The handshake
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif recently attended the lacklustre Saarc Summit at Kathmandu. The initiative to activate this regional group after a hiatus of three years was taken by Indian Prime…
India, Pakistan and a changing world
Dubai eye The reality finally seems to have dawned on Pakistan. Although Pakistani officials and intellectuals have from time to time complained of the fickle and far from trusting nature…
Emerging trends in shaping tax policy
A fiscal system is influenced by economic, political and social factors.1 These elements change directions of a country's tax structure; and the emerging situation thus makes it difficult to distinguish…
Youth challenge
The stars above us, govern our conditions.— Shakespeare. Azam Khan, an 18-year-old, works in a boutique in Karachi for 10 hours as an errand boy and earns Rs 12,000 a…
The external dimension
Pakistan's ‘war on terrorism’ is over four months old. What has been achieved? What remains to be done? The Pakistan Army’s Operation Zarb-i-Azb in North Waziristan has cleared most of…
Some solutions
EVERY Pakistani wants to find a solution to terrorism. At such a challenging juncture, the mere realisation that peace must be cultivated is itself a ray of hope, and the…
Three events
September 2014 added an extraordinary chapter in Afghanistan’s political history via three major events that unfolded there. Such events catch less attention in other countries – especially in democratic nations.…
Challenges for GB government
GILGIT-Baltistan (GB) is that forgotten corner of Pakistan which only catches the media’s attention when there is a natural disaster or an incident of terrorism. There is general confusion about…
Asia’s parallel paradigms
IT is now almost a truism that Asia will be the focal point of geopolitics in the 21st century as Europe was in the last 200 years. The reasons are…
Budget proposals 2015-16 – VIII Essential tax reforms
"If we want lower taxes for growth, then spending must be curtailed so that governments won't need so much money. The next time you hear a politician promise another tax…
