Gulf rejects India’s Islamphobia driveBy: Col (R) Muhammad Hanif on June 30, 2020During Modi-led BJP’s rule in India since 2014, the anti-Muslim campaign and violence by the RSS motivated Hindu nationalists has increased many fold. This is because the Modi government has created Islam phobia, through hate speech, clamping the lockdown/curfew in Kashmir since August 5, 2019, enforcement of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), discriminatory to the […]
COVID-19: Impacts on Pakistan’s Cyber SecurityBy: Basma Khalil on June 30, 2020The COVID-19 pandemic remains the most dominant factor affecting the global scenario. Neither the superpowers nor the developing countries are spared of its curse. The whole world is in a crisis-like situation whether it’s a superpower or a state like Pakistan, which already faces external threats and internal instabilities. Like every other state in the […]
Travails of a theocracyBy: Yasser Latif Hamdani on June 29, 2020The decision to build a temple and Shamshan Ghat for the Hindu community in Islamabad is no doubt a praiseworthy decision but in the larger scheme it does nothing to undo the theocratic nature of the state that exists under the current constitution in its present form. As I have argued several times in this […]
What Women Want for Family Planning: Meeting the DemandBy: Anza Abbasi on June 29, 2020In Pakistan, every year, over 8,300 women die during pregnancy and childbirth. These deaths are avoidable yet are not prevented by the country’s healthcare system. One cause for these preventable deaths is the absence of women’s feedback on the reproductive healthcare services they receive. Birth Spacing Programs, for instance, which revolve around women, are usually […]
Creating apartheid enclaves in Palestine and IHKBy: Ambassador G R Baluch on June 28, 2020The unprecedented five times Isreali Prime Minister Benjamin Natanyaho, buoyed by US President Trump’s so called ‘Deal of the Century’ for the final settlement of the Palestinian issue has announced unilateral annexation of West Bank by July 1, 2020. As the deadline for the unilateral annexation of the West Bank is around the corner, the […]
Pakistan’s power sector: in desperate need of a new visionBy: Dr Shahid Rahim on June 27, 2020Our government, under IMF pressure, is currently mulling over a proposal to shift the burden of power sector’s inefficiencies on to the electricity consumers. The new proposal, under the title of “Debt Servicing Surcharge” will empower the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) to pass on the cost burden of power sector’s technical and administrative […]
Agriculture in budget 2020-21By: Asif Javed on June 27, 2020The budget 2020-21 was released in the unprecedented circumstances when the coronavirus (COVID-19) spread has badly affected the economy. The slowdown of trading activities has resulted in the negative growth rate for the first time. According to the Economic Survey of Pakistan 2019-20, despite the overall negative growth, the agriculture sector grew by 2.67% in […]
The Global Hypersonic Weapons Race and South AsiaBy: Haris Bilal Malik on June 27, 2020Over the last few years, some of the prominent nuclear powers in the world have been involved in a race to develop hypersonic weapons. Countries like the US, Russia, and China have up till now developed hypersonic weapons systems comprised mainly of hypersonic cruise missiles (HCMs) and hypersonic glide vehicles (HGVs). In South Asia, India […]
UN Day against torture: hate philosophy is BJP’s raison d’etreBy: Saifur Rehman on June 25, 2020Every year on June 26, the world observes the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture to speak out against the crime of torture and to honour and support victims and survivors throughout the world. Torture, according to globally recognized dictionaries, means action or practice of inflicting severe pain on someone as […]
Re-thinking Economic Model and Local WisdomBy: Shakeel Ahmad Ramay on June 25, 2020The change is very common word in Pakistan. Every party and government beat the drum of change. Problems keep on changing but the solution remains the same “the change”. Despite the continuous failure of successive parties and governments, people still believe in the slogan of change. There can be two reasons of this belief, either […]