World Bank pushing poverty eradication, education goals
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim has a goal of "virtually ending" extreme poverty by 2030. "I have no doubt that the world could end extreme poverty within a generation,…
Pakistan’s economy – I
Alongsides is the first part of a three-part series by an economist who has reflected on his more than half a century involvement with the country's economy. Pakistan has had…
Should we be complacent?
The report prepared by Zeenat Hisam and Yasmin Qureshi on Religious minorities in Pakistan for the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (Piler) and launched last Tuesday at the…
The softer option
Some time ago, 38 ex-militants were released after receiving vocational training at Navi Sahar, an armed forces’ institute in Bajaur. It was an endeavour to reintegrate them into society, as…
Polls: the broader view
Elections are due in a couple of months and one of the questions being asked is whether they would be an exercise in futility. I think not, even though nothing…
Love as a counter
There are at least 100 Pakistani families who will not be voting in the forthcoming general elections. They no longer have houses that the Election Commission can visit to verify…
Language and thinking
Education is a much talked about issue in today’s Pakistan. Unfortunately it provokes little serious thinking and even less action. I keep hoping that this talk will turn into action…
Targeted killings
Targeted killing has come to be seen as driven by sectarian, ethnic or terrorist motives. In Karachi targeted killings are pushing certain groups towards isolation. Since January 2010, on average…
Society at fault
While rushing bills through parliament last week, the government neglected to take up the 23rd Amendment bill, which seeks an increase in the number of seats for minorities. Staging walkouts,…
The right to home
Through the pogroms and cataclysms of history, when populations were chased from their homes and hearths by war or famine or persecution, it was always their right to arrive at…
