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Climate-smart cities

WE must recognise the importance of adapting cities to climate change and develop a roadmap to achieve it. The world is rapidly urbanising because of the growing size and density…

Street safety

THE Sindh chief executive’s resolve to address street crime is encouraging. This commitment raises important questions: are these crimes organised or opportunistic? Can traditional policing strategies alone be effective, or…

Baku model

JUST over a year ago, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited the Azeri capital for two days. The prime minister was reportedly so impressed by the landscaping in Baku that, upon…

Thriving South Asia a pipe dream?

SOME two weeks back, the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), a 23-member inter-governmental organisation, held its annual meeting in Colombo. Pakistan has been intentionally kept out of this forum despite…

What we need to grow

IN recent columns, I have written about the control of elites over Pakistan’s polity, the ineffectiveness of our governments and our pursuing the wrong model of import substitution, which results…

Elite hold on academia

The term ‘elite capture’ is often used when discussing the challenges faced by marginalized or middle-class communities, with the wealthy frequently blamed. However, the real issues are more nuanced, as…

A new year to fix the economy

Hundreds of thousands of words have been written about the economy, and how to fix it over the last many years, but not much is done, and the economy remains…

Pakistan’s polio struggle

According to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, after more than 43 million children in Pakistan were vaccinated against polio in 2022, the country achieved the historic milestone of being declared…