Agricultural pricing policy
Commodity prices have been falling, led by the precipitous collapse globally in the price of oil from a peak of $120 per barrel to a low of below $40. Oil…
Walk of shame
In the Middle Ages, people found guilty of petty crimes would often be put in the stocks — wooden blocks with holes for the head and hands and displayed in…
India’s fast-growing cities face water crisis
Ranbir Singh still remembers when the wells in his village on New Delhi's south-western edge were filled with sweet-tasting water and livestock drank from the small ponds that dotted the…
Nuclear fears
The recent meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit has raised hopes of a renewed…
Rape and other ‘anti-India conspiracies’
If the Indian government wanted to become the laughing stock of the world, it couldn’t have done so more effectively than by banning the BBC documentary ‘India’s Daughter’ on Delhi’s…
Peace talks on ice
President Ashraf Ghani’s diatribe against Pakistan over a recent wave of attacks in the heart of Kabul and other major cities amply mirrors the lingering mistrust between the neighbours. With…
Oil bulls’ hope for quick price dip dimmed by 2020 crude under $70
As oil prices entered a second steep slide a few weeks ago, bullish traders and analysts had hoped for a repeat of the sharp but short dip that occurred early…
The ballistic missile threat
In the second nuclear age, we have entered a new and dangerous phase of unchecked proliferation in which the missile competition between the major regional powers is threatening to disrupt…
Storm clouds again
There is good reason to be wary these days. Storm clouds are gathering over the global economy one more time, and large-scale disturbances have broken out. Nobody knows where they…
The bigger beast
It is yet again open season on Pakistan’s politicians. The manoeuvrings and posturing in the lead-up to the Senate election that will take place next week confirms, for pundits and…
