Elections on the cards?
President Arif Alvi has finally announced April 30 as the date for general elections in Punjab. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had earlier asked the president to choose any…
Pessimism grows
The nation started the year 2022 under a euphoria of all good after moving out of the Covid pandemic largely unscathed, with the economy inching towards somewhat better amidst hopes…
Trump cards or flawed thinking
It’s the economy stupid, so stated James Carville, Bill Clinton’s strategist during the 1992 successful presidential campaign against the incumbent George Bush with two other key messages to campaign workers:…
Cautious optimism or justified pessimism?
The Finance Bill 2021 with federal budget will be unveiled today. Will it bring relief for the unemployed, pensioners with no other source of income, low-paid salaried persons and those…
Currency depreciation was already on the cards
The writing was on the wall. Market was expecting dip in exchange rate as it is one of the supposed pre-conditions of the upcoming IMF programme. The dollar closed at…
Action against Sindh politicians, officials on the cards
ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has intensified its investigation against alleged corruption, illegal allotment of land, China-cutting and misuse of authority by Sindh officials and politicians, and some major…
House of cards
IN Saudi Arabia, the punishment of crucifixion results in the victim’s decapitation, and the public display of his body. This is what the teenaged Ali Mohammed Al-Nimr has been condemned…
Egypt’s bread ‘smart cards’: financial miracle for age-old problem?
A device resembling a credit card swiper is revolutionising some of Egypt's politically explosive bread lines and may help achieve the impossible - cutting crippling food import bills. Authorities who…
Simmering over SIMs
One ought to be intellectually challenged or suffering some kind of disorder to organise the mindless and wasteful record-breaking inanities that unfold around Lahore every other weekend. Making the largest…
Misplaced pessimism
Eleven months before the Soviet Union’s occupation of Afghanistan ended the combined brains of the US intelligence community were asked to guess what would happen in the country. “We judge…
