With general elections due somewhere after mid-2018, the expectations of the people and the stakes thereof has evolved dramatically with the political scenario changing almost on a daily basis. The Supreme Court (SC) verdict voiding Election Act 2017 and thus disqualifying Nawaz Sharif as party head has confounded all elections predictions by throwing what amounts…
The World Economic Forum (WEF)’s Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, is a major creative force for engaging top leaders from across the world to undertake joint action relating to events for shaping the global, regional and industry agendas. Having attained a reputation for great integrity, the WEF is not tied to any political, partisan or…
Dear Readers, Counted among the handful of larger-than-life personalities in Pakistan, the late Air Marshal (Retd) Asghar Khan had reached a pinnacle of Success in both his life and in his profession that very few man-age to attain and maintain with respect and dignity. He was known and admired for his exceptional qualities, his abilities…
Squabbling and endlessly bickering on issues not of any public importance, our parliamentarians may Lamour passionately for early elections, yet not enough senators showed up for weeks to enable a quorum to pass an amendment to the Constitution clearing the way for delimitation of National Assembly (NA) constituencies based on the results of the recent…
During the 1980s the shortfall between electricity generated and consumers’ demand in Karachi widened to unmanageable proportions. Rampant over-staffing compounded by excessive non-core workers, a demoralized workforce and misaligned management objectives all combined to create hurdles in the utility company’s functioning. For a short time KESC was stabilized by the senior management brought in by…
Established initially as institutions of higher studies, Madrasahs taught law, Islamic sciences and philosophy. Prior to the arrival of British, both religious and secular education was taken care of for Hindus and Muslims by their respective religious institutions together. Madrasahs taught Quran together with Tafsir Mantiq (logic), Kalam (theology) and Hikmah (philosophy). In addition, mathematics,…
The Indian War of Independence (or the 1857 Indian Mutiny as the British call it) did not start as a “War of Independence” by the Indians against their British masters. British East India’s war machine was primarily composed of Indian native troops officered by the British, pure British-manned regiments were a handful in numbers compared…
Alongwith one of my platoons, radio operator and runner, I was hugging the bottom of a steep ridge with Marri militants firing down at us on Dec 30, 1973 a few miles west of Kahan. The Marris thought we were trapped, their bullets were ricocheting 10-12 feet away from us, luckily for us they had…
Dear Readers, As the sun set for the last time in 2017, we stepped into the new year with renewed hope of better things to come. While the challenges and opportunities of the new year will prove to be historically momentous, we must take some time to ponder where we stand today. 2017 was an…
The Nawaz Sharif episode shows that pervasive corruption has not only acquired respectability in a perverse manner in Pakistan but left to the National Assembly (NA), may even acquire legality. Political instability, poverty, unequal structure of society, unemployment, lack of accountability, weak political institutions, absence of rule of law, etc., are contributory factors causing an…
