Study Kit

World in Focus (DEC-19 JAN-20) International    Dec 16: Chinese President Xi Jinping reposed trust in Hong Kong’s beleaguered leader Carrie Lam and told her that she had Beijing’s “unwavering support”. Dec 16: Jean-Paul Delevoye, the French government official whose controversial pension reform plans have triggered nationwide strikes, resigned. Dec 17: The Geneva-based World Economic Forum released its Global Gender …

National  Dec 16: The Supreme Court of Pakistan held that Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa would stand retired after six months unless parliament allowed him extension of tenure by amending the relevant army laws. Dec 16: A European group the ‘EU DisinfoLab’ uncovered a network of obscure NGOs and think tanks that assist over 200 …

Justice Gulzar Ahmed The 27th Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Gulzar Ahmed was born on February 2, 1957, in Karachi, to Noor Muhammad, a renowned lawyer of that time. Justice Ahmed completed his elementary schooling from the city’s Gulistan School. He then went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Government National College, Karachi, after which he …

NATIONAL Nov. 16: The Lahore High Court (LHC) allowed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to travel abroad initially for a period of four weeks, extendable on the basis of medical reports. Nov. 16: The tenth session of the European Union-Pakistan Joint Commission concluded in Brussels, Belgium. The European Union offered technical assistance to Pakistan for implementation of the Financial Action …

International  Nov. 16: US President Donald Trump granted full pardons to two American military officials and restored the rank of a third—although all three were found guilty of committing war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq. Nov. 16: Finland qualified for the Euro 2020 finals—first major tournament in their history—with a 3-0 win over Liechtenstein. Nov. 17: Dubai Air Show 2019 …

A threat to the idea of South Asia What India’s Citizenship Amendment Bill intends to do Let us not beat about the bush. The essence of the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) can be collapsed into just one sentence: It is meant to reduce India’s Muslims to second-class citizens; proof of their Indianness endlessly demanded but never fully accepted. The subtext …

For good governance, Pakistan needs civil service reforms. But which reforms are the right reforms? Pakistan ranks within the bottom third percentile of all countries included in the World Bank’s Worldwide Governance Indicators. More worrying for government policymakers is the fact that over the past two decades there has been little improvement in these key indicators such as government effectiveness, …

Pakistan’s National Tariff Policy – a positive step ISLAMABAD: There is no constituency for free trade in Pakistan. While the rest of the developing world has largely embraced free trade, notwithstanding recent protectionist tendencies in the United States, Pakistan has not made much progress in that direction. According to the National Tariff Policy (NTP) 2019, Pakistan has been unable to …