Unpopular opinion
Pakistan should undergo reforms; there are no two opinions about this. However, in the past, many reform proposals and efforts either failed or were rolled back. The implemented and then…
From war bunker to penthouse to market flop: how Germany’s property boom ended
It has been a tumultuous year for one prominent German property developer: his efforts to sell his penthouse atop a Nazi-era air raid shelter have stalled, and just weeks ago…
Floods drown hope in impoverished Punjab villages
The coursing floods in eastern Pakistan first swallowed Nasreen Bibi’s corn crop, then the cattle that fed on it, and finally her family home. They retreated to the roof to…
200 candidates held for using unfair means in MDCAT exam
Despite challenges, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Education and Evaluation Testing Agency (ETEA) on Sunday smoothly conducted the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) and arrested around 200 candidates using unfair…
Universities as supermarkets
Sometime ago I was sitting with a deputy chairman of the Planning Commission of Pakistan when a vice chancellor (VC) of a public-sector university came to see him. After the…
Cotton ‘crisis’: challenges, opportunities, and way forward–I
Stagnation in Pakistan’s rural economy has been ongoing over the last decade for a multitude of reasons. The lackluster performance of cotton has contributed significantly to this. The cotton sector,…
Daunting challenges facing the caretakers
The caretaker government has stepped in amidst massive economic and political challenges demanding promulgation of an ‘economic emergency’ in order to arrest the slight. The government’s mandate — by taking…
Moscow demands bigger discounts from foreign companies exiting Russia
Some foreign companies trying to exit Russia are facing a big jump in costs as Moscow is demanding bigger discounts on the price tags of assets they want to sell,…
