Daily Current Affairs

Moeed Yusuf THERE is a lot of curiosity about how the Donald Trump administration may deal with Pakistan and the broader South Asian region. But there is too much uncertainty still for political analysis to produce anything truly meaningful in response. More useful would be to explain the various nodes of uncertainty and narrow down the focus of the discussion …

HAVING failed to mobilise new revenue lines or broaden the base of taxation, the federal government is now reduced to knocking on doors it has no business to be knocking on. The finance minister is now telling his provincial counterparts that the size of the federal divisible pool will need to be reduced by as much as 8pc in order …

By Faisal Kutty Over sixty-eight years after the universal declaration of human rights was adopted by the UN, the debate continues as to whether the document truly reflects universal values. Upon its adoption on December 10, 1948, former US First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, chair of the commission on human rights, expressed her hope it would become “the Magna Carta of …

By Dr Hasan Askari Rizvi The outgoing year of 2016 can be described as the year of confrontation and political status quo. The confrontation focused on the Panama Leaks (April onwards) between the PML-N government at the federal level and in Punjab on the one hand and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on the other. Despite the persistent efforts of the …

BY Malik Muhammad Ashraf Water, water everywhere  Pakistan and India have been involved in intractable discussions to resolve the dispute regarding construction of two hydro electric power plants namely Kishenganga and Ralte being built by the latter in violation of the provisions of the Indus Water Treaty. So in view of the stalemate on the issue Pakistan requested the World …

BY Tariq Mushtaq A synonym for hell The Russian military warned the US against striking the Syrian army, stressing that Russian air defense weapons in Syria stand ready to fend off any attack. The range of Russian S-300 and S-400 air defense missile systems would “surprise” any country operating its aircraft over Syria The United States, since long, is involved …

BY Tariq Mushtaq Superpower chess board The United States, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement, has “done all it could to destroy the atmosphere encouraging cooperation.” From day one, there was apprehension: how could Washington cooperate with Russia to form a common front against rebels when they are backed by Washington itself? As the month started, U.S.-Russia relations …

BY Imran Malik China hopes to engage, dominate and rule the Heartland The Cold War era saw the US and its allies deploying their militaries to circumscribe, dominate and contain the Soviets and now the Chinese to within the Heartland CPEC, in the light of Mackinder’s Heartland Theory, makes for an interesting study. He had divided the world into three …

BY Monem Farooqi With expectations of holding the momentum Inflation hit a 13-year low in 2016, supported by falling international oil prices despite the high aggregate demand and low interest rates, which was contained due to a stable currency and, again, falling international oil prices Pakistan economic growth witnessed an acceleration in fiscal 2016 and started catching up with its …

BY Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad There are lessons for Pakistan There is a need to note that the ISIS and other extremists who are on the run in the Middle East are likely to start their activities in other countries, particularly Pakistan The recently formed Russia-Iran-Turkey troika has a significance first and foremost for the Middle East. It has also implications for …