‘Pro-people’ budgets
A friend asked to outline as to what should be ideal budgets for Pakistani people at federal and provincial levels. Our answer is simple: an ideal budget is one that…
The passing of a great man leaves Pakistan cold
What an amazing life and what a titanic personality – one of the greats of the 20thcentury, on a par with the likes of Mao and Ho Chi Minh, the…
Going up, down or nowhere?
International institutions are quite careful about accepting a country’s claim about its performance. It was only after a detailed scrutiny during several quarterly reviews that they put on record such…
Celebrating the year 2016
As the calendar year comes to a close, there is a narrative about 2016 being a very bad year. Lots of important people died during 2016, and many terrible events…
Governance or window dressing?
All of us expect our governments at each level – federal, provincial, and district – to perform better and faster. Instead, they end up doing something has the least effect…
Sea sentinels
Winston Churchill had once conceded that “the only thing that ever frightened me was the U Boat peril”. He was alluding to the peril of the German submarine arm prowling…
Framing Pakistan’s agenda at COP22
The Paris Conference ended on December 12, 2015 with the adoption of the first ever global agreement on climate change. Around 195 nations attended the conference and agreed on a…
Saving marine life
There are many issues that confront our country, but environmental and ecological matters are perhaps the most neglected and least understood. We somehow fail to understand the intrinsic value of…
Monitoring climate finance
Developing countries such as Pakistan are struggling with a limited amount of finances to respond to the damaging effects of climate change. The surmounting risks posed by climate change and…
Welcoming the Turkish president
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s two-day visit to Pakistan at the head of a high-level delegation of government ministers, businessmen and senior officials comes at a time of profound transitions both…
