Après Gujranwala, Karachi
After the show of force by the 11-party Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) in Gujranwala and Karachi, what the near future holds for the country is likely to become a topic…
Between Gaza and Gujranwala
On these very pages over the past week, a few writers have highlighted the disparity in response to two separate events — Israeli aggression against Palestinians in Gaza, and mob…
Cross subsidies—death knell for the industry
As someone representing LSM industry and the various burdens it is made to carry, a need arose to understand the existing power tariff and its architecture/design. As the Power Sector…
From disaster to despair
Each monsoon in Pakistan heralds less a renewal of life and more a rehearsal for ruin. The 2025 floods, which swept through the vast industrial triangle of Sialkot, Gujrat and…
Between water and survival
While I was in Buner helping small shopkeepers rebuild Pir Baba Bazaar after the floods, my phone wouldn’t stop ringing. Family and friends kept calling: ‘Punjab is drowning’, they said.…
The long road to excellence
A few months ago, I attended a meeting discussing the inauguration of a new educational institution, an ambitious project aimed at creating something of lasting value for academia in Pakistan.…
Not a country for women
Last week, I wrote about the ‘tyranny of medieval practices’ in Pakistan, with specific reference to the killing of a woman and a man in a desolate region of Balochistan…
Rebranding TVET
TODAY, when knowledge economies are fuelled by skills, the professionalisation of the technical vocational education and training sector is imperative. Historically the poorer child of education, TVET today is perhaps…
IMF: both a problem and a solution?
The country is currently under the 23rd IMF programme — a US$ 7 billion, 37-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement — which has provided critical support to avert external default.…
Sinking dreams
OVER the past few years, several tragic incidents have occurred involving boats carrying Pakistani migrants attempting to reach Europe through irregular channels. On June 14, 2023, the Adriana, an overcrowded…
