ECP: a case of acquired helplessness
For any system to survive, it must fulfil at least two minimum requirements. Meet the needs of its customers and have the capacity to improve itself. The first requirement relates…
Cruelty and injustice in the desert
Sri Lankans aren’t as prone to street protests as their other South Asian cousins. But when Rizana Nafeek, a young Sri Lankan Muslim girl, was beheaded in Saudi Arabia a…
Shadow economy
A recent BR Research analysis points towards alarming growth in Pakistan's shadow economy. The story titled 'The shadows are growing longer' (published: 10 January 2013) estimated that the country's informal…
Winds of change
Much is being written and said about Dr Tahirul Qadri – his background and his motivations. Some claim that he is an agent of foreign countries with the objective of…
Factory inspections – I
The recent unfortunate incident of fire in a readymade garment factory in Baldia in Karachi resulting in the death of more than 200 workers has prompted me to undertake an…
Too big a mess
Following Dr Tahirul Qadri's speeches and TV interviews, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is under fire. But critics of the ECP overlook the fact that the mandate of the…
By diplomacy, not revenge
Skirmishes at the India-Pakistan Line of Control (LoC) in the Mendhar sector in Jammu have spilled blood and precipitated a crisis that could snowball into a destructive conflict unless it’s…
The attempt to rescue Timbuktu
The capture by Islamist rebels on Monday of Diabaly, a hitherto government-controlled town some 400km from the Malian capital of Bamako, comes across as a setback for the French military…
The world in 2030
What will the world look like in 2030? Can we predict the future based on current trends? Perhaps, to some extent. However, the United States National Intelligence Council (NIC) has…
Fury of a patient people
Nothing in recent times, perhaps with the exception of Israel, has exposed the ineptitude and sheer spinelessness of the United Nations and the blessed international community as Syria has. All…
