Daily Current Affairs

Joby Warrick THE militant Islamic State group starts the new year with a drastically depleted bank account, counterterrorism officials say, following months of intensified efforts to deprive the militants of oil profits and other revenue used to finance military operations and terrorists attacks abroad. Coalition aircraft in the past 15 months have destroyed more than 1,200 tanker trucks — including …

Ishrat Husain IN a country where negativity and cynicism reign supreme, critics and detractors of all kinds are revered, and emotional outbursts and fabricated stories dominate the air waves and social media, it is difficult to present a dispassionate analysis of national issues.

James M. Lindsay Stories began appearing midway through 2016 asking whether it was the worst year ever. It wasn’t. It’s wasn’t even the worst year in the last half century. (Try 1968. Or 1974. Or 1979.) But 2016 certainly experienced its share of significant world events. Here are my top ten. You may want to read what follows closely. Several …

Dr Ahmad Rashid Malik The report on the Quetta massacre opened up a Pandora’s box related to the government’s performance in eliminating terrorism. The Supreme Court of Pakistan set up an inquiry Commission by its order on 5th October to probe two incidents: the murder of Bilal Anwar Kasi (a lawyer and President of the Balochistan Bar Association in Quetta), …

While it is definitely too late, and may also be too little, there should be no doubt about the correctness of President Obama’s decision to retaliate against Russia for hacking American computers and trying to influence the 2016 presidential election. It would have been irresponsible for him to leave office next month and allow President Vladimir Putin to think that …

By Ali Ousat Although the Punjab government has succeeded in implementing major health policies and taken effective steps for the completion of health projects, many schemes are still incomplete despite tall claims by the government. On the other hand, the central Induction policy, which was introduced to break the monopoly of Young Doctors Association (YDA) in different hospitals, was much …

By Ammar Sheikh The higher education sector in Punjab saw many ups and downs in 2016, seeing many changes in the provincial setup with the government’s biggest challenge coming in the appointment of vice-chancellors at universities. The delays continued from 2015 to 2016 and regular appointments could not be made. The appointments by the Punjab government were challenged in the …

By Zamir Akram Despite trying to load the dice in India’s favour, the Obama administration has failed to deliver on its promise to ensure NSG membership for India during its tenure which ends in mid-January 2017. Due to the principled position taken by China and supported by more than 10 countries, consensus has eluded the NSG so far with the …

By Peter Dykstra There’s a case to be made that the Trump Administration’s rollback of environmental regulation won’t be devastating; that market forces will prevail in the coming energy revolution; that the environment and public health will continue to be protected under the EPA and other agencies, and that state governments will do their part as well; and that a …

By Umer Gilani The defining moment of Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali’s tenure was November 3, 2015, when he stood in the Senate of Pakistan –the first chief justice ever to do so – and proclaimed that there was nothing wrong with the justice system. This was a time when, after the 21st Amendment, a national consensus had emerged that …