Chernobyl’s ongoing toll
In 1996, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) stated that Chernobyl was “the foremost nuclear catastrophe in human history”. In 2005, the IAEA and World Health Organisation (WHO) set out…
Poverty puzzles
Whichever way you parse the data we have it shows that poverty headcount in Pakistan over the last decade and a half to two decades has decreased substantially. Initially, it…
Urban poverty
When I first arrived in Pakistan in 1990, there were 120 million people. The population in urban areas was 33m. When I returned five months ago, there were 70 to…
Mass deportation
On the final page of my friend Juan’s Mexican passport are two words, handwritten in English and in capital letters: ‘Ordered Removed.’ The reason Juan was ‘removed’, like faulty merchandise…
From magical to farcical
The writer is a retired air-vice marshal, former ambassador and a security and political analyst. It came rather early. It was merely a week back that Narendra Modi came calling…
Institutional stability
Is Pakistan’s democratic experience failing? Why have the liberal democrats and the free market economics not delivered at the desired pace and quality to make a palpable difference in the…
Vietnam Builds Military Muscle To Face China
Vietnam's military is steeling itself for conflict with China as it accelerates a decade-long modernisation drive, Hanoi's biggest arms buildup since the height of the Vietnam War. The ruling Communist…
Russian Firms Tone Down Holiday Cheer As Crisis Bites
Forget corporate holiday bashes where glitterati are treated to fine champagne and French delicacies: Russia's economic crisis has taken the glow off the holiday season this year. Many companies are…
Global Miners Steel For Worse After Torrid Year
Global miners are battling to stay afloat after enduring one of the toughest years in recent times, with tumbling commodity prices and supply gluts set to force more closures and…
China challenge: getting poor migrant workers to buy vacant homes
Rattled by the potential economic fallout from millions of unsold homes, China wants migrant workers to buy properties in smaller cities and ease the burden on a real estate sector…
