Essay Outlines

Muhammad Sulaiman

Punctuality is virtue of bored

1. The topic needs to be understood in its essence
2. Timeliness and natural rhythm of the universe
3. Time is money

iii. Man tries to create punctual systems, timeline-following devices

1. Wasting time wastes a person
2. Punctuality of man is a paradox
3. What is punctuality and what does it indicate?
4. Discipline
5. Value of time

iii. Time management

1. Sense of responsibility
2. Conformity
3. Ritualism
4. What is missing in punctuality?
5. Curiosity
6. Adventure

iii. Breaking away from traditions

1. Non-conformity
2. Preparation for failure
3. Desire for novelty

vii. Punctuality pits you against the same competitors

1. Is it worse than procrastination?
2. Different sides of the same coin as one is doing the same thing in a routine manner and not feeling provoked
3. Punctuality in a mismanaged environment equals procrastinating in a well-managed environment
4. Why virtue of the bored?
5. Doing the same thing again and again
6. Missing the fun in adventure

iii. Individualism is dampened

1. It leads to poverty of thought
2. It pits one against the same competitors
3. It lacks spice and pickings that make life interesting
4. Is punctuality valuable?
5. Depends on the scenario
6. Time is valuable

iii. A fine equilibrium to be maintained

1. Adventure shouldn’t be missed
2. Conclusion

Crisis of good governance in Pakistan:
need for reforms and institution building

1. Governance, a function of the government
2. Poor scorecard on governance
3. Nature of the Crisis:
4. Poor Political, Psychological, Social and Financial underpinnings
5. Lack of poli1tical will and seriousness
6. Social contract between state and citizens to be revived
7. Weak social and economic institutions
8. Abysmal state of economy and poor revenue generation
9. Issue of population control and management of resources
10. Partisan accountability mechanism
11. Transfer of responsibilities from Federal to Provincial government after 18th

     Amendment

iii. Provincial Government and its responsibilities

1. Dependent on Federal grants
2. Low revenue generation and poor expenditure management
3. Poor liaison between Provincial and Federal Government
4. How to improve governance?
5. Reform or Reward
6. Reform
7. Institutional reforms
8. De-politicization of institutions
9. Empowering and improving institutional infrastructure

iii. Prioritize meritocracy, transparency and technical expertise

1. Functional reforms
2. Clear definitions of organizational functions
3. Rethinking division of labor in government jobs

iii.           Automation of job to avoid staff redundancy

1. Realistic time limitation to execute projects
2. Evolutional approach
3. Reform of Bureaucracy
4. Capacity Building of the staff
5. Division of labor as per job description to improve efficiency

iii.           Red-tapism to be removed from government tiers

1. Functional tiers to be created for execution, implementation and policy making
2. Team building as per modern management paradigm
3. Transfer postings not to be used as a means to favor or punish

vii.          Perks and incentives to be monetized:

viii.         Conflict of interest, favoritism and nepotism to be strictly avoided

1. Regular feedback loops to place a check on efficiency
2. Reimagining service delivery through international appraisals
3. Public-Private partnership to remove trust deficit

xii.          Performance Audit through independent firms

1. Economic reforms
2. Rationalization of expenditure and revenue generation
3. Reform of Loss making Public Sector Enterprises

iii.           Expansion of export base and indigenous production

1. Reduction of imports and increasing tariffs on luxury items and accessories
2. Employment generation and technical and vocational training
3. Social Reforms
4. Social safety nets such as BISP, Pakistan Bait ul Maal, Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund, Workers Welfare Fund
5. Community Service programs and awareness campaigns

iii. Poverty alleviation and control of epidemic

1. Healthcare and education access in rural areas
2. Eradication of contagious and water borne disease
3. Garbage and waste control to eliminate vector borne diseases

vii. Technical and vocational training to boost skills

1. Judicial reforms
2. Harmonizing of different laws
3. Reduction of back log of cases stuck in different fora

iii. Reduction in cases per judge

1. Setting of time limitation to finalize cases
2. Segregation of low profile cases relating to petty issues and their allocation to courts on that basis
3. Alternate dispute resolution fora to be activated

vii. Citizen and judicial complexes to create alternate judicial venues

1. Political reforms
2. Devolution of powers and empowering local governments
3. Reduction in bureaucratic oversight of institutions

iii. Revenue generation to be delegated at grass roots level

1. Empowering of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)
2. Democratization of party elections
3. Conclusion
4. Good governance is a long-haul process
5. Good governance requires:
6. a) political will
7. b) good team
8. c) meaningful reforms
9. d) devolution
10. e) coordination

iii. It can be achieved in a small span of time through inclusive policy making

Democracy and illiteracy don’t move together

1. Introduction
2. Democracy requires participation and awareness
3. Illiteracy hampers understanding of politics
4. Fast fading boundaries between knowledgeable and illiterate
5. Illiteracy has a toll on inquiry
6. Democracy diminishes if it doesn’t cater to eradication of illiteracy
7. What a democratic process entails?
8. Universal franchise for all above a certain age
9. No restriction on the basis of caste, class, religion or social background
10. Education, realization and cognizance of rights and responsibilities
11. Democracy entrusts an individual with
12. An informed choice
13. An appeal to rational choice

iii. An appeal to participate and clamor for rights

1. Distinguish between the manifestoes of different parties
2. Give feedback on important issues through participation
3. Democracy and fundamental Rights
4. Vouches for freedom of expression
5. Tolerance of diversity and opinion

iii. Celebrates right to association and affiliation

1. Right to profess any religion
2. Right to lead an honorable and dignified life
3. Freedom from persecution and illegal detention
4. Wages of illiteracy
5. Lack of awareness
6. Lack of opportunity and economic participation

iii. Inability to make choice

1. Short term decision making
2. Unable to distinguish matters of complex nature
3. Lack of inquiry and research

vii. Blinkered approach and low social participation

viii. Failure to tap political capital

1. Marginalization and subjugation
2. Would create biased narrative
3. Why democracy and Illiteracy can’t go together?
4. Illiteracy in the presence of democracy
5. Illiteracy to hurt the democratic process
6. Incomplete realization of the democratic project in the presence of illiteracy
7. Illiteracy to become more pernicious in the age of media
8. Fake and raw journalism could exact a heavy toll on the choices made by people
9. If democracy works then dividends of development, tolerance, would be inclusive for all
10. Democracy would extend the outreach of good policies to the deprived and underprivileged class
11. It would make participation more accessible
12. Democracy would increase literacy, embolden participation and awareness
13. It would allow people to make an informed choice
14. Knowledge barriers would be removed when democracy spreads literacy
15. The right to education and decent living would be honored
16. Servitude and subjugation would be replaced with equality of opportunity and equal participation
17. Removal of differences and biases would contribute to integration and harmony of different groups
18. Conclusion
19. Democracy would alleviate the incidence of poverty
20. Illiteracy a bane of poor class

iii. Participation and information of all segments a responsibility of the state

I disapprove what you say, but I defend to death your right to say

1. Introduction
2. Freedom of expression a fundamental right
3. Constitutional safeguard to protect freedom of speech
4. Importance given to exchange of ideas, removal of communication gaps and gags
5. Importance of freedom of expression for Individual, groups and society
6. Respect for difference of opinion
7. Safeguard of individual self-esteem through self-expression
8. Respect for the individual in a state
9. A reassurance on behalf of the state that every single individual, group or society matters without any distinctions
10. No bar on following any belief system
11. Helpful in raising awareness in the society
12. Freedom of expression as a harbinger of change
13. A singular opportunity to honor advocates of change who risk their life, identity and freedom
14. A belief that many eccentric beliefs find new currency and acceptance when circumstances change or become favorable
15. A formidable challenge to the dominant narrative
16. Helpful in upholding democratic values and in placing a check on the performance of government
17. A striking feature of a democratic government
18. Linked to fundamental right freedom of access to information
19. Makes it possible to be well informed about government performance
20. A key determinant of the critique on performance of the government
21. Any restrictions on expression?
22. Speech inciting violence, hurting the feelings of religious communities, racist attacks to be discouraged
23. Any defamation or libel against any individual, community or religion to be dealt under law
24. Who is to determine what limits would be placed on expression?
25. Parliament to frame laws in consultation with different groups and stakeholders
26. Opinion of different communities to be taken into consideration
27. Conclusion

The creation of New Province in Pakistan:
implications for an integrated country

1. Introduction
2. Federal government and provincial autonomy for the provinces under the 1973 constitution of Pakistan
3. Geographical boundaries of provinces as per the division made by the colonial government at the time of partition
4. Division of provincial units on the basis of geographical contiguity and language
5. Dismemberment of Pakistan and creation of Bangladesh
6. Doing away with centralization of power
7. Argument for creation of new provinces:
8. Division inevitable in the wake of large area and population
9. Special attention could be paid to underdeveloped and marginalized population of different provinces
10. Focus on development, poverty alleviation, employment generation, infrastructure projects, health and welfare activities and issues of small target population
11. Less reliance and reduction of burden on developed centres
12. Administrative issues to be solved if small provinces are created
13. Linguistic and ethnic issues to be solved and less tension among different groups of people
14. Development of new centres to help in integration of different regions as prosperity ushers
15. National integration to receive a boost as new provinces would be interdependent and financially stable
16. Could be helpful in redressing grievances of various political groups and marginalized communities
17. better coordinated efforts for revenue generation and —- expenditure
18. Formation of local governments and devolution of power to improve governance
19. Better chances to improve governance and achieve goals of provincial autonomy, revenue
20. Arguments against creation of new provinces:
21. 18th amendment and changing politico-economic dynamics
22. Consensus on making new provinces on administrative lines by catering to the demands of people of underdeveloped regions in different provinces
23. Ethnic-conflicts may be fuelled if due diligence is not shown owing to demographic disparities
24. Approval of all stake holding parties in National Assembly
25. Various proposals to be considered on the basis of factors such as ethnicity, language, area, population, geographical contiguity and administrative costs for new provinces
26. Efforts to be made avoid the creation of provinces along linguistic and ethnic lines to avoid ethnic, linguistic and provincial discord
27. Sweeping changes to be made in administrative setups if new provinces are to be created
28. Additional costs to be incurred for the creation of new provinces
29. Re-formulation of National Finance Commission (NFC) Awards
30. Creation of new provinces to impact the composition of the Senate, the Council of Common Interests, the National Finance Commission, the Election Commission of Pakistan, the National Economic Council, as well as the water accord of 1991
31. Amendment in Articles 1, 51 (composition of National Assembly), 59 (composition of Senate), 106(1) (constitution of provincial assemblies), 175A (Appointment of Judges to the Supreme Court, High Courts and the Federal Shariat Court), 218 (Election commission) and Article 239 (Constitution Amendment Bill) of the Constitution required
32. Political point scoring to be avoided on the issue of creation of new provinces
33. The creation of new provinces requires a two-thirds majority in the legislative assemblies, the demarcation of boundaries, and consensus on all outstanding issues related to division of resources, water, energy generation and representation in National Assembly
34. Conclusion

The threat of Global Warming and the ways to counter it

1. Introduction
2. Global warming now a major threat to the entire planet
3. Change in weather patterns
4. Heat waves and desertification
5. Melting of glaciers (glacial retreat)
6. Declining ice-cover in Antarctica and arctic region
7. Flooding and massive destruction
8. Loss of precious flora and fauna
9. Extinction of various species
10. Rise of sea-level and increased acidification
11. Loss of precious arable land
12. Factors contributing to global-warming
13. Emission of green-house gases
14. Pollution of atmosphere by fumes and smoke
15. Reliance on fossil fuels for energy generation and transportation
16. Coal fired plants for energy generation
17. Thermal power plants relying on fuels
18. Effect of global warming on Pakistan
19. Pakistan’s rivers are the blood-line of the entire country
20. Its northern areas are home to some of the largest glaciers in the world
21. Flooding of rivers in case of excessive melting of glaciers
22. Increase in aridity of land across different areas of the country
23. Agriculture to be seriously affected by loss of precious crops and farmland
24. Issue of water logging and salinity in lower riparian due to flooding and changing patterns of rain
25. How to counter global warming
26. Investment in clean energy generation technologies such as wind, solar, tidal, hydro and nuclear energy projects
27. Reducing reliance on fossil fuels for energy generation
28. Reduction in atmospheric pollution and emission of greenhouse gases
29. Legislation to restrict emissions by factories
30. Investment incentives to be rolled out for firms investing in clean technologies
31. Tax-breaks for clean energy producers
32. A robust mass transit policy to reduce usage of auto-cars and heavy transport industry
33. Increase in forest and plantation cover in areas where atmospheric pollution in greater
34. A green revolution to be initiated to reduce pollution and carbon emissions
35. Arguments against global warming
36. Some think tanks consider global warming a myth
37. Earth has undergone several ice ages
38. Conclusion