Study Kit

By: Paul Krugman I’m a baby boomer, which means that I’m old enough to remember conservatives yelling “America — love it or leave it!” at people on the left who criticized racism and inequality. But that was a long time ago. These days, disdain for America — the America that actually exists, not an imaginary “real America” in which minorities …

If ever Pakistan needed to look to the quality and efficacy of its diplomatic services then that time is now. The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit has just ended in Goa and India has used it as a vehicle to promote is goal of the isolation of Pakistan — diplomatically, economically and any other variant of …

Of the two great autocratic powers in Eurasia, Russia is emerging as a greater short-term threat than China. The Chinese hope to gradually dominate the waters off the Asian mainland without getting into a shooting war with the U.S. Yet while Beijing’s aggression is cool, Moscow’s is hot. When the current U.S. administration seems out of gas and a new …

National Oct 15: The ECP suspended the membership of as many as 337 lawmakers for their failure to submit their statements of assets and liabilities Among the suspended lawmakers are sixty-six members of the National Assembly, 22 senators, 137 members of the Punjab Assembly, 49 members each of the Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies and 14 members of the Balochistan …

by Saif Asif Khan effect of increasing the total number of regulations, paperwork and bureaucrats employed. Essentially, what Graeber is arguing is that bureaucracy begets bureaucracy: any efforts to do away with bureaucracy will simply end up increasing bureaucracy. The argument sounds compelling, especially when applied in our local context. What is the kneejerk reaction to anything that is brought …

The post of UN secretary general is a thankless job carried out by an uninspiring figure. A candidate has no chance of being selected if either the US or Russia oppose him – and for its entire history it has been a ‘him’ – which automatically disqualifies anyone who may try to add teeth to the organisation. The main work …

By: Waseem Shaukat Always the hotbed of terror Considering the turmoil our country is going through at present, we need to show solidarity and national integration. Yet it is heart-rending to note that some people in the country are following agendas of those who want to break Pakistan May it be the historic war fought against Russia (Afghan Jihad), the …

by Hasan Mansoor Situated just a few minutes away from Karachi`s wholesale pharmaceuticals market is the old-city locality of Lyari. The people living there mostly come from humble backgrounds but pharmacy owners in the area notice a jarring trend: clients hesitate to buy cheaper medicines in favour of branded, expensive medicines with the same molecular formula. `I try my level …

by Sarwat Yasmeen Azeem My first encounter with the practice of using first names irrespective of age occurred at a meet-and-greet at a university in the UK. Fresh off the boat from Pakistan and 22 years old, I introduced myself to the 50-something lecturer who cheerily responded, `Call me David! Very much taken aback, I blurted, `I can`t do that. …

By Elaine Ou IT`S fun to imagine a world without cash. Liberated from the burden of physical currency, consumers could make purchases from the convenience of a mobile device. Every transaction would come equipped with fraud protection, reward points and a digital record of its time and location. Comprehensive tracking could help the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the United …