Towards absolute power again
Do all rulers wish for absolute power? Most of them probably do. Do they have their wish granted? Not many in this day and age are as lucky as Nawaz…
The murder of Amina Bibi
Eighteen years old, headscarf wearing, college student Amina Bibi was gang-raped as she walked home from her college on January 5. This was duly confirmed by a medical report. Dousing…
In the land of big smiles
To be greeted with folded hands is hardly unusual for people like me, born and bred in India, the land of namaste. But the Thai greeting is vastly different from…
Sleepwalking in Sindh
When the Indus breached its embankment at Tori in 2010, with water flow at 11,60,000 cusecs under the Guddu barrage, the resulting floods devastated lives and livelihood of millions of…
Lessons from Tharparkar
The invasion of Tharparkar district by rich donors and relief convoys should not divert attention from the need for long-term answers to the grave problems faced, seasonally or permanently, by…
US deficits will have to wait as Congress moves on
Congress just wants the US budget wars to be over. If any more evidence was needed, 12 Republican senators swallowed their principles and voted to propel a "clean" one-year debt…
Shape of a health insurance regime
In an earlier article, this writer had argued for group-based/community-based health insurance schemes. This article describes what such a pilot scheme could look like for replication on a larger scale.…
Carnage on the roads
In 2011 an overcrowded bus with faulty brakes carrying schoolchildren fell into a ravine near Kallar Kahar, Punjab, killing more than 40 students. The tragedy briefly focused our attention on…
Aam Aadmi’s missteps
A month after it stormed to power in Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party has tarnished its image by taking three false steps. First, its law minister Somnath Bharti and women…
The ideas people
It’s not like any of us here in Pakistan are strangers to heartbreak, but even so it was particularly saddening. In a recent article, columnist Chris Cork wrote about what…
