Study Kit

Muhammad Idrees Ahmad In the beginning was the word. As the bracing winds of the Arab Spring hit the Levant, some teenagers in Syria were stirred into optimism. Having witnessed the fall of Ben Ali in Tunisia and Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, they expected a similar fate for their own tyrant. “Your turn doctor,” said the graffiti they painted on …

Dr Naazir Mahmood If you write for a newspaper, the use of first person singular is not a good idea. But at times, one cannot help but defy the maxim. I landed in Moscow in 1984 as a student of Patrice Lumumba Peoples’ Friendship University (PFU) or Lumumba University for short, and became an eyewitness to one of the greatest …

By Farrukh Saleem Capital suggestion The government of Pakistan spends more than $55 billion a year on buying goods and services for mega public projects – power plants, roads, bridges, pipelines and dams. In 2011, the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) estimated that “Pakistan spends 25 percent of the total national output or $55 billion on public procurement and out …

Majid Sheikh It has often occurred to me to try to, using logic if that is applicable, find the oldest mosque constructed in Lahore. Prayer places one can understand, but a proper mosque with a minaret is what interests me. When Ali Hasan Hajweri was ordered by Sheikh Abu’l Fazl Al-Kuttali to immediately proceed to Lahore and spend the rest …

By Matt O’Brien Maybe we should take Donald Trump seriously and literally when he says he’ll start a trade war with China. That, after all, is what slapping a tariff on Chinese imports would mean. Just ask Beijing. They’ve already started to think about how they would retaliate if he does do it. Not that markets have noticed. They’re blissfully unaware …

Mohammad Ali Babakhel IN the National Action Plan (NAP), points 10 and 18 convey the state’s resolve to register and regulate madressahs and eradicate sectarian terrorism. Both actions fall primarily within the preview of the criminal justice system but we are still far from achieving these objectives. We need to undertake a forensic analysis of the madressah landscape in Pakistan …

Munir Akram The writer is a former Pakistan ambassador to the UN. IN the midst of major global transitions, Pakistan confronts multiple challenges: domestic discord, terrorism, Indian hostility and subversion, Afghan chaos and American pressure. The low energy response of Pakistan’s ruling classes to these challenges displays an absence of self-confidence and an assumption that Pakistan’s destiny will be determined …

Salamat Ali The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor comprises a collection of road, rail, and pipeline projects currently under construction to connect Kashgar in China with Gwadar in Pakistan. The project intends to rapidly expand and upgrade Pakistan’s infrastructure, as well as deepen and broaden its economic links with the People’s Republic of China. The CPEC will affect Pakistan’s trade flows through …

Afshan Subohi For political considerations Punjab may not actively object to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s proposal of resource distribution under the 9th NFC award, but Sindh and KP have decided to collectively oppose the move that they feel violates the law and infringes on their rights. The opposition to Dar’s resource sharing formula is primarily based on simple logic: it …

Irfan Husain There are times when decisive military action is the only way to break the deadlock. In this case, the Syrian civil war had been dragging on for five years of relentless bloodletting without any resolution in sight. Desultory diplomacy was going nowhere as the rebels insisted on Assad’s ouster as a pre-condition for talks. In this, they were …