Study Kit

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Saturday said intra-regional trade and connectivity was crucial for sustainable economic development of Asia and the Pacific region. The finance minister also extended unequivocal support to One Belt and One Road — a giant initiative undertaken by China for economic progress and prosperity. “Pakistan fully supports the One Belt One Road Initiative,” said Dar while …

By: Shahid Javed Burki Colonialism brought Europe and the West to Asia and Africa. The tide has now turned. Demographic change and immigration are now bringing Asia and Africa to the West. The West prevailed in the first encounter that took place in the 18th and 19th centuries. The lands it conquered and ruled for centuries didn’t have the military …

 National MCQs 1. On Feb 16, ______ introduced “The Salam Award for Imaginative Fiction”. (a) Pan Macmillan    (b) Barnes & Noble (c) Bloomsbury    (d) Barron’s 2. On Feb 17, Pakistan was ranked ______ out of 186 economies on the Index of Economic Freedom 2017. (a) 141st        (b) 147th (c) 15st        (d) 171st 3. The National Green Day was …

 NATIONAL Feb 16: One of the world’s biggest booksellers, Barnes & Noble, introduced “The Salam Award for Imaginative Fiction” to honour Nobel Prize winner Dr Abdus Salam of Pakistan. The Salam Award for Imaginative Fiction The Salam Award seeks to encourage aspiring speculative fiction writers of Pakistani origin. The annual short fiction award will be judged by a rotating jury …

A DIVISION bench of the Lahore High Court has suspended a directive passed by a single-member bench that called for the Central Superior Services examination to be held in Urdu beginning in 2018. The earlier LHC direction had come in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling in 2015 that called for having Urdu as the language for running the …

If the maladies of civil service are not properly identified any future reforms initiative would be meaningless. By:  Jahanzeb Awan ‘With every passing year of our career, we increasingly feel a steep decline in our morale and motivation. There is a disjunction between what we idealised to do for society and what the real life has offered’. This is what …

National MCQs 1. On Inclusive Development Index 2017, Pakistan has been ranked _____. (a) 45th        (b) 52nd (c) 65th        (d) 72nd 2. The first-ever artiste to co-chair the World Economic Forum is ______. (a) Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (b) Oprah Winfrey (c) Beyoncé    (d) Kate Winslet 3. On the 2017 Global Talent Competitiveness Index, Pakistan has been ranked ____ out …

NATIONAL Jan 16: Pakistan was ranked 52nd, ahead from India (60th), among 79 developing economies in the Inclusive Development Index (IDI) 2017, by World Economic Forum. Top 10 developing economies: Lithuania, Azerbaijan, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Uruguay, Latvia, Panama, Costa Rica and Chile. Top 10 advance economies: Norway, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Iceland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand and Austria. Jan 17: …

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday struck down provisions of the Rules of Competitive Examination 2014 which barred the Central Superior Services (CSS) qualified persons with disability from joining the Foreign Service of Pakistan (FSP). Releasing a detailed judgment in an already decided matter, Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah on Friday directed the federal government to allocate two …

 NATIONAL Dec 16: The Council of Common Interests agreed to begin Pakistan’s sixth population census from March 15, 2017. About the CCI Under the Constitution of 1973, the President appoints the Council on the advice of the Prime Minister. The Council is responsible to both the Houses of Parliament i.e. the Senate of Pakistan & National Assembly. It’s mandatory for …