Terrorist Activities in Pakistan Suicide AttacksAt least three persons, including two Police officials, were killed on April 30 when former Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao’s convoy came under a suicide attack in the Umarzai town of Charsadda District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, reports The Nation. The minister remained safe. According to officials and eyewitnesses, Sherpao was attacked…
The yearly Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) compiled by the World Economic Forum (WEF) has ranked Pakistan 129th out of 144 countries in 2014-15, this compares with 133rd out of 148 last year. GCR ranks countries on 15 pillars of competitiveness, the risks include (1) Basic Requirements (2) Institutions (3) Infrastructure (4) Macroeconomic environment (5) Health…
Brimming with excitement bordering on the histrionics that one normally associates with political rallies, trusted Mian Nawaz Sharif kinsman, Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, presented what he insists is a “poor-friendly” Federal budget in the National Assembly (NA) on June 5. Detractors do not share the palpable enthusiasm of our “man for all seasons”, they…
Chaired by Chief Minister (CM) Sindh Qaim Ali Shah, the Apex Committee was recently told by the DG Rangers Maj Gen Bilal Akbar, that out of the nearly Rs.230 billion collected illegally from hapless Karachi-ites annually on one pretext or other, a fair amount of it was being used to fund terrorism. This extraordinary generation…
With India’s Foreign Minister Ms. Sushma Swaraj declaring the Corridor “unacceptable”, Mian Nawaz Sharif finally decided enough was enough, he did not mince words at the APC convened in Quetta by Balochistan’s CM Dr. Abdul Malik after the Mastung massacre as to the motivation behind the concerted campaign. Accompanied by the Army Chief, the Pakistani…
“Without governance and development in democracy, National Security will face more daunting problems and herculean challenges.”Dr. Ahmed Adam Okene. Talk at College of Arts and Sciences, Malaysia 1 Oct 2011 AbstractNational security is the vital part of the policy to ensure existence of Pakistan. This is primarily because the threat that Pakistan has historically experienced…
Most recently, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko visited Pakistan and inked many meaningful agreements and MOUs. This was the first ever visit of any Belarusian President to Pakistan which showed its multidimensional importance. During his stay he met with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Mamnoon Hussain and discussed matters of mutual interests. Both sides agreed…
Last year’s economic performance was marginal; most of the macro-economic targets were missed, some widely others narrowly. Unless requisite structural reforms are implemented, this trend is likely to continue. The budget envisages 5.5% GDP growth target for the next financial year, which seems to be substantially higher than 4.24% that the country could achieve during…
In the last few months a number of decisions have been taken by the Government of Pakistan which have entrenched that country even further into China’s geostrategic orbit. And although China and Pakistan have had a long and fruitful relationship for well over 50 years, it was the launch, during a visit to Pakistan by…
Four weeks ago, veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh published an account of the killing of Osama bin Laden (OBL) in London Review of Books. Hersh disputes official versions of Pakistan and United States and claims a massive cover up. Hersh is a well known investigative journalist and his two most important works were uncovering of…
