Population rise: the big challenge
Last week the UNDP released its Human Development Report, which highlighted the abysmally low levels of improvement achieved by Pakistan in this critical area, wherein progress in South Asian countries…
Times of paradoxes
What a world of contrasts we live in. We have heartwarming tidings entwined with horrible news. We have compassionate souls struggling to save lives alongside brutes who blow the life…
Vote banks of the starving
Elections are round the corner and as the candidates head for the hustings it is time they focused on the issues which will make or break the country. The least…
Foreign investment
Four features of Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s budget stand out. First, thanks to its obsession with reducing the fiscal deficit, the budget fails to raise social-sector expenditure – just when…
Overlooked demographics
There are some facts that both news reporters and readers become overly fond of. For example, it is a fact that populations across the Muslim world are growing at an…
Aid and achievemen
Speaking at an event in Jacobabad last week, US Ambassador Richard Olson said that his country would continue to build “a long-term partnership with Pakistan by extending cooperation in several…
Enemies within
The single most important factor that determines the fate of a nation and its state of socio-economic development is education. It is the scientists and engineers that are changing the…
A judicial murder and desperate politicians
One has often heard Indian Muslim intellectuals warn that there isn’t much of a real difference between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Their policies are essentially one…
Inequality in society
With elections approaching, the usual claims from incumbent political parties of being pro-poor and even ‘revolutionary’ have increased in both frequency and amplitude. Notwithstanding their magnificent promises of ending corruption,…
Changing mindsets
When Sheema Kermani launched her play Zehreela Dhooan, she probably didn’t realise how formidable would be her battle against the cigarette. In this play a cast of eight earnest people…
