A home of one’s own
Having a shelter of one’s own is considered a basic right. There are numerous international resolutions that recognise this. For example, the Vancouver Declaration on Human Settlements (1976) recognises adequate…
Fair and just tax system
There is a national consensus that the existing exploitative, outdated, regressive, ill-directed and unfair tax system is stifling economic growth and widening the rich- poor divide. It needs to be…
Waking up to climate change
The weather is changing. We have all noticed it. If you were born in Pakistan and have lived here all your life this drift towards extreme temperatures in summer months,…
Flood control or signal-free corridors?
Floods come but once a year. They cause havoc but then, as is the way with nature, the rivers calm down and their fury subsides. Rajanpur and Muzaffargarh and places…
Viewpoint: Coal-fired power projects
The federal government's proposal to set up ten coal-fired power plants across the country to produce over 4000 megawatt electricity has been the subject of a misplaced focus during the…
Nightmare scenarios
Back in 2011, the American actor George Clooney recalled asking Barack Obama to identify the one thing that kept him up at night. “Pakistan,” replied the US president. Obama did…
Living in ‘today’
The debate on Pakistan's role in Yemen's civil war is shifting the focus from the problems that confront Pakistan's economy, but sidelining realities doesn't evaporate them, although that's the Pakistani…
China’s struggle for water security
Way back in 1999, before he became China's prime minister, Wen Jiabao warned that water scarcity posed one of the greatest threats to the "survival of the nation". Sixteen years…
‘Anthrocide’
Stop me if you’ve heard this one: what do humans and giant asteroids have in common? Give up? I’ll tell you: they’re both responsible for mass extinctions. Not funny? It’s…
Irritatingly oppressive taxes – I
The National Assembly passed the Finance Bill 2015 amid a walkout by the Opposition during the 13th sitting of the 23rd session on June 23, 2015. According to Free and…
