism in the …

When taken in concert with other factors, there has been interesting development with India holding fresh discussions with the US on two pacts, the Communications Compatibility and Security Arrangement (COMCASA) and the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-Spatial Cooperation (BECA). The pacts put on the table by the US some 15 years ago were rejected by successive Indian governments, …